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Christmas Specials Wiki

I've figured out the boy's punishment. First, he's grounded. No leaving the house, not even for school. Second, no eggnog. In fact, no nog, period. And third, absolutely no stealing for three months.

— Homer's idea of punishing Bart for his attempted shoplifting

"Marge Be Not Proud" is the second Christmas episode of the animated series The Simpsons, aired as the eleventh episode of the show's seventh season. The writers had been thinking about doing a second Christmas episode for many years, but no one wanted to take it on because they thought that they would just be repeating the first episode. After this one, new Christmas ones were made almost every other year.

Synopsis[]

While watching a Christmas special hosted by Krusty the Clown, Bart sees a commercial advertising the fighting game Bonestorm, and decides he must have it. However, Marge tells him no, because it costs too much and is too violent. Bart makes other attempts to obtain or play the game, but they fail.

Marge-Be-Not-Proud-Stealing1

Bart steals a copy of the Bonestorm video game.

Discouraged, Bart visits the local Try-N-Save discount store. Inside in the electronics section, a spoiled kid named Gavin demands that his mother buy him Bonestorm (she gives in), and Bart sees Jimbo and Nelson shoplifting from the store. Bart then sees that the video game case has been left open, and, no longer able to resist the temptation, takes a copy of Bonestorm, hides it in his jacket, and walks out of the store. Outside, Bart thinks he's home free, only to get caught by the store's security officer, Detective Don Brodka. Bart is taken to a back room, where Brodka calls his parents, leaving a message on their answering machine because they weren't home. Brodka then tells Bart to leave and never return, or else he'll face criminal charges. Bart races home, barely beating his parents (who are hurrying home themselves to change Maggie's diaper), and manages to replace the tape containing Brodka's phone message with an Allan Sherman cassette ("Marge, is Lisa at Camp Granada?"). He puts the real tape in the case meant for the Sherman cassette, figuring that nobody will ever look for it there.

The next day, Marge announces plans to have their family's picture taken at a photographer's studio at Try-N-Save - the very store that Bart has been banned from entering. Bart tries to convince Marge to go elsewhere, but the family goes to the Try-N-Save. Bart tries to avoid detection, but Brodka grabs him just as the photographer snaps the picture. Brodka explains to Marge and Homer that their son "broke the 11th Commandment", Marge refuses to believe it until the store detective shows them the surveillance tape on the TVs in the store.

Back at the Simpson home, Bart's parents are very disappointed in him. Marge becomes distant with her son and sends him to bed. Later, Bart is left out of family activities, such as decorating the Christmas tree and making snow statues of themselves. Bart fears he has lost his mother's love, and decides he must repent. He visits the Try-N-Save again to talk to Brodka about his actions in shoplifting to return the Bonestorm game, and returns home with a bulge in his coat. Marge confronts him, believing he was shoplifting again, and finds Bart has hidden a handsome picture of himself (as opposed to his usual wacky look in photos) bought as a Christmas present for Marge, with a receipt saying "Paid in full." Marge is overjoyed, and in gratitude for receiving her Christmas gift early, she gives Bart his, telling him it is the video game "every boy wants," according to the store clerk. Bart eagerly opens the present, only to find out it's the very boring Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge. Although he's disappointed, Bart smiles and embraces his mother. Over the end credits, Bart plays the game, obviously trying to get as much excitement out of it as possible before giving up and stopping.

Songs[]

Uncredited

Availability[]

Oddly, the episode was not featured on either of the two Simpsons Christmas DVDs; instead, it made its home video debut on the Bart Wars DVD in 2005. As with all episodes from their respective seasons, it was later included on The Simpsons: The Complete 7th Season DVD set.

Notes[]

Charlie Brown's tree on The Simpsons

The tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas appears in Bart's imagination.

  • The episode's premise was based on an incident in writer Mike Scully's childhood, in which he stole from a store and later returned the item.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog's cameo in Bart's imagination would be referenced in the 2015 video game Lego Dimensions. In that game, when Sonic is teamed up with Bart, he says his line from this episode - "Just take it! Take it, take it, take it, take it! Take it!"
  • When Bart imagines spending Christmas in juvenile hall, the tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas can be seen.

