Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Marge Be Not Proud" finished 47th in the ratings for the week of December 11 to December 17, 1995, with a Nielsen rating of 9.5. The episode was the fourth highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following a boxing match, Fox NFL Sunday, and The X-Files.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote: "A Christmas special in all but name, and a touching look at the relationship between Marge and her growing Bart." Dave Foster of DVD Times said that "thanks to the keen eye of the writers and the rarely shown good side of Bart, this episode works very well as both an amusing insight to the way a child’s mind works and as a strong relationship building episode between Bart and Marge." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said that despite being one of the "sappier" episodes at times, it "still packs some terrific laughs". Jacobson commented that he "absolutely lost it when Homer’s drawing of a robot grilling a hot dog was seen - it’s funnier if you see it - and Lawrence Tierney’s guest turn as the store detective adds hilarious grit to the show." He added that the episode does not "fall into the classic" category, "but it offers more than enough entertainment to satisfy." Jennifer Malkowski of DVD Verdict considered the best part of the episode to be when a depressed Bart makes a snowman from the dirty, leftover snow under the car. She called the scene "amazingly pathetic". The website concluded its review by giving the episode a grade of B. In 2011, Richard Lawson of The Atlantic Wire cited it as the best Christmas episode of The Simpsons, noting that "it's very sweet and there are some funny videogame jokes." He added that the episode "features a terrific guest starring voice performance from the late Lawrence Tierney."
Read more about this topic: Marge Be Not Proud
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)