Dumbbell Indemnity
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| "Dumbbell Indemnity" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
 Moe and Renee at the police moonlight ball | |
| Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 16 |
| Directed by | Dominic Polcino |
| Written by | Ron Hauge |
| Production code | 5F12 |
| Original air date | March 1, 1998 |
| Guest appearance | |
| |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "Silly string is not a nasal spray"[1] |
| Couch gag | The Simpsons sit on the couch, and hydraulic presses crush them into a cube.[2] |
| Commentary | Matt Groening Mike Scully George Meyer Ron Hauge Ian Maxtone-Graham Dominic Polcino |
"Dumbbell Indemnity" is the sixteenth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 1, 1998.[3] It was written by Ron Hauge and directed by Dominic Polcino.[3] The episode sees Moe spending large amounts of money to impress his new girlfriend, which leads him to commit insurance fraud once his finances begin to dwindle. Homer helps him, but is caught and sent to jail, and attempts to take revenge on Moe when he does not bail him out. Helen Hunt makes a guest appearance as Moe's girlfriend, Renee. The episode contains several cultural references and was generally well received.
With Moe Szyslak depressed at having gone four years without a date, Homer takes him to meet a woman at Stu's Disco, but he fails to do so. Further resigned to his misery, Moe starts a conversation with a flower vendor named Renee and ends up asking her out. Moe and Renee seem to form a strong relationship, but Moe is insecure about his hold on her and feels he must spend large amounts of money so she will stay with him.
In need of more money once his Player's Club card gets maxed out and he scares off his customers after calling in their bar tabs, Moe concocts a scheme to commit insurance fraud, convincing Homer to steal his car and park it on train tracks so it will be destroyed. The night the scheme is supposed to take place, Moe and Renee attend a police charity event aboard a yacht; the event's attendance by all the officers in town ensures Homer will not get caught perpetrating the scheme, and gives Moe an alibi so that no one will suspect he was behind the act. Homer botches the plan by stopping to watch a drive-in movie, missing the train that was supposed to destroy Moe's car. Instead, Homer drives the car off a cliff, but is unable to escape and sinks into the water near the yacht where the police charity event is taking place.
Moe gets the insurance payout but Homer is arrested and jailed. He persuades Moe to bail him out, but when Renee talks about wanting to vacation in Hawaii, spends the money on that instead. Moe is then confronted by his own conscience, in the form of Homer, who makes him feel bad for his betrayal. Moe tells Renee the truth about the insurance fraud scheme; at first she is happy he was honest, but when Moe starts scheming for a way to get Homer out of jail without paying the bail - involving graverobbing and arson - Renee is disgusted and leaves him. When he realizes she has left him, Moe sets the bar on fire by accident. Meanwhile, Homer escapes jail and goes to confront Moe, the two fight but then fall unconscious from smoke inhalation. Barney Gumble rescues them (and several kegs of beer) before the bar is completely destroyed. Homer reconciles with Moe and vows to help him get back on his feet, by temporarily relocating Moe's bar to the Simpsons' home.[3]
Production
The episode was written by Ron Hauge, who has said he thought of the episode while attempting to create a story involving general illegal activity.[4] Originally, Hauge had a different title for the episode, "Mutual of Moemaha", parodying the name of the Mutual of Omaha insurance company.[5] The episode was going to add to the development of Moe's character in the show, though the staff did not think they were able to develop him more until later episodes.[4]
Director Dominic Polcino and the animators of the episode were praised for their efforts by the other staff members, especially during the scene where Homer is driving down the cliff and attempts to escape Moe's car. Polcino and his animators went to great lengths to correctly time Homer's rolling and create a vivid and detailed lake, as well as animate Homer sinking to the bottom of the lake.[6][7] Show runner Mike Scully commented that, "It's hard enough for us to come up with the ideas, but when Dominic and the animators can make it, it's really fantastic."[6]
The episode guest starred Helen Hunt as Renee, Moe's girlfriend. She recorded her lines for the episode in July 1997.[8] In 1997, she had also worked on the film As Good as It Gets, which was directed by co-creator James L. Brooks, and released towards the end of that year. Hunt has said she liked the design of her character, who was named after Hauge's wife.[5] During the making of the episode, Hunt and Hank Azaria, who voices Moe, were dating.[6] In an interview with People Magazine in 1998, Scully stated: "Hank and Helen got along so well it's hard to believe they are a real couple."[9] In July 1999, the couple married, but divorced in December 2000, after a long separation.[10]
Cultural references
The title of the episode is a reference to Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity, which also had a plot involving an insurance scam.[2] In the scenes where Moe and Renee are seen dating, the song "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees is playing.[2] Other songs include "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" by Amos Milburn and "Brick House" by the Commodores.[1]
The train passing by the drive-in is a reference to the 1956 photograph Hotshot Eastbound by O. Winston Link. Hans Moleman pushing a book cart down the prison corridor references the character Brooks Hatlen doing the same in The Shawshank Redemption.
