science

Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish

Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish rather than just read about it. In short: "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It is actually the first episode of that season in the production order.

Key takeaways

Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

"Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It is actually the first episode of that season in the production order. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 1, 1990. In the episode, Bart catches a three-eyed fish in a river downstream of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. After an inspection of the plant reveals numerous safety violations, Mr. Burns runs for governor to prevent the plant from being closed. The night before the election, Burns has a televised dinner with the Simpson family to show his appeal to the common voter. Marge sabotages Burns' political stunt and dooms his campaign by serving him the head of the three-eyed fish. The episode was written by Sam Simon and John Swartzwelder, and directed by Wes Archer. It was the first episode produced for season two and was intended to air as the season premiere, but was replaced with "Bart Gets an 'F'" due to Bart's popularity in the early 1990s. The episode features cultural references to several American films, mostly the 1941 film Citizen Kane, with Burns in the role of the character Charles Foster Kane. Mary Bailey shares her name with George Bailey's wife in the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. Journalists have described the episode as a satire on both American politics and environmentalism. It won an Environmental Media Award in 1991 for being the best television episode of the year with an environmental message. Since the episode first aired, the three-eyed fish Blinky has been mentioned several times in news articles regarding nuclear waste and mutation. The episode was positively received by television critics for its satire on American politics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 15.8, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.

Plot Bart and Lisa go fishing downstream of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Springfield Shopper reporter Dave Shutton arrives just as Bart catches a three-eyed fish. After the fish, nicknamed Blinky by the media, makes headlines, the incumbent governor Mary Bailey sends a government inspection team to the plant, suspecting nuclear waste may have caused the mutation. The plant's owner, Mr. Burns, is presented with a list of 342 violations which will cost $56 million (equivalent to $138 million in 2025) to rectify. Distraught, Mr. Burns takes up Homer's suggestion that he run for governor to prevent the plant from being closed. Mr. Burns' political advisers inform him that he is greatly despised by most people, while Bailey is beloved by all. To quell the controversy over Blinky, Mr. Burns appears on television with an actor portraying Charles Darwin who claims Blinky is an evolutionary leap, not a "hideous genetic mutation". After Mr. Burns vows to lower taxes and runs a smear campaign against Bailey, his campaign ties hers in the polls. Mr. Burns' advisers suggest that he have dinner at the home of one of his employees the night before the election. After scanning the plant's video monitors for the most average man he can find, Mr. Burns chooses Homer. The upcoming dinner with Mr. Burns divides the Simpson household. With Homer supporting Mr. Burns' campaign simply to not antagonize his boss, Marge and Lisa are appalled that Homer has allowed Burns to use their home as a campaign tool. For dinner, Marge stuns Mr. Burns' campaign team and the media alike by serving Blinky, placing the fish's head on Mr. Burns's plate. Unable to swallow the fish, Mr. Burns spits it out. Cameras flash as the expelled bite flies through the air and hits the floor, dooming his gubernatorial campaign. Bailey wins the election, and Mr. Burns destroys some of the Simpsons' furnishings in a fit of rage. Mr. Burns attempts to flip over a table, but is unable to do so. He asks Mr. Smithers for help to flip the table over. Mr. Burns warns that he will ensure Homer's dreams will go unfulfilled as long as he lives. However, Marge happily reassures Homer that his ambitions are so meagre nobody could possibly thwart them.

Production

The episode was written by Sam Simon and John Swartzwelder, and directed by Wes Archer. Blinky had previously made a brief appearance in the season one episode "Homer's Odyssey", in which he was seen swimming in the lake outside the plant. The writers liked the design of the fish and decided to devote an episode to him. Mary Bailey and Springfield Shopper reporter Dave Shutton made their first appearance on the show in this episode. Dave Shutton, voiced by Harry Shearer, was named after a friend of Swartzwelder. Dave Shutton's roles have since become less relevant and have been reduced to cameos and appearances in crowd scenes. Mary Bailey would later appear briefly in episodes such as "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" and "The Seven-Beer Snitch". Nancy Cartwright ad-libs Bart's blasphemous prayer at the dinner with Mr. Burns (which takes place during the episode's climax) and she records it in one take. It was so funny that the crew was laughing during the prayer, and immediately after she finished, Cartwright and the rest of the voice cast also broke into uncontrollable laughter. Producer Matt Groening says it was fortunate she could do it in one take, as a second would have been impossible to do. During The Tracey Ullman Show and the first season of The Simpsons, Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television in what was termed "Bartmania". Due to the success of the first season, the Fox network decided to switch The Simpsons' timeslot in hopes that it would steal ratings from NBC's "powerhouse" line up. The show was moved from its 8:00 p.m. EST Sunday night slot to the same time on Thursday, where it would compete with NBC's The Cosby Show, the number one show at the time. "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" was the first episode produced for the second season, but "Bart Gets an 'F'" aired first because of Bart's popularity and the producers wanted to premiere with an episode involving him in hopes of stealing viewers from The Cosby Show.

Cultural references

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish

In research: Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1990 American television episodes, Cultural depictions of Charles Darwin, Television episodes about elections, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish in simple terms?

Why does Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish.