The Twisted World of Marge Simpson

Jack Lemmon as Frank Ormand
Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony

"The Twisted World of Marge Simpson" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons' eighth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 19, 1997. It was written by Jennifer Crittenden and directed by Chuck Sheetz. The episode guest stars Jack Lemmon as Frank Ormand and Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony. Over the course of the episode, Marge sets up her own business, selling pretzels.

At a meeting of the Springfield Investorettes, Marge admits that she is reluctant to invest money in high-risk ventures and is ejected from the group. After some consideration, Lisa convinces Marge to buy her own franchise. During a Franchise Expo, the Investorettes become members of the glamorous "Fleet-A-Pita" franchise, in return prompting Marge to join a much smaller one called "Pretzel Wagon", owned by a man named Frank Ormand. After watching a promotional video, Marge sets up a makeshift office in her garage, distributes flyers, and with Homer, Bart and Lisa's help, proceeds to make pretzels.

To begin with, Marge sets up shop outside the Springfield Power Plant, with Homer convincing his colleagues to each try the new snack. However, the Investorettes' Fleet-A-Pita van rolls up, and within a few seconds, converts Marge's customers. Lisa suggests that Marge "think big", and so the family offer "Free Pretzel Day" at the Springfield Isotopes baseball stadium. Before the crowd has a chance to consume their complimentary pretzel, it is announced that Mr. Burns has won a 1997 Pontiac Astrowagon in the day's give-away competition. The supporters react angrily to the news and bombard the field with the pretzels, knocking out Whitey Ford in the process. No one tries the food, and Marge's efforts end in vain once again, with her about to give up.