"The Simpsons" Homer's Odyssey (1990)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Wesley Archer

Writers:

Matt Groening (creator)
James L. Brooks (developer) ...

TV Series:

"The Simpsons" (1989)

Original Air Date:

21 January 1990 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Plot:

While Bart's class is touring the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant for a field trip, Homer crashes his golf cart into a radioactive pipe. In the aftermath, the plant is forced to shutdown and Homer loses his job. |

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear Power | Dysfunctional Family | Sitcom | Baby | Tavern

Cast

Dan Castellaneta	...	Homer Simpson / Barney Gumble / Mr. Winfield / City council #1 / City council #3 (voice)
Julie Kavner	...	Marge Simpson (voice)
Nancy Cartwright	...	Bart Simpson / Lewis / Movie voice (voice)
Yeardley Smith	...	Inanimate carbon rod #2 / Lisa Simpson (voice)
Harry Shearer	...	Otto / Waylon Smithers / Smilin' Joe Fission / SNPP supervisor / 'Loaftime' announcer / Jasper / City council #2 / City council #1 (take 2) / Demonstrator (voice)
Marcia Wallace	...	Edna Krabappel (voice)
Hank Azaria	...	Moe Szyslak / Chief Wiggum (voice)
Chris Latta	...	Mr. Burns (voice) (as Christopher Collins)
Pamela Hayden	...	Wendell (voice)
Sam McMurray	...	SNPP employee / Duff commercial voice (voice)
Russi Taylor	...	Sherri / Terri / Inanimate carbon rod #1 / Mrs. Winfield (voice)

Runtime:

Argentina:30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Couch Gag: Under immense pressure the couch flies apart leaving the family sitting on the floor.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: As Sheri and Teri are walking along talking to Bart, one of the twins' bodies disappears and her head seems to be floating in mid-air.

Quotes:

Moe Szyslak: Moe's Tavern.
Bart Simpson: Is Mr. Freely there?
Moe Szyslak: Who?
Bart Simpson: Freely. First initials I.P.
Moe Szyslak: Hold on, I'll check. Is I.P. Freely here? I.P. Freely!

Movie Connections:

References "Get Smart" (1965)

Homer's not as dumb as he looks

Bart was the first out of the gate with deeper character development in season 1's episode 2, Bart the Genius, so now it's Homer's turn in episode 3, Homer's Odyssey.

During a school field trip to the nuclear power plant, Bart, excited to see his dad at work, distracts him. Homer causes an accident--the latest in a string of many, we're told--and gets fired. He's down to his last straw when he becomes consumed with the idea of voluntary public service--he becomes a sort of spokesperson for public safety.

That may sound strange, and it should, because far more than Bart, whose personality has pretty much always been like it was in Bart the Genius, Homer's personality has changed a lot over the years. It's difficult to imagine the Homer of, say, 1999, deciding to go on a liberal crusade, even though later in the series we learn about Homer's hippie past. Maybe it's not so much that Homer has changed over the years, but that he has a far more complex personality than his simpleton exterior suggests. As Mr. Burns says to Homer during this episode, "Hmmm . . . you're not as stupid as you look . . . or sound . . . or our best testing indicates".

Other notable elements of this episode include a great bus ride with Otto through Springfield where we get a better sense of the layout of the city as well as a quick travelogue of some past school field trip destinations, like the Springfield Toxic Waste Dump, the Springfield Tire Yard, and the Springfield State Prison. There's a hilarious mock educational film about nuclear energy (complete with scratchy and out of focus textures). We get to see what Marge's previous job was. Protesters are mildly mocked. We also meet one of my favorite characters, Moe, for the first time, get the first of Bart's infamous prank phone calls to Moe, and get a glimpse into Moe's acerbic personality.