Large Marge

Lisa and Homer participate in a Habitat for Humanity activity along with Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush. While working, Homer takes off his wedding ring for safekeeping, causing Lindsay Naegle and Cookie Kwan to mistakenly think Homer is a bachelor. Marge, driving by with Maggie, assumes Homer to be flirting with the women. Marge worries that Homer has lost interest in her, and so she decides to get a liposuction on the advice of Manjula. However, a mix-up at the hospital instead causes her to get breast implants, and she is forced to wait 48 hours before the implants can be removed.

Meanwhile, Bart and Milhouse watch an episode of Batman guest starring Krusty, wherein he uses a rapidly spinning carousel. Bart and Milhouse are inspired to recreate the stunt, and Bart puts Milhouse on a merry-go-round in school while Otto uses the bus to spin it at a high speed. The bolts give out and the merry-go-round goes flying through the air, knocking over the school flag before Milhouse vomits on it. As Principal Skinner reprimands Bart, Bart admits that he and Milhouse saw Krusty do the stunt on television. In response, Skinner leads a protest against Krusty, who is now seen as a dangerous influence on children. Krusty's show is then edited to exclude anything considered dangerous and likely to be imitated by impressionable viewers.

After returning home from her surgery, Marge realizes that her new breasts are giving her difficulty in doing even the simplest tasks. Later, the family goes out for dinner where Kiki Highsmith, a trade show executive, approaches Marge and offers her a modeling job. Marge accepts and initially enjoys the experience, but is quickly plagued by back pain and harassment from the men of Springfield.

At the Springfield Shoe Expo, Marge is further humiliated while promoting shoe horns. At the same time, Bart decides to help Krusty to win back his popularity, using Milhouse and Stampy, Bart's pet elephant, in a stunt. However, Stampy instead stuffs both Milhouse and Bart in his mouth. When Homer tries to save them, he also gets stuffed into Stampy's mouth. Meanwhile, Krusty is unable to remember Stampy’s safety word. The police then decide to shoot Stampy, endangering Homer, Bart and Milhouse. Marge arrives on the scene and manages to distract the police by flashing her breasts. Simultaneously, Krusty saves the three when he accidentally says Stampy’s saftety word: magumbos, while ogling Marge's breasts. Stampy releases Bart, Milhouse, and Homer, and Krusty is hailed as a hero and his popularity is restored with the town. Following the day’s events, Marge finally has her implants removed.

"Large Marge" was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham and directed by Jim Reardon as part of the fourteenth season of The Simpsons (2002–03).[1] In an Associated Press news report about the episode, it was cited as satirizing "plastic surgery and images of beauty in popular culture."[2] Actors Adam West and Burt Ward, who starred in the television series Batman as Batman and Robin, respectively, guest starred in "Large Marge" as those characters. Junkanoo band Baha Men, known for their single "Who Let the Dogs Out?", recorded a parody of that song for this episode titled "Who Let Her Jugs Out?". It plays over the closing credits.[3]

The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 24, 2002.[1][4] On February 7, 2006, "Large Marge" was released in the United States on a DVD collection titled The Simpsons Kiss and Tell: The Story of Their Love, along with the season nine episode "Natural Born Kissers", the season fourteen episode "Three Gays of the Condo", and the season fifteen episode "The Way We Weren't". All four episodes revolve around the romance between Homer and Marge.[5][6]

On December 6, 2011, "Large Marge" was released on Blu-ray and DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Fourteenth Season.[7] Staff members Al Jean, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman, Tom Gammill, Matt Warburton, David Silverman, and Mike B. Anderson, as well as cast member Nancy Cartwright, participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included in the box set.[8]

Reviews from television critics about this episode have been mixed since the release of the Kiss and Tell DVD.

IGN's Jeff Otto commented that while he thought "Natural Born Kissers" was the only "great" episode in the compilation, "All four episodes are good Simpsons episodes."[5] He added: "I can't figure why, if Fox was going to put together a set of this theme, they couldn't have included some of the more classic episodes about Marge and Homer's romance. Still, even the lesser Simpsons episodes are entertaining, so you could certainly do worse."[5]

A writer for HorrorNews.net called it one of the highlights of the season,[9] and Aaron Peck of High-Def Digest described it as "memorable".[10]

DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented that though "the plot of 'Large' screams 'high concept', it actually works pretty well. It uses the silliness attached to Marge's chest to good comic effect, and the secondary plot with Bart and Krusty ties into things in a fun manner. It presents a lot of funny bits and turns into a strong episode. It's also hard to knock a show that reunites the voices of Adam West and Burt Ward."[8]

While reviewing the fourteenth season of The Simpsons, Victor Valdivia of DVD Verdict wrote: "To be sure, there are some real clinkers this season. Both 'Large Marge' and 'Strong Arm of the Ma' prove that writing good episodes about Marge seem to be out of the question by this point. [...] By normal TV standards these are not unwatchable, but by Simpsons standards, these are the episodes you probably won't watch over and over again."[3]

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• "Large Marge" at IMDb