"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" is the first half of the only two-part episode of The Simpsons to date. It originally aired on May 21, 1995.^[1] It was written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, and directed by Jeffrey Lynch.^[1] Tito Puente, who is a favorite of Matt Groening, guest stars as himself.^[3] The second part of the episode aired as the season premiere of season seven, on September 17, 1995. The show mimicked the similar controversy that had resulted when the character J.R. Ewing was shot on the series Dallas in the episode titled "A House Divided," known by most as "Who shot J.R.?".^[2] Simpsons redirects here. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... David Mirkin (born September 18, 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American, feature film and television director, writer and producer. ... Al Jean (left) and David Mirkin (right), have both been writers for The Simpsons for more than ten years. ... Bill Oakley (born in 1966) is an American televison writer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. ... This article is about The Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein. ... The three people are caricatures of (left to right) Rich Moore, Wes Archer and David Silverman[1] The following is a list of directors who have worked on the Fox animated television series The Simpsons. ... Jeffrey Lynch is an american animator and graphics artist. ... Bart writes The Pledge of Allegiance does not end with Hail Satan The chalkboard gag is a running visual joke that occurs during the opening credits of many episodes of The Simpsons. ... The couch gag is a running visual joke in the opening credits of the animated television series The Simpsons. ... (left to right) Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Keith Richards, Homer, Mick Jagger, Lenny Kravitz and Brian Setzer guest starred in the heavily promoted season 14 episode How I Spent My Strummer Vacation. This is a list of guest stars who appeared on The Simpsons. ... Tito Puente, Sr. ... The Simpsons DVD season boxsets have been released since 2001 in different regions all over the world. ... David Mirkin (born September 18, 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American, feature film and television director, writer and producer. ... Bill Oakley (born in 1966) is an American televison writer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. ... This article is about The Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein. ... Jeffrey Lynch is an american animator and graphics artist. ... The Simpsons sixth season originally aired between September 1994 and May 1995, beginning on September 4, 1994. ... is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This be the Danster with a few new trickoms ahahahahahahahahahahahahah Hace fun life life // January 1 - NAFTA goes into effect. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Bart of Darkness is the first episode of The Simpsons sixth season, which originally aired September 4, 1994. ... Lisas Rival is the second episode of The Simpsons sixth season, which originally aired September 11, 1994. ... Another Simpsons Clip Show is the third episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... Itchy & Scratchy Land is the fourth episode of The Simpsons sixth season and first aired on October 2, 1994. ... Sideshow Bob Roberts is an episode of The Simpsons. ... Treehouse of Horror V is the sixth episode of The Simpsons sixth season, which originally aired October 30, 1994. ... Barts Girlfriend is the seventh episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... Lisa on Ice is the eighth episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... Homer Badman, also known as Homer: Bad Man[2] is the ninth episode of The Simpsons sixth season and originally aired November 27, 1994. ... Grampa vs. ... Fear of Flying is an episode of The Simpsons from the sixth season. ... Homer the Great is the 12th episode of The Simpsons’ sixth season. ... And Maggie Makes Three is the thirtenth episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... Barts Comet is the 14th episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... Homie the Clown is the 15th episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... Bart vs. ... Homer vs. ... A Star is Burns is the 18th episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... Lisas Wedding is the 19th episode of The Simpsons sixth season, which originally aired March 19, 1995. ... Two Dozen and One Greyhounds is the 20th episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... The PTA Disbands! is the 21st episode of The Simpsons sixth season. ... Round Springfield is the twenty-second (22) episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons, and the 125th episode overall. ... The Springfield Connection is the 23rd episode of the sixth season, and the 126th episode of The Simpsons. ... Lemon of Troy is the 24th episode of The Simpsons sixth season, which premiered on the Fox network on May 14, 1995. ... The following is an episode list for the Fox animated television series The Simpsons. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... May 21 is the 141st day of the year (142nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Bill Oakley (born in 1966) is an American televison writer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. ... This article is about The Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein. ... Jeffrey Lynch is an american animator and graphics artist. ... Tito Puente Ernesto Antonio Puente Jr. ... Matthew Abram Groening (born February 15, 1954[2] in Portland, Oregon;[1] his family name is pronounced , rhymes with raining) is an Emmy Award-winning American cartoonist and the creator of The Simpsons, Futurama and the weekly comic strip Life in Hell. ... is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing John Ross J.R. Ewing, Jr. ... The Southfork Ranch, home of the Ewing family The original cast of Dallas. ... Who shot J.R.? was a national obsession. ...

Plot

Principal Skinner walks into school one day and discovers a horrible stench. It turns out that Superdude, a Gerbil who is a class pet, has died. Skinner orders Groundskeeper Willie to bury the gerbil and as Willie digs the grave, he strikes oil, making Springfield Elementary the richest school in the state. Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers lavishly think of ways to spend the money and take many student requests, and hire Tito Puente as a new music teacher on Lisa's suggestion. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In the television series The Simpsons, Springfield Elementary School is the name of the school that Bart Simpson, Lisa Simpson and their fellow peers attend. ... Groundskeeper Willie (a. ... Superintendent Gary Chalmers, voiced by Hank Azaria, is a fictional character in the animated TV series The Simpsons, the superintendent of Springfields school district. ... Tito Puente Ernesto Antonio Puente Jr. ...

At Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer is disturbed when Mr. Burns can't remember his name. Later, Burns finds out about the oil and immediately decides that he needs to find a way to get it. Burns tries to persuade Skinner to give it to him but Skinner refuses. In response, Mr. Burns establishes a slant drilling operation to take it and thus, on the day when the switch for the oil pump is to be thrown, nothing happens. A mechanic announces the oil well has already been tapped and Mr. Burns has pumped the oil first. Mr. Burns's oil drilling operation causes harm to many Springfield citizens: Moe's Tavern is closed and Moe and Barney vow revenge; The Springfield Retirement Home collapses and Grampa has no home; Bart's treehouse is destroyed and Santa's Little Helper is injured; and because the school has lost a lot of money, Tito Puente and Groundskeeper Willie are fired. Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is a fictional nuclear power plant in the television animated cartoon series The Simpsons. ... Charles Montgomery Burns, normally referred to as Mr. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Directional drilling. ... An exterior of Moes Tavern, in The Simpsons. ... ... Barnard Barney Gumble is a character on The Simpsons, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. ... Abraham Abe Grampa J. Simpson is a fictional character featured in the animated cartoon television series The Simpsons, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. ... Santas Little Helper or once known as Santos L. Halper (voiced by Frank Welker or Dan Castellaneta) is the Simpson familys pet dog. ...

Mr. Burns encounters his assailant.

One day, Burns unveils his most dastardly scheme of all to Smithers; the construction of a giant, movable disk that would permanently block out the sun in Springfield, thus ensuring the residents' constant use of electricity to earn massive profits for his nuclear power plant. Smithers objects and begs Mr. Burns to stop being so evil and in response, Burns promptly fires him. Homer, who is still disturbed that Burns has no idea who he is, sneaks into Burns's office and spray paints "My name is Homer Simpson." Burns catches him, and doesn't know who Homer is. Homer is hauled away by security and vows to kill Mr. Burns. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Waylon Smithers, Jr. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... A nuclear power station. ...

A city hall meeting is held to discuss Burns' recent actions and many citizens talk about their problems with Mr. Burns. Suddenly, Mr. Burns appears and activates his sun-blocking device, and states that nobody will be able to stop him. Laughing evilly, Mr. Burns leaves the city hall and the camera shows him walking into an alley, obscuring him from view. Burns can be heard saying "Oh it's you, what are you so happy about... Oh, I see. I think you'd better drop it" and can be heard struggling with someone before a gunshot rings out. He then stumbles out into the open and collapses on the town's sundial. The townspeople find his body and Chief Wiggum states that he will find the killer.^[1][2][3] For other uses, see Sundial (disambiguation). ... Police Chief Clancy Wiggum(1st May 1962) (voiced by Hank Azaria) is a fictional character from the animated television series The Simpsons. ...

The plot of the episode continues in Part Two. Who Shot Mr. ...

Production

The idea for the episode came from Matt Groening, who had wanted to do an episode in which Mr. Burns was shot, which could be used as a publicity stunt.^[4] The writers had then decided to make the episode a two parter with a solveable mystery that could be used in a contest.^[5] It was important for them to design a mystery that had clues, needed freeze frame technology and was structured around one character who seemed the obvious culprit, but in the end the actual shooter was a surprise.^[5] Matthew Abram Groening (born February 15, 1954[2] in Portland, Oregon;[1] his family name is pronounced , rhymes with raining) is an Emmy Award-winning American cartoonist and the creator of The Simpsons, Futurama and the weekly comic strip Life in Hell. ...

Hidden clues

A number of subtle clues, and a few red herrings, were planted in Part One for viewers who wanted to unravel the mystery.^[4]

• Almost every clock is set at three or nine o'clock. The point of the clocks was to teach the viewer to view the sundial at the end upside down.^[4]
• An important clue for identity of the culprit is when Mr. Burns looks out his window and talks about stealing candy from a baby.^[5]
• Many of the suspects have the letters S and W or M in their initials and the intention was that several "obvious" suspects could be eliminated by the letters. Several characters already had names with those initials, but some were made up specifically for this episode.^[4]
  • Principal Skinner's full name is revealed to be "W. Seymour Skinner" on a diploma in his office.^[4]
  • Mr. Burns calls Santa's Little Helper the "Simpson Mutt".^[4]
  • Moe's liquour license reveals that his full name is Moe Szyslak.^[4]
  • Grandpa's gun was a Smith & Wesson.^[6]
• Just before entering Mr. Burns's office to spray paint his name, Homer briefly stands in front of a sign painted on the road that says "IN ONLY" but his head blocks all of the letters but "NO" and a small arrow can be seen pointing at Homer.^[7]
• A television in Moe's Tavern shows that "Pardon My Zinger" airs weekdays at 3 PM on Comedy Central.^[4] It is later revealed that Burns is shot at 3 PM and just after the meeting ends, Smithers is seen heading in the opposite direction that Burns heads.^[4]
• In the scene at the town hall, several citizens are seen stroking guns: Skinner has a silencer, Moe has a shotgun, Barney has a derringer and Smithers has a normal gun.^[4]
• As Mr. Burns collapses on the sundial, it is seen that the gun he was previously carrying has gone missing. This was inserted as an intentional freeze frame clue.^[4]
• When Mr. Burns collapses on the sundial, he points at W and S, although from his viewpoint, the W looks like an M.^[4]

