A Star Is Burns
"A Star Is Burns" is the eighteenth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons.
[2] In the episode, Springfield decides to hold a film festival, and famed critic Jay Sherman is invited to be a judge.
In response to Springfield being named the most unpopular city in the United States, a town meeting is held to decide how to attract more tourists.
Festival attendees are particularly touched by Barney Gumble's artistic introspective film about alcoholism, titled Pukahontas, which Marge and Sherman foresee to be the eventual winner.
In his acceptance speech, Barney declares that his victory has inspired him to give up drinking, but immediately rescinds his promise when Quimby reveals that the grand prize is a lifetime supply of Duff Beer.
At the ceremony, the winner is announced to be George C. Scott, for his performance in a remake of Man Getting Hit by Football, angering Burns further.
It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously written for The Simpsons but left after the fourth season, and executive produced by James L.
[10] The episode was pitched by Brooks, who had wanted a crossover that would help launch The Critic on Fox, and he thought having a film festival in Springfield would be a good way to introduce Sherman.
[13] Alongside Jon Lovitz, the episode guest stars Maurice LaMarche, a regular on The Critic, who voices George C. Scott[3] as well as Jay Sherman's belch.
[13] Phil Hartman also makes a brief appearance as an actor resembling Charlton Heston portraying Judah Ben-Hur in Mr. Burns' film.
[3] Rainier Wolfcastle's line, "on closer inspection, these are loafers", was ad-libbed by Dan Castellaneta who was providing the voice of the character on a temporary track.
The song the "Rappin' Rabbis" play in the opening moments of the episode is a parody of "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer.
[3] The opening of Bart's movie The Eternal Struggle is a reference to The Amazing Criswell's narration in Plan 9 from Outer Space.
[17] The episode was the third highest rated show on the Fox network that week, beaten only by Melrose Place and Beverly Hills, 90210.
[17] The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "Jay Sherman perhaps proves here, even more so than in The Critic, just why that show failed.
"[3] Adam Finley of TV Squad wrote, "the episode, even if I didn't care for it as a whole, does have moments that are still very Simpson-y, and still very funny.
He felt that the crossover was a thirty-minute advertisement and blamed James L. Brooks, calling it an attempt to get attention for one of his unsuccessful shows.
He stated that his reasons for doing so were that he hoped Brooks would have a change of heart and pull the episode, and that "articles began to appear in several newspapers around the country saying that [Groening] created 'The Critic.
"[22] Al Jean and Mike Reiss, creators of The Critic, had previously worked on The Simpsons and had executive produced the third and fourth seasons.
Brooks said, "for years, Al and Mike were two guys who worked their hearts out on this show, staying up until 4 in the morning to get it right.
[5][9] Jay Sherman appeared and spoke briefly in two subsequent episodes of The Simpsons, "Hurricane Neddy" and "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner.
"[25] Idiomatic use of the phrase "say the quiet part loud" gained wide currency in the 2010s, chiefly in political discourse, to mean revealing an opinion usually expected to be kept from the public.
