Diary Queen

"Diary Queen" is the 12th episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 696th episode overall.[1] The episode was directed by Matthew Nastuk,[2] and written by Jeff Westbrook.[3] The episode follows Bart’s discovery of his former teacher's diary.

Not to be confused with Dairy Queen.
"Diary Queen"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 32
Episode 12
Directed byMatthew Nastuk
Written byJeff Westbrook
Featured music
Production codeQABF05
Original air dateFebruary 21, 2021 (2021-02-21)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Chalkboard gag"I will never be a teacher's pet" is seen before the closing credits.
Couch gagThe couch is on Mars and gets crushed by a spaceship. Marge and Maggie come out of the spaceship, while the rest of the family come on foot, hover bike and skateboard. However, Homer doesn't have his space helmet on; Marge asks where it is, and Homer's head explodes.

Plot

At his yard sale, Ned Flanders becomes angry when people who buy his things are not respectful of them. Bart and Milhouse buy several books as part of a scheme to record a stunt. When that backfires, the boys discover Edna Krabappel's old diary among the books. They then escape Fat Tony and his mob and prank the school staff.

Despite Milhouse repeatedly urging him not to invade Edna's privacy, Bart heads to his treehouse and starts reading the diary, discovering a page where Edna had written that she thought Bart had potential in succeeding in school. Convinced that he is the most improved student, Bart helps around in school and gets an "A" on his test. At dinner, the family celebrate with a cake, but Marge and Lisa look around his room, suspecting him of cheating. With the help of Maggie, Lisa finds the diary at the treehouse and discovers that Edna was actually referring to her pet cat. Lisa hides this from Bart, which soon stresses her out. When Bart decides to enter the school spelling bee, Lisa reveals the truth, causing a depressed Bart to hide in the treehouse alone.

Later in the treehouse, Ned reveals to Bart that his family had considered leaving Springfield, but were stopped by Edna, who believed she needed to stay, as children like Bart needed her. Realizing that Edna truly did care for him, Bart returns the diary to Ned. At home, Ned reads the diary and is brought to tears over an entry where Edna says that being married to him made her dreams come true.

The episode ends with a montage of Edna's moments throughout the series.

Production

Casting

The late Marcia Wallace guest-stars as Edna Krabappel through archive recordings (specifically, from the episodes "Bart Gets a 'Z'" and "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story") in the episode and Joe Mantegna appears as Fat Tony.[1] This is the final episode in which actor Harry Shearer voices the black character of Dr. Hibbert. Beginning with the following episode "Wad Goals", he is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson who is African-American.[4] In addition, Julio had his voice provided by Mario Jose in this episode.

Release

The episode was scheduled to debut on January 10, 2021, but was rescheduled to February 14 due to being preempted by the NFL playoffs;[5][6] rain delays at the 2021 Daytona 500 further delayed all prime time shows scheduled for broadcast on February 21. On February 14, the episode was published on Amazon and iTunes but it was later removed. Even though the episode aired a week later on February 21, the episode is still unavailable on iTunes, but is available on Amazon.

Reception

Viewing figures

In the United States, the episode was watched live by 1.43 million viewers.[7]

Critical response

Tony Sokol with Den of Geek, said "This is a different kind of arc for The Simpsons. “Diary Queen' is on an uplifting trajectory until Lisa knocks it off course, and ends in a sudden life-affirming crash. Bart’s final warning to Marge, 'I’ll go over the edge if you try to make me feel better,' is wonderfully skewered, but the final twist is a dose of treacle. The episode was originally slated to premiere on Valentine’s Day, and is a sweet sendoff." He also gave the episode four out of five stars.[8]

References
  1. "Listings - SIMPSONS, THE on FOX | TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  2. Al Jean's Twitter - "Diary Queen Director"
  3. Al Jean on Twitter - "Diary Queen"
  4. Maas, Jennifer (February 22, 2021). "'The Simpsons': White Voice Actor Harry Shearer Won't Voice Black Character Dr Hibbert Anymore". TheWrap. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  5. Al Jean's Twitter - "Diary Queen Delayed"
  6. Al Jean's Twitter -"Diary Queen previous air date"
  7. Metcalf, Mitch (February 23, 2021). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.21.2021". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  8. "The Simpsons Season 32 Episode 12 Review: Diary Queen". Den of Geek. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.