The Simpsons may go down as the best adult animated show ever. It is indeed one of the best cartoons in general. Usually with a show as beloved as this, it is hard to pick a favourite episode. But in the case of The Simpsons, this episode stands as the best in the show's history and one of the very best episodes in general TV history.
'Homer's Enemy' is a satirical episode poking fun at hard-working Americans that bust their butts and never get anything in return, while lazy people get all the glory. Homer is the lazy one with the glory, and his enemy in the hard-worker. These clashing personalities are darkly hilarious, and that's just what I love about it.
In his only episode, young Frank Grimes just got hired at the nuclear power plant. News anchor Kent Brockman did a story about him that got Mr. Burns to hire him. Grimes was unloved and abandoned his whole life. He finally finishes school by mail and gets a degree. He lives in a tiny apartment in between two bowling alleys. He barely makes enough money and never gets any recognition. His life is pretty pathetic, despite being Springfield's hardest worker. He meets Homer Simpson and dislikes him right off the bat. Homer is careless, lazy, and immature, but is responsible for the safety of all the workers. Lenny and Carl make excuses and defend Homer. Frank's tolerance for Homer--which was always little--comes to an end after he pays for one of Homer's careless follies. Homer wants to make peace and invites Frank to dinner. After seeing Homer's luxurious house, Frank's jealousy increases even more. Then one day, he plays a prank on Homer by entering him in a science fair for children; but Homer actually wins! Frank can take no more of this and has a nervous breakdown which results in death. The funeral scene is disturbingly funny as is says a lot.
The subplot features Bart unintentionally sealing the winning bid at an auction for an abandoned warehouse. He hires Milhouse as his employee and we have fun seeing them horse around.
The episode's main idea is not to take life so seriously. Frank had nothing to show for it while Homer could flaunt his things all day. This must've spoken to almost everybody working today. I know everybody thinks either all their coworkers are stupid or they are under-appreciated.
I could go on for hours and hours about this single episode. You know something is great if they can be dissected this much and still find so much meaningful stuff.
'Homer's Enemy' is a satirical episode poking fun at hard-working Americans that bust their butts and never get anything in return, while lazy people get all the glory. Homer is the lazy one with the glory, and his enemy in the hard-worker. These clashing personalities are darkly hilarious, and that's just what I love about it.
In his only episode, young Frank Grimes just got hired at the nuclear power plant. News anchor Kent Brockman did a story about him that got Mr. Burns to hire him. Grimes was unloved and abandoned his whole life. He finally finishes school by mail and gets a degree. He lives in a tiny apartment in between two bowling alleys. He barely makes enough money and never gets any recognition. His life is pretty pathetic, despite being Springfield's hardest worker. He meets Homer Simpson and dislikes him right off the bat. Homer is careless, lazy, and immature, but is responsible for the safety of all the workers. Lenny and Carl make excuses and defend Homer. Frank's tolerance for Homer--which was always little--comes to an end after he pays for one of Homer's careless follies. Homer wants to make peace and invites Frank to dinner. After seeing Homer's luxurious house, Frank's jealousy increases even more. Then one day, he plays a prank on Homer by entering him in a science fair for children; but Homer actually wins! Frank can take no more of this and has a nervous breakdown which results in death. The funeral scene is disturbingly funny as is says a lot.
The subplot features Bart unintentionally sealing the winning bid at an auction for an abandoned warehouse. He hires Milhouse as his employee and we have fun seeing them horse around.
The episode's main idea is not to take life so seriously. Frank had nothing to show for it while Homer could flaunt his things all day. This must've spoken to almost everybody working today. I know everybody thinks either all their coworkers are stupid or they are under-appreciated.
I could go on for hours and hours about this single episode. You know something is great if they can be dissected this much and still find so much meaningful stuff.