The Last Temptation of Homer

The Simpsons episode
"The Last Temptation of Homer"
Homer and Mindy in their Capital City hotel.
Episode no.	90
Prod. code	1F07
Orig. airdate	December 9, 1993
Show runner(s)	David Mirkin
Written by	Frank Mula
Directed by	Carlos Baeza
Guest star(s)	Michelle Pfeiffer as Mindy Simmons Werner Klemperer as Colonel Klink
DVD commentary	Matt Groening David Mirkin David Silverman
Season 5 September 30 1993 – May 19 1994
Homer's Barbershop Quartet Cape Feare Homer Goes to College Rosebud Treehouse of Horror IV Marge on the Lam Bart's Inner Child Boy-Scoutz N the Hood The Last Temptation of Homer $pringfield Homer the Vigilante Bart Gets Famous Homer and Apu Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy Deep Space Homer Homer Loves Flanders Bart Gets an Elephant Burns' Heir Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song The Boy Who Knew Too Much Lady Bouvier's Lover Secrets of a Successful Marriage
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"The Last Temptation of Homer" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' fifth season. It is remarkable in that Maggie does not appear in this episode, although she does appear in a deleted scene from this episode on the season 5 DVD set.

Plot

After Homer and his coworkers barely escape from a poison gas leak which Homer caused, Homer's coworker Charlie is fired when he asks Mr. Burns to put in a real emergency exit. While searching for a replacement, the Department of Labor demands changes in the Power Plants' policies including hiring at least one female worker. A beautiful new engineer named Mindy Simmons, is brought in and Homer finds he is falling in love with her after finding that she has almost the exact same personality and interests as he has. Homer later accidentally knocks himself out while worrying about his attraction to Mindy, and while dreaming is approached by his guardian angel. The angel looks like Sir Isaac Newton as it decided to assume a form Homer would recognize, but when the angel discovers that Homer has never heard of Newton it transforms into Colonel Klink (of "Hogan's Heroes"). The angel, in the form of Colonel Klink, shows Homer what his life would be like without Marge; it turns out Homer would be a deliriously happy millionaire married to Mindy. Klink then tells Homer to think about Marge, but in the possible future shown by Klink Marge has become the President of the United States. After seeing this and realizing it will only encourage Homer to cheat on his wife, Colonel Klink brings the dream to an abrupt halt and Homer regains consciousness still unsure of what to do. Things only get worse when Homer and Mindy are sent to represent the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant at the National Energy Convention in Capital City. The more time they spend together, the more Homer begins to fear that there may be more fusion at the hotel than back at the plant. Mindy tells Homer how she feels about him, and even though he is tempted by her beauty and her love for the same things Homer enjoys, Homer declares his faithfulness to Marge, and Mindy accepts his decision. Meanwhile, Bart is sent to an eye specialist after it is discovered that he has poor vision. The optometrist decides he has a lazy eye and fits him with special, thick glasses that he has to wear for two weeks. He also finds out his dry scalp issues can only be treated by matting his hair down with a gel, therefore parting his hair to both sides. It is also discovered that he has fallen arches and has to wear shoes with extreme platforms as well. These adjustments give him the appearance of, and gradually turn him into, a nerd. He is picked on and beat up regularly by Nelson Muntz, Kearney, Jimbo, and Dolph for the duration of the two weeks. Eventually he comes back to school in his normal appearance, explaining that he is no longer a nerd, but the bullies still decide to beat him up one last time, for old times' sake.

Cultural references

• When Bart is fitted with the glasses and platform shoes, his voice and appearance are similar to that of Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor .
• The title is a reference to Martin Scorsese's film, The Last Temptation of Christ. The title was spoofed again in "The Last Temptation of Krust".
• When he first sees Mindy, Homer imagines her as Venus in Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.
• Homer refers to comic strip Ziggy, wondering if Mindy agrees that the title character has become "too preachy".
• When Homer thinks "unsexy thoughts", his image is of Barney in a bikini and humming the theme tune to I Dream of Jeannie.
• The National Ringworm Association cites itself as "the other N.R.A." in reference to the National Rifle Association.
• Homer twice mangles the song "Mandy" by Barry Manilow, the first time introducing the word "Ben-Gay", (an American brand of heat rub).
• Homer notes that he is "sweating like Roger Ebert", referring to the American movie critic.
• While attempting to read the notes smeared on his hand to Mindy, Homer unknowingly babbles the Daimoku (Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō), a Buddhist chant in Nichiren Buddhism. This is a reference to an Akbar and Jeff cartoon, written by Matt Groening, in which the same mantra is used.^[1]
• The "Capital City" of Springfield's unnamed state (previously featured in "Dancin' Homer") is referred to as the "Windy Apple", a combination of the nicknames of Chicago (the "Windy City") and New York City (the "Big Apple").
• Mr. Burns unleashes flying monkeys in the manner of the Wicked Witch of the West, as seen in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. However, his monkeys fall to the ground, smashing against a small car, and Burns asks Smithers to "continue the research".
• Homer and Mindy eating a foot-long chili dog and inadvertently kissing parodies the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp.
• The Barry White song "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" plays over the final scene. This song previously appeared, performed by Barry himself, in the episode "Whacking Day".
• Werner Klemperer had forgotten how to play Colonel Klink in the time since Hogan's Heroes went off the air. He had to imitate the director imitating Colonel Klink to get it right.^[2]
• The voice of the man with the giant hand (complaining about how people crack jokes about it) is Dan Castellaneta speaking in his normal voice.

Reception

The Daily Telegraph characterized the episode as one of "The 10 Best Simpsons TV Episodes."^[3]

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

"The Last Temptation of Homer"

The Simpsons Portal

• "The Last Temptation of Homer" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive

References