History Recap / TheSimpsonsS9E5TheCartridgeFamily

* RecklessGunUsage: Homer, in spades:

* EveryoneHasStandards: Springfield's NRA members include a bitter, emotionally abusive old woman (Agnes Skinner), a Mafia henchman (Louie), a surly bartender (Moe), a DepravedKidsShowHost (Krusty the Clown), a single mother who stole her lazy husband's convertible to get him to pay child support (Ruth Powers), and a gun-crazy redneck (Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel). They're all shocked at how recklessly Homer uses his gun.

* {{Bowdlerization}} and [[invoked]][[BannedInChina Banned in Britain]]: The heavy references to guns and scenes playing gun misuse for laughs got this episode banned on the UK's Sky One channel; it was available on the VHS release "Too Hot for TV", and when Creator/TheBBC (the terrestrial broadcaster of ''The Simpsons'' in the UK) got the rights to season 9 they had no qualms about showing the episode uncut, and Creator/{{Sky}} followed suit when the rights reverted to them. However, these days the terrestrial channel showing ''The Simpsons'' in the UK is Creator/Channel4, which has edited the episode (most notably removing the final sequence where Marge takes the gun for herself and an earlier scene when she and the kids arrive at the motel and a hooker asks Bart if he's looking for a good time).

'''The Cartridge Family''' is the fifth episode of the ninth season of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', airing for the first time on Creator/{{Fox}} in the United States on November 2, 1997. It was also the first episode (in production order) where Mike Scully was showrunner, taking over from Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, the showrunners for seasons seven and eight.

* ImagineSpot: Homer has one after wondering what his life would be if he robbed the Kwik-E-Mart. He then imagines himself as a senator with a mansion while Marge dances the Monkey in a bikini.

* TakeThat: The reason the soccer riot starts is because the soccer game is incredibly slow and boring.

'''The Cartridge Family''' is the fifth episode of the ninth season of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. It was also the first episode (in production order) where Mike Scully was showrunner, taking over from Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, the showrunners for seasons seven and eight.

Homer buys a handgun to better protect his family after a soccer riot plagues the town — much to Marge's dismay.

* AmericansAreCowboys: The episode tackles American gun politics.
** Despite having been in a mental institution; having frequent problems with alcohol; and having beaten up President Bush (Sr.)[[note]]''[[InsistentTerminology Former]]'' President[[/note]], Homer's "potentially dangerous" status only restricts him to three handguns (or less).
* BadLiar: After Homer shoots all of the dinner plates, the family is eating dinner out of glasses:
--> '''Marge''': Does anyone know where all my dinner plates went?\\
'''Bart''': Uh...\\
'''Homer''': You probably left them at work.
* BigDamnHeroes: Double-subverted. Homer pulls his gun on Snake in the motel's office to stop the ensuring robbery. Marge turns on Homer for lying to her again about getting rid of the gun, distracting him and causing Snake to snatch it. Homer points out the gun is unloaded, and as Snake grabs the box with the bullets in it, the NRA show up.
* BlackComedy: The gun store having the name "Blood Bath and Beyond", with the handguns being right next to the ''sympathy card'' display.
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: The writers gave both sides of the gun rights debate reasonable arguments. WordOfGod says that if there is any message in the episode, it is that irresponsible idiots like Homer shouldn't own guns.
* {{Bowdlerization}} and [[BannedInChina Banned in the UK]]: The heavy references to guns and scenes playing gun misuse for laughs got this episode banned on the UK's Sky One channel; it was available on the VHS release "Too Hot for TV", and when the BBC (the terrestrial broadcaster of ''The Simpsons'' in the UK) got the rights to season 9 they had no qualms about showing the episode uncut, and Sky followed suit when the rights reverted to them. However, these days the terrestrial channel showing ''The Simpsons'' in the UK is Channel 4, which has edited the episode (most notably removing the final sequence where Marge takes the gun for herself and an earlier scene when she and the kids arrive at the motel and a hooker asks Bart if he's looking for a good time).
* BrickJoke: When Homer defends having a gun to Marge and Lisa, he says that without it the King of England could walk into their house and push them around. Later in the episode Krusty claims that that guns should only be used for three things: family protection, hunting and keeping the King of England out of your face.
* BullyingADragon: Homer during the soccer riot. He doesn't want to leave when Marge says they have to, because he himself wants to do some rioting. He shoves one of Groundskeeper Willie's buddies, who furiously threatens him. [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Homer wisely chooses to get out of there]].
* CallBack:

* EveryoneHasStandards: Springfield's NRA members (which include a bitter, emotionally abusive old woman[[note]]Agnes Skinner[[/note]], a Mafia henchman[[note]]Louie[[/note]], a surly bartender[[note]]Moe[[/note]], a DepravedKidsShowHost[[note]]Krusty the Clown[[/note]], a single mother who stole her lazy husband's convertible to get him to pay child support[[note]]Ruth Powers[[/note]], and a gun-crazy redneck[[note]]Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel[[/note]]) are shocked at how recklessly Homer uses his gun.

--->'''Homer''': "Oh, I don't need anything like that... ''yet''."

* LostAesop: Marge and Homer are at odds over the gun he buys, which even leads Marge to briefly leave him. In the end, Homer finally agrees to let Marge get rid of the gun, so Marge heads to the nearest garbage bin to throw it out. However, seeing herself holding the gun from a reflection in the lid, she likes how dangerous and cool she looks so she decides to hold on to the gun, putting it in her purse. The writers said that there was no real message from the story, but if there was, it'd be that people like Homer Simpson should not have a gun, so... mission accomplished?

