Marge Gamer

"Marge Gamer" is the seventeenth episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 22, 2007. The episode was written by J. Stewart Burns and directed by Bob Anderson.

In this episode, Marge joins Bart in playing an online role-playing game while Homer becomes a referee for Lisa's soccer games. It featured a guest appearance from Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo. The episode received negative reviews.

Plot

Marge is embarrassed at a Parent-Teacher Association meeting because she does not have an email address. She agrees to get one and learns to browse the internet. Bored with no new email, she repeatedly hits the refresh button causing new advertising banners to appear. An advertisement for a massively multiplayer online role-playing game called ''Earthland Realms'' catches her attention. Marge clicks on it and creates a character for the game. She quickly learns how to play. Exploring the local town, she meets the personas of other Springfield residents who are playing the game. Suddenly, everyone hides as a powerful and deadly character named "The Shadow Knight" appears. He kills Principal Skinner's character. Disgusted, Marge stops playing. Walking past Bart's bedroom, she overhears that Bart is the Shadow Knight.

In the game, Marge goes to the Shadow Knight's castle and meets Bart, who is embarrassed by her. Later, when Marge gets into trouble while exploring, Bart rescues her. Returning to his castle with her, Bart discovers that Marge redecorated his trophy room with a Hello Kitty expansion pack. Enraged, Bart smashes the decorations and accidentally kills Marge's character in the process. Meanwhile, Homer takes Lisa to her soccer game and agrees to referee the match. His subpar skills frustrate Lisa, so Homer learns the rules of soccer and becomes a better referee. While playing, Lisa trips trying to steal the ball from another player. Homer calls a foul and gives the ball to Lisa. She takes advantage of the situation and pretends to be fouled again so Homer can grant her another penalty kick. When Homer's decision is challenged, Ronaldo appears and confirms that Lisa is a flopper. Homer gives Lisa a yellow card. Angered, Lisa rips up the yellow card, causing Homer to give her a red card and eject her from the game.

Marge is disappointed with Bart as Homer returns home with an angry Lisa from the soccer game. Homer and Bart go to Moe's Tavern where Moe gives them advice. Homer gives Lisa a DVD documentary about soccer riots and player fights, which horrifies her. Lisa realizes she was at fault and apologizes to Homer. Meanwhile, Bart uses his character to revive his mother's character using two-thirds of his life force. Weakened, the other players kill the Shadow Knight. Marge vows revenge, but Bart decides to play soccer in the backyard with the rest of the family.

Production

Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo appeared as himself.

Cultural references

The game ''Earthland Realms'' is a parody of 2000s massively multiplayer online role-playing games, combining elements of ''EverQuest'' and ''World of Warcraft''. Apu cheers for the parent characters while watching the 2002 film ''Bend It Like Beckham''.

Reception

Viewing figures

The episode earned a 2.3 rating and was watched by 6.46 million viewers, which was the 53rd most-watched show that week.

Critical response

Adam Finley of ''TV Squad'' felt "the Homer/Lisa story might have worked better as the main plot, but even that segment of the episode was hindered by a terrible guest voice in soccer player Ronaldo". He also said, "I hate it when non-actors do guest voices on ''The Simpsons''" and "bad voice acting becomes much more of a distraction".

Robert Canning of ''IGN'' gave the episode a 4.5 of out 10. He thought the episode contained a random sequence of events with an unrelated subplot that did not begin until the second act. He was also bothered that the video game animation style did not differ from the normal animation.

Colin Jacobson of ''DVD Movie Guide'' thought the story of Marge using the internet was "clever" but the role-playing game parody was "gimmicky".

In 2007, Simon Crerar of ''The Times'' listed Ronaldo's performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show.

References

External links

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Earthland Realms

{{The Simpsons episodes, 18

2007 American television episodes
The Simpsons season 18 episodes
Association football animation
Television episodes about video games
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games in fiction
Television episodes written by J. Stewart Burns
Television episodes directed by Bob Anderson (director)