View source for I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox Simpsons episode 
| image          =
| season         = 14
| episode        = 12
| director       = [[Nancy Kruse]]
| writer         = [[Kevin Curran (writer)|Kevin Curran]]
| production     = EABF07
| airdate        = {{Start date|2003|02|16}}
| guests         = * [[George Plimpton]] as himself
| couch_gag      = [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] (unseen, but implied to be him) draws the family on the couch with an [[Etch-a-Sketch]] (called a "Sketch-A-Etch" in the couch gag) and yells, "Whoo-hoo!" when he is done.
| commentary     = [[Al Jean]]<br/>[[Kevin Curran (writer)|Kevin Curran]]<br/>[[Ian Maxtone-Graham]]<br/>[[Matt Selman]]<br/>[[John Frink]]<br/>[[Brian Kelley (writer)|Brian Kelley]]<br/>[[Dan Castellaneta]]<br/>[[Yeardley Smith]]<br/>[[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]]
| prev           = [[Barting Over]]
| next           = [[A Star Is Born Again]]
}}
"'''I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can'''" is the twelfth episode of the [[The Simpsons season 14|fourteenth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on February 16, 2003, and was seen by around 22 million people during this broadcast. The episode is referred to as the 301st in the opening theme as it originally aired the same day as the episode "[[Barting Over]]", which was promoted as the 300th episode. It was written by [[Kevin Curran (writer)|Kevin Curran]] and directed by [[Nancy Kruse]].

In this episode, Lisa qualifies for the Spellympics spelling bee where she is asked to lose to a cuter contestant in exchange for a college scholarship. Meanwhile, Homer becomes addicted to eating the Ribwich and follows its tour. Writer [[George Plimpton]] appeared as himself. The episode received positive reviews.

==Plot==
While watching a horror movie show hosted by [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Booberella|Boobarella]] (the show's take on [[Cassandra Peterson]]'s Elvira character), a commercial plays for the Ribwich (the show's take on [[McDonald's]] [[McRib]] sandwich), a new [[Krusty the Clown|Krusty Burger]] sandwich in which meat from an unknown animal is processed and molded into the shape of ribs. [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] excitedly samples the Ribwich, recently arrived at the Krusty Burger in [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]], and becomes addicted.

The next day, [[Principal Seymour Skinner|Principal Skinner]] holds a [[spelling bee]] at the school. [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] is excited when she wins the spelling bee, for which she is awarded a scale model of the planet Mars (a kickball with the word "Mars" written on it). She qualifies to the state spelling bee, and wins again, qualifying her for the Spellympics to be held in [[Calgary]], and is further rewarded with a double wide locker at school, removing [[Ralph Wiggum|Ralph Wiggum's]] locker in the process.

[[Marge Simpson|Marge]] suggests they celebrate by going to a movie, but Homer says he has "important daddy business" — which turns out to be eating Ribwiches with [[Lenny and Carl#Lenny Leonard|Lenny]] and [[Lenny and Carl#Carl Carlson|Carl]] at Krusty Burger, only to find that the limited-time-only Ribwiches are out of stock. However, a "Ribhead" (a fan of the Ribwich) tells Homer that it is being tested in other markets, so he decides to follow a group of Ribheads as they track the release of the Ribwich tour schedule.

At the Spellympics, hosted by [[George Plimpton]], Lisa wins the semi-finals and secures a spot in the finals. The other two finalists are Sun Moon, a Korean girl, and Alex, a cute boy with big round glasses and a speech impediment who proves to be extremely popular. Plimpton takes Lisa aside and tells her that if she lets Alex win, she will be given a free scholarship to any [[Seven Sisters (colleges)|Seven Sisters]] college and a free George Plimpton [[hot plate]]. Lisa is torn between wanting to win the Spellympics and free college, and asks Marge whether they can afford to send her to college. Marge is unsure, but promises to do whatever it takes to get Lisa into college, but Lisa is still uneasy since she is aware of Homer's low salary.

In [[San Francisco]], Krusty informs all the Ribheads that the Ribwich will no longer be made, as the animal from which it was made is now [[extinct]]. He tosses the last one into the crowd. Homer catches it, fighting off the others. An Italian Ribhead offers Homer the lease to his car for the last Ribwich, and Homer remembers Lisa and the Spellympics. He agrees to the trade and takes off in the car, reaching the Spellympics finals just in time to see Lisa spell "intransigence" and encourage her. Lisa, happy to see her father, tells everyone that she was told to take a dive, but then unintentionally misspells her word. Lisa loses, and since she did not do it on purpose, Plimpton rescinds his offer.

On the way back to Springfield, Homer tries to cheer up Lisa when she admits that she let down everyone in town. However, she finds that in coming second she has become Springfield's most successful native ever (even outachieving the Springfield woman who once dated [[Charles Grodin]]). In her honor, the town carved Lisa's face on the side of a mountain.

==Production==
A lengthy scene at the beginning of the show where Bart rushes to do everything he planned on doing during summer vacation was cut for time. The scene was later placed in the opening of the [[The Simpsons season 17|season 17]] episode "[[The Monkey Suit]]", which aired three years later.<ref name="Jean">{{cite video |people = Jean, Al|date = 2006|title = The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Sax"|medium = DVD|publisher = 20th Century Fox}}</ref>

Writer [[George Plimpton]] guest starred as himself.<ref>{{cite web|date=September 26, 2003|title=Author George Plimpton dies at 76|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/author-george-plimpton-dies-76-wbna3087921|website=[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=November 9, 2024|archive-date=November 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109195517/https://www.today.com/popculture/author-george-plimpton-dies-76-wbna3087921|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Cultural references==
The sequence where Homer becomes addicted to the Ribwich is a parody of the [[Darren Aronofsky]] film ''[[Requiem for a Dream]]'' (2000).<ref name="totalfilm">{{cite news|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/the-50-greatest-simpsons-movie-references/|title=The 50 Greatest Simpsons Movie References|last=Ditum|first=Nathan|date=June 6, 2009|work=[[Total Film]]|publisher=GamesRadar|access-date=January 28, 2022|archive-date=April 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403060436/https://www.gamesradar.com/the-50-greatest-simpsons-movie-references/|url-status=live}}</ref> Boobarella, who appears at the beginning of the episode, is a parody of Elvira, the seductive gothic character portrayed by [[Cassandra Peterson]]. While opening the school, [[Seymour Skinner|Principal Skinner]] sings a parody of "[[School's Out (song)|School's Out]]" by [[Alice Cooper (band)|Alice Cooper]]. The song played during the Spellympics and during the credits is "[[I Put a Spell on You]]" by [[Screamin' Jay Hawkins]]. The song played at the beginning of the Spellympics finals is "[[Get Ready for This]]" by [[2 Unlimited]]. This song was also played in the episode "[[Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass]]" and "[[To Surveil with Love]]". The song played during the TV ad for the Ribwich is a parody of "[[Like a Rock (song)|Like a Rock]]" by [[Bob Seger]], which is best known as [[Chevrolet]] trucks' theme music from 1991 to 2004. The title of the episode is a reference to the 1981 book ''[[I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can]]'', by Barbara Gordon.  Lisa jogging and running up the courthouse stairs is a take on the scene from  [[Rocky II]].<ref name="calendar">{{cite book|last=Groening |first=Matt|title=The Trivial Simpsons 2008 366-Day Calendar|year=2007 |publisher=Harper Collins Publishers|isbn=978-0-06-123130-8}}</ref> A reference to [[AC/DC]] is made when Otto asks Lisa to spell ''AC/DC'' and she spells it A-C-D-C, but after she finishes, Otto says "you forgot the lightning bolt" (referring to the band's logo).<ref name="Sokol"/> Homer following the Ribwich around with the Ribheads is a play on [[Deadhead]]s, fans of jam-band music ([[the Grateful Dead]] in particular) who follow the band when on tour in order to see multiple concerts.  At one point, [[Krusty the Clown]] says "what a long strange product rollout it's been". This is a reference to the famous line "what a long strange trip it's been" in the Grateful Dead song "[[Truckin']]". The Ribwich is a parody of [[McRib]] and its promotions.<ref name=Plocek>{{cite news|last=Plocek|first=Keith|title=Top 10 Simpsons Food Episodes: Tomacco Ribwich with a Side of Guatemalan Insanity Peppers + Skittlebrau|url=https://www.laweekly.com/top-10-simpsons-food-episodes-tomacco-ribwich-with-a-side-of-guatemalan-insanity-peppers-skittlebrau/|access-date=2022-01-28|date=2011-11-11|publisher=[[LA Weekly]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111113085852/http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/11/simpsons_food_episodes_tomacco.php|archive-date=2011-11-13}}</ref>

