In the Name of the Grandfather
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"In the Name of the Grandfather"
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Episode Information
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"In the Name of the Grandfather" is the fourteenth episode of season 20. It originally aired on March 22, 2009. It aired earlier in Ireland and UK, on March 17, 2009. It was written by Matt Marshall and directed by Ralph Sosa. The episode featured guest-stars Colm Meaney, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as Tom O'Flanagan, street musician and an Eastern European woman, respectively.
Contents
Synopsis
- "The Simpson family travels to Ireland to take Grandpa to have one last beer at his beloved O'Flanagan's Pub in Dunkilderry. However, when they arrive, the little town of Dunkilderry isn't the quaint little Irish village that Grandpa remembers. It has become a gentrified yuppie enclave filled with hipsters on laptops and Bluetooths, surrounded by swanky stores and coffee shops. When they track down O'Flanagan's Pub, the bar is run down and nearly empty. After a few spirits, Homer and Grandpa buy the pub from Tom O'Flanagan (guest voice Meaney), and they are left with trying to bring the bar back to life amidst an ultra-hip, hardworking and sober Irish town. With a little help from Moe, they find the perfect scheme to bring the pub back to life and put "Simpson & Son" on the map."
Plot
The Simpsons family purchase a hot tub as a means to relax, yet in doing so forget they to visit Grampa Simpson at a family event. Homer decides to make up for it and decides to do something Grampa wants to do. Grampa reminisces about a pub in Dunkilderry, Ireland called O'Flanagan's, where he claims to have had the best night of his life many years ago. Homer decides to take Grampa there, but when the family arrive they realize Ireland has become a commercialized, hi-tech country of consumers and workaholics. The pub itself has run out of business as many of the patrons are now yuppies and have no interest in drinking. Homer and Grampa sit down at the pub and start drinking while Marge, Bart and Lisa visit various Irish landmarks. They visit the Giant's Causeway, Blarney Castle, the Guinness Brewery and Dublin.
After a long night of drinking, Homer and Grampa awaken to realize they have bought the pub from owner Tom O'Flanagan. They rename the bar but get no business because pubs are no longer popular. Homer gets help from Moe Syzlak, who suggests that they allow people to do illegal things in their pub. They find out that smoking is illegal in Irish pubs and Moe urges the Simpsons to turn it into a smokeasy. They do a roaring trade, but are closed down by the Irish authorities. As a punishment, Homer and Grampa are deported back to America with a small fine. After the Judge remarks that America is the place where Irish send their idiots and half wits, Clancy Wiggum makes a cameo scene as his usual incompetent stupid self.
Production
The episode was written by Matt Marshall and directed by Ralph Sosa. The episode's production was briefly delayed by the 2007 writers strike, however production quickly commenced once the strike finished. The inspiration for the episode was an article in the New York Times about a smoking ban in Irish pubs. Despite previous episodes where the Simpson family have visited foreign countries causing controversies, this episode did not - Al Jean predicted this as he said: "I'm Irish American and I know the Irish have an excellent sense of humor, so we aren't worried!"
Colm Meaney guest starred as Tom O'Flanagan.
Reception
The episode aired in the UK before America - a first for the series. Due to this, the episode was heavily promoted in the United Kingdom and Europe before airing. A float of the Simpsons living room was paraded around Ireland during St. Patrick's Day. It gathered 1,185,000 households on its Sky1 premiere.
The episode received generally positive reviews from TV critics. Many said the episode was nothing special, but overall was pretty solid.