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Santas Little Helper or once known as Santos L. Halper (voiced by Frank Welker or Dan Castellaneta) is the Simpson familys pet dog. ... Smith & Wesson NASDAQ: SWHC (S&W) is the largest manufacturer of handguns in the United States. ... An exterior of Moes Tavern, in The Simpsons. ... Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel in the United States. ... The term derringer is a genericized misspelling of the last name of Henry Deringer, a famous maker of small pocket pistols in the 1800s. ...

Contest

One of the most important clues shows Mr. Burns's gun missing from its holster shortly before he collapses on the sundial.^[4]

In the months following the airing of part one, there was much widespread debate among fans of the series as to who actually shot Mr. Burns. FOX, the television network that ran the series, offered a contest to tie in with the mystery. It was one of the first contests to tie together elements of television and the Internet. The winner would be animated on an episode of the show. No one, however, was ever animated on the show. This was because no one officially guessed the right answer. Due to contest regulations, a winner had to be selected out of a random sample of entries. The winner who was chosen did not have the right answer and was paid a cash prize in lieu of being animated.^[5] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Mr. ... The Fox Broadcasting Company is a television network in the United States. ...

The contest is referenced at the end of the episode when Dr. Hibbert says "well I couldn't possible solve this mystery... Can you?"^[5] This article contains a list of recurring characters from The Simpsons with descriptions. ...

The writers had trolled the internet trying to see if anyone had correctly guessed who the culprit was, and found that only one man on a college account on alt.tv.simpsons had followed the clues and correctly guessed the culprit. David Mirkin was going to send him a prize but was legally barred from contacting him in any way. Mirkin decided to instead contact him after the contest had ended, but by that time the account was dead and Mirkin has been unable to find him.^[8] alt. ... David Mirkin (born September 18, 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American, feature film and television director, writer and producer. ...

Cultural references

The title and the idea of these two episodes are also taken from the series Dallas. Dallas had the two-parter "Who shot J.R." episode, the first of which ended a season, and the second opened the next season.^[2] When Mr. Burns refers to his package at the beginning of the episode, he states that it 'absolutely, positively' has to arrive in Pasadena, California the following day is a reference to an early Fedex commercial.^[5] In the first part, Mr. Burns sings "hello lamp-post, what you knowin', I'm come to watch your power flowin'", which echo the lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel's song "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)".^[5] The musical score that ends the episode (when the credit rolls) is a parody of John Williams' Drummers' Salute, which is part of the musical score he wrote for Oliver Stone's movie JFK.^[4] Dallas redirects here. ... Who shot J.R.? was an advertising catch phrase that CBS created in 1980 to promote the television show Dallas. ... Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... FedEx (NYSE: FDX), whose full corporate name is FedEx Corporation, is a cargo airline, printing, and courier company offering overnight courier, ground, heavy freight, document copying and logistics services. ... Bridge Over Troubled Water was Simon and Garfunkels last album; the title track was their only number one hit in the United Kingdom. ... A short and whimsical work by folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel entitled for the colloquial name of the Queensboro Bridge in New York City. ... Williams conducting the London Symphony Orchestra during the recording of the score for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. ... William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946), known simply as Oliver Stone, is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director and screenwriter. ... JFK is an American film directed by Oliver Stone, first released on December 20, 1991. ...

Reception

In 2003, Entertainment Weekly published a Top 25 Simpsons episode list and placed both parts of "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" in 25th place, saying "A two-part comedic homage to Dallas' Who shot J.R.? stunt, [Who Shot Mr. Burns] is perhaps The Simpsons' most grandiose pop moment ever".^[9] Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated EW) is a magazine published by Time Inc. ...

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it "A superb end to the season - and what's more, it's a genuine whodunnit. There's no cheating - all the clues are there."^[2] Jake Rossen of Wizard called the ending the sixth greatest cliffhanger of all time.^[10] Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture (originally titled Wizard: The Guide to Comics and Wizard: The Comics Magazine) is a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment. ... For other uses, see Cliffhanger (disambiguation). ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 237th day of the year (238th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture (originally titled Wizard: The Guide to Comics and Wizard: The Comics Magazine) is a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 217th day of the year (218th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 217th day of the year (218th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" at The Simpsons.com
• "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
• "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" at TV.com