"Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" is the twelfth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on January 31, 1999, just after Super Bowl XXXIII Sunday. In the episode, while buying new tires for his car, Homer meets a travel agent called Wally Kogen. After becoming friends, Kogen offers Homer a free bus ride to the Super Bowl, as long as he can find enough people to fill Kogen's bus. Several people, including Bart, tag along on what soon becomes a problematic trip. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa set out to find the missing parts of "Vincent Price's Egg Magic", a celebrity-endorsed craft kit.
"Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by George Meyer, Brian Scully, Mike Scully and Tom Martin, the first credit Martin received for the series. Mike Scully jokingly said that the episode was "thrown together[...] without thought or structure" by the writers. For the subplot, the writers tried to come up with the "most boring thing" Lisa and Marge could do to pass time. The episode features several guest-stars, including comedian Fred Willard, country singer Dolly Parton, Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch, sports commentators Pat Summerall and John Madden, and former American football players Troy Aikman, Rosey Grier and Dan Marino. All guest-stars played themselves, except for Willard who portrayed Kogen. The episode pokes fun at folk singer Burl Ives, former United States president Bill Clinton as well as the series' fans, among other things.
In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 11.5 million viewers, making it the tenth most watched program of the week as well as the second most watched scripted program on the network the night it aired. The episode was released on home video for the first time in 2004, and in 2007, the episode was again released as part of the DVD set The Simpsons – The Complete Tenth Season. Following its broadcast, the episode received mostly positive reviews from critics.
After its original broadcast, however, a scene in the episode involving a fictitious, sexually suggestive Super Bowl commercial for the Catholic Church became the subject of controversy. The scene garnered scrutiny from the American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization The Catholic League, whose members sent hundreds of angry letters to the Fox network, demanding any mention of Catholicism in the episode be excised. In September the same year, when the episode was supposed to repeat, the Catholic League asked Fox if they could censor the scene, which the network agreed to. Their decision, however, was criticized by journalists and staff members. The censored version of the episode is still in syndication, as well as on Disney+.
Plot When Bart, Lisa and the students of Springfield Elementary go on a field trip to the post office, Bart gets a coupon book as a souvenir, which he gives to Homer as a birthday present. Homer uses one of his coupons for a free wheel balancing at a tire shop, but is conned into buying four new tires for his car. While waiting for the installation, Homer meets Wally Kogen, a travel agent. The two watch a special on the Super Bowl while drinking at Moe's, and Wally explains that his agency is sending a charter bus to the game. To get free seats for himself and Bart, Homer helps Wally fill the bus by persuading many prominent male citizens of Springfield to sign up.
Homer, Bart, and the men arrive at Miami's Pro Player Stadium for pre-game festivities, only to discover that Wally has bought counterfeit tickets. They try to sneak in, but are caught and detained in a cell, where they vent their frustration on Homer by using him as a substitute for the opening kick ceremony. After Dolly Parton—a friend of Wally's and one of the halftime entertainers—breaks them out, they make their way into a skybox suite and spend more time gorging themselves on free food and drinks than they do watching the game.
Confronted by the box's owner, Rupert Murdoch, the group flees toward the field but is promptly swept into the locker room by the victorious Denver Broncos whom they have triumphed over their rival team, the Atlanta Falcons. They share in the celebration, with Homer taking a congratulatory phone call from President Bill Clinton, and several of the men wind up with Super Bowl rings as they board the bus to return to Springfield.
Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa find a 1960s-era egg decorating kit endorsed by Vincent Price and decide to use it. When the kit proves to have no feet for the egg, Marge calls the company's help line and finds herself listening to Price on a voice mail greeting. As Homer's group leaves Miami, Pat Summerall and John Madden analyze the events of the episode, their initially favorable opinion quickly souring. They board a bus driven by Price, who has trouble shifting gears properly.
