{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Good article}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | caption = | season = 6 | episode = 21 | director = [[Swinton O. Scott III]] | writer = [[Jennifer Crittenden]] | production = 2F19 | airdate = {{Start date|1995|04|16}} | guests = * [[Marcia Wallace]] as [[Edna Krabappel]] | blackboard = "I do not have [[power of attorney]] over first graders" | couch_gag = The living room is modeled after [[M. C. Escher]]'s ''[[Relativity (M. C. Escher)|Relativity]]'' and the family runs in through the many complex and conflicting dimensions. | commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br />[[David Mirkin]]<br />Swinton O. Scott III<br />[[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]] | prev = [[Two Dozen and One Greyhounds]] | next = [['Round Springfield|{{-'}}Round Springfield]] }} "'''The PTA Disbands'''" is the twenty-first episode of the [[The Simpsons season 6|sixth season]] of the American animated television series, ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in the United States on April 16, 1995. In the episode, [[Bart Simpson]] manipulates [[Edna Krabappel]] into organizing a [[Strike action|strike]] of [[Springfield Elementary School|Springfield Elementary]]'s teachers [[Trade union|union]] to protest [[Principal Skinner]]'s miserly school spending, so Bart can skip class. [[Lisa Simpson]] craves the structure of school.
The episode was written by [[Jennifer Crittenden]] and directed by [[Swinton O. Scott III]], with [[David Mirkin]] serving as show-runner. It received favorable mention in books on ''The Simpsons'' and media reviews, and was cited by academicians, who analyzed portions of the episode from [[physics]] and [[psychology]] perspectives.
==Plot== While visiting Fort Springfield on a field trip, Springfield Elementary students are attacked by a group of [[American Civil War reenactment|Civil War reenactors]] for trying to "[[Free education|learn for free]]", resulting in [[Üter Zörker|Üter]] being savagely beaten with [[Stock (firearms)|rifle butts]]. [[Edna Krabappel]] subsequently calls out [[Principal Skinner]]'s overzealous budget cuts, having reduced funds for bus maintenance, staff salaries, food and teaching materials. [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] schemes to exacerbate the disagreement between Edna and Skinner until she calls a teachers' union strike in protest.
While school is closed, students cope in their own ways: [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] grows increasingly obsessive in her desire to be graded, [[Milhouse Van Houten|Milhouse]]'s work ethic improves after his parents hire a private tutor, and [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Jimbo Jones|Jimbo]] finds himself immersed in the intricate plots of his mother's [[soap operas]]. Bart revels in his newfound freedom by playing tricks on construction workers and bank customers and flying a kite at night, much to [[Marge Simpson|Marge]]'s unease, and continues to manipulate the conflict between Skinner and the teachers' union. With the two sides at an impasse and unable to reach an agreement at an emergency [[Parent-Teacher Association|PTA]] meeting, [[Ned Flanders]] evokes the school's contingency plan of having classes taught by [[Strikebreaker|local volunteers]].
While this ploy gets the children back to school, it has its own disadvantages: [[Professor Frink]] is ill-equipped to teach pre-schoolers, [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Jasper Beardly|Jasper]] is forced to send Lisa's class home early when his beard gets stuck in a [[pencil sharpener]], and Marge becomes Bart's teacher after he drives [[Moe Szyslak|Moe]] and other substitutes away with his pranks. Bart becomes a laughingstock due to her excessive mothering. Frustrated, Bart locks Edna and Skinner in the principal's office for several hours to negotiate. They devise a plan to use the school's cloakrooms to house convicts from the overcrowded Springfield Penitentiary. This generates enough money to persuade the teachers to return to work and keep troublesome students in line, although Bart intends to free [[Snake Jailbird]].
