Walking Big & Tall

"Walking Big & Tall" is the thirteenth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, and the 565th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 8, 2015.[1]

"Walking Big & Tall"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 26
Episode 13
Directed byChris Clements
Written byMichael Price
Production codeTABF06
Original air dateFebruary 8, 2015 (2015-02-08)
Guest appearance(s)
Episode features
Couch gagPeople start to eat each Simpson off of a sushi plate that is sitting on a moving boat, except for Homer, who falls into the water and gets eaten by a fish after the boat flips over.

Plot

At a town hall meeting, the town discovers that its anthem "Only Springfield" is being used by numerous towns in North America, after former mayor Hans Moleman bought the anthem from a salesman. Lisa and Bart compose a new anthem called "Why Springfield, Why Not" and perform it in the theatre with other students. Homer has difficulty sitting in his seat at the performance due to his obesity, and when he must stand to give a standing ovation, he tears out his row of seats, causing destruction to the theatre. Marge demands that he joins a weight-control group, but the one he joins run by the mobility scooter-bound Albert states that obesity is beautiful, and Homer decides to embrace his obesity.

The group causes a disruption outside a fashion store which they claim promotes unrealistically thin figures, and all are arrested. Marge arrives to bail Homer on condition that he leave the group and start a diet, but he refuses and returns to jail with his obese friends. Lisa and Bart try to compose a song to convince Homer to leave the group, but argue so much that they never succeed.

Confronting Homer and the obese group at a rally, Marge finally points out that Homer should not follow Albert, who she says is too lazy to walk. He attempts to get up from his scooter to prove her wrong, but suffers a fatal heart attack. At Albert's funeral, Homer delivers a eulogy where on learning that the deceased was only 23, he pleads for the obese people to lose weight. He and Marge walk home as he promises to yo-yo diet, and a montage shows Homer's physique changing drastically with his age over the next few decades.

Reception

The episode received an audience of 2.78 million, making it the second most watched show on Fox that night.[2]

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B-, saying "The careless construction of latter-day Simpsons episodes is never more pronounced than in ‘Walking Big & Tall,’ a slapdash amalgam of two marginally promising plots which would have benefitted from some room to breathe. Even more than the usual resulting thinness of main and sub-plot, ‘Walking Big & Tall’ sets up one A-story and simply abandons it in favor of another, the baffling result of which is a confused two-headed monster of an episode whose flashes of amusement wither under the latter plot’s mean-spirited succession of fat jokes".[3]

Michael Price was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the 68th Writers Guild of America Awards for his script to this episode.[4]

References
  1. "The Simpsons". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  2. Kondolojy, Amanda (February 10, 2015). "Sunday Final Ratings: Grammy Awards Adjusted Down; No Adjustment for 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' or 'Bob's Burgers'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  3. Perkins, Dennis (February 8, 2015). "The Simpsons: "Walking Big & Tall"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  4. McNary, Dave (13 February 2016). "WGA Honors 'Big Short,' 'Spotlight,' 'Mad Men' at 68th Awards". Variety. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
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