Production
"Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" was directed by Steven Dean Moore and co-written by former staff writers Tom Martin, George Meyer, Brian Scully, and executive producer and former showrunner Mike Scully. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on January 31, 1999, right after Super Bowl XXXIII and the premiere of Family Guy.Scully, Mike. (2007). Commentary for "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday", in The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" was the first episode for which Martin received a writing credit, and in the DVD audio commentary for the episode, he stated that he "loved" writing the episode.Martin, Tom. (2007). Commentary for "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday", in The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox. The writing process for the episode was "kind of unusual", since the writers "threw it [the episode] together" without, Scully quipped, thinking of "things such as thought and structure". A scene in the episode shows Homer buying new tires for his car. The scene was written by Brian Scully, who had been scammed by a Firestone Tire and Rubber Company dealer. The episode's subplot was the result of the Simpsons writers trying to find activities for Marge and Lisa to participate in while Bart and Homer were at the Super Bowl. According to Martin, the writers were trying to come up with "the most boring thing" Marge and Lisa could do to pass time. After hearing cast member Dan Castellaneta's impression of Vincent Price, the writers found the impression to be so funny that they based the subplot on the fictional crafts set "Vincent Price's Egg Magic".
In a scene in the episode, Homer and Kogen are in Moe's tavern, discussing their favorite football teams with Moe. When Moe mentions that his favorite team is the Atlanta Falcons, he holds a glass in front of his mouth, obscuring his lip movements. He then passes the same glass to Homer, who does the same for the Denver Broncos. Originally, the characters would be saying something else, however, because the staff wanted the episode to be "current", new dialogue was recorded for the scene. Because there was no time to animate the scene from scratch, the staff simply made the characters hold a glass in front of their mouths while saying their lines. This technique was also used in reference to the ongoing impeachment scandal, as when the characters mention that the President and First Lady will be watching, they cover their mouths when naming them. The song that plays during the bus trip to the Super Bowl was performed by NRBQ. The episode also features British rock band Blur's "Song 2", which plays during the "race" to the stadium.
The episode features American comedian Fred Willard as Wally Kogen. Scully stated that, for many years, the Simpsons staff had wanted Willard to guest-star in an episode, and that they had been looking for a character for Willard to portray. Scully also stated that Willard was "great fun" to have on the show. Wally Kogen's name is taken from two former writers on The Simpsons; the character's first name, Wally, is taken from Wallace Wolodarsky, and the character's last name, Kogen, is taken from Jay Kogen. The episode also features former football players Rosey Grier, Troy Aikman and Dan Marino as themselves. Scully stated that, when athletes guest-star in television shows, their performances are "not always the greatest", however, he asserted, Aikman, Grier, and Marino were all "really funny" and "did a great job". Country singer Dolly Parton guest-starred as herself as well. Scully stated that he was "shocked" by how short Parton was; however, he added that she was "very nice" and "thrilled" to be in the episode. Also featured in the episode is Rupert Murdoch, creator of the Fox Broadcasting Company. Originally, the writers wanted Murdoch to be portrayed by Castellaneta (who had previously voiced Murdoch in the episode "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming"), the voice of Homer among other characters in the series. However, after a while, the writers decided to ask if Murdoch would guest-star as himself. Scully comments that the writers were "impressed" that Murdoch would introduce himself as a "billionaire tyrant" in the episode.
The episode pokes fun at U.S. President Bill Clinton. In their list 15 Simpsons Moments That Perfectly Captured Their Eras, Genevieve Koski, Josh Modell, Noel Murray, Sean O'Neal, Kyle Ryan, and Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club wrote "By the time this episode aired [...], the nation had endured more than a year of the Lewinsky scandal. The episode debuted a month after the House impeached Clinton, but less than two weeks before the Senate's impeach/acquit vote, so an air of uncertainty lingered over an otherwise lightweight episode about Homer organizing a Super Bowl trip." Wally covers his mouth with a glass when he mentions the names of Bill and Hillary, who he hears will be watching the Super Bowl. In a scene in the episode, Clinton calls to congratulate the Super Bowl victors from the Oval Office, but is distracted by Al Gore measuring a window. As Scully recalls, at the time, the Simpsons writers were confident Gore would win the 2000 presidential election, which eventually was marginally, and controversially, won by George W. Bush.
The episode also comments on the series' fanbase. Near the end of the episode, Madden and Summerall provide the following analysis:
In his book Leaving Springfield, John Alberti writes about the exchange: "This conversation begins with conventional football game patter used to comment on the episode, but then takes an abrupt turn when Madden realizes, in spite of the humor, that the episode did not live up to expectations (which he has not originally noticed)."Alberti, pp. 161-162