| "Hungry, Hungry Homer" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 12 Episode 15 | ||
| Directed by | Nancy Kruse | ||
| Written by | John Swartzwelder | ||
| Production code | CABF09 | ||
| Original air date | March 4, 2001 (2001-03-04) | ||
| Guest appearance | |||
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| Episode features | |||
| Chalkboard gag | "Temptation Island was not a sleazy piece of crap" | ||
| Couch gag | The Simpsons are black belts inkarate. They use their hands to chop up the couch whileHomer does an elaborate flip and switches on the TV with his remote. | ||
| Commentary | Mike Scully Ian Maxtone-Graham John Frink Don Payne Matt Selman Max Pross Phil Rosenthal Ben Rosenthal | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The Simpsonsseason 12 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Hungry, Hungry Homer" is the fifteenth episode of thetwelfth season of the American television seriesThe Simpsons. It first aired on theFox network in the United States on March 4, 2001. In the episode,Homer becomes a Good Samaritan after discovering the simple joys of helping people in need – which is put to the test when he goes on a hunger strike after the owner of the Springfield Isotopes baseball team attempts to discredit him when Homer stumbles on his plot to discreetly move the team toAlbuquerque, New Mexico.
The episode was written byJohn Swartzwelder and directed byNancy Kruse, and guest starredStacy Keach as Howard K. Duff VIII.
Since airing, it has received generally mixed reviews from television critics. The episode inspired the naming of theAlbuquerque Isotopes minor-league baseball team, which began play in 2003.
The Simpson family visits Blockoland, a theme park similar toLegoland which is completely made of blocks. WhenLisa finds a piece missing from anEiffel Tower kit she has bought,Homer persuades the gift shop clerk to give it to her. Energized by the idea of helping people, Homer talks a girlBart likes into going to a school dance with him, gets a beauty salon owner to put free highlights inMarge's hair, and finds a way for the salon to cut its expenses. He next tries to getLenny a refund on his season tickets for the Springfield Isotopes baseball team (previously introduced in the season 2 episode "Dancin' Homer"), after they continue to lose games repeatedly since being taken over byDuff Beer. At the Isotopes' ballpark, Homer encounters team owner Howard K.Duff VIII, who refuses to grant a refund. As he leaves, Homer goes through the wrong door and discovers a room filled with merchandise for the "AlbuquerqueIsotopes" and realizes that Howard is planning to move the team. Howard denies the idea, then hasDuffman drug Homer and dump him at the Simpsons' house to cover up the truth.
Homer attempts to warn the media of Howard's plan, but by the time he can lead reporters to the ballpark, Howard has removed all evidence of it. Homer is denounced a liar by the media and Howard humiliates him further by showing footage of him with his pants on fire on television. In retaliation, Homer stages ahunger strike, chaining himself to a pole in the parking lot and refusing to leave or eat until Howard admits the truth. After Homer begins to attract public attention, the team secretly moves him into the ballpark one night and dubs him "Hungry, Hungry Homer" as a publicity stunt. They claim publicly that Homer will not eat until the Isotopes win the pennant, covering up his real message. As his health declines and he begins rapidly losing weight, he nearly gives in while seeing fans eat at the ballpark. However, a visit by the ghost ofCesar Chavez (who assumes the appearance ofCesar Romero, since Homer does not know what Chavez looks like) inspires him to stand his ground.
Thinking that Homer has gone insane and that his popularity is waning, Howard unchains him and offers him a hot dog in a public ceremony during an Isotopes game. As Homer is about to eat it, he realizes that it is loaded with Southwestern-style toppings and angrily denounces Howard. Inspecting their own hot dogs, the fans discover their wrappers marked with the "Albuquerque Isotopes" team name and realize that Homer was right from the start. The crowd boos Howard, and Duffman turns against him and throws him bodily off the field. Homer earns a round of cheers from the crowd and ends his hunger strike, eagerly devouring the food they throw to him. Watching the scenes on television, the mayor of Albuquerque abandons his plan to steal the Isotopes from Springfield and decides to turn his attention to purchasing theDallas Cowboys, with the intent of forcing them to play baseball instead of football, declaring, "They'll play what I tell 'em to play, for I am the Mayor of Albuquerque!"
