| "Homer the Father" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 22 Episode 12 | ||
| Directed by | Mark Kirkland | ||
| Written by | Joel H. Cohen | ||
| Production code | NABF05 | ||
| Original air date | January 23, 2011 (2011-01-23) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode features | |||
| Chalkboard gag | "Prince is not the son ofMartin Luther King" | ||
| Couch gag | Repeat of the couch gag from "The Squirt and the Whale." | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| The Simpsonsseason 22 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Homer the Father" is the twelfth episode of thetwenty-second season of the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons. The episode was directed byMark Kirkland and written byJoel H. Cohen. It originally aired on theFox network in the United States on January 23, 2011.
In this episode, Bart attempts to trade nuclear secrets to China in exchange for a dirt bike when Homer refuses to give him one.Michael Paul Chan,James Lipton, writerDavid Mamet, andGarry Marshall guest starred. The episode received mixed reviews. WriterJoel H. Cohen won theWriters Guild of America Award for Television: Animation for this episode.
Homer becomes obsessed with a 1980s familysitcom calledThicker Than Waters and starts acting like the show's father. Emulating this character's values, he refuses to giveBart amini-bike he wants, because Bart would never learn to appreciate things if they come to him too easily.
Bart then realizes that he could sell secrets about theSpringfield Nuclear Power Plant to other countries. He agrees to sell them toChina in exchange for a mini-bike. To gain access to the nuclear plant's computer system, Bart begins doing typical father-son activities with Homer, eventually leading to Homer bringing Bart to work. When Homer falls asleep, Bart goes around the plant downloading information onto aUSB storage device.
After Bart leaves the flashdrive with the downloaded data at the zoo and takes the bike, Homer reveals to him that he has bought him a mini-bike for being such a good child. Bart, feeling bad forbetraying his country and his father, rushes back to the zoo in an attempt to recover the flashdrive. There, he meets the Chinese agents, who threaten to kill him if he does not cooperate. Homer steps in and offers himself in Bart's place, as he has a lifetime of nuclear experience. In China, he leads the construction of a nuclear power plant, whichexplodes right after the grandopening ceremony. Outside his hotel, he refuses to move out of the way of a taxi that would not take him to the airport for less than $20 in a reference to thephotograph of a protester standing in front of a line of tanks during the1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Back at the house, Bart tells Homer how much he appreciates him, and that they have "the best kind of bonding": sitting in front of the television while making no eye contact at all.
In December 2010,Entertainment Weekly reported that writerDavid Mamet would guest star as himself. He would appear as a writer on the fictional television seriesThicker Than Waters who is inspired to write expletives from one of its actors. Executive producerAl Jean said it was an honor and that theSimpsons characterGil Gunderson was based onJack Lemmon's character from the 1992 filmGlengarry Glen Ross, which was written by Mamet.[1]Michael Paul Chan guest starred as a Chinese agent. Writer and television hostJames Lipton appeared as himself.[2] Lipton previously appeared as himself in thethirteenth season episode "The Sweetest Apu."[3]
In its original American broadcast, "Homer the Father" was viewed by an estimated 6.5 million households with a 3.1 rating/7 share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.[4] The number of viewers increased slightly from the previous week and the 18-49 demographic stayed steady, in spite of going up against the hugely viewedAFC Championship.[4] InCanada, the episode was watched by 962,000 viewers.[5]
TV Fanatic[6] gave the episode a 3.8 out of 5, stating, "This week's installment was loaded with plenty of hilarious meta jokes about the television industry, thanks to its storyline about Homer mimicking his favorite '80s sitcom father, who seemed to be a mishmash of every fictional patriarch from that decade."
Rowan Kaiser ofThe A.V. Club gave the episode a C+. Kaiser thought the premise was straightforward until it was derailed in the end with Homer building a nuclear plant that explodes.[7]
Joel H. Cohen won theWriters Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the64th Writers Guild of America Awards for his script to this episode.[8]
