# My Fair Laddy > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/My_Fair_Laddy > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/My_Fair_Laddy.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fair_Laddy > Source revision: 1312567105 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 12th episode of the 17th season of The Simpsons "My Fair Laddy" The Simpsons episode Promotional artwork for the episode. Episode no. Season 17 Episode 12 Directed by Bob Anderson Written by Michael Price Production code HABF05 Original air date February 26, 2006 (2006-02-26) Guest appearance Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel Episode features Couch gag Filmed in claymation, six balls roll in and bump into each other before turning into Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and Gumby. Commentary Al Jean Michael Price Matt Selman Carolyn Omine Tom Gammill Max Pross David Silverman Steven Dean Moore Episode chronology ← Previous "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere" Next → "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story" The Simpsons season 17 List of episodes "**My Fair Laddy**" is the twelfth episode of the [seventeenth season](/source/The_Simpsons_season_17) of the American animated television series *[The Simpsons](/source/The_Simpsons)*. It first aired on the [Fox network](/source/Fox_Broadcasting_Company) in the United States on February 26, 2006. The episode was written by [Michael Price](/source/Michael_Price_(writer)) and directed by [Bob Anderson](/source/Bob_Anderson_(director)). In this episode, Lisa makes a bet with Bart that she can turn Groundskeeper Willie into a proper gentleman while Homer creates an advertising campaign for blue pants so he can buy a new pair. The title and plot are based on the Broadway musical and film *[My Fair Lady](/source/My_Fair_Lady)*. The episode received positive reviews. ## Plot When Mrs. Pummelhorst (the school gym teacher) announces that she will be leaving to undergo gender reassignment surgery and will come back as the shop teacher "Mr. Pummelhorst," Coach Krupt, a substitute, takes her place. Every gym class, he has the students play a game called "Bombardment," which consists of him throwing dodgeballs at the students. When [Bart](/source/Bart_Simpson) gets sick of the constant bullying, he fills a ball full of water and sticks it in the freezer overnight. The next day, he tries to throw the frozen ball at Coach Krupt, who ducks; the ball crashes through the window and destroys [Willie's](/source/Groundskeeper_Willie) shack. When [Marge](/source/Marge_Simpson) picks up Bart from school and sees Willie is homeless, she offers to let him stay at their house, and he eventually accepts. When there, [Lisa](/source/Lisa_Simpson) has Willie realize that his life could be much better, and she decides to turn him into a proper gentleman. Bart, however, does not believe that she can do it, but Lisa bets that she can in time for the school science fair. Meanwhile, [Homer](/source/Homer_Simpson) comes home with his last pair of blue pants ripped and torn after his seat breaks at the go-cart track. As he searches through town for a new pair, he finds no store that sells his favorite type of pants. When he goes to the factory that sells them, the manager tells him that they do not make blue pants anymore due to poor sales thanks to a disastrous Super Bowl ad. Homer tells him that he will get more customers. He does this by writing "Buy blue pants" on the back of his head. Homer's advertising campaign pays off and soon everyone is wearing blue pants. However, Marge is annoyed when Homer begins putting other advertisements all over his body. Lisa struggles to teach Willie how to act sophisticated. On the day before the science fair, he is still his same old self, but when he sees how disappointed Lisa is, he suddenly surprises both Bart and Lisa by correctly (and with a 'proper' accent) saying a sentence she gave him. At the science fair the next day, he impresses everyone with his politeness and verbal dexterity under the guise of G.K. Willington [Esq.](/source/Esq.) No one actually knows that it is the old groundskeeper until Lisa announces it to everyone. Once again, she wins the science fair, and the bet along with it. Even though he is respected by everybody, Willie soon begins to miss his old life and feels out of place working as the maître d' at a fancy restaurant; unfortunately, both his job and his shack were taken by [the music teacher](/source/Dewey_Largo). He explains to Lisa that he wishes to go back to the way things were, and she understands. Soon, he is returned to his restored "crap shack", which Lisa has decorated with a new sign on the inside wall reading "Home Sweet Home." Willie, acting very grateful for the gift, asks to be alone. Lisa understands and promptly exits the shack. Upon her leaving, Willie takes the sign and smashes it on the ground, declaring that he liked his shack "the way it was". ## Cultural references The episode's plot is based on the musical play *[My Fair Lady](/source/My_Fair_Lady)* and also features parodies of songs from the play such as "[Wouldn't It Be Loverly](/source/Wouldn't_It_Be_Loverly)", "[The Rain in Spain](/source/The_Rain_in_Spain)", "[I Could Have Danced All Night](/source/I_Could_Have_Danced_All_Night)".[1] The couch gag featured the claymation character [Gumby](/source/Gumby) from the eponymous media franchise.[2] ## Reception ### Viewing figures In its first airing, the episode was watched by 9.51 million viewers.[3] ### Critical response Ryan J. Budke of *[TV Squad](/source/TV_Squad)* liked the episode and thought it had more "'adult' jokes than normal". He noticed that unlike the story it parodies, Willie would not lose anything if he returned to his old lifestyle. He also thought the subplot with Homer was funny but did not have an ending.[4] Colin Jacobson of *DVD Movie Guide* liked the beginning of the episode but thought that it became "less consistent" when the *My Fair Lady* parody started.[5] On *Four Finger Discount*, Brendan Dando and Guy Davis enjoyed the songs and were "fairly happy with it."[6] "My Fair Laddy" was ranked as the twenty-fifth best *[The Simpsons](/source/The_Simpsons)* episode by Kimberly Potts of [AOL](/source/AOL).[7] Eric Goldman, Dan Iverson, and Brian Zoromski of *[IGN](/source/IGN)* named it the best episode of the [seventeenth season](/source/The_Simpsons_season_17), calling it a fun parody of *[My Fair Lady](/source/My_Fair_Lady)*.