"Much Apu About Nothing" is the twenty-third episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 5, 1996. In the episode, a referendum is placed on the ballot that will require all illegal immigrants in Springfield to be deported. After learning that Apu will be deported if the measure passes, Homer helps him prepare for a United States citizenship test so that he can become a legal citizen.
The episode was written by David S. Cohen, and directed by Susie Dietter. Joe Mantegna guest stars in the episode as Fat Tony. The title of the episode is a parody of William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 8.2, and was the fourth highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
Plot
A brown bear roams the streets of Springfield, frightening the townspeople despite its docile and curious, rather than aggressive, behavior. After Homer ignores official advice to remain indoors in order to buy beer, he comes face-to-face with the bear after failing to get into his car via the power line, whereupon the police tranquilize the bear (and Barney Gumble, accidentally). Despite bears being a rare sight in Springfield, Homer leads a march of angry citizens to city hall, where they demand Mayor Quimby do something to protect them from bears. After Quimby deploys a bear patrol, which involves the use of high tech vehicles, including B2 Spirit aircraft, Homer is angry to learn his taxes have increased by $5 to maintain it. Another crowd of angry citizens marches to the mayor's office demanding lower taxes. To appease them, Quimby blames the higher taxes on illegal immigrants. He creates Proposition 24, which will force all illegal immigrants in Springfield to be deported.
Springfield residents start to harass local immigrants, regardless of status. At the Kwik-E-Mart, Apu confides in Homer that he is also an illegal immigrant. Apu fears that if Proposition 24 passes, he will be forced to leave the United States, since his visa originally issued for his computer science studies expired many years before. After blackmailing Kearney when he attempts to buy beer using a fake ID, Apu visits Fat Tony to obtain false citizenship. At Tony's urging, Apu pretends to be an American citizen, even speaking in a faux American accent, but soon feels guilty about committing fraud and abandoning his Indian heritage, and destroys his fake passport.
After seeing how distraught Apu is at the prospect of being deported, Homer vows that he and his family will help him. Selma refuses to marry Apu for citizenship purposes, chiefly on the grounds of wanting to marry for love or money, and not wanting an (even more so) unwieldy multibarrelled surname. Lisa discovers that Apu, as a long-term resident in the U.S., will not have to leave if he passes a citizenship test. Homer agrees to tutor Apu, but is unable to teach him accurate facts regarding U.S. history or political science needed to pass the exam. After falling asleep whilst studying and subsequently forgetting everything Homer taught him, Apu passes the test and becomes a US citizen. At a congratulatory party, Homer tells his guests deporting immigrants is awful because they help the country thrive. He inspires them to vote no on Proposition 24, but it still passes with 95% of the vote. When Proposition 24 is enacted, Groundskeeper Willie is the only resident deported.
Production
"Much Apu About Nothing" was written by David S. Cohen and directed by Susie Dietter. Joe Mantegna guest stars in the episode as Fat Tony. Much of the inspiration for the episode came from news reports of bears roaming streets in Southern California around the time when the episode was in production. Cohen said that when a bear swims in somebody's pool or goes in somebody's garbage can, it becomes a popular news item in California. The show runner of The Simpsons at the time, Bill Oakley, commented that the news reports often create an anti-bear hysteria, and that is one of the inspirations for the episode.
Another inspiration for the episode came from California's Proposition 187, which proposed the rescinding of employment rights and benefits from illegal immigrants. Cohen decided to name the referendum "Proposition 24" because 24 was the number he had on his Little League Baseball uniform. Cohen commented that "the main theme of the episode is illegal immigration and anti-immigration sentiment, which is a big issue here in California. So both the intro with the bear and the main theme are yanked from the California headlines."