Missionary: Impossible
"Missionary: Impossible" is the fifteenth episode of the eleventh season of the American television series "The Simpsons". It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 20, 2000. In the episode, Homer gets in trouble with PBS after confessing he does not have $10,000 to give them for their pledge drive, and ends up a missionary on a South Pacific island. It was directed by Steven Dean Moore and was the final episode written by Ron Hauge. Plot. In an attempt to end a pledge drive which interrupts a favorite show of his  on PBS (a Thames Television British sitcom titled "Do Shut Up"), Homer pledges $10,000 to the network. Homer is applauded for saving the network, but it quickly becomes apparent that he does not have the money, prompting pledge drive host Betty White and a mob of characters and personalities from various PBS shows (including Fred Rogers, Yo-Yo Ma, the Teletubbies, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and Elmo) to chase him through the streets. Reverend Lovejoy saves Homer after he runs into the church and claims sanctuary. Reverend Lovejoy gets Homer past the mob by hiding him in a  bag disguised as a sack of children's letters to God. Lovejoy puts Homer on a cargo plane to the South Pacific, where he will become a missionary in Micronesia despite Homer's lack of religious faith and ignorance of his professed Christianity, the latter to the point he mistakenly refers to Jesus as "Jeebus." Homer calls back to Marge in Springfield with a radio, during which he promotes Bart to "the man of the house", Lisa to "boy", Maggie to the "brainy girl" and the toaster to "Maggie", making Marge a consultant. Bart replaces Homer at the Springfield Nuclear  Power Plant, where Mr. Burns criticizes Homer's record and, not recognizing whom he is talking to, pokes Bart with a stick. After coming home from a hard day at work, Bart agrees to take Marge out for dinner one night. Homer arrives on the island and he meets Qtoktok and Ak. He also meets a native girl who acts and sounds exactly like Lisa that he names "Lisa Jr." At first, he is so desperate that he drops to the ground writhing and crying "Oh God!" repeatedly (which the natives all imitate, following his example). The natives are first  portrayed as noble savages, ignorant of and unspoiled by North American civilization. Homer eventually begins trying to teach them about religion, but realizing that he knows nothing about it, he tries something new and decides to build a casino on the island, which he names "The Lucky Savage". It introduces alcohol, gambling, and violence to the island, and ruins the natives' virtuous way of life. After the failure of the casino, Homer builds a chapel in penance, but he and Lisa Jr. ring the bell too loudly, causing an earthquake that releases a river of lava. The chapel, carrying Homer  and Lisa Jr., starts to sink into the lava. As the two are about to meet their deaths, the scene cuts to another pledge drive; this time, however, the drive is for the Fox network. It is revealed that the show is in danger of cancellation, while the entire network is facing financial hardship. Various Fox show personalities are manning the phones, joined by a cranky Rupert Murdoch and hosted again by Betty White, who entreats the viewers to help keep "crude, low-brow programming", such as "Family Guy", on air. Bart calls in and pledges a $10,000 donation . Murdoch excitedly remarks that Bart has saved the network, to which he replies "Wouldn't be the first time". Cultural references. In the beginning of the episode Homer is watching a program called "Do Shut Up", described as "a delicious British sitcom about a hard-drinking yet loving family of soccer hooligans". British English expressions terms used in the sitcom include "noggin", "wanker", and "soddin". The song playing when the program starts is "No Feelings" by the Sex Pistols. When Homer defaults on his financial pledge of support to PBS, references seen to characters from other programs that pursue him  through the town include Fred Rogers, Yo-Yo Ma, the Teletubbies, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Elmo and Garrison Keillor. Reception. Reception of the episode has been mostly positive. Jeff Cotton of "The Observer" characterizes the episode as "A Classic". Cotton notes: "There's a big finish, and one of those jokes at Fox's expense you know they wouldn't allow if The Simpsons wasn't their biggest cash cow." In a review of the episode for "The Gazette", Alex Strachan writes: "Missionary: Impossible ... may not be the funniest Simpsons episode ever made. But it has some of the  funniest lines about TV." Strachan quotes Homer's description of the television program "Do Shut Up" to Bart - "If they're not having a go with a bird, they're having a row with a wanker!" - as one of the funniest moments in the episode, but the line was cut from the British broadcast, as "wanker" is considered profanity in the UK. Writing in his review of the episode for "The Simpsons" 11th season DVD release, Colin Jacobson of "DVD Movie Guide" is critical of an "inane" choice by the producers to have Homer refer to Jesus as "Jeebus". However , Jacobson gives the episode a positive review overall: "Highlighted by a fun turn from Betty White, the PBS segment amuses, and the pieces with Homer on the island do nicely as well. Despite 'Jeebus', this becomes arguably Season 11’s best episode." "Missionary: Impossible" was also named the best episode of the eleventh season of "The Simpsons" by IGN writers Robert Canning, Eric Goldman, Dan Iverson, and Brian Zoromski. They highlighted scenes "such as the building of the 'Lucky Savage' casino and the destruction of Homer's chapel by an earthquake and a river of lava," but also noted that  Some of the episode's best humor is back in Springfield, after Homer makes Bart the man of the house — as Bart fills in for Homer at the nuclear plant, Mr. Burns berates ‘Homer’ for his poor performance record, gets tired of talking and ends up just poking Bart with a stick. Betty White also gives a great guest performance as herself, hosting a PBS telethon and ridiculing those viewers who watch but don't send in contributions. The episode has become study material for sociology courses at University of California Berkeley, where it is used to "examine issues of  the production and reception of cultural objects, in this case, a satirical cartoon show", and to figure out what it is "trying to tell audiences about aspects primarily of American society, and, to a lesser extent, about other societies." Some questions asked in the courses include: "What aspects of American society are being addressed in the episode? What aspects of them are used to make the points? How is the satire conveyed: through language? Drawing? Music? Is the behavior of each character consistent with his/her character as developed over the years? Can we identify elements of the historical/political  context that the writers are satirizing? What is the difference between satire and parody?" A "New York Times" blog mentions an article in "L’Osservatore Romano" claiming Homer is a "good Catholic" and disputes it with a clip from this episode in which Homer "memorably" declares, “I’m no missionary, I don’t even believe in Jeebus!” seconds before uttering the despairing plea, “Save me, Jeebus!”