page_title: The Great Wife Hope
section_title: Production and cultural references
hierarchical_section_title: The Great Wife Hope / Production and cultural references
caption_attribution_description: Carolyn Omine at a San Diego Comic-Con panel for The Simpsons.
context_page_description: "The Great Wife Hope" is the third episode of The Simpsons' twenty-first season. Originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on October 11, 2009, it sees the men of Springfield taking immense interest in a new combat sport called mixed martial arts. Marge is appalled by the violent sport and demands that the creator put a stop to it, but he agrees only if she will fight him in a match and win.
  "The Great Wife Hope" was written by Carolyn Omine and directed by Matthew Faughnan. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Chuck Liddell guest starred in it as himself. The episode featured multiple cultural references to fighting moves and positions, along with a single reference to professional wrestling promotion owner Vince McMahon.
  Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from television critics, particularly towards the final scene. It received a 4.3/7 Nielsen rating with adults ages 18–49, behind all other programs aimed at that demographic in its timeslot.
context_section_description: "The Great Wife Hope" was written by Carolyn Omine and directed by Matthew Faughnan. The writers of The Simpsons had a vast amount of knowledge and appreciation for mixed martial arts and included multiple references and themes of the sport throughout the episode. Former Ultimate Fighter champion Chuck Liddell guest starred as himself, signing photographs for fans, including Bart, at a cost of $25. Liddell commented that being a guest star was "very cool" and that the recording sessions were "easy".
  The episode is a satire of the combat sport of mixed martial arts. Throughout the episode, characters perform multiple fighting moves and positions. For example, Bart puts Nelson in a triangle choke at the playground when the two are fighting, while Marge takes out Englebrit with a flying armbar. Marge explains in the beginning of the episode that she found out about a creative new sport called "Crazy Bowling" by typing in "girls having fun"—after ignoring several thousand pages of porn—into the search engine Google. Also, H.R. Pufnstuf is parodied as HufnStuf on Ice, because Englebrit's assistant claims the next day, Hufnstuf on Ice will need the space.
  Marge claims that the word Ultimate makes everything worse, though Otto Mann protests that it does not affect the popular sport Ultimate Frisbee. Englebrit carries similar traits to the professional wrestling promoter Vince McMahon. Marge initially tries to train for the match by performing rhythmic gymnastics. She practices boxing with a character named Dredrick Tatum, who is a parody of renowned boxer Mike Tyson.
caption: Carolyn Omine wrote the episode.
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