==Production== [[File:Davidmirkin.jpg|thumb|Much of the episode is based on [[David Mirkin]]'s experience as a child with schools running out of money.|alt=A seated man wearing a cap smiles as he looks into the distance. His hands are crossed.]] The episode was written by [[Jennifer Crittenden]]. She came into the writers' room and pitched the idea that there should be a teachers' strike in an episode.<ref name="Groening">{{cite video | people=Groening, Matt|date=2005|title=The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "The PTA Disbands!"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Then-show runner [[David Mirkin]] thought the episode had a lot of potential, and much of it is based on his experience as a child with schools running out of money.<ref name="Mirkin">{{cite video | people=Mirkin, David|date=2005|title=The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "The PTA Disbands!"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Despite the title of the episode, at no point does the school's [[parent–teacher association]] (PTA) actually disband. The title was suggested by Mirkin and was intended to poke fun at Crittenden, who thought the most exciting part of the teachers going on strike would be that the PTA might disband.<ref name="Mirkin"/> In addition to this, Mirkin added a character to the episode who, on thinking the PTA has disbanded, jumps panicking out of a window. He jumps back in the same window when he is told the PTA has not disbanded.<ref name="Mirkin"/>
The episode was directed by [[Swinton O. Scott III]]. In the opening shot of the episode, the bus that the children travel in to the field trip had to vibrate up and down to give the impression that it did not have [[Bumper (automobile)|bumpers]] and that it was falling apart. Scott said it was difficult to animate the scene because of the vibrating and the backgrounds panning.<ref name="Swinton">{{cite video | people=Swinton, Scott|date=2005|title=The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "The PTA Disbands!"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Milhouse's tutor in the episode is based on the American actor [[Tony Randall]].<ref name="Mirkin"/>
==Cultural references== During their field trip, the bus from Springfield Elementary arrives at the Fort Springfield Civil War site and skids into a cannon, knocking one of its wheels off. The cannon then points at the tower leg of a lookout, giving the impression that it will fire at the lookout and destroy it, which is a reference to the opening sequence of the television sitcom ''[[F Troop]]''. The lookout was also modeled after the lookout in the show.<ref name="Mirkin"/> The fact that "Diznee" purchased the site is a reference to the abandoned [[Disney's America]] project that was widely criticized as an attempt to turn heritage sites into vanity amusement parks. The scene in which Üter is left behind at the end of the field trip and assaulted by the reenactment actors is based on a scene from the 1965 film ''[[Von Ryan's Express]]''.<ref name="Mirkin"/>
Edna points at some school books and says: "The only books we have are ones that were banned by other schools." Skinner says: "Well, the kids have to learn about ''[[TekWar]]'' sooner or later," referencing [[William Shatner]]'s series of [[science fiction]] novels.<ref name="Mirkin"/> Other books in the bookshelf include ''[[Sexus (The Rosy Crucifixion)|Sexus]]'' by [[Henry Miller]], ''[[Hop on Pop]]'' by [[Dr. Seuss]], ''[[The Satanic Verses]]'' ("Junior Illustrated Edition") by [[Salman Rushdie]], ''40 Years of Playboy'' by [[Hugh Hefner]], ''[[Steal This Book]]'' by [[Abbie Hoffman]], and ''[[The Theory of Evolution]]''.<ref name="martyn">{{Harvnb|Martyn|Wood|2000}}</ref>{{sfn|Turner|2005|p=182}}
Bart tells Skinner in the principal's office that Edna told him that Skinner "folds faster than [[Superman]] on laundry day", a reference to the comic book character Superman.<ref name="Mirkin"/> That line is one of ''The Simpsons'' animator [[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]]'s favorite lines on the show.<ref name="Silverman">{{cite video | people=Silverman, David|date=2005|title=The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "The PTA Disbands!"| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> When Edna announces that the piano tuners' local union joined them in a sympathy strike, the camera shows a single piano tuner, likely a reference to a classic [[Fermi problem]], "how many piano tuners are there in Chicago?", applied to Springfield. [[Gabe Kaplan]] is one of Bart's victims on his substitute list, a reference to Kaplan and his character in the 1975 TV series ''[[Welcome Back, Kotter]]''.<ref name="Mirkin"/> The character at the bank who tells the angry crowd that their money's in "Bill's house, and Fred's house" is based on [[James Stewart]]'s [[George Bailey (fictional character)|George Bailey]] character in the [[bank run]] scene from ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]''.<ref name="Mirkin"/>
