Fear of Flying (The Simpsons)

In the episode, the Simpson family prepares to go on a vacation by plane, but the circumstances force Marge to confess that she has a fear of flying, which she then sees a therapist to uncover the root cause of.

Additionally, Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt appear as their characters from Cheers.

In exchange for Homer's silence about the incident, the airline gives the Simpson family free tickets for a flight to any of the lower forty-eight states.

Marge insists she is mentally healthy, but her suppression of her fear causes her behavior to become increasingly erratic and she shows signs of lingering flight-related trauma.

Marge also recalls that she was injured as a baby when her grandmother fed her while saying "Here comes the airplane", a toy plane she played with as a child once spontaneously burst into flames, and she and her mother were almost bombarded with gunfire by a biplane in a cornfield.

Before Bancroft recorded her part, the animators based Zweig's design on a temp track from cast member Tress MacNeille as the therapist.

The staff were able to get the central cast of the American sitcom Cheers, with the exception of Kelsey Grammer, Shelley Long, and Kirstie Alley, to reunite and guest star in the episode.

[1][6] Due to the episode running short in length, it features the long title sequence that ends with various characters performing a dance routine for the couch gag.

[7] The scene where Marge and Jacqueline Bouvier run away when a biplane shoots at them in a cornfield is a parody of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, said it was "a good Marge-centric episode with plenty of clever set pieces – the tributes to Cheers and Lost in Space are fantastic", and noted that "Marge's father looks suspiciously like Moe".

[7] Ryan Keefer at DVD Verdict said that "with the cast of Cheers appearing (except for Grammer, ironically) and a funny spoof of North by Northwest, the episode is much better than you would expect", and gave it a B+.

"[10] In July 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times listed the Cheers cast's performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show.