Hey there holiday tappers! Howzit? So TSTO is officially in White Christmas mode and the snow is a’falling. I don’t know about you but I love my town covered in snow. As a Southern California resident, I like the snow I can oooh and aaah over without being cold or shoveling it. Of course with a brand new event comes brand new stuff to chat about. My favorite part is of course re-watching Simpsons episodes and then sharing with you just where THAT comes from. For this edition, let’s take a look at the Sponsored Church.
At first glance, this new skin for the First Church of Springfield is a “what the heck” moment, right? I mean, you collect 3500 prezzies and all of a sudden a giant Jeebus with a lasso has dominated your town. Of course, all these wacky items we get in updates come from somewhere and believe it or not, this one is no different. Let’s head off for some more origin info and check out “She of Little Faith” (S13:E6).
Like most Simpsons episodes, this one starts off with shenanigans. Bart uses Homer’s credit card to buy the Orbit King Rocket Kit. Homer helps Bart & Milhouse build it but their attempts only blow up. Flanders is having mucho success but Homer is undeterred. In come Benjamin, Doug and Gary to build a boffo rocket (complete with hamster cockpit). Unfortunately the rocket flies off course and destroys the First Church of Springfield.
The church is trashed and barring some sort of miracle, something must be done. Mr. Burns steps a la the devil that he is to help along with his consultant Lindsay Naegle. Their answer is to rebuild the church with fundraising, revenue streams and corporate branding. The church gets rebranded with impulse buy items and now Jeebus has a lasso to be all man. I give you the Sponsored Church just like the skin for our game.
Inside there are ads for all sorts of things… KBBL, Springfield Bell, Cookiee Kwan… it’s swanky but certainly not what churches should look like. The parishioners seems to like the new digs but not dear Lisa Simpson. She’s finally had enough when The Noid appears to give a sermon on deliciousness and runs out of the church. (Avoid the Noid… he ruins pizzas. lol)
Lisa needs a temple free of corruption. After some research and a walk, she finds exactly what she needs… the Springfield Buddhist Temple.
The rest of the episode includes Lisa’s conversion to Buddhism, Richard Gere, Marge trying to con Lisa back to Christianity with Christmas and a pony, and some other hilariousness. In the end Lisa discovers she can still celebrate holidays with her family. “Buddhists respect the diversity of other religions as long as they’re based on love and compassion.” You can celebrate any holiday and Richard Gere’s birthday is August 31st. So Lisa returns to the family to celebrate Christmas and all is well now that she’s going to pay lip service to the family’s religion. So where’s her pony? Lol (Gotta love Ralph and Milhouse wrapped up and eating sugar cubes)
Nerd note: Richard Gere agreed to be in this episode provided the tenets of Buddhism were shown correctly, Lisa became and stayed a Buddhist AND the words Free Tibet were said somewhere in the episode. And that’s it my friends. The origin for the Sponsored Church and a bonus origin for the Springfield Buddhist Temple. Hope you enjoyed it.
TTFN… Wookiee out!
What’s a jeebus?
That’s what Homer calls Jesus…
Gotcha. Knew it sounded familiar
So I have no clue if anyone saw this but there is a new plant worker the the plant worker set. When do we get him? How do we get him?
Not in the game yet….Phase 2.
I have surpassed that number of presents but did not receive the church. I have received the plunger as I passed the next gift level though. Any reason why? Glitch?
Check your church in town. It should automatically be applied to it. If not tap on it and see if you can toggle left or right to the Facade.
Is it supposed to be a lasso? I thought the giant Jesus was holding a whip from the time he drove the merchants out of the temple, adding some irony to the corporate branding of the church.
Nope. And I quote:
“Why does Jesus have a lasso?”
“Because he’s all man.”
I’ve always liked that Lisa was a Buddhist (and Apu, Hindu, and Krusty, quasi-Jewish)… It’s good to have diversity among our popular characters.
I never knew that they let so many celebrities influence character development, especially Lisa. I knew that it was because of Paul Mcartney that Lisa became and stayed a vegetarian. I had no idea that it was because of Richard Gear that she became a Buddhist. I wonder how many other things in the show happend just so they could get get a celebrity cameo.
I’d be curious. I think most people just are honored to be on the show but those two cases were causes the actors believed in so they had provisions.
I think after Michael Jackson tried to impose so many restrictions and conditions on his appearance, they decided to make celebrity appearances on invitation only with no imposed terms.
Pray for Mojo that Mama June, Honey Boo Boo and Snookie never appear on the show !!
Hum, interesting quote about Buddhism. The “Love and Compassion” part didn’t quite seem right to me… and I’m Buddhist.
What does seem to make a little more sense (to me) is another phrase I found online… differs slightly: “Wisdom and Compassion” (as the source mentions that some view “love” and “compassion” similarly).
In any case, this article was very informative in the origins of both in Sponsored Church and the temple in Springfield.
Thanks for sharing. I took the info straight from RIchard Gere’s dialogue in the episode.
This around the season I totally checked out of The Simpsons. Anybody else?
Not sure what you’re saying.
I think he’s one of those people that doesnt watch the newer episodes of the show. I’m sure you know the type. “There hasnt been anything good since season 8.”
It’s okay, more Simpsons for the rest of us. 🙂
I could be wrong, but I think he’s saying this is the season he stopped watching The Simpsons.