| "Yokel Hero" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 32 Episode 14 | ||
| Directed by | Rob Oliver | ||
| Written by | Jeff Martin Samantha Martin | ||
| Production code | QABF07 | ||
| Original air date | March 7, 2021 (2021-3-7) | ||
| Guest appearance | |||
| |||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The Simpsonsseason 32 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Yokel Hero" is the fourteenth episode of thethirty-second season of the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons, and the 698th episode overall. It aired in the United States onFox on March 7, 2021.[1] The episode was directed byRob Oliver and written byJeff Martin & Samantha Martin.
In this episode, Homer manages Cletus as he becomes a country singing star until he gets fired when Cletus becomes successful.Albert Brooks guest-stars as Slick manager.[1] The episode received generally positive reviews and was watched live in the United States by 1.38 million viewers.
AtCarl's birthday atMoe's,Homer misses family dinner, greatly disturbing his wifeMarge. Homer gets drunk and ends up in jail. Marge then bans him from the house for the night to stop his foolish and drunk misconduct. Homer, in a cell, feels saddened and believes he screwed up, butCletus cheers him up with a nice song on acoustic guitar. Realizing the error of his ways, Homer returns home toBart,Lisa,Maggie, and Marge to tell them that he is sorry and vows to be a better father and husband.
Realizing that Cletus could become a famous singer, Homer becomes Cletus' manager. Starting from singing in dive bars, he progressively moves on to better venues and becomes more popular. Cletus becomes so successful that he gets an appearance onElin Degenerous' show. There, he tells his fans to attack Chief Wiggum because he stopped him from making moonshine. He fires Homer as he is now a great singer and wants to hire a professional manager.
Cletus hires a new manager who offers him a moonshine brand with Duff Man as a mascot. He signs a blank contract with him. Without Cletus, Homer reverts to his old ways. Marge forces Homer to bring Cletus back to his family. Homer and Marge are not successful, but when he sees Brandine and their children, he decides to quit and go home.
The episode was written byJeff Martin and his daughter Samantha Martin. Jeff wrote thefifth season episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet," and the song featured in that episode, "Baby on Board," was inspired by Samantha. Jeff and Samantha wrote this episode with Samantha's daughter sleeping next to them, and Samantha also recorded three song demos for the episode.[2]
Albert Brooks makes his ninth guest-star appearance in this episode as a Slick manager.[1] Brooks previously portrayed Russ Cargill inThe Simpsons Movie and guest-starred in seven previous episodes: "The Call of the Simpsons," "Life on the Fast Lane," "Bart's Inner Child," "The Heartbroke Kid," "500 Keys," "Bull-E," and voiced Hank Scorpio in "You Only Move Twice." As always, he is credited as A. Brooks. Executive producerAl Jean complimented his performance regarding how it enhanced what was written.[3]
In 2021,Fox released eight promotional pictures from the episode.[4]
The episode was originally set to air on February 28, 2021.[5] However, due to weather delays at the2021 Daytona 500, the broadcast date was pushed back to March 7, 2021.[6][7]
In the United States, the episode earned a 0.45 rating and was watched live by 1.38 million viewers, which was the most watched show on Fox that night.[8]
Tony Sokol withDen of Geek, said "The Simpsons delivers an extremely nuanced take on several well-worn themes. We know “Yokel Hero' will come to a predetermined end, because Cletus is a series regular and forever stuck in his local role." He also gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars.[9]
Jesse Bereta ofBubbleblabber gave the episode a 6.5 out of 10. He thought the episode was a repeat of previous episodes featuring Homer as a manager for a musician. He also thought the plot was predictable.[10]