==Release==
The episode aired consecutively with the previous episode at 8:30 PM ET/PT.<ref>{{cite web|date=February 15, 2003|title=THIS WEEK'S PICKS|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2003/02/16/this-weeks-picks/835dad79-b420-4198-973b-523479506d59/|website=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=November 9, 2024}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Viewing figures===
The episode earned an 11.1 rating and was watched by 22.04 million viewers, which was 12th highest rated show that week.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tv.zap2it.com/news/ratings/networks/030216network.html |title=Top 20 Network Primetime Report: Week of 2/10/03 - 2/16/03 |work=[[Zap2it]] |access-date=June 16, 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030609012733/http://tv.zap2it.com/news/ratings/networks/030216network.html |archive-date=June 9, 2003 }}</ref>

===Critical response===
In 2011, Keith Plocek of ''[[LA Weekly]]'' named "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" the second best episode of the show with a food theme, commenting: "Spelling bee, schmelling bee. The star of this 2003 episode is the Ribwich, an obvious nod to [[McDonald's]] [[McRib]]."<ref name=Plocek/>

Colin Jacobson of ''DVD Movie Guide'' thought the episode was "one of the year's better shows" and enjoyed Homer's Ribwich subplot.<ref>{{cite web|first=Colin|last=Jacobson|date=December 16, 2011|title=The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth Season [Blu-Ray] (2002)|url=http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonfourteen.shtml|website=DVD Movie Guide|access-date=November 9, 2024|archive-date=August 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823020618/http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonfourteen.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

On ''Four Finger Discount'', Guy Davis and Brendan Dando thought it was "a pretty fun episode." They also liked Homer's subplot and how it merged back with the main plot.<ref>{{cite podcast|first1=Guy|last1=Davis|first2=Brendan|last2=Dando|title=I'm Spelling As Fast As I Can (S14E12)|work=Four Finger Discount (Simpsons Podcast)|date=November 4, 2021|url=https://fourfingerdiscount.podbean.com/e/spelling-as-fast-as-i-can-simpsons-podcast-review/|time=2:05|access-date=November 9, 2024}}</ref>

In 2023, [[Tony Sokol]] of ''[[Den of Geek]]'' named the episode the 4th best episode of the series from the 2000s. He thought it was "one of the few episodes which works even though it has competing story lines."<ref name="Sokol">{{cite web|first=Tony|last=Sokol|author-link=Tony Sokol|date=May 7, 2023|title=The Best Simpsons Episodes of the '00s|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-best-simpsons-episodes-of-the-00s/|website=[[Den of Geek]]|access-date=November 9, 2024|archive-date=May 22, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522220353/https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-best-simpsons-episodes-of-the-00s/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_14#I.27m_Spelling_as_Fast_as_I_Can|"I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can"}}
{{portal|The Simpsons}}
*{{IMDb episode|0701134}}
*[http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=the-simpsons&episode=s14e12 "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can] script at Springfield, Springfield!

{{The Simpsons episodes|14}}

[[Category:The Simpsons season 14 episodes]]
[[Category:2003 American television episodes]]
[[Category:Spelling competitions]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Kevin Curran (writer)]]
[[Category:Television episodes directed by Nancy Kruse]]