"Brush With Greatness" Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Krusty the Clown Show

While watching TV, Bart and Lisa are exposed to the last day of Krusty the Clown's big, week-long event at Mt. Splashmore. Krusty really promotes the venue (in particular its two hours of free parking, nose plug rentals, and on-premises trauma center site) and encourages viewers via song that they all need to go to Mt. Splashmore immediately. Bart and Lisa recognize that the promotion is shameless, but it works.

They spend all day and night repeatedly harassing Homer until, finally, he says yes, just so that they'll stop.

Answer: H2Whoa

The family piles into the car the next day, running late because Homer needs to fit into his bathing suit. When they arrive, they immediately get separated. Bart and Lisa both end up going to H2Whoa, one of the park's larger slides, but they also find that it has one of the longer lines in the park.

It's no trouble, though. Bart convinces Lisa to fake cry until they get to the front. Homer, similarly, ends up going to the same ride and claiming to be a line inspector, pushes and nudges his way to the front. All three end up riding in succession.

Answer: He gets stuck

While Lisa and Bart both enjoy their ride on H2Whoa, Homer, the last to ride, ends up getting stuck part-way through because of his weight. The ride operators recognize the blockage and send several kids down to free it up, but this is for naught. Ultimately, technicians are called in to dismantle the ride so that they can free Homer from the claustrophobic tube.

He ends up on the news that night, being made fun of (and not lightly) for the experience. Krusty also ends up getting interviewed about the ride despite not owning or operating the park.

Answer: In the attic

Homer asks the family for their honest opinion about his weight and it's disappointing. When he steps on the scale that evening he finds a grand total of 260 lbs, a weight he's ashamed to be. When Marge comes in he vows to go on a diet-- one he will not fail to complete.
Homer and Bart head up to the attic to locate some athletic equipment (which he does find, including a device called the 'Gluteus Maximizer'). While up there, Bart finds a stack of portraits leaning along the wall, and they concern Homer a great deal.

Answer: Ringo Starr

When Marge is asked about all of the portraits in the attic (all of which feature Ringo Starr), she reasons that she had a crush on him in high school, back when The Beatles were popular. She tells him not to worry. Instead he worries that he started his diet on pork chop night; Marge gives him rice cakes instead. Lisa asks Marge why she stopped painting and she reveals that it was because an art teacher told her that her work was worthless.

She sent a picture to Ringo Starr for his opinion but she never heard back and she stopped painting altogether. Lisa recommends joining a community college art class and her mother thinks it's a great idea.

Answer: Visualizing everyday objects in geometrical shapes

Marge brings a portfolio with her to the community college and is told that she must have a session with Professor Lombardo, her potential teacher, to see if she is qualified for a spot in her class. As it turns out, he thinks that she has amazing talent.
Homer, meanwhile, has trouble exercising due to all of the work he's putting into it. Nonetheless he is able to persevere with aerobics and cardio work. Marge ends up creating a noteworthy painting of Homer sitting on the couch in his underwear and her professor likes it so much that he plans on entering her into an art exhibit.

Answer: True

When the painting of Homer sitting on the couch is presented to the judges, it wins out over the other entries and Marge is modestly surprised.
Elsewhere, Mr. Burns yells at yet another artist for a lackluster portraiture and tells Smithers to find yet another local artist to commission for his entry into the Burns wing of the Springfield Art Gallery. Smithers notes that he's somehow managed to alienate every artist in town, but, upon hearing of Marge's art show win, they decide to ask for her services.
Homer, meanwhile, learns that he's lost eleven pounds.

Answer: Inner beauty

Mr. Burns heads to the Simpson household to speak Marge and convince her that she must paint his portrait in less than a week. She says that she will do her best to portray his inner beauty. When Homer gets home he's surprised to see his boss in the living room and he tries to convince Marge not to get him fired (mainly by doing a good job).

When Marge mentions inner beauty, Homer is seriously worried. It becomes more and more apparent as the days go on that Burns is overstaying his welcome and that he lacks inner and outer beauty; at one point Marge walks in on him stepping out of the shower.

Answer: Yes

As the days go by, Marge starts getting short with Mr. Burns. The final straw is had when Homer, now down to 239 lbs, rushes downstairs to tell Marge but gets insulted by Burns instead. She kicks Burns out of the household and says she can finish it herself, alone.

When he leaves she smashes the canvas and stops Homer from cheating on his diet. Discouraged, Marge says she's not good enough to make Burns a beautiful person. This thought is turned around however, when she finally receives a response from Ringo Starr in the mail thanking her for her painting (which he hung on his wall).

She immediately gets to work making the perfect work of art.

Answer: Shock

The unveiling is finally had at the art museum and when Burns pulls the curtain aside, it's revealed that Marge painted Mr. Burns as a nude figure. She explains herself-- she wanted to show that beneath Burns' fearsome exterior, there is a frail, withered body underneath, as vulnerable as anyone else.

The initial reaction from the room is shock and disgust at the image, but soon, the crowd compliments the boldness of the painting. Even Mr. Burns thanks her for the portrait (and for not making fun of him which, to be fair, she thought she did).