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"24 Minutes" is the twenty-first episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
''. It originally aired on the
Fox network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...
in the United States on May 20, 2007 as part of the one-hour season finale, alongside the episode "
You Kent Always Say What You Want "You Kent Always Say What You Want" is the twenty-second episode of the The Simpsons season 18, eighteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network in the ...
". It was originally promoted as being the 400th episode, but was broadcast as the 399th. It was written by
Ian Maxtone-Graham Ian Maxtone-Graham is an American television writer and producer. He has formerly written for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1992–1995) and ''The Simpsons'' (1995–2012), as well as serving as a co-executive producer and consulting producer for the ...
and
Billy Kimball Billy Kimball (born July 8, 1959) is an American writer and producer. He was a co-executive producer on the acclaimed HBO series ''Veep''. Personal life He was born in New York City, attended Trinity School, and graduated from Harvard College ...
. It was Kimball's first writing credit. The episode is a spoof of the
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
television drama '' 24'', and sees
Principal Skinner Principal Seymour Skinner is a recurring fictional character in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', who is voiced by Harry Shearer. He is the principal of Springfield Elementary School, which he struggles to control, and is constantly enga ...
's new Counter Truancy Unit (CTU), led by
Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television sitcom series ''The Simpsons''. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' short ...
, attempting to prevent a
stink bomb A stink bomb, sometimes called a stinkpot, is a device designed to create an unpleasant smell. They range in effectiveness from being used as simple pranks to military grade malodorants or riot control chemical agents. History A stink bomb ...
being released at
Springfield Elementary School Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an unknown state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundings ...
. Guest stars include
Kiefer Sutherland Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland (born 21 December 1966) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox drama series ''24 (TV series), 24'' (2001–2010, 20 ...
and
Mary Lynn Rajskub Mary Lynn Rajskub () is an American actress and comedian who is best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the action thriller series '' 24'' and Gail the Snail in ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Rajskub was a regular cast member on HBO' ...
as their respective characters from ''24'',
Jack Bauer Jack Bauer is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Fox television series '' 24''. Throughout the majority of the series' running, Bauer serves as a key member of the fictional CTU and other institutions. Bauer's job usually involv ...
and
Chloe O'Brian Chloe O'Brian is a fictional character played by actress Mary Lynn Rajskub on the US television series '' 24''. An analyst at CTU Los Angeles (and later New York), she is Jack Bauer's most trusted colleague, often doing unconventional and unau ...
. The episode received critical acclaim and won the 2008
Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...
for Best Writing in an Animated Television Production.


Plot

To tackle misbehavior,
Principal Skinner Principal Seymour Skinner is a recurring fictional character in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', who is voiced by Harry Shearer. He is the principal of Springfield Elementary School, which he struggles to control, and is constantly enga ...
opens a CTU – Counter Truancy Unit – at
Springfield Elementary School Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an unknown state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundings ...
with
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...
heading up the operation over Milhouse,
Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...
and
Database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...
. When the bullies Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney play truant, Milhouse is assigned on a mission to spy on them. At the
Power Plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
,
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
is found to be the owner of a container of expired and highly pungent yogurt and is ordered to dispose of it. Homer tries to return the yogurt to Apu, but Apu refuses to take it due to its unbearable stench and, desperate to get rid of it, takes Homer to the yogurt section and offers him whatever he wants there. While Homer and Apu are distracted, the bullies take the yogurt. Outside, Homer unwittingly breaks Milhouse's cover, and the bullies throw them both into a dumpster and send it rolling down an avenue. Meanwhile,
Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...
discovers that there is a bake sale at the school that day, and realizes she has just 27 minutes to make a cake. In order to save time, she drastically increases the oven temperature to 1,200 degrees, quickly burning the cake and making it rock-solid. Marge desperately attempts to cover it up with pink and white frosting before rushing to the bake sale. Lisa suggests that
Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...
help them, though he only agrees after negotiating immunity from punishment for all his past and future pranks (and making Skinner teach him a new swear word). At Jimbo's house, the bullies make a powerful
stink bomb A stink bomb, sometimes called a stinkpot, is a device designed to create an unpleasant smell. They range in effectiveness from being used as simple pranks to military grade malodorants or riot control chemical agents. History A stink bomb ...
(which resembles the canisters of Sentox Nerve Gas from season 5 of ''24'') from the expired yogurt and a variety of other putrid items, and plan on detonating it at the bake sale. During his investigation, Bart's phone call is accidentally crossed with a call from
Jack Bauer Jack Bauer is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Fox television series '' 24''. Throughout the majority of the series' running, Bauer serves as a key member of the fictional CTU and other institutions. Bauer's job usually involv ...
of ''24'', who is busy in a gun battle, and turns it into a prank call against him ("Ahmed Adoudi"). Bart finds out about the stink bomb and informs Lisa. Upon returning to school, he discovers that Martin is a double-agent working for the bullies. Before Bart can tell Lisa about Martin's double-dealing, Martin knocks him unconscious and takes him to the ventilation room, where the bullies tie up Bart. When Willie stumbles upon the bullies, they overpower him and tie him up too. The bullies then return Martin's ant farm, which they had used to blackmail him into working for them, but Martin is devastated to learn one of their ants has joined the bullies' cause. Later, he hangs himself by his underwear on a clothing hook, giving himself a wedgie after putting on his hall monitor sash (as a homage to the suicide in ''
A Few Good Men ''A Few Good Men'' is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play, produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, financed and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced ...
'' as well as that of the character Walt Cummings on Season 5 of ''24,'' who is murdered and has his death framed as a hanging). At the bake sale, the bullies start the three-minute timer for the bomb. Bart, still tied up, manages to contact Lisa by his cell phone, telling her to have Skinner dump the hot dog water to short circuit the ventilation fan. Skinner starts filling up the room with the water. Running out of air and floating dangerously close to the sharp ceiling fan blades, Bart swims down with the chair tied to his back to the room's only window, which faces the bake sale room.
Chief Wiggum Chief Clancy Wiggum is a fictional character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the chief of police in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of Ralph Wiggum and the husband of Sa ...
is unable to shoot through the bulletproof glass, but Marge then throws her burnt cake like a discus through the window, breaking the window and allowing Bart, Willie, the bomb, and all the water to flood into the room. Lisa defuses the bomb with one second to spare. Bauer and his CTU SWAT Team then arrive to arrest Bart for prank-calling him, having diverted all CTU's resources into finding him. As he says that, a
nuclear bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
explodes in the distance, but to the crowd's relief Bauer assures them that it went off in neighboring Shelbyville.


