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» » Simpsonai Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish (1989– )

Short summary

A three-eyed fish is caught in the Springfield River downstream from the nuclear plant, leading to a government safety inspection. When Mr. Burns is told that the plant will be shut down, he gets drunk in his car with Homer. Homer remarks that if Burns were governor, he could make new laws to keep the plant open. Burns seizes on this remark and announces his candidacy. Afraid for his job, Homer pushes his family to campaign for Burns, but Marge is a staunch supporter of the incumbent, Mary Bailey. On the night before the election, Burns dines at the Simpson home as a publicity stunt.

While the idea of Blinky was completely fictional at the time, a three-eyed fish was caught in 2011 in Córdoba, Argentina near a local nuclear power plant. The fish was a seawolf and did not resemble Blinky besides the three eyes. The fishermen sent the fish to a radiation test, to determine whether the mutation came from being exposed to the water from the nuclear power plant.

Blinky had previously made a brief appearance in Симпсоны: Homer's Odyssey (1990), in which he was seen swimming in the lake outside of the plant. The writers liked the design of the fish and decided to devote an episode to him.

Mr. Burns's argument that the fish is a product of natural selection is validated by himself spitting the fish out. Tasty fish are more likely to be eaten by predators than bitter tasting fish. However by claiming during the campaign that the three-eyed fish would have "a taste that can't be beat" he caused his political downfall.

The clip of Burns driving a military tank in his campaign montage is similar to a clip featured in Michael Dukakis's 1988 United States presidential campaign, in which he can be seen driving a tank.

A re-run of the episode that aired on June 25, 1992, included a new chalkboard gag in the opening credits that featured Bart writing "It's potato, not potatoe" on the chalkboard. This is a reference to a spelling blunder by the then-Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle, who corrected a student's correct spelling of "potato" to "potatoe" at an elementary school spelling bee in Trenton, New Jersey, on June 15, 1992.

This was supposed to be the first episode of Season Two. Due to Bart's popularity, Симпсоны: Bart Gets an F (1990) was aired first.

It is revealed that the "C" in C. Montgomery Burns stands for "Charles".

The title is based on the 1928 slogan for Herbert Hoover: "A Chicken in Every Pot. A car in every garage."

Bart's scrapbook contains a clipping headlined "Vandal Decapitates Town Statue... Who is El Barto?", referencing his own exploits in Симпсоны: The Telltale Head (1990).

Mary Bailey was named after Donna Reed's character from Эта замечательная жизнь (1946).

This is the first episode to be rated TV-14.

Mary Bailey would later appear briefly in episodes such as Симпсоны: Bart vs. Lisa vs. 3rd Grade (2002) and Симпсоны: The Seven-Beer Snitch (2005).

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Macage
    Now as I have duly pointed out, I am not one for politics. This episode is very political-centered and that's why I didn't like it as much and it's an episode that doesn't stand out much. But that being said, I still liked it and found it rather amusing. It's a decent political satire with the only intention of making fun of politics.

    In this episode, "two cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish," Bart catches a three-eyed fish in the river that's being polluted by the nuclear power plant. When Mr. Burns is told about all of this, he runs for mayor thanks to the advice from Homer.

    Overall, this is a solid episode that's worth a watch. It has several good jokes but this is not my most favorite episode. I rate this episode 8/10.
  • comment
    • Author: Kelezel
    Two Cars In Every Car and Three Eyes On Every Fish

    Two Cars is probably the most political episode The Simpsons had done at this point as well as being one of the biggest parodies of a single piece of work (Orson Welles' Citizen Kane) that was done to this point as well. The basic premise being Homer helping Burns to become governor, much to the chagrin of Marge, a supporter of long-standing governor Mary Bailey.

    I don't usually like the use of politics in popular culture. It often seems to be too heavy a subject to deal with in a sit-com. But I salute the show for trying, and largely succeeding in making the episode a good one. Probably not the finest episode in season 2 but it stands up.

    Mary Bailey hasn't appeared much in later episodes (to my knowledge, she's only appeared one other time, literally years away at this point.) Though I suppose they had the political character in Mayor Quimby. Ultimately though it's could be addressed as political, and maybe even somewhat biased to one political viewpoint (the show has been known to have quite a liberal slant, though major writer John Swartzwelder is conservative.) but it's not too heavy and above the heads of the non-political Simpsons viewer.
  • comment
    • Author: Dakora
    I loved this episode when it first screened in 1990, and on so many levels it's as though the Simpsons writers could foresee 26 years later the demagoguery of Monty Burns living on? In this classic episode he hires a crack team of campaign managers, to win the governorship from the incumbent Mary Bailey by smearing her, and coming so close to win the Governor's mansion. Wow! The satire of Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish stands alongside Bob Roberts, and it's so sadly real, that it can happen in a US presidential election.

    The characters in Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish were still developing, given this was the second season of The Simpsons.
  • Episode cast overview:
    Dan Castellaneta Dan Castellaneta - Homer Simpson / Burns' Campaign Manager / Mudslinger / Grampa Simpson / Barney Gumble / Charles Darwin Actor / Burns Campaign Ad Jingle Singer / Man at Bailey Rally #1 / 'He's blown it for sure!' / Scott Christian (voice)
    Julie Kavner Julie Kavner - Marge Simpson (voice)
    Nancy Cartwright Nancy Cartwright - Bart Simpson (voice)
    Yeardley Smith Yeardley Smith - Lisa Simpson (voice)
    Harry Shearer Harry Shearer - Dave Shutton / Montgomery Burns / Waylon Smithers / Jokewriter / Personal Trainer / Jasper / Man at Bailey Rally #2 / Make-up Artist (voice)
    Hank Azaria Hank Azaria - Safety Inspector / Spin Doctor / Character Assassin / Garbologist / TV Announcer / Moe Szyslak / Muckraker (take two) / Reporter (voice)
    Maggie Roswell Maggie Roswell - Gov. Mary Bailey (voice)
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