The episode was written byJohn Swartzwelder and directed byNancy Kruse.[1] The episode was originally pitched byAl Jean, possibly from his daughter, although it is not certain.[2] The origin of the episode is that Mike Scully inseason 8 pitched an episode where Homer gets a motorcycle; however, the town passes a helmet law that requires riders to wear a helmet, leading Homer to go on a hunger strike in protest.[3] The writers shelved the idea of Homer having a motorcycle (though it would be used for theseason 11 episode "Take My Wife, Sleaze"), but held on to Homer having a hunger strike until Al Jean pitched this episode.[1] Another inspiration was that a team was moving to another city.[4]Dan Castellaneta ad libbed the lyrics to Homer's "Dancing Away My Hunger Pains" song.[2] The ending scene with the mayor announcing his plans to take over the Dallas Cowboys has been edited from all U.S. syndicated reruns, but has been seen on overseas syndicated reruns and the season 12 DVD set.[2] The scene is also featured on Disney Plus.
The title of the episode is a reference to the Hasbro tabletop gameHungry Hungry Hippos.
Duffman turning against Howard K. Duff and throwing him over a fence is a reference toDarth Vader turning onEmperor Palpatine in the filmReturn of the Jedi (1983).[5]
After being drugged, Homer wakes up lying on top of a dog house, similar to the waySnoopy lies on his dog house in thePeanuts comic strip. (Bart even says "Good Grief!" in another reference to the strip.) Later, when Homer returns to the Duff Stadium and finds the private room empty, a man plays "wah-wah" on a muted trumpet, again a reference toPeanuts.
When tied to the flagpole, Lisa gives Homer a book to read calledMy Core Beliefs byMike Farrell. Homer flips through it and says "Man, he really hatesWayne Rogers." This is in reference to the named actors' characters on the TV showM*A*S*H, in which Farrell's character BJ Hunnicutt replaced Rogers' character Trapper John McIntyre.
In its original American broadcast, "Hungry, Hungry Homer" was viewed by an estimated 10.0156 million households and received a 9.8 rating/15 shareNielsen Rating making it into the top twenty.[6]
Colin Jacobson ofDVD Movie Guide gave the episode a mixed review writing "Though it has something of a rehashed feel – an impression that we’ve seen this episode before – 'Hungry' still manages to be fairly effective. Chock full of laughs? No, but the show has its moments. Or maybe I just like it because it's the origin of the word 'hungy', which I used for many years. I forgot I stole it from this episode!"[7]
Judge Mac McEntire ofDVD Verdict said of the episode that the best moment was pretty much any scene withDuffman.[8]
This episode inspired the name of the real-lifeAlbuquerque Isotopes minor-league baseball team, which came to Albuquerque in 2003 after being known as theCalgary Cannons.[9][10] A few days after the episode aired,Albuquerque Journal journalist Leanne Potts acknowledged how then MayorJim Baca was making similar efforts to move the Canadian baseball team to Albuquerque with a $28 million stadium offer, even stating "it seemed the "Simpsons" writers were commenting on politics in Albuquerque" and that the episode "wasn't a case of cartoons imitating life, but of life imitating cartoons."[11] In tribute to the episode, statues of Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa were placed in the Albuquerque Isotopes stadium.[10]
This episode has also been credited for popularizing the word "meh", which later entered theCollins English Dictionary.[12][13][14][15][16] The word is an interjection expressing boredom or indifference, and an adjective describing something boring or mediocre.[16] The word, which has its root inYiddish,[13] is expressly spelled out in the episode:
The word had been used on several previous occasions on the show, the first such usage being in theseason six episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts" in 1994. In that episode, Lisa is given the town's voting record for the mayoral election; in response to her question that she "thought this was a secret ballot," the official responds "meh".[13]John Swartzwelder, the writer of "Hungry, Hungry Homer" has stated that he "originally heard the word from an advertising writer named Howie Krakow back in 1970 or 1971 who insisted it was the funniest word in the world."[13]
Homer's line "...I gave the guy directions, even though I didn't know the way. Because that's the kind of guy I am this week." is paraphrased byPatrick Stump in his bandFall Out Boy's 2005 single "Sugar, We're Goin' Down".[17]
