Maggie attacks Homer with a mallet after seeing it on Itchy & Scratchy. Marge begins a protest outside the production offices, demanding the show be retooled to prevent further violence.
Marge's moral crusade drives 48 jokes in 22 minutes, anchoring a mid-tier episode.
Directed by Jim Reardon · Written by John Swartzwelder
WAR
16.6
Wins Above Replacement
“Itchy Amp Scratchy Amp Marge” ranks #511 of 552 The Simpsons episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 70.9 — Solid. The episode packs 48 scored jokes at 3.4 per minute, averaging 6.5 on craft and 6.2 on impact, with Homer landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
Get weekly comedy rankings
Join comedy fans getting new analyses, score drops, and the funniest moments each week. Free, no spam.
Top Jokes
Marge: One person can make a difference but probably shouldn't.
Marge Observational Character Comedy Itchy & Scratchy Writers: Drop an anvil? / Hit her with a piano? / Stuff her with TNT, throw a match and run?
Marge: What kind of warped human being would find that funny?
Marge Irony/Sarcasm Meta/Self-Referential Bart · Lisa · Maggie: Itchy and Scratchy have lost their edge. / It's a nice message of sharing. / I think it sucks.
Bart · Homer: But if you take them away, we'll grow up without humor and be robots. / Really? What kind of robots?
All Jokes — 48 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Marge: They're nothing special. The extra ingredient is care.
Marge: A sprinkle of chervil, half a teaspoon of turmeric and a whisper of MSG.
Marge Wordplay/Pun Observational Homer: Volume One: Spice Racks.
Homer: Not as easy as I thought it was.
Homer Character Comedy Reaction Beat Bart · Homer: Dad, can you move your head? / I can't. It's broken.
Bart Homer Physical/Slapstick Deadpan/Understatement Marge: Where would a child get the idea to attack her father with a mallet?
Marge Irony/Sarcasm Setup/Punchline Bart · Homer: But if you take them away, we'll grow up without humor and be robots. / Really? What kind of robots?
Bart: Hey, that's just crazy enough to work.
Bart Setup/Punchline Character Comedy Homer: I told you. My baby beat me up.
Homer Absurdist Cringe/Discomfort Homer: It is not the worst excuse I ever thought up. Wise guy.
Bart · Homer: Because why? / I said so. / You said so why? / I'm trying to work. / What are you doing? / Cataloguing the violence.
Marge: I don't think adults have ever sat down and watched them before.
Marge Observational Meta/Self-Referential Marge: What kind of warped human being would find that funny?
Marge Irony/Sarcasm Meta/Self-Referential Marge: What kind of warped human being would find that funny?
Roger Myers: As to your comments, research shows one person can't make a difference... no matter how screwy she is.
Marge: I'll show them what one screwball can do!
Marge Escalation Character Comedy Callback Homer · Marge: How long are we gonna do this? / I've never changed the world. I don't know how long it takes.
Ned · Marge: What is 'S-N-U-H'? / Snuh. It's 'Springfieldians for Nonviolence, Understanding and Helping.'
Homer: I didn't know they made TV dinners this bad.
Homer Observational Cringe/Discomfort Homer · Marge: There's peas in my cobbler. / They're everywhere.
Homer: Twenty million women, and I had to marry Jane Fonda.
Homer Observational Character Comedy Krusty: Hey! Settle down, boys and girls. Or Krusty will bring out his friend Corporal Punishment again.
Krusty Wordplay/Pun Dark/Subversive Itchy & Scratchy Writers: Drop an anvil? / Hit her with a piano? / Stuff her with TNT, throw a match and run?
Roger Myers: All your degrees and that's the best you can do? You make me sick.
Unknown child: I'm so funny!
Homer: Some of these are good. I never knew mice lived such lives.
Homer Character Comedy Absurdist Kent Brockman: Are cartoons too violent? Most people say, 'No! What a stupid question!'
Roger Myers: There was the crusades. Tremendous violence! Many killed!
Roger Myers · Kent Brockman: It went on for 30 years. / This was before cartoons?
Dr. Marvin Monroe: I'm referring to women who love too much, fear of winning, sex-aholism.
Dr. Marvin Monroe: One of my guilty little pleasures is to turn on Itchy & Scratchy... and laugh myself silly.
Marge reading fan mail: I won't watch your show, buy your products... or brake if I see you crossing the street.
Writer: Make it a pie. Easier to draw.
Writer Meta/Self-Referential Observational Marge: Couldn't Itchy share his pie with Scratchy? Then they'd both have pie.
Marge Character Comedy Absurdist Roger Myers: It's different, I'll give you that.
Bart · Lisa · Maggie: Itchy and Scratchy have lost their edge. / It's a nice message of sharing. / I think it sucks.
Bart · Lisa: We went fishing. Almost caught a catfish this big. / I went bird watching and saw a grackle.
Bart Lisa Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Homer: Wow! What great kids. This is the golden age, Marge!
Homer Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Helen Lovejoy: Filth. It portrays parts of the body which, though practical, are evil.
Marge · Helen Lovejoy: I like that statue. / I knew she was soft on nudity.
Kent Brockman: A masterpiece? Or just a guy with his pants down?
Protester: We want your big Italian butt out of here!
Kent Brockman: Aren't you Marge Simpson, the wacko?
Marge: One person can make a difference but probably shouldn't.
Marge Observational Character Comedy Kent Brockman: Tomorrow our topic will be 'Religion: Which Is the One True Faith?'
Homer · Marge: There he is, Michelangelo's Dave. / David.
Marge · Homer: Really? Why? / They're forcing them!
Top Episodes — The Simpsons