[MG04] Babysitting Maggie

Babysitting Maggie                                     Written by Matt Groening
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[$Id: mg04 1.2 92/02/20 07:28:35 raymond Exp Locker: raymond $]
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> Didja notice...
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    ... Maggie's baggie is white?

Maggie fall count:  Three on the roof, one of which is off-camera.

Wesley Archer and David Silverman were assisted by Bill Kopp in animating
this short.

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> Quotes and scene summary
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% B = Bart, L = Lisa, M = Marge
%
% (Act one cut in syndication.  Bart and Lisa are charged with babysitting
% Maggie, who entertains herself by finding out what happens when you stick
% a fork in an electrical outlet.)
%
% Bart and Lisa are on the couch watching TV.  Unlike the half-hour show,
% the couch is in the middle of the room, so that we can see behind them
% through the archway to the staircase.  Beneath the electrical outlet
% behind the couch lies a fork, left over from Act One.  By the couch
% next to Bart is a cup with a bent straw.  In front of the couch is an
% empty bowl with a spoon in it.  In the background, we see Maggie
% crawling up the stairs.  Bart and Lisa talk without looking at each other.

L: Where's Maggie?
B: Who cares.
L: Oh, shut up.
B: <You> shut up.

% Close-up on the staircase.  Maggie crawls upward out of frame.  (There isn't
% even the slightest hint of Maggie's feet.  She looks like a polliwog.)
% Maggie tumbles down the stairs (bounce bounce) landing on her head at
% each bounce.
%
% Cut back to Bart and Lisa on the couch, as we watch Maggie descend the
% stairs in the background.

L: Do you hear something?
B: Forget it!

% Close-up on the foot of the stairs as Maggie reaches the bottom.  Pain
% lines stream out of her head, then she removes her pacifier (pop) and
% squeals with glee, a huge smile on her face.
%
% [End of Act Two.]
%
% Maggie watches a butterfly flit out the window.  She climbs out the
% dormer onto the roof in chase.  (Run run run run *thud*.  Run run run
% run *thud*.  Run run run run *thud*.  Maggie runs at a pretty healthy
% clip.)  Just as she reaches the edge of the roof, she grabs the butterfly
% and falls.
%
% Back to Bart and Lisa on the couch as a *thud* is heard outside.

L: I thought I heard a thud.
B: You'll hear another one if you don't shut your trap.

% Maggie emerges from a bush sans pacifier, the butterfly still in her
% hand.  She squeals with glee.
%
% [End of Act Three.]
%
% Marge has arrived home, groceries in her arms.  The kids don't even
% acknowledge her presence.

M: Did you two keep an eye on Maggie?
B: [bored] Yeah, Mom.
L: [bored] Yeah, Mom.
M: Well, where is she?

% Maggie walks into frame, still carrying her butterfly.  (Her pacifier
% is back in her mouth.)  Close-up on her as she admires her prize.
% The butterfly flits away, and Maggie starts bawling.
%
% Back to Marge and the kids, all eyes on Maggie.  Maggie's pacifier is
% a few feet in front of her, and she's still bawling.

B: Man, she is such a baby.

% [End of Act Four.]
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Shorts summaries Copyright 1992 by Raymond Chen.  Not to be redistributed
in a public forum without permission.  (The quotes themselves, of course,
remain the property of The Tracey Ullman Show, and the reproduced articles
remain the property of the original authors.  I'm just taking credit for the
compilation.)