Little Big Mom

"Little Big Mom" is the tenth episode of the eleventh season of The Simpsons. It aired on January 9, 2000. It is the second episode to not air in Japan (for its leprosy jokes.).

Plot
When Marge cleans out the attic and looks for old things to send away, Homer refuses to let her do it, prompting Marge to look at all the junk she is trying to get rid of. She shows Homer several skis he never used since buying them after the Nagano Olympics. To spite Marge, he wants to use them, which makes the family go on a skiing trip. When they are there, Marge decides that she wants to avoid skiing or snowboarding, for fear of injury. While staying in the ski lodge, however, a loose-hanging clock falls and breaks Marge's leg. She goes to the hospital, and Dr. Hibbert declares that she must stay there until her cast is removed.

In the meantime, Lisa offers to take her place, making a structured plan for Homer and Bart to do the chores, which Lisa chooses through a chore hat. Unfortunately, Homer and Bart refuse to do any chores, and when Lisa finally prods them into doing some work, they do so in an extremely apathetic and ineffective manner. Marge is enjoying her time in the hospital, due to getting a massage, among other things. The lazy lifestyles of Homer and Bart have taken their toll on the house, which is now a disorganized, filthy hovel with trash everywhere, with Lisa struggling to make ends meet. She even calls Marge and asks if she can return-Marge, who enjoys the lifestyle of lying all day in bed not working, lies to Lisa saying she is still too ill to come back, leaving Lisa abandoned once again. Lisa, angered and desperate for answers, meets the ghost of Lucille Ball, who has an idea to get revenge. She suggests that she pull a clever trick on Homer and Bart while they are asleep. Indeed she does, and using green poster paint and oatmeal on the men, she tricks them into thinking that they have leprosy.

The next morning, Homer and Bart are told by Lisa they have leprosy from living in dirty conditions. Lisa hopes this will make them clean up the house, but they do not, and instead Homer and Bart go see the Flanders family. Ned is scared to see Homer and Bart have leprosy, and he takes Homer and Bart to a leper colony in Hawaii, where they will be needled and sanded. Once Marge's cast has finally come off (and her excess leg hair has been waxed), she comes home to see Lisa finally done with cleaning the entire house. They decide to seek out Homer and Bart in Hawaii. When they arrive, Lisa admits that she only played a trick on Homer and Bart (Homer already knows the leprosy is fake because he ate one of the sores); however, they want to stay there on account of it being a "free vacation" (despite the painful needle treatments).

Cultural references

 * The name of this episode is a parody of the film Little Big Man.
 * The Virtual Doctor website says that it's from the creators of Dragon Quest and SimSandwich. Dragon Quest is a series of RPGs released by Square-Enix (originally released as Dragon Warrior in the US.) SimSandwich is a reference to SimCity.
 * In the hospital, Homer and Bart squirt interferon at each other.