{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | caption = | season = 2 | episode = 6 | director = [[Rich Moore]] | writer = [[Jeff Martin (writer)|Jeff Martin]] | production = 7F08{{Sfn|Groening|2010|p=65}} | airdate = {{Start date|1990|11|15}} | blackboard = "I am not a [[Nancy Cartwright|32 year old woman]]"{{Sfn|Groening|2010|p=64}} | couch_gag = [[Santa's Little Helper]] and [[Snowball II]] jump on the couch. | commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br/>Jeff Martin<br/>[[Al Jean]]<br/>[[Mike Reiss]]<br/>Rich Moore | prev = [[Dancin' Homer]] | next = [[Bart vs. Thanksgiving]] }} "'''Dead Putting Society'''" is the sixth 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 November 15, 1990.{{Sfn|Groening|2010|p=65}} In the episode, [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] and [[Ned Flanders|Ned]] quarrel and bet which of their sons, [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] or [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Todd Flanders|Todd]], will win a [[miniature golf]] tournament. Homer is confident Bart will win and bets that the father of the boy who does not win must mow the other's lawn in his wife's Sunday dress.
The episode, which was the first to prominently feature Ned and the rest of his family, was written by [[Jeff Martin (writer)|Jeff Martin]] and directed by [[Rich Moore]]. Its title references the 1989 [[coming-of-age]] [[drama film]] ''[[Dead Poets Society]]''. While animating "Dead Putting Society", the animators went on a [[field trip]] to a local miniature golf course to study the mechanics of a golf club swing. Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from critics. It acquired a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 14.3, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
==Plot== Watching [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] mow his lawn with frustration, [[Ned Flanders|Ned]] invites him to Ned's basement [[Recreation room|rec room]] for a beer. When Homer sees Ned's well-furnished house and his perfect relationship with his family, he angrily accuses Ned of showing off and is asked to leave. Later Ned feels guilty about his outburst and writes a letter of apology to Homer. Homer reads the letter aloud at the breakfast table, where the [[Simpson family]] ridicule at Ned's sentimentality, as well as his use of the word "bosom".
Homer takes [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] and [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] to Sir Putt-A-Lot's Merrie Olde Fun Centre for a round of [[miniature golf]]. They encounter Ned and his son [[Todd Flanders|Todd]] there and play golf together. Bart and Todd learn of an upcoming children's miniature golf tournament and enter it. Although Todd is skilled at playing, Homer is confident Bart will win. He tells Bart that it is not acceptable to lose and forces him to angrily stare at a picture of Todd for fifteen minutes every day for motivation.
Doubting his golfing skills after seeing his meager collection of sports trophies, Bart accepts [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]]'s offer to help him practice. Lisa approaches the task as a [[zen master]], teaching Bart to meditate. She finds the golf course is based on simple geometry and teaches Bart how to achieve a low par. Homer makes a bet with Ned about whose son is a better golfer: the father of the boy who does not win the tournament will mow the other father's lawn in his wife's Sunday dress.
On the day of the tournament, Homer encourages Bart to win at all costs. Bart and Todd play well and are tied when they reach the eighteenth hole. Realizing that they are equally skilled at golf, they call it a draw and split the $50 prize. Ned suggests that means their bet is off, but Homer insists that they both must mow each other's lawn in their wife's Sunday dress because of the way their bet is worded. To Homer's dismay, Ned is not humiliated but actually enjoys mowing Homer's lawn in his wife's dress because it reminds him of his college [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]] days.
==Production== [[File:Jeff Martin.jpg|thumb|[[Jeff Martin (writer)|Jeff Martin]], writer of "Dead Putting Society", was an experienced miniature golfer.]]
"Dead Putting Society" was written by [[Jeff Martin (writer)|Jeff Martin]] and directed by [[Rich Moore]].<ref name="BBC">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season2/page6.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040505125954/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season2/page6.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 5, 2004|title=Dead Putting Society|access-date=2009-06-07|last1=Martyn |first1=Warren |author-link1=Gary Russell |last2 = Wood |first2=Adrian |author-link2=Gareth Roberts (writer) |year=2000|publisher=BBC}}</ref> Martin was an experienced miniature golfer and based much of the golf-related scenes in the script on his own experiences.<ref name="Martin">{{cite video | people=Martin, Jeff|date=2002|title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Dead Putting Society"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Parts of this episode are also based on the film ''[[The Karate Kid (1984 film)|The Karate Kid]]'' (1984),<ref name="Jean"/> including the way Bart practices for the miniature golf tournament by balancing on a trash can in a "crane position".<ref name="totalfilm"/> For "Dead Putting Society", the animators went on a field trip to a local miniature golf course to study the mechanics of a golf club swing. Moore commented that the reason for this was that much of the humor on ''The Simpsons'' comes from making the scenery look lifelike; "The realism of the background serves as the [[straight man]] for the absurd situations."<ref>{{cite news|title=Eat My Sports – A Retrospective|last=Brown|first=Daniel|date=July 22, 2007 |work=[[San Jose Mercury News]]|page=1C}}</ref>
