Moe Goes from Rags to Riches

"Moe Goes from Rags to Riches" is the twelfth episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 29, 2012.[1] In the episode, Moe Szyslak's old bar rag tells its history, from being a medieval French tapestry to ending up at Moe's bar. Meanwhile, Bart and Milhouse have an argument which prompts Milhouse to leave Bart. Jeremy Irons guest starred in the episode as the voice of Moe's bar rag.

"Moe Goes from Rags to Riches"
The Simpsons episode
The rag tells its story.
Episode no.Season 23
Episode 12
Directed byBob Anderson
Written byTim Long
Production codePABF05
Original air dateJanuary 29, 2012 (2012-01-29)
Guest appearance(s)

Jeremy Irons as the bar rag

Episode features
Chalkboard gag"There's no proven link between raisins and boogers".
Couch gagThe Simpsons travel through four iconic settings in past sitcoms (The Honeymooners, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Brady Bunch, and Cheers) before finally reaching their own show.

Plot

At a town meeting at Moe's Tavern, people say that Moe's best friend is his old bar rag. Bart continues with the joke by comparing the rag with Milhouse. Insulted, Milhouse spurns Bart's friendship. The rag tells its life story, from being a medieval French tapestry, woven by Marge after Mr. Burns, Duke of Springfield, killed all their sheep which released demon spirits that forced Marge to weave the encounters the tapestry would have. The Duke was later accidentally hanged by the tapestry when he fell off a mountain; going to a cathedral before Vikings attacked it and Homer tore it; and then to the king of Persia(Nelson). Nelson was then told 1001 stories by Scheherazade (Lisa), who releases his other wives who were thrown in a pit for being boring and decapitate him. The rag was also used as a blindfold for the executed and as a cloth on the chopping block in France; was used as a paint rag by Michelangelo in his creation of the Sistine Chapel; was used for a Confederate flag during the Civil War; and was made into soup during the Great Depression. It then went close to the top of Mount Everest as a flag, though the explorer died from lack of oxygen. Moe's father, the yeti on Everest found the rag and gave it as a gift to his son, an infant Moe.

Meanwhile, Bart tries to win Milhouse back as a friend, going to his house at night. Milhouse refuses at first, stating that he is doing well without Bart. Bart reads a poem about friendship to Milhouse, but Milhouse figures out that Lisa wrote it, and tells Bart that he can only win him back by doing something from the heart. As a gesture, Bart agrees to let Drederick Tatum punch him. Milhouse is deeply moved, and renews their friendship.

Moe wakes up to find the rag has been stolen. The thief is revealed as Marge, who cleans the rag before returning it. Moe then realizes that he has real friends in the Simpson family, and tosses the rag out the window for Santa's Little Helper, who takes care of the rag and then fights over it with Maggie. The rag, meanwhile, is overjoyed to have finally found an owner who truly loves it.

Production
Guest star Jeremy Irons provided the voice of the rag.

The episode was written by Tim Long.[1] It was first announced to the press at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego, California on July 23, 2011, during a panel with the producers of The Simpsons.[2] The plot is similar to the film The Red Violin, which tells the story of a mysterious violin and its many owners over a period of several hundred years.[3] English actor Jeremy Irons guest starred in the episode as the voice of the rag.[4][5] He received the offer over a telephone call, and later told the press that "I was delighted to do it and I was honored to be asked."[6] In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Irons commented that when he first received the script, "it said, 'The Bar Rag speaks in a very sonorous voice.' And then it said in brackets, 'Think Jeremy Irons.'"[7] He recorded his lines during the summer of 2011.[7]

Release

The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 29, 2012.[1] When airing the episode was watched by 5.1 million viewers, making it the second highest viewed program in the Animation Domination line up.[8]

"Moe Goes from Rags to Riches" received negative reviews from critics.

Hayden Childs of The A.V. Club criticized the episode for its lack of satire, and wrote that "some of the funniest and best episodes [of season twenty-three] have tended to be also the most outlandish, but 'Moe Goes From Rags To Riches' is a major exception, with very few good jokes coming out of the wildest premise of the season to date."[3] He concluded that "All in all, this was a rather baffling and disappointing experience that wastes a promising idea."[3]

At the 64th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in 2012, Hank Azaria was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his performance as Moe, Chief Wiggum, Carl, Comic Book Guy, Duffman and Mexican Duffman in this episode.[9]

gollark: I don't think they need anything special. Although they probably want it formatted MBR, not GPT.
gollark: And also the design of the relevant energy markets.
gollark: On another Discord server I'm on, someone in America is complaining about power outages too.
gollark: Troubling. That basically never happens here.
gollark: That would work.

References
  1. Ledesma, Chris (2012-01-17). "Finishing 'Politically Inept with Homer Simpson' & 'The D'oh-cial Network' and Starting 'Moe Goes from Rags to Riches'". Simpsons Music 500. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  2. Snierson, Dan (2011-07-23). "10 things we learned about 'The Simpsons' at Comic-Con". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
  3. Childs, Hayden (2012-01-29). "Moe Goes From Rags To Riches". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
  4. Roush, Matt (2012-01-27). "Weekend TV in Review: Good Wife, Luck, Spartacus, Hallmark's Moon". TV Guide. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  5. Justin, Niel (2012-01-05). "Can't-miss TV: Ten shows to circle on the mid-season schedule". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  6. de Moraes, Lisa (2012-01-12). "Winter TV Press Tour 2012: Jeremy Irons charms everyone on 'The Borgias' panel". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  7. Wilson, Benji (2011-08-13). "Jeremy Irons: Why I said yes to a fornicating Pope". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  8. Porter, Rick (2012-01-30). "TV ratings: Pro Bowl, CBS top Sunday's ratings, 'Once Upon a Time' rises". Archived from the original on 2012-01-31. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
  9. "The Simpsons". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
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