A pair of cartoon hands deal out a wild royal flush, consisting of the jack of diamonds (Bart), the queen of diamonds (Marge), the king of diamonds (Homer), the ace of diamonds (Lisa), and the joker (Maggie).
The episode is a reference to the 1969 British caper film The Italian Job. Among the locations the Simpsons visit in this episode are Pisa, Pompeii, Tuscany, Rome and Venice.
After Mr. Burns gets teased about his old car by the kids at Springfield Elementary School, he sends Homer to pick up a brand new LamborgottiFasterossa car (a parody of the Lamborghini Gallardo) in Italy. The family flies over on Alitalia, and have a great time touring the country, despite Homer and Bart's mockery of the culture and history of Italy. Lisa tries to pass the family off as Canadian to avoid potential ridicule from Europeans who believe Americans make stupid choices, though this backfires when Homer brings in an American flag to smooch off the other passengers. After one huge food wheel made of mortadella lands on their car and crush the hood, they slowly push it into a small (fictional) Tuscan village nearby called Salsiccia (sausage), and are told that the mayor speaks English.
The Simpsons are shocked to find out that the mayor is none other than Sideshow Bob, who is equally shocked to see them. He explains that after he last attempted to kill Bart, he wanted a new life away from Springfield. Bob decided to get a fresh start elsewhere by using a knife and globe to "randomly" settle on a new destination, eventually choosing Italy (but only after passing over Orlando, North Korea, Shelbyville and, ironically, "Bartovia"). After a rough start, the Italians warmed up to him when he helped them crush their grapes into wine using his enormous feet. After that, they elected him as mayor of their tiny village. As a result, Bob has resisted all intentions of killing Bart, and he reveals that he has a family. He introduces them to his wife, Francesca and his son, Gino. They know nothing about his past life in America, and Bob begs the Simpsons not to tell anyone in order to have the car fixed, which they agree to.
One month later, Bob hosts a farewell party in the village for the Simpson family. However, that goes awry when Lisa gets drunk on wine and starts to spout off about him being an attempted murderer. He leads her away from the table, but as she stumbles backwards, she rips off his suit to reveal his prison uniform. The village finds out that Bob is a robber and attempted killer, and they sack him as Mayor. Bob is so angry at this that he swears a murderous vendetta on not just Bart, but all of the Simpsons. The family flees in the fixed car, but Bob follows them on a motorcycle (a Ducati 999). This leads into a high-speed chase in a highway until Homer drives into a ditch and onto a Roman aqueduct, eventually landing on top of Trajan's Column in the Roman Forum. Bob's wife and son catch up with him, and Bob, fearing her disappointment, tries promising to give up his new vendetta. Francesca professes her love and loyalty to Bob and offers to help him take revenge as a family.
Meanwhile, the Simpsons are wondering what they should do next, since they are in a foreign country with no car and no money whatsoever. Lisa spots a bus with a poster advertising Krusty the Clown's performance in the opera Pagliacci. They meet up with him at the Colosseum in Rome, and he puts them in as unnoticed extras. However, Bob, Francesca, and Gino find them and corner them on the stage while Krusty flees the stage through a trap door. Lisa warns the audience that the Terwilligers are about to actually kill her and the family, but Bob tricks the audience by performing the climax of Vesti la giubba. Before Bob and his family can finish off the Simpsons though, Krusty's limousine picks them up; Krusty needs them to smuggle an ancient artefact back to America. The Terwilligers are disappointed at first, but then walk away plotting revenge together, with Gino chasing a butterfly and Bob grinning maliciously with Francesca.
Reception
Kelsey Grammer won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his voice portrayal of Sideshow Bob in this episode. This marks the third time a credited guest star for the show has won an Emmy, the other two being Marcia Wallace and Jackie Mason although Wallace and Mason both won theirs as a joint win with the rest of the main cast the first time the category was awarded in 1992.
In 2009, IGN's Robert Canning placed "The Italian Bob" last on his list of the "Top 10 Sideshow Bob Episodes" (at that time, ten episodes revolving around the character had aired). Canning wrote that the episode "falls lowest in the ranking for a few reasons, but the biggest of these is the fact that Bob had no intention of killing Bart. Plus we're in Italy. Plus Bob is married and has a son. All the things we love about a Sideshow Bob episode—the vengeance, the familiar settings and characters, the elaborate scheming—were missing from this half-hour. Without it, Bob wasn't nearly as entertaining, and the episode didn't result in a whole lot of laughs."[2]
References
^McNary, Dave (11 February 2007). "'Departed' shines at WGA kudos". Variety. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
^Canning, Robert (2012-12-09). "The Simpsons: Top 10 Sideshow Bob Episodes". IGN. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
Wikiquote has quotations related to "The Italian Bob".
