Editing Sideshow Bob (section)

==Reception==
[[File:Nancy Cartwright.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Actress [[Nancy Cartwright]], the voice of Bart Simpson, said in her book ''[[My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy]]'' that Grammer's performance brings "deliciously vile energy" to the show.<ref name="Cartwright"/>]]

The character of Sideshow Bob and Grammer's voicework have received many accolades. In 2006, [[IGN]] listed him as the second-best "peripheral character" on ''The Simpsons'', commenting that Bob is "a man of contradictions; his goofy appearance, complete with palm tree like hair, doesn't seem to match up to the well spoken and even musically talented maniac."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/730/730957p5.html |title=Top 25 Simpsons Peripheral Characters |access-date=June 8, 2007 |date=September 6, 2006 |author1=Eric Goldman |author2=Dan Iverson |author3=Brian Zoromski |website=[[IGN]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031112102/http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/730/730957p5.html |archive-date=October 31, 2007 }}</ref> Also that year, ''[[Wizard (magazine)|Wizard]]'' magazine rated Bob as the 66th-greatest villain of all time.<ref>{{cite journal |last=McCallum |first=Pat |date=July 2006 |title=100 Greatest Villains Ever |journal=[[Wizard (magazine)|Wizard]] |issue=177}}</ref> Adam Finley of [[TV Squad]] wrote that "that baritone voice, the Shakespearean delivery, and the ability to go from calm and collected to stark raving mad all within the same second make Sideshow Bob one of the best recurring characters on the show."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/06/20/the-five-great-simpsons-guest-stars/ |title=The Five: Great Simpsons guest stars |author=Finley, Adam |publisher=TV Squad |date=June 20, 2006 |access-date=January 3, 2009}}</ref>

Kelsey Grammer has consistently received praise for his voicework, and has been described as "brilliant",<ref>{{Cite news |title=300 reasons to love The Simpsons |work=[[The Courier-Mail]] |date=April 24, 2003 |author=McCollum, Charlie}}</ref> "inimitable"<ref>{{Cite news |title=Woo hoo!&nbsp;– Even past its prime 'The Simpsons' is still prime comedy |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |author=Keveney, Bill |date=January 24, 2000}}</ref> and "a feast of mid-Atlantic anglophilia".{{sfn|Turner|2004|pp=129–131}} In 2006, Grammer won the [[Primetime Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance|Outstanding Voice-Over Performance]] for his role in "[[The Italian Bob]]"; he had previously won four awards in the [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series|Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series]] category for his portrayal of the title role on ''Frasier''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/grammer-nets-early-emmy-for-simpsons-villain-portrayal-1.574779 |title=Grammer nets early Emmy for Simpsons villain portrayal |access-date=October 12, 2007 |date=July 20, 2006 |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC Arts]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828235309/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2006/07/20/grammer-emmy-sideshowbob.html <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=August 28, 2007}}</ref> In 2008, Grammer was included in ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''{{'}}s list of the sixteen best ''Simpsons'' guest stars; Hyde Pierce was also included in that list.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Springfield of Dreams: 16 Great 'Simpsons' Guest Voices |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=May 11, 2008 |author=Wook, Kim |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20049408_14,00.html |access-date=May 11, 2008 |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012030137/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20049408_14,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ken Tucker of ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote that "Kelsey Grammer's grand voice-performance as Sideshow Bob is Frasier pickled in arsenic."<ref name="Arsenic">{{Cite magazine |title=The Family Dynamic&nbsp;– At 300 episodes and counting, the Simpsons&nbsp;– TV's answer to the great American novel&nbsp;– continues to be a show about everything |date=February 7, 2003 |author=Tucker, Ken |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |issue=694 |pages=28–43}}</ref> In her book ''[[My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy]]'', [[Nancy Cartwright]] (who performs the voice of Bart Simpson) wrote that "Kelsey Grammer scores big-time by injecting caustic, bitter, contemptuous and deliciously vile energy into his rendition of Sideshow Bob. Springfield just wouldn't be the same without him."<ref name="Cartwright">{{cite book |last=Cartwright |first=Nancy |title=My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy |year=2000 |publisher=[[Hyperion (publisher)|Hyperion]] |location=New York City |page=[https://archive.org/details/mylifeastenyearo00nanc/page/264 264] |isbn=978-0-7868-8600-5|title-link=My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy }}</ref>