==Reception== In its original broadcast, "The PTA Disbands!" finished 69th in ratings for the week of April 10–16, 1995, with a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 7.1. It was the 8th highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.<ref>{{cite news |title=How they rate|work=St. Petersburg Times|page=15|date=April 21, 1995}}</ref>
In their 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> describe "The PTA Disbands!" as "Possibly the best of the school episodes."<ref name="martyn" />
In a review of the sixth season of ''The Simpsons'', Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide writes: "I especially like the contrasts between how Bart and Lisa accept the strike. The show doesn’t quite manage to soar consistently, but it has more than enough to make it positive."<ref>{{cite news | last =Jacobson | first =Colin | title=The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season (1994) | work=DVD Movie Guide| date=August 15, 2005|url=http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonsix.shtml | access-date = December 19, 2008 }}</ref>
In his review of the episode for ''TV Squad'', Adam Finley comments: "I love how Bart and Lisa both handle the news differently. Bart is thrilled ... Lisa, on the other hand, can't handle not being graded and evaluated every day, and slowly begins to lose her mind."<ref>{{cite news|last=Finley|first=Adam|title=The Simpsons: The PTA Disbands!|work=HuffPost TV|date=September 1, 2006|url=http://www.aoltv.com/2006/09/01/the-simpsons-the-pta-disbands/|access-date=January 16, 2022|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120914093358/http://www.aoltv.com/2006/09/01/the-simpsons-the-pta-disbands/|archivedate=September 14, 2012}}</ref>
==Legacy== David Sims writes “The script for 'The PTA Disbands,' the second by Jennifer Crittenden, is an embarrassment of quotable riches. On beyond Jasper’s 'paddlin’' spiel, even: I’ll always love the way Moe breaks the out-of-left field ''It’s A Wonderful Life'' homage at the bank. And since the spring of 1995, no game of telephone has ended without some Simpsons-loving smart-ass dropping 'purple monkey dishwasher' into the chain.”<ref>{{cite news| title=The Simpsons (Classic): "The PTA Disbands"| last=Sims| first=David| work=[[The A.V. Club]]| date=October 27, 2013| url=https://www.avclub.com/the-simpsons-classic-the-pta-disbands-1798178460}}</ref>
In 2004, when the voice actors for ''The Simpsons'' went on strike requesting additional income, ''[[The Scotsman]]'' cited a quote by [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] from the episode: "If you don't like your job, you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American Way."<ref name="scotsman">{{cite news|last=Staff | title = Leader: The immigration fiasco comes to a head | work =[[The Scotsman]] | page =21 | publisher =[[Johnston Press]] | date =April 2, 2004 }}</ref> ''The Scotsman'' asserted "Homer would not approve" of the strike by the voice actors.<ref name="scotsman" /> The voice actors were asking for an increase from [[United States dollar|US$]]125,000 to $360,000 per episode.<ref name="variety" /> The same quote by Homer to Lisa was cited by Michael Schneider in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', who wrote: "...insiders note that the actors work just six to seven hours to voice an episode—which would mean $360,000 for a day's work, a figure that even ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'' star [[Ray Romano]] doesn't match."<ref name="variety">{{cite news| last =Schneider| first =Michael| title =Oh no, here they d'oh!!! again| work =[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=1|url=https://variety.com/2004/scene/markets-festivals/oh-no-here-they-d-oh-again-1117902682/| date=April 1, 2004|access-date=January 16, 2022}}</ref>
[[University of the Sciences in Philadelphia]] [[physics]] and [[mathematics]] professor [[Paul Halpern]] discusses the episode in his book ''What's Science Ever Done for Us?: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe'', and quotes Homer's admonition to Lisa: "Lisa, in this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" at the beginning of Halpern's section on "Mechanical Plots".<ref name="halpern69">{{Harvnb|Halpern|2007|p=69}}</ref> Halpern describes Lisa's efforts to build a [[perpetual-motion]] machine while bored during the teachers strike, and comments that though it is absurd in reality to order someone to obey the laws of thermodynamics, he acknowledges that "physicists sometimes don't know the proper arena within which certain laws apply".<ref name="halpern80">{{Harvnb|Halpern|2007|pp=80–81}}</ref> In the July 26, 2007 issue of ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', the scientific journal's editorial staff listed "The PTA Disbands!" among "The Top Ten science moments in ''The Simpsons''", writing: "Lisa gets so bored by a lack of schooling she builds a perpetual motion machine. Homer is not pleased: 'Lisa, in this house we OBEY the [[laws of thermodynamics]].{{' "}}<ref name=Nature>{{cite journal|last=Hopkin|first=Michael|title=Science in comedy: Mmm... pi|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|date=2007-07-26|volume=448|issue=7152|pages=404–405|doi=10.1038/448404a|pmid=17653163|bibcode=2007Natur.448..404H|doi-access=free}}</ref>