January 31, 2023
italian, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, 2018, lea. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Italian Bob news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Italian Bob is the eighth episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 11 2005 Serving as a sequel to The Great Louse Detective it features Kelsey Grammer in his ninth appearance as Sideshow Bob and is the first time the Simpsons visit Italy The Italian Bob The Simpsons episodeEpisode no Season 17Episode 8Directed byMark KirklandWritten byJohn FrinkProduction codeHABF02Original air dateDecember 11 2005 2005 12 11 Guest appearancesMaria Grazia Cucinotta as FrancescaKelsey Grammer as Sideshow BobJohn Moschitta as himselfEpisode featuresChalkboard gag That one s more jazzy Couch gagA pair of cartoon hands deal out a wild royal flush consisting of the jack of diamonds Bart the queen of diamonds Marge the king of diamonds Homer the ace of diamonds Lisa and the joker Maggie CommentaryMatt Groening Al Jean John Frink Ian Maxtone Graham Matt Selman Marc Wilmore Tom Gammill Dan Castellaneta Kelsey Grammer Mark Kirkland David SilvermanEpisode chronology Previous The Last of the Red Hat Mamas Next Simpsons Christmas Stories The Simpsons season 17 List of episodesThe episode is a reference to the 1969 British caper film The Italian Job Among the locations the Simpsons visit in this episode are Pisa Pompeii Tuscany Rome and Venice Contents 1 Plot 2 Reception 3 References 4 External linksPlot EditAfter Mr Burns gets teased about his old car by the kids at Springfield Elementary School he sends Homer to pick up a brand new Lamborgotti Fasterossa car a parody of the Lamborghini Gallardo in Italy The family flies over on Alitalia and have a great time touring the country despite Homer and Bart s mockery of the culture and history of Italy Lisa tries to pass the family off as Canadian to avoid potential ridicule from Europeans who believe Americans make stupid choices though this backfires when Homer brings in an American flag to smooch off the other passengers After one huge food wheel made of mortadella lands on their car and crush the hood they slowly push it into a small fictional Tuscan village nearby called Salsiccia sausage and are told that the mayor speaks English The Simpsons are shocked to find out that the mayor is none other than Sideshow Bob who is equally shocked to see them He explains that after he last attempted to kill Bart he wanted a new life away from Springfield Bob decided to get a fresh start elsewhere by using a knife and globe to randomly settle on a new destination eventually choosing Italy but only after passing over Orlando North Korea Shelbyville and ironically Bartovia After a rough start the Italians warmed up to him when he helped them crush their grapes into wine using his enormous feet After that they elected him as mayor of their tiny village As a result Bob has resisted all intentions of killing Bart and he reveals that he has a family He introduces them to his wife Francesca and his son Gino They know nothing about his past life in America and Bob begs the Simpsons not to tell anyone in order to have the car fixed which they agree to One month later Bob hosts a farewell party in the village for the Simpson family However that goes awry when Lisa gets drunk on wine and starts to spout off about him being an attempted murderer He leads her away from the table but as she stumbles backwards she rips off his suit to reveal his prison uniform The village finds out that Bob is a robber and attempted killer and they sack him as Mayor Bob is so angry at this that he swears a murderous vendetta on not just Bart but all of the Simpsons The family flees in the fixed car but Bob follows them on a motorcycle a Ducati 999 This leads into a high speed chase in a highway until Homer drives into a ditch and onto a Roman aqueduct eventually landing on top of Trajan s Column in the Roman Forum Bob s wife and son catch up with him and Bob fearing her disappointment tries promising to give up his new vendetta Francesca professes her love and loyalty to Bob and offers to help him take revenge as a family Meanwhile the Simpsons are wondering what they should do next since they are in a foreign country with no car and no money whatsoever Lisa spots a bus with a poster advertising Krusty the Clown s performance in the opera Pagliacci They meet up with him at the Colosseum in Rome and he puts them in as unnoticed extras However Bob Francesca and Gino find them and corner them on the stage while Krusty flees the stage through a trap door Lisa warns the audience that the Terwilligers are about to actually kill her and the family but Bob tricks the audience by performing the climax of Vesti la giubba Before Bob and his family can finish off the Simpsons though Krusty s limousine picks them up Krusty needs them to smuggle an ancient artefact back to America The Terwilligers are disappointed at first but then walk away plotting revenge together with Gino chasing a butterfly and Bob grinning maliciously with Francesca Reception EditKelsey Grammer won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice Over Performance for his voice portrayal of Sideshow Bob in this episode This marks the third time a credited guest star for the show has won an Emmy the other two being Marcia Wallace and Jackie Mason although Wallace and Mason both won theirs as a joint win with the rest of the main cast the first time the category was awarded in 1992 John Frink won the Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the 59th Writers Guild of America Awards for his script to this episode 1 In 2009 IGN s Robert Canning placed The Italian Bob last on his list of the Top 10 Sideshow Bob Episodes at that time ten episodes revolving around the character had aired Canning wrote that the episode falls lowest in the ranking for a few reasons but the biggest of these is the fact that Bob had no intention of killing Bart Plus we re in Italy Plus Bob is married and has a son All the things we love about a Sideshow Bob episode the vengeance the familiar settings and characters the elaborate scheming were missing from this half hour Without it Bob wasn t nearly as entertaining and the episode didn t result in a whole lot of laughs 2 References Edit McNary Dave 11 February 2007 Departed shines at WGA kudos Variety Retrieved 23 February 2019 Canning Robert 2012 12 09 The Simpsons Top 10 Sideshow Bob Episodes IGN Retrieved 2012 08 23 External links Edit The Italian Bob at IMDb Wikiquote has quotations related to The Italian Bob Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Italian Bob amp oldid 1121137501, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
