{{For|the film| Whiskey Business (film)}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | caption = | season = 24 | episode = 19 | director = [[Matthew Nastuk]] | writer = [[Valentina L. Garza]] | production = RABF12 | airdate = {{Start date|2013|05|5}} | guests = *[[Tony Bennett]] as himself *[[Kevin Michael Richardson]] as cop *[[Sonny Rollins]] as himself *[[Ron Taylor (actor)|Ron Taylor]] as [[Bleeding Gums Murphy]] (archive recordings) | couch_gag = Three men carve a block of ice into the Simpsons sitting on the couch. [[Grampa Simpson]] comes in and turns on the heat. The ice sculpture melts. | commentary = | prev = [[Pulpit Friction]] | next = [[The Fabulous Faker Boy]] }} [[File:Sonny Rollins at Detroit Jazz Festival (August 31, 2012).jpg|alt=Rollins onstage with his band|thumb|Jazz legend [[Sonny Rollins]] (pictured here shortly before his retirement from performing in 2012) voiced himself in this episode]] "'''Whiskey Business'''" is the nineteenth episode of the [[The Simpsons season 24|twenty-fourth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]'', and the 527th episode overall. Its title is a play on ''[[Risky Business (disambiguation)|Risky Business]]''. The episode was directed by [[Matthew Nastuk]] and written by [[Valentina L. Garza]]. It originally aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on May 5, 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20130415fox17/|title=(SI-2413) "Whiskey Business" |website=[[The Futon Critic]]|date= |access-date=August 25, 2023}}</ref>
In this episode, Moe's new whiskey gains the attention of venture capitalists while Bart cares for Grampa after an injury. Musicians [[Tony Bennett]] and [[Sonny Rollins]] appeared as themselves. The episode received mixed reviews.
In its original airing, "Whiskey Business" was delayed 25 minutes in Eastern and Central time zones due to the end of a [[NASCAR]] race at [[Talladega Superspeedway]] which was delayed more than 3{{frac|2|}} hours due to rain.
==Plot== Noticing that [[Moe Szyslak|Moe]] has fallen into a bout of suicidal depression, [[Homer Simpson|Homer]], [[Marge Simpson|Marge]], [[Lenny and Carl]] take him on an excursion to Capital City and buy him a new suit to lift his spirits. His enthusiasm restored, Moe fixes up his bar in order to attract a better class of customers and brings out a batch of homemade whiskey. Two venture capitalists stop by the bar, sample the drink, and are so impressed that they offer to become Moe's business partners in marketing it. Shortly before the new company's [[initial public offering]], his suit is destroyed when he gets caught in an elevator door. Moe appears at the stock exchange in his ordinary clothes and addresses the traders for the IPO, but he inadvertently scares them so badly that his stock price plummets and the company becomes worthless. Returning to his once-again-squalid bar, he brightens up enough to sweep up the pieces of a broken beer mug and forgets about committing suicide, at least for the time being.
Meanwhile, Grampa watches the children while Homer and Marge are away. An elaborate prank by Bart, Dolph, Jimbo, and Kearney leads to Grampa being injured, and Bart decides to care for him at home in order to avoid getting in trouble. With Grampa hiding in the basement to avoid being found, the two enjoy playing tricks on Homer. Grampa recovers quickly, but fakes a lingering injury in order to make sure that Bart keeps looking after him. Bart eventually discovers the deception and is angry, but the two reconcile after Grampa explains that he liked getting the sort of personal attention that he never could receive at the nursing home.
In order to keep Lisa from finding out about Grampa, Bart sends her to a jazz club where an all-star jam session is taking place. She is shocked to see Bleeding Gums Murphy among the performers, as she knows him to be dead, and discovers that he is actually a hologram. Outraged, she tries to start a boycott of Murphy's record label; shortly afterward, she is surprised to receive a visit from saxophonist [[Sonny Rollins]] at home. Rollins explains that holograms are simply the next step in the development of the entertainment industry. Realizing that he too is a hologram sent by the record company, Lisa becomes annoyed when the company proceeds to beam commercials that feature [[Princess Diana|Diana, Princess of Wales]], [[Tupac Shakur]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]] into her living room.
