Brush with Greatness

After being pestered by Bart and Lisa, Homer reluctantly takes the Simpsons to the Mount Splashmore water park. The park's rescue crew is forced to close the water slide ride after Homer gets stuck inside, where the blocked section is craned off to be rescued. That night, the news media poke fun at Homer's massive size during their coverage of his mishap at the water park. After learning that he weighs , Homer vows to go on a diet and get more exercise. While Homer is looking for his weights in the attic, Bart stumbles upon several old paintings of the drummer Ringo Starr that Marge had made as a high school student. Marge reveals she was scolded by her art teacher for painting Starr, on whom she had a crush. She sent a painting to Starr for his "honest opinion", but she never got a response back. After Lisa suggests that Marge take a painting class at Springfield Community College, she paints Homer asleep on the couch in his underwear, earning praise from her teacher, Professor Lombardo. The painting wins the college art show, earning Marge fame and newspaper headlines. Mr. Burns asks Marge to paint his portrait for a new wing of the Springfield Art Museum. Marge agrees, although she resists Homer's plea to paint Burns as a beautiful man. While Burns is taking a shower at the Simpsons' house, Marge inadvertently sees him naked. Homer finds he has lost 21 pounds from his exercise regimen and now weighs . After Burns disparages Homer's weight and his daughters, Lisa and Maggie, Marge throws Burns out of the house. She is ready to quit until she receives a response from Starr, who, though decades late, praises her portrait of him. Homer encourages Marge to finish the painting. Marge's painting of a naked, frail and weak Burns is unveiled at the opening of the museum wing, much to the shock of both Burns and the crowd, causing Smithers to faint. She explains that the portrait shows that behind all of Burns' evil, he is a frail and vulnerable human being who is by extension just as beautiful as any other living creature in the world. With that in mind, the crowd praises Marge's portrait; even an impressed Burns does the same before thanking Marge for a job well done. ==Production==

guest stars in the episode as himself. Al Jean and Mike Reiss originally pitched the idea of Marge taking an art class and churning out depressing paintings, with the family realizing she was secretly unhappy. James L. Brooks took that pitch and came up with the Burns commission plot as well as the idea she would paint him as frail and naked. Musician Ringo Starr made a guest appearance in the episode as himself. He was the first Beatle to appear on the show; both George Harrison and Paul McCartney would later guest star in the season five episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" and the season seven episode "Lisa the Vegetarian" respectively. When the story of Marge's having a crush on Starr was pitched out, Roberts took the opportunity to write Starr into the script because he had always wanted to meet a Beatle. He then sent the script to Starr, who was then in southern France. Starr agreed to do the guest appearance after reading only two lines, and he told Roberts he would be able to do it when he visited Los Angeles a few weeks later. The staff was thrilled, and they immediately decided to expand his role. When Ringo arrived to record and saw the part was longer, he told the staff, “you’ve written me a bloody novel.” The Simpsons creator Matt Groening said of the guest appearance: "We were so excited that we got Ringo Starr coming in to do the show and we recorded him over at the Complex in West Los Angeles. We were given a list of rules about what we couldn't do to Ringo, such as 'Don't touch him', 'Don't approach him', and 'Don't ask for his autograph'. But of course when he shows up in this big limo, Brian brings out a big poster and asks him to sign it!" Roberts explained that he had not received the memo with the rules so he showed up with a copy of the script cover and asked Starr to sign it. ==Cultural references==

The line for the H2WHOA! ride reproduces the staircases in the lithograph Ascending and Descending by M. C. Escher. ==Reception==

In its original broadcast, "Brush with Greatness" finished thirty-seventh in the ratings for the week of April 8–14, 1991, with a Nielsen rating of 12.0, equivalent to approximately eleven million viewing households. It was the second highest-rated show on Fox that week, following Married... with Children. The episode received positive reviews from television critics. Many lauded the use of Starr; for instance, IGN ranked his performance in the episode, along with Paul McCartney's performance in "Lisa the Vegetarian" and George Harrison's performance in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", as the tenth best guest appearance in The Simpsons' history. They added that "Although none of these appearances were really large, the fact that the most popular band of all time appeared on The Simpsons is a large statement on the popularity and importance of the show." Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and Rolling Stone contributor, wrote that "Brush with Greatness" has a "well thought-out" plot and he enjoyed the use of Starr and Marge's previously undiscovered talents. Paul A. Cantor, author of the book Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, said that "once again Brian K. Roberts proves his genius with 'Brush with Greatness' in a superb work where Marge cultivates her wonderful artistic side". DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote: "From the opening at Mt. Splashmore through Homer's diet and the unveiling of Mr. Burns' controversial portrait, the episode packed a lot of great material. It also expanded Marge's character in a pleasing way, as it avoided any semblance of sappiness; we needed a break from sentiment after 'Old Money'. Overall, 'Brush with Greatness' provided a terrific episode." The authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', Gary Russell and Gareth Roberts, wrote: "A superb episode, with Marge rightfully centre stage. Despite his general unpleasantness, Mr. Burns' gratitude to Marge is both welcome and unexpected. And the dig at Water Parks is spot on." Although Starr did not mention "Brush with Greatness" in the video, several media sources compared his announcement to his portrayal in the episode. ==References==