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"Marge vs. the Monorail" is the twelfth episode of ''The Simpsons''’ fourth season. It originally aired on January 14, 1993. The plot revolves around Springfield's impulse purchase purchase of a monorail from a conman, of which Homer Simpson becomes conductor. It was written by Conan O'Brien and directed by Rich Moore. Guest stars include Leonard Nimoy as himself and Phil Hartman as Lyle Lanley. The episode has been widely praised by fans and critics and is frequently cited as being among the best and funniest of the series. Writer Conan O'Brien has claimed that, of the ''Simpsons'' episodes that he wrote, this was his favorite.〔 Leonard Nimoy's unexpected guest appearance was also widely praised.〔 Despite this, the episode attracted some criticism when it was first aired due to the somewhat abstract and less situational nature of the plot, particularly from voice actor Yeardley Smith who in 1995 described the episode as "truly one of our worst". ==Plot== After being caught by the Environmental Protection Agency dumping nuclear waste in the city park, Mr. Burns is fined $3 million. Mayor Quimby pockets $1 million, and a town meeting is held so that the citizens can decide how to spend what Quimby deceptively announces as "the two million dollars" in settlement money. Marge suggests that the city use the money to fix Main Street, which is in poor condition. The town is about to vote in favor when someone new to town, a fast-talking salesman named Lyle Lanley, suggests that Springfield construct a city monorail. He leads them in the ''Monorail Song'', after which the now enthused townspeople decide to build the train. Even though Lanley succeeds in winning over almost the entire town, his salesmanship fails to convince Marge, who is frustrated with the town's purchase because she correctly believes the monorail is unsafe and that Lanley ia a con man. While watching TV, Homer sees an advertisement that suggests he attend Lanley's institute of monorail conducting, which is a transparent effort to make even more money from the con. (The narration accompanying the picture of a school building which illustrates the ad includes the quickly-spoken disclaimer "Actual institute may not match photo.") Homer, claiming for the first time that monorail conducting is a "lifelong dream," immediately decides to enroll. After an easy three-week course sarcastically described by Lanley as "intensive," Lanley selects Homer at random from among his classmates to be the monorail conductor. Still annoyed about the town's lack of understanding of the monorail, Marge visits Lanley to question his motives, and discovers a notebook containing drawings which reveal Lanley’s intention to run off with bags of money skimmed from the monorail project while everyone else falls victim to his faulty train. Although Lanley catches her in his office, she comes up with a convincing alibi that causes him to think she suspects nothing. Marge immediately drives to North Haverbrook, which Lanley mentioned was a previous purchaser of one of his monorails. She discovers that the town is in ruins and that those still living there deny that they ever had a monorail, despite the fact that the town is covered in monorail advertisements. While exploring, Marge meets Sebastian Cobb, the engineer who designed Lanley's North Haverbrook monorail. Cobb explains that Lanley embezzled construction funds through shoddy workmanship and materials, and that the entire project was a scam. Realizing Marge believes him, he offers his assistance in helping to prevent the same fate from happening to Springfield. At the maiden voyage of the Springfield monorail, Lanley arranges for a well-attended opening ceremony, which will divert the town's attention while he escapes. The whole town turns out, and Leonard Nimoy is the guest of honor. Lanley grabs his money and tries to escape in a cab to the airport, where he plans to board a flight to Tahiti. Lisa tries to stop him by persuading him to ride the monorail. He refuses, telling Lisa he has a plane to catch and making her realize that Marge was right to have suspected Lanley from the start. Lisa notifies Marge, but the monorail departs just before Marge and Cobb arrive. Although it runs normally at the start, the controls soon malfunction and cause it to speed wildly around the track, with the "Springfield Monorail" label on the engine peeled back by the wind to reveal that the train was originally constructed for the 1964 World's Fair. Homer, Bart, and the passengers are in danger, but the monorail's electricity cannot be shut off because of its solar power, though a short eclipse briefly causes the train to stop, before the sun reappears and the train begins to speed off again. Marge tries to use the main controls at the station to stop the train, but finds that before leaving Springfield, Lanley sabotaged everything except the radio. Meanwhile, Lanley's non-stop flight to Tahiti is interrupted by a brief and unexpected stopover in North Haverbrook. The townsfolk are alerted to his presence, presumably by Marge and Cobb, and they storm the plane to attack Lanley as revenge for ruining their town. Back in Springfield, Marge and Cobb contact Homer by radio and Cobb tells Homer that he will need to find an anchor in order to stop the train. Improvising quickly, Homer pries loose the giant metal "M" from the logo on the side of the monorail's engine, ties a rope to it, and throws it from the train. Eventually the "M" catches on the sign of a doughnut shop and the rope holds, stopping the monorail and saving its passengers. 〔 As the passengers depart the train, Nimoy cryptically announces to no one in particular that his work is done. Barney Gumble overhears him and replies that Nimoy didn't do anything. Nimoy, continuing his mysterious tone, responds "Didn't I?", after which he vanishes in a Star Trek-like transporter effect. The episode ends with a narration from Marge in which she says the monorail was the only folly the people of Springfield ever embarked upon, except for a popsicle stick skyscraper, a 50-foot magnifying glass, and an escalator to nowhere. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Marge vs. the Monorail」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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