The Simpsons

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Maggie Simpson, voiced by Yeardley Smith, is the one year old child of Homer and Marge, and is the sister of Bart and Lisa.

Maggie is impressionable and easily influenced by what she sees around her. She once hit Homer on the head with a mallet, shot a suction dart at his picture and brandished a pencil in imitation of Itchy and Scratchy. Despite her age, Maggie is a formidable marksman, as seen in "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Badge," where she is able to shoot the fingers off of a group of mobsters in rapid succession with a rifle. During the early seasons of the show, Maggie's equivalent of a hallmark or calling card would be to trip over her clothing and fall on her face while trying to walk, causing a loud smack on the floor. Indeed, throughout the Tracey Ullman shorts, Maggie fell down a total of 39 times.

She is keenly aware of her surroundings, and can usually be seen imitating the flow of action around her. Like Bart, Lisa and Homer, she is not fond of spending time with her aunts Patty and Selma. It is also known that she dislikes One Eyebrowed baby very much. It was revealed that she was the one who pulled the trigger on Mr. Burns. While most characters dismissed this as an accident, it was strongly implied to viewers that Maggie shot Burns on purpose.

With few exceptions, Maggie never speaks but is very participatory in the events around her, emoting with subtle gestures and facial expressions. Maggie has spoken in "Good Night", the first short to air on The Tracey Ullman Show, after the family falls asleep. On this occasion, Liz Georges provided the voice of Maggie.

Maggie's first word spoken in the normal continuity of the series occurred in "Lisa's First Word", when she was voiced by Elizabeth Taylor. Elizabeth Taylor's performance as Maggie was named the 13th greatest guest spot in the history of the show by IGN. James Earl Jones, who voiced Maggie in Treehouse of Horror V, was in seventh place. She would later have brief dialogue in Treehouse of Horror IX, voiced by Harry Shearer, who used his Kang voice. In earlier episodes, Yeardley Smith did many of Maggie's squeaks and occasional speaking parts, although in later seasons her parts were done by Nancy Cartwright.

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Featured Episode

"Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" is the ninth episode of the second season, airing on December 20, 1990. It is an acclaimed episode which dealt with censorship issues and allowed the writers to have a lot of Itchy & Scratchy cartoons, which many fans had been clamoring for. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and was the first episode directed by Jim Reardon. Alex Rocco makes his first of three appearances as Roger Meyers.

Plot

Maggie hits Homer on the head with a mallet after seeing Itchy do the same to Scratchy. Marge forbids Bart, Lisa, and Maggie from watching cartoons, after she blames The Itchy & Scratchy Show for Maggie's actions. Marge writes a letter to the producers of the show asking them to tone down their violence. In response, Roger Meyers, Jr.—the CEO of Itchy & Scratchy International—writes a letter to Marge, calling her a "screwball". She says that she will show them "what one screwball can do".

The family pickets outside the Itchy & Scratchy studios, forming SNUH, and her protest gains momentum, and more people join the group. Marge appears on Kent Brockman's show, Smartline, suggesting that Itchy & Scratchy be made less violent. Eventually, a new short airs, but Bart, Lisa, and other kids across Springfield reject the cleaned-up show, going outside to do wholesome childlike things.

Meanwhile, Michelangelo's David goes on a coast-to-coast tour of the U.S. and the members of SNUH urge Marge to protest the sculpture, insisting that the sculpture is offensive and unsuitable. However, Marge argues that the sculpture is a masterpiece. Deciding that it is wrong to censor one form of art but not another, she was forced to give up her protest, much to her dismay.

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Featured Picture

• The promotional image for "Double, Double, Boy in Trouble