Original air date: 2/26/2006 (produced in 2005)
Production code: HABF-05
A Simpson-ized parody of My Fair Lady sees Lisa training the brash Groundskeeper Willie into being a proper gentleman; Homer sells his body as a human billboard to save his trademark blue pants from being discontinued.
Tropes:
- A Day in the Limelight: For Willie.
- Actually Pretty Funny:
- Skinner is adamant against any jokes about Ms. Pommelhorst becoming Mr. Pommelhorst and becoming the shop class teacher, but giggles at Nelson's "New wood" quip.
- When Willie reverts to his former self after Krusty angers him, he says "May I show you the dessert tray?" and starts pounding his head into the tray, which prompts Krusty to say "Dessert tray, that's a great gag. Can I use it?"
- Bait-and-Switch: When Lisa shows Willie his new shack, it's the exact same as the old one, but with a "Home Sweet Home" sign. Willie appears to appreciate it, at first... but then smashes it on the ground when she leaves, saying, "I liked it the way it was!"
- Beat Without a "But": The first version of Willie's "I Want" Song starts off with him singing "All I want is a place somewhere"... and that's the whole song. Bart nudges him to aim a little higher.
- Beyond the Impossible: During his time as the school's new groundskeeper, Mr. Largo somehow drove the tractor to the roof. Even he doesn't know how he did it.
- Continuity Nod: Calling back to "Monty Can't Buy Me Love," the flashback to Willie's birth shows him being born on a pool table.
- Dodgeball Is Hell: Especially Coach Krupt's version, where he just throws dodgeballs at the kids and shouts "Bombardment!"
- Fan Disservice: The Super Bowl ad for blue pants features a tubby guy shaking his fat to the tune of "Little Elephant Walk". For some reason, the camera closes up on his wobbling rear.
- Gender Bender: Ms. Pummelhorst the gym teacher leaves to undergo an operation. She will return as Mr. Pummelhorst, the shop teacher (Which still hasn’t happened.)
- Horrible Housing: Groundskeeper Willie lives in a tiny shack (basically a glorified tool shed) with a leaking roof, indicative of his feral, uncivilized condition. Once Lisa teaches him how to be a gentleman, he moves out of the shack, and sings a song called "I Could be Indoors All Night". After he becomes dissatisfied with civilized life, he longs for the shack and moves back in.
- "I Want" Song: Parodied. When Lisa asks him if he wants a better lot in life, Willie sings, "All I want is a place somewhere." Then everything stops, as that was all he wanted. Bart suggests aiming higher, leading into a longer song ("Wouldn't It Be Adequate?"), where Willie would like such things as his shack repaired, matching shoes, and underwear for when he's wearing a kilt.
- Karmic Misfire: After getting fed up with Coach Krupt's constant abuse of "Bombardment" and seeing that it's the only thing in his day planner for the foreseeable future, Bart steals one of the dodgeballs, fills it with water, and freezes it overnight. The following day he attempts to nail the coach with the rock-hard dodgeball, but not only does Krupt dodge out of the way, it flies right through the gym window and onto Willie's shack, totally demolishing it. To add further insult to injury, when Willie throws the frozen dodgeball away in outrage, it hits his tractor and totals that too, to his dismay.
- Low Count Gag: Lisa's wall of sports awards consists of a single bowling participation ribbon.
- The Man in the Mirror Talks Back: Willie's reflection speaks to him during "What Flows from the Nose." Lampshaded when Willie shouts, "A talking mirror!" and smashes it with a chair.
- Musical Number Annoyance: Homer interrupts Willie and Lisa's song with a line about blue pants. Lisa tells him to get his own song, and Homer walks away singing, "I'm getting blue pants in the morning!"
- Overly Long Gag: The Fan Disservice ad for Blue Jeans in which a fat man dances is this In-Universe and out. The audience gets about twenty seconds of the man dancing before Homer asks the Blue Pants executive how long is the ad. The executive then says he doesn't know the exact length, but it's so long that he's never been able to make it to the end himself.
- Plagiarism in Fiction: While shoving Krusty's face to a dessert, Willie makes a joke that Krusty likes so much he asks for permission to use it at his show. Krusty says he'll use the joke with or without the permission.
- Pygmalion Plot: As the title suggests.
- Rags to Riches: Willie looks the part and is very much praised for his new attitude, but soon, the snobs of the higher class start to annoy him to the point where he eventually reverts back to his former self, not without thanking Lisa for thanking her time with him.
- Recycled Premise: Bart ends up destroying Willie's shack again, though this time he and the family actually take an interest in helping Willie through his predicament.
- The Red Stapler: In-universe. A disastrous Super Bowl ad drives blue pants to the verge of extinction. Then, after Homer uses his head as a billboard, everybody begins using blue pants.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Lisa teaches Willie proper pronunciation using the phrase "what flows from the nose does not go on my clothes."
- Riddle for the Ages: Just how did Mr. Largo end up on the school roof while driving a tractor?
- Sadist Teacher: Coach Krupt, the substitute gym teacher, whose idea of gym class is playing "Bombardment", a game that consists solely of him throwing dodgeballs at the kids, to the point of injuring them. He likes to throw things at people in general, too, as shown when he complains about stale rolls in the restaurant and throws them at Willie, shouting "Bombardment!" Unsurprisingly, besides Bart attempting to hit him with an ice-filled dodgeball, no one even stops Krupt from doing this nor do any of the kids rat to Skinner on him.
- Shout-Out:
- Jimbo and Kearney make a bet about traveling the world on eighty days.
- At the science fair, Willie is introduced as "G.K. Willington", a reference to writer G.K. Chesterton.
- Worldwide Pants is named after David Letterman's production company. The company claims they got the name first.
- Status Quo Is God: Willie ends up feeling miserable with his new personality after suffering abuse as a waiter (particularly from Krusty), and decides to return to his old life.
- Thing-O-Meter: One of the projects presented at the science fair is a surprise-o-meter.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To My Fair Lady.
