'Round Springfield

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ The PTA Disbands

'Round Springfield

The Springfield Connection ►

'Round Springfield
Episode Number	125
Production Code	2F32
Original Airdate	April 30, 1995
Main character(s)	Bleeding Gums Murphy Lisa Simpson Bart Simpson
Chalkboard Gag	"Nerve gas is not a toy"
Couch Gag	Inverted Family couch gag
Special Guest Voices	Ron Taylor as Bleeding Gums Murphy Steve Allen as himself Phil Hartman as Lionel Hutz Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel
Show Runner	Al Jean and Mike Reiss David Mirkin
Written By	Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia (teleplay) Al Jean and Mike Reiss (story)
Directed By	Steven Dean Moore

“Bleeding Gums was my hero and I never got to tell him how I felt.”

―Lisa Simpson

"'Round Springfield" is the twenty-second episode of Season 6. This episode features the death of Bleeding Gums Murphy.

Synopsis

Bart gets his appendix removed after swallowing a piece of jagged metal in his bowl of cereal and is awarded $500. Meanwhile, Bleeding Gums Murphy dies from an illness and leaves Lisa his saxophone. To honor Murphy, Lisa must raise $500 to purchase his record so that it can be played on the radio.

Full Story

While watching TV about the financial problems Krusty has been having with his workers, Bart is confronted by Marge who quizzes him to see if he actually studied for his history test that morning. After being quizzed Bart accidentally consumes a jagged metal Krusty-O with his breakfast cereal. He then gets a stomachache, but Marge doesn't believe him because he didn't study for his test and it seemed like he was looking for an excuse. Lisa is the only one who believes him, as Homer and Marge send him to school. Bart struggles through the test, and after finally convincing Mrs. Krabappel that he is actually ill, she lets him go and see the nurse. Bart goes to the nurse, sees that it is just lunch lady Doris working as the nurse, and she merely offers him kiddie vitamins. Realizing that the medicine would be useless and the pain being so great, Bart collapses on the medical room floor, and is taken to Springfield General Hospital where he wakes up in the operating room and is preped for surgery from Dr. Hibbert and Dr. Nick Riviera, as it emerges he has appendicitis. After a slight anesthesia malfunction (where they prepare to use the scalpel on Bart only for him to open his eyes and doctor Nick accidentally anesthetizes himself) the surgery goes well and Dr. Hibbert reveals that the piece of jagged metal was the cause. While visiting Bart in the hospital, Lisa meets her hero, jazzman Bleeding Gums Murphy in a bed in another ward.

Later, he lends Lisa his saxophone for her school recital. It starts off terribly, but Lisa gets up and performs a solo routine, becoming the star of the show. However, when she returns to the hospital, she is saddened to learn that Murphy has passed away. Lisa is the only person attending Murphy's funeral, and vows to make sure that everyone in Springfield knows the name Bleeding Gums Murphy. In the meantime, Bart sues Krusty the Clown for $100,000 and wins. However, after Bart's attorney Lionel Hutz takes his "legal fees", Bart is left with only $500.

Still stricken with grief, Lisa proclaims that the best way to honor Murphy's memory is by having his album played at the local jazz station. Lisa observes it in The Android's Dungeon store for $250, but after hearing that Bleeding Gums is dead, Comic Book Guy doubles the price to $500. Bart then walks in with his $500 intending to buy "the ultimate pog" featuring Steve Allen. However, after remembering that Lisa was the only one who believed him about his stomachache, he chooses to buy the album with his money. Later on, Bart tells her that he is satisfied and when Lisa points out he will never see $500 again after his selfless act, Bart reveals the new Krusty-O's cereal with flesh-eating bacteria prizes in every box (implying that he intends to sue Krusty-O's again to get the $500 back).

When the station plays one of Murphy's songs, Lisa is disappointed because the station's tiny range still prevents anyone from hearing it. Lightning then strikes the antenna, giving it extra power and projecting it into every radio in Springfield. Lisa is finally satisfied. After proclaiming "that was for you Bleeding Gums," she turns to leave, but not before Bleeding Gums appears from the heavens to tell Lisa that she had made "an old jazz man happy". After saying a final goodbye, Lisa and Bleeding Gums jam to "Jazzman" one last time.

Behind the Laughter

Controversy

One of the jokes from this episode was where Mufasa's ghost appears alongside the ghosts of Bleeding Gums Murphy, Darth Vader, and James Earl Jones (who voiced both Mufasa and Darth Vader) and says:

"You must avenge my death, Kimba... dah, I mean Simba."

Darth Vader says his famous line(Incorrectly); "Luke, I am your Father."

And the image of James Earl Jones finishes with "This is CNN."

The first quote is a direct reference to the Disney's Lion King controversy with Osamu Tezuka's Kimba The White Lion. The following two quotes are both famous catchphrases known to be in James Earl Jones' voice.