Principal Charming

"Principal Charming" is the fourteenth episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons.

The characters Hans Moleman, Groundskeeper Willie and Squeaky Voiced Teen make their first appearances on The Simpsons in this episode.

"Principal Charming" features cultural references to films such as Vertigo, Gone with the Wind, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

When Bart is caught spelling his name on the school's lawn by killing the grass with a herbicide, Principal Skinner summons Homer to his office to discuss the prank.

[2] The characters Hans Moleman, Groundskeeper Willie and Squeaky Voiced Teen made their first appearances on the show in "Principal Charming".

Originally, Willie was just written as an angry janitor, and the fact that he was Scottish was added during a recording session.

[4] The show's creator Matt Groening later revealed that the character was based partially on Angus Crock, a kilt-wearing chef from the sketch comedy show Second City Television, who was portrayed by Dave Thomas,[5] and Jimmy Finlayson, the mustachioed Scottish actor who appeared in thirty-three Laurel and Hardy films.

[9] While searching for a man worthy of Selma, Homer imagines himself using a computer-enhanced overlay on his vision, similar to characters from the films Westworld, The Terminator and RoboCop.

[1][10] Skinner sings the song "Inchworm" by Danny Kaye as he rings the bell to Patty and Selma's apartment.

[8] Skinner carries Patty up the steps of the bell tower as Quasimodo did with Esmeralda in the 1939 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

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: "Good fun, with both Patty and Selma gaining a degree of humanity.

"[1] DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote: "Many shows might have trouble concentrating on secondary characters like Skinner and Patty, but this episode worked nicely.

"[12] Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and Rolling Stone contributor, wrote that "the [episode] is heavily character orientated but poignantly comical".

"[14] Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic said "Principal Charming" was the episode that made it "clear that The Simpsons wasn't just a smart little cartoon but something much, much more.