Cast[]

Voice actor/actress Character(s)
Dan Castellaneta Krusty the Clown
Santa in Bonestorm commercial
Homer Simpson
Mario
Lee Carvallo
Sonic the Hedgehog
Guard in Bart's fantasy
Photographer
Julie Kavner Marge Simpson
Nancy Cartwright Bart Simpson
Gavin
Nelson Muntz
Yeardley Smith Lisa Simpson
Hank Azaria Comic Book Guy
Luigi
Harry Shearer Krusty Christmas special announcer
Donkey Kong
Phil Hartman Troy McClure
Lawrence Tierney Don Brodka
Pamela Hayden Milhouse Van Houten
Jimbo Jones
Boy in Bonestorm commercial
Tress MacNeille Girl in Bonestorm commercial
Maggie Roswell Luann Van Houten
Gavin's mother

External links[]

20th Century
Movies
Miracle on 34th Street (1955 remake) (1973 remake) (1994 remake) • Die HardDie Hard 2Home AloneHome Alone 2: Lost in New YorkGeorge Balanchine's The NutcrackerTrapped in ParadiseJingle All the WayHome Alone 4The Family StoneDeck the Halls12 Men of ChristmasHome Alone: The Holiday HeistJingle All the Way 2Home Sweet Home Alone
Television episodes and specials
20th Television
M*A*S*H "Dear Dad" • "Dear Sis" • "Death Takes a Holiday" • "All About Christmas Eve"
Tracey Ullman "Santa Baby" • "Kay's Gift" • "Merry Catnip"
The X Files "Christmas Carol" • "Emily" • "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas"
Malcolm in the Middle "Christmas" • "Christmas Trees" • "Pearl Harbor" • "Hal's Christmas Gift
Bones "The Man in the Fallout Shelter" • "The Santa in the Slush" • "The Goop on the Girl"
How I Met Your Mother "How Lily Stole Christmas" • "Little Minnesota" • "False Positive" • "Symphony of Illumination" • "The Over-Correction" • "The Final Page, Part 1" • "The Final Page, Part 2"
Glee "A Very Glee Christmas" • "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" • "Glee, Actually" • "Previously Unaired Christmas"
New Girl "The 23rd" • "Santa" • "LAXmas" • "Christmas Eve Eve"
The Mindy Project "Josh and Mindy's Christmas Party" • "Christmas Party Sex Trap" • "Christmas" • "When Mindy Met Danny"
Last Man Standing "Last Christmas Standing" • "Putting a Hit on Christmas" • "Elfie" • "Wedding Planning" • "Gift of the Wise Man"
Other shows "Christmas Story" • "The Worst Noel" • "Haus Arrest" • "Amends" • "Blue Christmas" • "A Christmas Story" • "Cookies for Santa" • "In God We Trust" • "Road to Tradition" • "Afternoon Delight" • "Christmas" • "The Glitch That Stole Christmas" • "Secret Santa"
20th Television Animation
The Simpsons "Simpson Christmas" • "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" • "Marge Be Not Proud" • "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" • "Grift of the Magi" • "Skinner's Sense of Snow" • "She of Little Faith" • "'Tis the Fifteenth Season" • "Simpson Christmas Stories" • "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" • "The Fight Before Christmas" • "Holidays of Future Passed" • "White Christmas Blues" • "I Won't Be Home for Christmas • "The Nightmare After Krustmas" • "'Tis the 30th Season" • "Bobby, It's Cold Outside" • "The Way of The Dog" • "A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas" • "Manger Things" • Feliz Navidad
King of the Hill "The Unbearable Blindness of Laying" • "Pretty, Pretty Dresses" • "Hillennium" • "'Twas the Nut Before Christmas" • "The Father, the Son, and J.C." • "Livin' on Reds, Vitamin C and Propane" • "Ms. Wakefield"
Family Guy, American Dad!, and The Cleveland Show "A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" • "The Best Christmas Story Never" • "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever" • "Rapture's Delight" • "A Cleveland Brown Christmas" • "Road to the North Pole" • "For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls" • "Murray Christmas" • "Season's Beatings" • "Die Semi-Hard" • "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" • "'Tis the Cleveland To Be Sorry" • "Minstrel Krampus" • "Christmas Guy" • "Dreaming of a White Porsche Christmas" • "The 2000-Year-Old Virgin" • "How the Griffin Stole Christmas" • "Ninety North, Zero West" • "Gifted Me Liberty" • "Don't Be a Dickens At Christmas" • "Santa, Schmanta" • "Christmas is Coming" • "Yule. Tide. Repeat." • "The First No L" • "Christmas Crime" • "The Return of the King (of Queens)"
Futurama "Xmas Story" • "A Tale of Two Santas" • "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" • "I Know What You Did Next Xmas"
Bob's Burgers "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins" • "Christmas in the Car" • "Father of the Bob" • "Nice-Capades" • "The Last Gingerbread House on the Left" • "The Bleakening" • "Better Off Sled" • "Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas" • "Yachty or Nice" • "Gene's Christmas Break" • "The Plight Before Christmas" • "The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas"
Other cartoons "Hook's Christmas" • "A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman" • Olive, the Other ReindeerIce Age: A Mammoth Christmas • "The War on Grafelnik" • "Miracle on Culpepper Slims Boulevard" • "A Very Solar Holiday Opposites Special" • "Dip the Halls Adventure" • "Xmas with The Skanks Adventure"
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