Most of the episodes featuring Bob have been well received by fans and critics. "[[Cape Feare]]" is generally regarded as one of the best episodes of ''The Simpsons''<ref name="groening">Groening, Matt. (2004). Commentary for "Cape Feare", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> and placed third on ''Entertainment Weekly''{{'}}s 2003 list of the show's top 25 episodes.<ref name="EW">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,417748~3~0~25bestand1,00.html |title=The Family Dynamic |access-date=October 12, 2007 |date=January 29, 2003 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |archive-date=October 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018160211/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,417748~3~0~25bestand1,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> IGN considers it the best episode of the fifth season.<ref name="IGN2">{{cite web|url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/731/731095p1.html |title=The Simpsons: 17 Seasons, 17 Episodes |author1=Goldman, Eric |author2=Dan Iverson, Brian Zoromski |website=IGN |date=September 8, 2006 |access-date=October 12, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302212129/http://tv.ign.com/articles/731/731095p1.html |archive-date=March 2, 2007 }}</ref> In 2007, ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' called it the show's fourth-best episode, because of its "masterful integration of filmic parody and a recurring character".<ref>{{cite news|author=Orvted|first=John|date=July 5, 2007|title=Springfield's Best|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/08/top10simpsons200708?currentPage=2|access-date=October 12, 2007}}</ref> [[Ben Rayner]] of the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' listed "Cape Feare", "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" and "Brother From Another Series" among the best episodes of the series, writing "forget ''Frasier'', these are Kelsey Grammer's best roles."<ref name="Star2">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/215831 |title=Eye on Springfield |author-link=Ben Rayner |author=Rayner, Ben |work=Toronto Star |access-date=October 13, 2007 |date=May 20, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615013522/http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/215831 |archive-date=June 15, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> "[[The Italian Bob]]" and its writer [[John Frink]] won a [[Writers Guild of America Award]] in 2007 in the animation category.<ref>{{cite news |title=2007 Awards Winners |publisher=wga.org |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1517 |access-date=October 13, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221170524/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1517 |archive-date=February 21, 2011 }}</ref> In December 2009, Robert Canning of IGN ranked the ten episodes to feature Bob that had aired at the time. The first five Bob episodes took up the top five, with "Cape Feare" being ranked first. "The Italian Bob" was ranked tenth, with the explanation that "All the things we love about a Sideshow Bob episode—the vengeance, the familiar settings and characters, the elaborate scheming—were missing from this half-hour. Without it, Bob wasn't nearly as entertaining, and the episode didn't result in a whole lot of laughs." He noted that only "The Italian Bob" and the ninth ranked "Funeral for a Fiend" were "the only ones I'd consider clunkers. The remaining episodes are all quite fun."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/105/1051182p1.html |author=Canning, Robert |date=December 2, 2009 |website=IGN |access-date=May 19, 2010 |title=The Simpsons: Top 10 Sideshow Bob Episodes}}</ref>

The character's line in "[[Sideshow Bob Roberts]]", "Attempted murder? Now honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel prize for attempted chemistry?", briefly became an [[Internet meme]] after a similar defense of President [[Donald Trump]] was repeated after the [[Trump–Ukraine scandal]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/11/14/one-defenses-trump-is-literally-tv-sitcom-joke/ | title=One of the defenses of Trump is — literally — a TV-cartoon joke | first=Bill | last=Oakley | date=2019-11-14 | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

===Analysis===
In ''[[Planet Simpson]]'', author [[Chris Turner (author)|Chris Turner]] writes that Bob is built into a highbrow snob and conservative [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] so that the writers can continually use him as a strawman and pincushion. He represents [[high culture]] while Krusty represents [[low culture]], and Bart, stuck in between, always wins out.{{sfn|Turner|2004|pp=129–131}} In the book ''[[Leaving Springfield]]'', David L. G. Arnold comments that Bart is a product of a "mass-culture upbringing" and thus is Bob's enemy.<ref>[[#Arnold|Arnold]], pp. 2–3.</ref> Frustrated by his early role as the target of "Krusty's cheap gags", Bob frames Krusty and takes over the show. He changes the content of that show to present readings of classic literature and segments examining the emotional lives of pre-teens. He believes that by exposing the kids to high culture he will improve their lives.<ref name="p12"/> Arnold writes that "Bob's own conscience and morality are clearly unaffected by the high culture he represents." He also tries to "manipulate the tastes of the masses" by becoming a criminal mastermind.<ref name="p12">[[#Arnold|Arnold]], pp. 12–13.</ref> Arnold believes that this is most apparent in "[[Sideshow Bob Roberts]]", wherein he rigs the election to become the mayor of Springfield. When accused of election fraud, he rants, "Your guilty consciences may force you to vote Democratic, but secretly you yearn for a cold-hearted Republican who'll cut taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king! That's why I did this, to protect you from yourselves!" He considers himself a member of the social elite, and happily uses [[Machiavelli]]an methods to acquire and maintain power.<ref>[[#Arnold|Arnold]], p. 17.</ref>

Bob's intelligence serves him in many ways. During the episode "Cape Feare", for example, the parole board asks Bob why he has a tattoo that says "Die, Bart, Die". Bob replies that it is German for "The, Bart, The"; members of the board are impressed by his reasoning.<ref name=A16/> Believing that "nobody who speaks German could be an evil man", they release him.<ref name="Feare"/> However, his love of high culture is sometimes used against him. In the same episode, Bob agrees to perform the operetta ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'' in its entirety as a last request for Bart. The tactic stalls Bob long enough for the police to arrest him.<ref name=A16>[[#Arnold|Arnold]], p. 16.</ref>