| "Grift of the Magi" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 11 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Matthew Nastuk |
| Written by | Tom Martin |
| Production code | BABF07 |
| Original air date | December 19, 1999 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | (first) Bart writes "I will not sell my kidney on eBay"/(second) Lisa writes "I will not do math in class" |
| Couch gag | Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie slide down a fire pole to the couch. Homer, however, gets stuck in the hole and flails about helplessly. |
| Commentary | Matt Groening Mike Scully George Meyer Ian Maxtone-Graham Tom Martin Matt Selman Tim Long Lance Kramer |
"Grift of the Magi" is the ninth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. Being the final episode to air in the 1990s, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 19, 1999. In the episode, mafia boss Fat Tony successfully extorts a large sum of money from Springfield Elementary School, forcing Principal Skinner to close it down. However, a toy company called Kid First Industries, led by Jim Hope, later buys the school and privatizes it. Classes now start focusing on toys and marketing only, and soon a new toy called Funzo that resembles the children's ideas is released by Kid First Industries in time for the Christmas shopping season. Bart and Lisa decide to destroy all Funzos in Springfield but Gary Coleman, Kid First Industries' security guard, tries to intercept them.
"Grift of the Magi", which satirizes the commercialization of Christmas, was written by Tom Martin and directed by Matthew Nastuk. The episode features several guest appearances; Tim Robbins as Jim Hope, Gary Coleman as himself, Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony, and Clarence Clemons as a narrator that tells the viewers at the end of the episode how the story ends.
Around 7.76 million American homes tuned in to watch the episode during its original airing. It was first released on DVD in 2003 in a collection of five Christmas-related Simpsons episodes, titled Christmas With the Simpsons.
Critics have given "Grift of the Magi" generally mixed reviews, particularly because of its plot. The episode has been praised for some of its gags and Coleman's appearance.