[1] In 2014, David Ng of the *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)* named the parody of "The Rain in Spain" as one of the five greatest musical moments in the series.[8] In 2015, Jesse Schedeen of *[IGN](/source/IGN)* named the couch gag as the tenth best couch gag of the series.[2] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ign_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ign_1-1) Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan; Zoromski, Brian (September 8, 2006). ["The Simpsons: 17 Seasons, 17 Episodes"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070226153823/http://tv.ign.com/articles/731/731095p3.html). *[IGN](/source/IGN)*. Archived from [the original](http://tv.ign.com/articles/731/731095p3.html) on February 26, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2010. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Schedeen_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Schedeen_2-1) Schedeen, Jesse (January 14, 2015). ["The Simpsons: The Top 25 Couch Gags"](https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/01/15/the-simpsons-top-25-couch-gags). *[IGN](/source/IGN)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240914192855/https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/01/15/the-simpsons-top-25-couch-gags) from the original on September 14, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Ratings: My Fair Laddy"](http://www.simpsonschannel.com/2006/03/ratings-my-fair-laddy/). *Simpsons Channel*. March 1, 2006. Retrieved September 27, 2024.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Budke, Ryan J. (February 27, 2006). ["The Simpsons: My Fair Laddy"](http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/02/27/the-simpsons-my-fair-laddy/). *[TV Squad](/source/TV_Squad)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20071221071007/http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/02/27/the-simpsons-my-fair-laddy/) from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Jacobson, Colin (December 10, 2017). ["The Simpsons: The Complete Seventeenth Season \[Blu-Ray\] (2005-06)"](http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonss17.shtml). *DVD Movie Guide*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240818182606/http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonss17.shtml) from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Davis, Guy; Dando, Brendan (June 8, 2023). [""My Fair Laddy" Podcast Review (S17E12)"](https://www.fourfingerdiscount.com.au/episodes/my-fair-laddy-simpsons-podcast-review). *Four Finger Discount (Simpsons Podcast)* (Podcast). Event occurs at 2:15. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240827034646/https://www.fourfingerdiscount.com.au/episodes/my-fair-laddy-simpsons-podcast-review) from the original on August 27, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Potts, Kimberly. ["'The Simpsons': Best Episodes Ever"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070705064229/http://television.aol.com/feature/the-simpsons). *[AOL](/source/AOL)*. Archived from [the original](http://television.aol.com/feature/the-simpsons) on July 5, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Ng, David (September 11, 2014). ["'The Simpsons': Five of the series' greatest musical moments"](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-the-simpsons-musical-moments-20140910-story.html). *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230113022000/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-the-simpsons-musical-moments-20140910-story.html) from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2024. ## External links Wikiquote has quotations related to ***["My Fair Laddy"](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Simpsons/Season_17#My_Fair_Laddy)***. - [The Simpsons portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:The_Simpsons) - ["My Fair Laddy"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0773649/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) v t e The Simpsons episodes Seasons 1–20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Season 21–present 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Season 17 "The Bonfire of the Manatees" "The Girl Who Slept Too Little" "Milhouse of Sand and Fog" "Treehouse of Horror XVI" "Marge's Son Poisoning" "See Homer Run" "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas" "The Italian Bob" "Simpsons Christmas Stories" "Homer's Paternity Coot" "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere" "My Fair Laddy" "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story" "Bart Has Two Mommies" "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife" "Million Dollar Abie" "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore" "The Wettest Stories Ever Told" "Girls Just Want to Have Sums" "Regarding Margie" "The Monkey Suit" "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play" See also Treehouse of Horror list The Simpsons episode guides "The Simpsons Guy" Category v t e My Fair Lady by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner (Lerner and Loewe) Characters Eliza Doolittle Source Pygmalion (1913 play) by George Bernard Shaw Pygmalion (1938 film) by George Bernard Shaw adapted by W. P. Lipscomb and Cecil Lewis Films My Fair Lady (1964 film) The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976) Galatea [ru] (1977) Man Pasand (1980) Albums My Fair Lady (1956 Broadway cast recording) My Fair Lady (1956 Shelly Manne album) Oscar Peterson Plays My Fair Lady (1958) My Fair Lady (1959 London cast recording) Nat King Cole Sings My Fair Lady (1963 album) My Fair Lady (1964 film soundtrack) My Fair Lady Loves Jazz (1964 Billy Taylor album) The Great Songs from "My Fair Lady" and Other Broadway Hits (1964 Andy Williams album) Musical numbers "Wouldn't It Be Loverly? " "With a Little Bit of Luck" "The Rain in Spain" "I Could Have Danced All Night" "On the Street Where You Live" "Get Me to the Church on Time" "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" Television "My Fair Laddy" "One If by Clam, Two If by Sea" Selfie Related The Street Where I Live --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [My Fair Laddy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fair_Laddy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fair_Laddy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.