==Production== In October 2012, ''[[TVLine]]'' reported that musician [[Sonny Rollins]] would guest star as himself as a hologram.<ref>{{cite web|last=Roots|first=Kimberly|url=http://tvline.com/2012/10/11/the-simpsons-casts-sonny-rollins/|title=The Simpsons Exclusive: Saxophonist Sonny Rollins Gets Tupac Treatment|website=[[TVLine]] |date=October 11, 2012|access-date=August 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218231727/http://tvline.com/2012/10/11/the-simpsons-casts-sonny-rollins/|archive-date=February 18, 2013}}</ref> An archival recording of musician [[Tony Bennett]] singing "Capital City" appears in the episode. The song first appeared in the [[The Simpsons season 2|second season]] episode "[[Dancin' Homer]]" and also appeared in the [[The Simpsons season 14|fourteenth season]] episode "[[Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade]]."<ref>{{cite web|last=Seibold|first=Witney|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/1346285/tony-bennett-first-celebrity-appear-himself-the-simpsons/|title=Tony Bennett Was The First Celebrity To Appear As Himself On The Simpsons|website=[[/Film]]|date=July 23, 2023|access-date=August 25, 2023|archive-date=August 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826020606/https://www.slashfilm.com/1346285/tony-bennett-first-celebrity-appear-himself-the-simpsons/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Due to [[NASCAR on Fox|NASCAR]] overrun, the episode did not broadcast until 8:30 PM.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mitovich|first=Matt Webb|url=https://tvline.com/news/finale-ratings-mentalist-amazing-race-red-widow-430987/|title=Ratings: Once and Revenge Tick Up, The Mentalist and Red Widow Rise With Finales|website=[[TVLine]]|date=May 6, 2013|access-date=August 25, 2023|archive-date=March 10, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310164958/https://tvline.com/news/finale-ratings-mentalist-amazing-race-red-widow-430987/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kondolojy"/>
==Reception==
===Critical reception=== This episode received mixed reviews from critics.
Robert David Sullivan of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave the episode a C−, saying "I've been complaining about the dark humor in many Simpsons episodes this season, but it's unimaginative dark humor that's disappointing. I'm a champion of the episode '[[Homer's Enemy]],' all the way to its grim conclusion, and I love every blood-spurting moment of the Itchy and Scratchy cartoons. But 'Whiskey Business' just bangs on the one note of Moe being so depressed he can’t even muster the energy to end it all. An episode that actually depicted a suicide would at least win points for going to extremes."<ref>{{cite web|last=Sullivan|first=Robert David|url=https://www.avclub.com/the-simpsons-whiskey-business-1798176697|title=The Simpsons: "Whiskey Business"|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=6 May 2013|access-date=2013-05-07|archive-date=July 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708075240/http://www.avclub.com/articles/whiskey-business,96920/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Teresa Lopez of ''TV Fanatic'' gave the episode two and a half stars out of five, saying "In addition to the Moe and Lisa plots, the show also tried to shoehorn another story involving Grampa and Bart bonding when Grampa gets injured on Bart's makeshift waterslide. There were some cute moments between the two, but the episode had far too many threads going to make any of them really satisfactory."<ref>{{cite web|first=Teresa|last=Lopez|url=http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/05/the-simpsons-review-capital-idea/|title=The Simpsons Review: Capital Idea|website=TV Fanatic|date=6 May 2013|access-date=2013-05-07|archive-date=May 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511020522/http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/05/the-simpsons-review-capital-idea/|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Ratings=== The episode received a 1.9 in the 18–49 demographic and was watched by a total of 4.43 million viewers. This made it the third most watched show on Fox's Animation Domination line up that night.<ref name="Kondolojy">{{cite web|first=Amanda|last=Kondolojy|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/05/07/sunday-final-ratings-the-amazing-race-red-widow-adjusted-down/181276/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606181730/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/05/07/sunday-final-ratings-the-amazing-race-red-widow-adjusted-down/181276/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-06-06 |title=Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Amazing Race' & 'Celebrity Apprentice' Adjusted Up; 'Red Widow' Adjusted Down + Final FOX Numbers |website=[[TV by the Numbers]]|date=May 7, 2013|access-date=2013-05-07}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Portal|The Simpsons}} * {{IMDb episode|2850620}} {{The Simpsons episodes|24}}
[[Category:The Simpsons season 24 episodes]] [[Category:2013 American television episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes about suicide]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Matthew Nastuk]]