Production

An original idea saw
Edgar Stiles The following is a list of characters in the American serial drama television series '' 24'', '' 24: Live Another Day'', and '' 24: Legacy'' by season and event. The list first names the actor, followed by the character. Some characters have their ...
from ''24'' appearing in the episode and being killed, but the concept was dropped.


Cultural references

The title is a reference to the Fox show '' 24''. The episode includes many of the show's hallmarks, such as the multiple split screens, the timer before and after the commercial break, and extended
opening credits In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank scree ...
running over the opening scenes of the narrative. ''24'' characters Jack Bauer and Chloe O'Brian, voiced by their original portrayers, make cameo appearances.


Reception

Robert Canning on ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' named "24 Minutes" the best episode of the season and gave it a 9.6/10 saying "this smart, funny, spot-on parody of ''24'' was so good that it came very close to redeeming the entire season." He also stated "Though much of Season Eighteen was quite mediocre, "24 Minutes" ranks up there with the best of all time". In 2007, Simon Crerar of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' listed Sutherland's performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show. In 2012, Johnny Dee of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' listed the episode as one of his five favorite episodes in the history of ''The Simpsons''. He wrote: "One reason why The Simpsons has remained so watchable is that its parodies are getting sharper – The Departed in Debarted, The Da Vinci Code in Gone Maggie Gone. None though can top this excellent riff which begins with Kiefer Sutherland announcing 'Previously on 24... I mean The Simpsons,' and dispenses with its normal format completely for an entire episode of split-screen thrills, torture and cake baking." Bernardo Sim of ''
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...
'' called it the best episode of the 18th season. At the 35th Annie Awards, writers
Ian Maxtone-Graham Ian Maxtone-Graham is an American television writer and producer. He has formerly written for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1992–1995) and ''The Simpsons'' (1995–2012), as well as serving as a co-executive producer and consulting producer for the ...
and
Billy Kimball Billy Kimball (born July 8, 1959) is an American writer and producer. He was a co-executive producer on the acclaimed HBO series ''Veep''. Personal life He was born in New York City, attended Trinity School, and graduated from Harvard College ...
won the
Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production The Annie Award for Writing in a Television/Broadcasting Production is an Annie Award given annually to the best writing in animated television or broadcasting productions. From 1995 to 1996, both films and television productions were included in ...
for this episode.


References


External links

* {{24 (TV series) The Simpsons season 18 episodes 2007 American television episodes Annie Award–winning television shows 24 (TV series) Crossover animation Crossover television Television episodes about terrorism Television episodes written by Ian Maxtone-Graham Television episodes directed by Raymond S. Persi