The episode is cited by Robert M. Arkin and Philip J. Mazzocco in their work "Self-Esteem in Springfield", in the compilation book ''[[The Psychology of The Simpsons]]''.<ref name="brown">{{Harvnb|Brown|Logan|2006|p=124}}</ref> Arkin and Mazzocco note an exchange between [[Edna Krabappel]] and [[Seymour Skinner]], where Skinner exclaims to Krabappel: "Oh come on Edna: We both know these kids ''have'' no future! [''All the children stop and look at him; he chuckles nervously''] Prove me wrong, kids. Prove me wrong."<ref name="brown" /> Arkin and Mazzocco note that this example is seen as an exception, writing: "Generally, however, the Simpsons are right on target in their understanding of the importance of self-esteem and the dynamics involved in the interplay between the social world and positive self-regard."<ref name="brown" />
==Notes== {{Reflist|2}}
==References== *{{Cite book| last1 = Brown | first1 = Alan S. | first2= Chris |last2=Logan | title = The Psychology of the Simpsons: D'oh! | publisher = BenBella Books, Inc. |year=2006 | page = 124| isbn = 1-932100-70-9| title-link = The Psychology of The Simpsons }} *{{Cite book | last = Halpern | first = Paul |author-link=Paul Halpern |title = What's Science Ever Done for Us?: What The Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe | publisher = John Wiley and Sons | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-470-11460-5 | url = https://archive.org/details/whatsscienceever00halp }} *{{Cite book |last1=Martyn |first1=Warren |author-link1=Gary Russell |last2 = Wood |first2=Adrian |author-link2=Gareth Roberts (writer) | title =I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide | publisher =Virgin Books (hosted at BBC website) | year=2000 | url =https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season6/page21.shtml | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20030427192053/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season6/page21.shtml | url-status =dead | archive-date =April 27, 2003 | isbn = 0-7535-0495-2 }} *{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Turner (author) |title=Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation |edition=1st revised |year=2005 |location=Cambridge |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |oclc=670978714 |isbn=978-0-306-81448-8|title-link=Planet Simpson }}
==Further reading== *{{Cite book | last =Alberti | first =John | title =Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture | publisher =Wayne State University Press | year =2004 | page =[https://archive.org/details/leavingspringfie00albe/page/317 317] | isbn =0-8143-2849-0 | title-link =Leaving Springfield }} *{{cite journal | last = Frank | first = Lisa | title = The Evolution of the Seven Deadly Sins: From God to the Simpsons | journal = The Journal of Popular Culture | volume = 35 | issue = 1 | pages =95–105| publisher = Blackwell Publishing | date = March 5, 2004 | doi =10.1111/j.0022-3840.2001.3501_95.x| s2cid = 161693741 }} *{{cite journal | last = Horwitz | first = Paul | title = 'Evaluate Me!': Conflicted Thoughts on Gatekeeping in Legal Scholarship's New Age | journal = [[Connecticut Law Review]] | volume = 39 | publisher = Social Science Research Network | date =April 26, 2007 | ssrn = 982401 | id = Notre Dame Legal Studies Paper No. 07-34 }} *{{Cite book | last1 = Irwin | first1 = William | first2 = Aeon J. | last2 = Skoble | first3 = Mark T. | last3 = Conrad | title = The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer | publisher = Open Court Publishing | year = 2001 | isbn = 0-8126-9433-3 | page = [https://archive.org/details/simpsonsphilosop00irwi/page/247 247] | title-link = The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer }} *{{cite journal | last = Woodcock | first = Pete | title = The Polis of Springfield: The Simpsons and the Teaching of Political Theory | journal = Politics | volume = 26 | issue = 3 | pages = 192–199 | publisher = Political Studies Association and Blackwell Publishing Ltd | date = August 11, 2006 | doi = 10.1111/j.1467-9256.2006.00268.x| s2cid = 16078419 | url = http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/9515/1/WoodcockPolispdf.pdf }}
==External links== {{Portal|The Simpsons}} {{Wikiquote|The Simpsons/Season 6#The PTA Disbands|The PTA Disbands}} *{{Snpp capsule|2F19}} *{{IMDb episode|id=0778454}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|6}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pta Disbands, The}} [[Category:The Simpsons season 6 episodes]] [[Category:1995 American television episodes]] [[Category:Works about the labor movement]] [[Category:Salary controversies in television]] [[Category:Television episodes about education]]