The Cartridge Family

"The Cartridge Family"
The Simpsons episode
Homer examines his gun
Episode no.Season 9
Episode 5
Directed byPete Michels
Written byJohn Swartzwelder
Production code5F01
Original air dateNovember 2, 1997 (1997-11-02)
Episode features
Chalkboard gag"Everyone is tired of that Richard Gere story"[1]
Couch gagEverybody has their posteriors on fire as they run to a water-filled couch. They hop on board as steam emerges from them.[2]
CommentaryMatt Groening
Mike Scully
Yeardley Smith
Pete Michels
George Meyer
Ian Maxtone-Graham
Donick Cary
Ron Hauge
John Swartzwelder
Episode chronology
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"Bart Star"
The Simpsons season 9
List of episodes

"The Cartridge Family" is the fifth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 2, 1997. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Pete Michels.[1] In the episode, Homer purchases a gun to protect his family, of which Marge disapproves. Homer begins to show extremely careless gun usage, which causes Marge to leave him when she catches Bart using the gun without their permission. The episode was intended to portray guns in an unbiased manner, and faced some problems with censors because of the subject matter. Critical reaction was mostly positive.

The episode was included on a 1999 UK VHS release titled "The Simpsons: Too Hot for TV", which included three other episodes that were deemed to be too raunchy for airing on television.[3] The compilation was released on DVD in 2003.[4][5]

  1. ^ a b Gimple, Scott (1999). The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Continued. Harper Collins Publishers. p. 16. ISBN 0-06-098763-4.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The Simpsons - Too Hot For TV (VHS)". Amazon UK. July 21, 2003. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  4. ^ "The Simpsons - Too Hot For TV (DVD)". Amazon UK. September 8, 2003. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  5. ^ "The Simpsons: Too Hot for TV". Fox. Archived from the original on November 13, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2007.