This episode was the first to prominently feature Ned Flanders and the rest of the Flanders family, and contained the first appearances of Maude and Rod Flanders.<ref name="Jean">{{cite video | people=Jean, Al|date=2002|title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Dead Putting Society"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> [[Maggie Roswell]] was given the role of Maude, Ned's loving wife, and became a regular cast member with this episode until 1999 after a pay dispute, resulting in the character being killed off in the Season 11 episode "[[Alone Again, Natura-Diddly]]", which aired the following year. She had previously played supporting parts in the show's first season. [[Nancy Cartwright]], the voice of Bart, commented on Roswell's acting: "Maggie has been blessed with a skill in creating one of the hardest things to create: the 'normal sound', whatever that is. So she can easily slip into the gal next door."<ref name="cartwright">{{cite book|title= [[My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy]]|last= Cartwright|first= Nancy|author-link= Nancy Cartwright|chapter= Lady, That Ain't No Gutterball!|page= [https://archive.org/details/mylifeastenyearo00nanc/page/96 96]|year= 2000|publisher= [[Hyperion (publisher)|Hyperion]]|location= New York City|isbn= 0-7868-8600-5}}</ref>
==Reception== "Dead Putting Society" originally aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on November 15, 1990.<ref>{{cite news|title=TV Watch – Best Bets – CNN carries on exclusive 'Conversation' with Bush |last=Yandel|first=Garre|date=November 15, 1990 |work=[[The Atlanta Constitution]]|page=H/17}}</ref> In its original American broadcast, the episode finished 35th in the ratings for the week of November 12–18, 1990, with a Nielsen rating of 14.3, equivalent to approximately 13.3 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on Fox that week.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nielsen Ratings /Nov. 10–18|work=[[Press-Telegram (Long Beach)|Press-Telegram]]|agency=Associated Press|page=A24|date=November 22, 1990}}</ref>
Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from television critics. Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' contributor, praised the episode as one of the best from season two. He commented that the miniature golf challenges "are delightful, the denouement is highly amusing{{nbsp}}... and the beauty of the whole episode is that it could just as easily be an episode in a live action TV sitcom, though the slight touches of fancy enabled by the animation enhance its comic impact."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pratt |first=Doug |title= Doug Pratt's DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More! |year=2005 |publisher=UNET 2 Corporation |isbn= 1-932916-01-6 |page=1094}}</ref> Dusty Sanders of the ''[[Rocky Mountain News]]'' commented that the title of the episode is "funnier than the content of most TV sitcoms".<ref>{{cite news|title='Mad About You' Resurrects Alan Brady In Subtle Tribute|last=Sanders|first=Dusty|date=February 16, 1995 |work=[[Rocky Mountain News]]|page=17D}}</ref> DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented that "considering what a prominent character Flanders became, it's strange to realize that 'Dead Putting Society' was the first show to feature him heavily. He'd made some token appearances in the past—most notably in season one's '[[The Call of the Simpsons|Call of the Simpsons]]'—but 'Dead Putting Society' much more clearly defined the Ned we'd come to know and love. It also featured scads of good little bits and gags and seemed like a solid program."<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}}</ref>
The authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', [[Gary Russell]] and [[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv51/garyrussell.html|title=Gary Russell: From Peladon to Placebos|author=Preddle, Jon|date=June 1997|magazine=Time Space Visualiser|issue=51|access-date=20 August 2020|publisher=The New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club|quote=I've just done my first non-fiction book, Oh No It's A Completely Unofficial Simpsons Guide for Virgin, co-authored with Gareth Roberts which has, to be frank, been more of a nightmare than it needed to be [the book was published as I Can't Believe It's An Unofficial Simpsons Guide, with Gary and Gareth writing under the pseudonyms Warren Martyn & Adrian Wood].}}</ref> commented that apart from "the memorable lawn mowing sequence at the end, this episode is notable for our first viewing of the gaudy, gadget-filled, God-fearing splendour that is the Flanderses' home."<ref name="BBC"/> The ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]''{{'}}s Gregory Hardy named it the ninth best episode of the show with a sports theme.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hitting 300 – For Sporting Comedy, 'The Simpsons' Always Score|last=Hardy|first=Gregory|date=February 16, 2003|work=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|page=C17}}</ref> The reference to ''The Karate Kid'' was named the 21st greatest film reference in the history of the show by ''[[Total Film]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Nathan Ditum.<ref name="totalfilm">{{cite news|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/the-50-greatest-simpsons-movie-references/|title=The 50 Greatest Simpsons Movie References|last=Ditum|first=Nathan|date=June 6, 2009 |work=[[Total Film]]|access-date=January 15, 2022|publisher=GamesRadar}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |title=Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 |title-link=Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 |date=2010-10-28 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |year= |isbn=9780061711282 |editor1-last=Richmond |editor1-first=Ray |editor1-link=Ray Richmond |edition=1st |editor2-last=Gimple |editor2-first=Scott M. |editor2-link=Scott M. Gimple |editor-last3=McCann |editor-first3=Jessie L. |editor-last4=Seghers |editor-first4=Christine |editor-last5=Bates |editor-first5=James W.}}
==External links== {{Sister project links|d=Q2459783|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=no|c=no|species=no|wikt=no}} {{Portal|The Simpsons}} * {{Snpp capsule|7F08}} * {{IMDb episode|id=0767442}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|2}} {{Good article}}
[[Category:1990 American television episodes]] [[Category:The Simpsons season 2 episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes about golf]] [[Category:Golf animation]] [[Category:Television episodes written by Jeff Martin (writer)]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Rich Moore]]