* NegativeContinuity: The main plot revolves around Homer buying a gun for the first time, yet previous episodes establish that Homer owned a gun (he tells Marge to "get [his] gun" in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E7MargeGetsAJob Marge Gets a Job]] and in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E10Springfield $pringfield]] he brandishes a shotgun when he gets freaked out by Lisa's nightmare about the boogeyman).
** He's also briefly seen with a shotgun before learning Bart likes his radio and microphone present in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E13RadioBart Radio Bart]].
** In the episode [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E23TheSpringfieldConnection The Springfield Connection]], Marge also wields a gun after she joins the police and is also shown to be a really good shooter.

--> '''Prostitute''': Looking for a good time, sailor?\\
'''Bart''': I certainly am!\\
'''Marge''': ''(grabs Bart)'' No you're not! ''(to prostitutes)'' He's really ''not''.

** In the gun store, Home ''points it at the clerk and pulls the trigger five times'' (unloaded, thankfully). If this wasn't Springfield, he would have been banned from the store immediately at best, or shot by other patrons of the store at worst (as there have been several instances of [[TooDumbToLive would-be gun store robbers]] or other idiots being killed for pointing a weapon at a clerk).

* SeeYouInHell:....''dinner plate.'' *blam*
* SerialEscalation: Homer's tour of the NRA's shooting range. Some of the members were using run-of-the-mill handguns and pistols, while some others were using machine guns and assault rifles. [[NeverMessWithGranny Principal Skinner's mother]] [[UpToEleven even threw a hand grenade]].
* ShockinglyExpensiveBill: "Five Hundred Dollars?! AWWWWWW!"

** One line in the opening commercial for the match is actually a really good summation of why the sport has had trouble appealing to Americans.

* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: When Lisa told Homer the Second Amendment was just a relic, Homer counter-argued that it keeps them safe from the King of England. Later in the episode, when the [=NRA=] learned how irresponsible Homer was with his gun, Krusty started berating him by claiming that guns should be used for "family protection, hunting dangerous or delicious animals, and keeping the King of England out of your face."

-->'''Krusty:''' Come on, you schnorrers, '''do something!'''
* TimePassesMontage: Homer spends the entire 5-day waiting period sitting on his lawn, seeing different things he could shoot with a gun (Flanders, Patty and Selma, a row of ducks, rabbits, a truck owned by Target, because of the famous bullseye logo on the side) while Music/TomPetty's "The Waiting" plays.

* TwoDecadesBehind: Both Homer and Krusty are unaware that the United Kingdom hasn't had a king since 1952.
* UngratefulBitch: When Homer holds Snake up with his gun when the latter took Quimby hostage at knifepoint, potentially saving the mayor and everyone else's life, Marge's first reaction is to berate Homer for lying to her about not getting rid of it.

* HereWeGoAgain: At the very end of the episode, Marge is about to get rid of the gun once and for all, but when she's about to throw it in a trashcan, she notices her reflection in the lid and likes how impressive and dangerous it makes her look, and as such she decides to keep the weapon for herself.

** The soccer match at the start of the episode is perceived as boring. This is a joke that could only be made in the USA where, in contrast with the rest of the world, soccer has never caught on. WordOfGod said they were skewering how soccer was more boring on television than live.

* SmartBall:
** Homer, after accidentally shooting a picture of Marge twice, worryingly puts the gun down on the table so he doesn't do any more damage. The gun [[RuleOfFunny somehow fires on its own]] seconds later, hitting a knife, which spins through the air and hits the picture.
** Homer eventually tells Marge he doesn't trust himself about getting rid of the gun and tells her to get rid of the gun herself, because he feels sure his attachment to it would mean lying to her again and again.
* SoccerHatingAmericans: Everybody in Springfield gets bored really fast with the soccer game they came to see and their boredom eventually triggers a full-blown city-wide riot.

* SoccerHatingAmericans: The soccer match at the start of the episode is perceived as boring. This is a joke that could only be made in the USA where, in contrast with the rest of the world, soccer has never caught on. WordOfGod said they were skewering how soccer was more boring on television than live.

** In the episode [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E23TheSpringfieldConnection The Springfield Connection]], Marge is also shown wielding a gun after she joins the police.

* {{Bowdlerization}} and [[BannedInChina Banned in the UK]]: The heavy references to guns and scenes playing gun misuse for laughs got this episode banned on the UK's Sky One channel; it was available on the VHS release "Too Hot for TV", and when the BBC (the terrestrial broadcaster of ''The Simpsons'' in the UK) got the rights to season 9 they had no qualms about showing the episode uncut, and Sky followed suit when the rights reverted to them. However, these days the terrestrial channel showing ''The Simpsons'' in the UK is Channel 4, which has edited the episode (most notably removing the final sequence where Marge takes the gun for herself).

* GunAccesories: Exaggerated with the revolver's add-ons, including a silencer, a loudener, and finally a barrel screw-on system for shooting down police helicopters ("Oh, I don't need anything like that... ''yet''") that looks like a bazooka with the little revolver sticking out the back.

* RubeGoldbergDevice: Homer's burglar alarm, which somehow involves a goldfish. Someone reaches their hand through the mailslot and steals the fish.

* BigDamnHeroes: Double-subverted. Homer pulls his gun on Snake in the motel's office to stop the ensuring robbery. Marge turns on Homer for lying yo her again about getting rid of the gun, distracting him and causing Snake to snatch it. Homer points out the gun is unloaded, and as Snake grabs the box with the bullets in it, the NRA show up.

** Despite having been in a mental institution; having frequent problems with alcohol; and having beaten up ''former'' President Bush (Sr.), Homer's "potentially dangerous" status only restricts him to three handguns (or less).