"Life on the Fast Lane", known as "Jacques to Be Wild" in the United Kingdom, is the ninth episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 18, 1990. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by David Silverman. Albert Brooks (in his second of ten appearances) guest starred as Jacques, a French bowling instructor, with him being credited as "A. Brooks". thus accounting for the episode's alternate title "Jacques to Be Wild". Marge's laugh during her bowling lesson was an ad-libbed, natural laugh by Julie Kavner, who was laughing at something Albert Brooks had just said.
The sequence in which the family throws the pizza box away was specifically designed by John Swartzwelder to look surreal, with the family panning into each other. as the writers could not imagine Barney owning anything. It was later revealed that Barney's uncle was the owner.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Gary Russell and Gareth Roberts, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, called it "a very good, very assured episode that has seen some viewers (particularly female ones) tearing out their hair at the conclusion". IGN named Albert Brooks' guest performance in this episode, along with his four other appearances, the best guest appearance in the show's history.
In a DVD review of the first season David B. Grelck rated this episode a 4(of 5), placing it along with "Homer's Night Out" as his favorites of the season. Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review that it was "another good but not great episode" and added that "Albert Brooks seriously enlivened 'Life [on the Fast Lane]'... Jacques becomes funny not so much due to the lines themselves; it's Brooks' readings that make them work." Another DVD review from The Digital Bits called it "one of the first season's best loved episodes".
In a 2000 Entertainment Weekly article, Matt Groening ranked this episode as his second favorite episode of all time, behind "Bart the Daredevil". The Orlando Sentinels Gregory Hardy named it the fifteenth best episode of the show with a sports theme. The episode's reference to An Officer and a Gentleman was named the 23rd greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Nathan Ditum. Simpsons co-developer Sam Simon named it his favorite episode of all time in 2009.
Legacy
The March 15, 2004 edition of the Dear Abby column was pulled, as it had emerged that one of the letters was a fake. A newspaper editor noticed that the problem cited in the letter was identical to the plot of "Life on the Fast Lane". Kathie Kerr, a spokeswoman for the Universal Press Syndicate, said "it did sound too similar not to be a hoax".