Editing Brush with Greatness

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox Simpsons episode
| image      =
| caption    =
| season     = 2
| episode    = 18
| director   = [[Jim Reardon]]
| writer     = [[Brian K. Roberts]]
| production = 7F18
| airdate    = {{Start date|1991|04|11}}
| guests     = * [[Ringo Starr]] as himself
* [[Jon Lovitz]] as Professor Lombardo and the doughnut delivery man
| blackboard = "I will not hide behind the [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment]]"<ref name="book">{{cite book|last=Groening|first=Matt|author-link=Matt Groening|editor1-first=Ray|editor1-last=Richmond|editor1-link=Ray Richmond|editor2-first=Antonia|editor2-last=Coffman|title=[[The Simpsons episode guides#The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family|The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family]]|edition=1st|year=1997|location=New York|publisher=[[HarperPerennial]]|lccn=98141857|ol=433519M|oclc=37796735|isbn=978-0-06-095252-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomplete00groe/page/43 43]|ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}}}}</ref>
| couch_gag  = The couch tips over with the family sitting on it and [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] sits in its place.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season2/page18.shtml|title=Brush with Greatness|access-date=2007-07-30|last1=Martyn|first1=Warren|last2=Wood|first2=Adrian|year=2000|publisher=BBC|archive-date=2013-04-19|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419174257/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season2/page18.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br />Brian K. Roberts<br />[[Al Jean]]<br />[[Jim Reardon]]
| prev       = [[Old Money (The Simpsons)|Old Money]]
| next       = [[Lisa's Substitute]]
}}
"'''Brush with Greatness'''" is the eighteenth episode of the [[The Simpsons season 2|second season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in the United States on April 11, 1991. In the episode, [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] enrolls in an [[art class]] after [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] encourages her to revive her former interest in [[painting]]. When she wins first prize in a local art competition for a portrait of [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] on the couch in his underwear, [[Mr. Burns]] commissions her to paint his portrait. In the subplot, Homer is determined to lose weight after getting stuck in a water slide at an amusement park.

The episode was written by [[Brian K. Roberts]] and directed by [[Jim Reardon]]. [[Beatles]] member [[Ringo Starr]] guest starred as himself, while [[Jon Lovitz]] starred as Marge's art teacher, Professor Lombardo. The episode features cultural references to films such as ''[[Rocky]]'' and ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]''.

Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics, who praised its central focus on Marge, as well as Starr's role. It acquired a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 12.0 and was the second highest-rated show on Fox the week it aired.

==Plot==
After being pestered by Bart and Lisa, Homer reluctanly takes [[Simpson family|The Simpsons]] to the Mount Splashmore water park. The park's rescue crew is forced to close the water slide ride after [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] is stuck inside. The crew remove the blocked section of pipe using a large crane, with Homer still stuck inside. 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 {{convert|260|lb|kg}}, Homer vows to go on a diet and get more exercise. While Homer is looking for his weights in the attic, [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] stumbles upon several old paintings of the drummer [[Ringo Starr]] that [[Marge Simpson|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 Simpson|Lisa]] suggests that Marge take a painting class at [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|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 {{convert|239|lb|kg}}. After Burns disparages Homer's weight and his daughters, Lisa and [[Maggie Simpson|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 [[Waylon Smithers|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==
[[File:Ringo.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ringo Starr]] 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.<ref name="sprcon">{{cite book |last1=Reiss |first1=Mike |last2=Klickstein |first2=Mathew |title=Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons |date=2018 |publisher=Dey Street Books |isbn=978-0062748034 |page=67|location=New York City}}</ref> [[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.<ref name="sprcon"/> The script was written by [[Brian K. Roberts]] and directed by [[Jim Reardon]]. Prior to writing the episode, Roberts had been an audio and visual editor on the show.<ref name="Roberts">{{cite video |people=Robert, Brian |date=2002 |title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Brush with Greatness" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Musician Ringo Starr made a guest appearance in the episode as himself. He was the first [[The Beatles|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.<ref name="Roberts"/><ref name="Jean">{{cite video |people=Jean, Al |date=2002 |title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Brush with Greatness" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> When Ringo arrived to record and saw the part was longer, he told the staff, “you’ve written me a bloody novel.”<ref>{{cite tweet|last=Jean|first=Al|author-link=Al Jean|user=AlJean|number=1513575918849208329|date=2022-04-11|title=When Ringo arrived to record and saw the part was longer he said “you’ve written me a bloody novel.”|https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1513575918849208329|df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''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!"<ref name="Groening">{{cite video |people=Groening, Matt |date=2002 |title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Brushing with Greatness" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Roberts"/> Groening asked Starr if he wanted to be animated the way he was in ''[[Yellow Submarine (1968 film)|Yellow Submarine]]'' or the way he was in the cartoon series ''[[The Beatles (TV series)|The Beatles]]''. Starr chose ''Yellow Submarine'' because he did not like his appearance in the cartoon.<ref name="Groening"/> In addition to Starr, the episode features a guest appearance by [[Jon Lovitz]] as Lombardo and the doughnut delivery man who delivers doughnuts to the nuclear power plant. Lombardo's physical appearance was based on an art teacher Reardon had in art school.<ref name="Reardon">{{cite video |people=Reardon, Jim |date=2002 |title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Brushing with Greatness" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>

==Cultural references==
[[File:Andy Warhol 1977.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Andy Warhol]]'s ''[[Campbell's Soup Cans]]'']]

The line for the H<sub>2</sub>WHOA! ride reproduces the staircases in the [[lithograph]] ''[[Ascending and Descending]]'' by [[M. C. Escher]].<ref name="book"/> The way Krusty removes the clown make-up from his face resembles the way [[Joker (Jack Napier)|The Joker]] removes his make-up in the 1989 film ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]''.<ref name="bbc"/> When Homer announces he is going on a diet, he says: "As God is my witness, I'll always be hungry again!", a reference to the famous line "As God is my witness{{nbsp}}... I'll never be hungry again!" from the film ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]''.<ref name="book"/> Homer exercises in a way similar to how Rocky exercises in the 1976 film ''[[Rocky]]''.<ref name="bbc"/> The music that plays as Homer approaches the scale is the [[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (song)|main theme]] from the film ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]''.<ref name="Jean"/> A copy of [[Andy Warhol]]'s painting ''[[Campbell's Soup Cans]]'' is visible at the art gallery.<ref name="book"/>

==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 ratings|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]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=What we watch, what we don't... |work=Austin American-Statesman |page=15 |date=April 21, 1991 }}</ref>

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''<nowiki>'</nowiki> 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."<ref name="ign">{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/01/04/top-25-simpsons-guest-appearances |title=Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances |date=2010-01-04 |access-date=2022-01-15 |author1=Goldman, Eric |author2=Iverson, Dan |author3=Zoromski, Brian |work=[[IGN]] |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014234215/https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/01/04/top-25-simpsons-guest-appearances |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Pratt">{{cite book |last=Pratt |first=Douglas |title=Doug Pratt's DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More! |publisher=UNET 2 Corporation |year=2005 |volume=2 |isbn=978-1-932916-01-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxmg-LuBTWIC&q=Brush+with+Greatness+Simpsons&pg=PA1094 |access-date=January 14, 2021}} page 1094-1096</ref> 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".<ref name="Cantor">{{cite book |last=Cantor |first=Paul |title=Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2003 |pages=74 |isbn=978-0-7425-0779-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A6Qr6BFJUjoC}}</ref> 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 (The Simpsons)|Old Money]]'. Overall, 'Brush with Greatness' provided a terrific episode."<ref name="dvdmg">{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseason2.shtml |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season |last=Jacobson |first=Colin |publisher=DVD Movie Guide |access-date=2009-03-23 |archive-date=July 13, 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020713182216/http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseason2.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

The authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, 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."<ref name="bbc" /> In October 2008, Ringo Starr posted a video on his website in which he said he was too busy to answer fan mail and that all mail sent to him after October 20 would be thrown out.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ringo Starr's fan mail deadline |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/10/13/ringo_starrs_fan_mail_deadline/ |work=[[Boston Globe]] |access-date=2022-01-15 |date=2008-10-13 |archive-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115174947/http://archive.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/10/13/ringo_starrs_fan_mail_deadline/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Although Starr did not mention "Brush with Greatness" in the video, several media sources compared his announcement to his portrayal in the episode.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/ringo-starr-doesnt-want-to-answer-mail-sign-photos-for-fans|title=Ringo Starr Doesn't Want to Answer Mail, Sign Photos for Fans |date=2008-10-14 |access-date=2022-01-15 |publisher=[[Fox News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019205911/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,437325,00.html |archive-date=2008-10-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/10/14/ringo.starr.fan.mail/index.html |title=Ringo Starr: I've got to get fans out of my life |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=2022-01-15 |date=2008-10-14 |archive-date=April 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414030820/http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/10/14/ringo.starr.fan.mail/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_2#Brush_with_Greatness|Brush with Greatness}}
{{Portal|The Simpsons}}
*{{Snpp capsule|7F18}}
*{{IMDb episode |id=0701077 |episode=Brush with Greatness}}

{{Ringo Starr main}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|2}}

{{Good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brush With Greatness}}
[[Category:1991 American television episodes]]
[[Category:Creative works in popular culture]]
[[Category:Ringo Starr]]
[[Category:The Simpsons season 2 episodes]]
[[Category:Television episodes directed by Jim Reardon]]