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"Simple Simpson" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons' fifteenth season. The episode aired on May 2, 2004. The concept is mainly inspired by (and parodies) the 2002 Spider-Man movie; though it contains elements of other superheroes as well.

Synopsis

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Homer watches a commercial about a contest that will allow the winner, the finder of a golden ticket, a trip to "Farmer Billy's Bacon Factory", and is intrigued by the commercial. Although Homer buys a surplus of bacon from the Kwik-E-Mart, he only manages to find a silver ticket, which allows him to judge the pig competition at the county fair. However, at the fair, Lisa's entry in the place setting competition is wrecked by the Rich Texan, which angers Homer, who decides to teach the Rich Texan a lesson. Recalling a warning from Chief Wiggum that he will be arrested if he commits another felony assault, Homer disguises himself as a masked superhero, "The Pie Man", and throws a pie in the Rich Texan's face. After he leaves as quickly as he came, Springfield wonders if they will ever see the "Pie Man" again.

After the Comic Book Guy rips off Bart and Milhouse, the Pie Man arrives to throw a pie in the his face. Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek, whom the Comic Book Guy invited on a date, suddenly shows up and is turned off by the pie on his face. This humiliates him in front of the kids and he runs away in tears.

Chief Wiggum believes that the Pie Man must be stopped, and the police set a trap for him at the hospital, where sick children are being evicted. Pie Man shows up, pie at the ready. The cops start shooting at him, wounding him in the arm. He manages to escape rather flamboyantly, but takes time out to save Marge from a stampede and kiss her while hanging upside down (à la Spider-Man), though she tells him she is a married woman. Later, at home, while Pie Man uses a knife to remove the bullet in his arm, Lisa enters and sees him. He tries to act like Pie man, but she figures out that he's actually Homer, partly because they've been getting Pie Man's mail for a week. He promises Lisa (who doesn't want him to get hurt again) that he will stop his pie avenging.

At the power plant, Mr. Burns comes particularly antagonistic to his employees. He whips Lenny and Carl, so that they will eat faster and return to work, and docks Homer a day's pay for being late... and fat. Even though he remembers his promise to Lisa, Pie Man makes another appearance and splats Burns in the face. However, after watching the video surveillance cameras, Burns sees that Pie Man has tired from his escape and fallen asleep on a couch. Turning around, he sees Pie Man sleeping on the couch in the next room. Burns and Smithers lock him in the employee detention centre, and unmask him. When he learns of Pie Man's identity, Burns makes Homer his personal "hit man", and threatens to reveal his identity if he doesn't comply.

His first task is to pie himself, then a girl-scout who comes to Burns' mansion to sell cookies. His next assignment is throw a pie in the face of the Buddhist supreme head, the Dalai Lama. However, at the Dalai Lama's show, Homer can't go through with it. He admits his identity to the public, but no one believes he could possibly be Pie Man, as he's not the kind of person who would throw away any form of confectionery. This negates Burns' control over him, and leaves only his own family who believes in him.

In the end, Pie Man and the Cupcake Kid stand on the roof, declaring war against injustice. But they fall victim to an even greater, inescapable injustice perpetrated by arch-nemesis Marge - to clean the leaves from the gutter in the roof.

Trivia

• When this episode was first broadcast in Asia on the Star World channel on November 6, 2005, all scenes mentioning or showing the Dalai Lama were cut. This pseudo-act of censorship was to appease the predominantly Buddhist viewers of East, South, and Southeast Asia with regards to any view of mocking the Dalai Lama.

• This is the Dalai Lama's second visit to Springfield, since according to Stark Raving Dad, he visited in 1952.

• During the Farmer Billy's Bacon Factory commercial, Ralph Wiggum is seen on the "Five-Story Pig Shredder."

Cultural references

• The title is based on the nursery rhyme Simple Simon
• Several scenes are directly based on the Spider-Man movie, including the montage of Homer creating his costume, and Pie Man's upside down kiss with Marge. There is also a scene when Mr. Burns remove Pie Man's mask and realises it is Homer. This scene is similar to the scene in Spider-Man 2 when Harry Osbourne removes Spiderman's mask and realises it is Peter Parker.
• The police attempting to arrest/kill Pieman is remininscent of the Gotham City police often attempting to do the same to Batman in his mythos.
• Burns' quote, "It's cobblering time!" is a parody of The Thing's catch phrase, "It's clobbering time!"
• The golden ticket plot is an obvious parody of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
• One of the comics that Bart tried to sell to Comic Book Guy was "Richie Rich Incorporates in Delaware." In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a large number of corporations incorporated in Delaware because of tax advantages.

Quotes

• Bart: What did those women expect? When you sign a contract with FOX, you know you're gonna be betrayed and humiliated!
• Homer: But I'm no super genius! ... Or are I ....
• Kent Brockman: Pie—tasty dessert, tricky math thing, and now sword of righteousness!
• Homer: (finding a bullet lodged in his arm) Let's see, cartilage, cartilage...muscle...NERVE!! Artery...bullet!
• Homer: (attempting to pie Mr. Burns) I've run out of pie-related puns!
• Homer/Pie Man: No trap can hold Homer Simpson! Uh, but I'm not Homer Simpson...I'm the Pie Man! Homer Simpson away! I mean, the Pie Man.
• Lisa: Dad, please. It's obvious you're the Pie Man. We've been getting his mail for weeks.
• Mr. Burns: It's cobblering time!
• Apu: Let's see—Farmer Billy's smoke-fed bacon, Farmer Billy's bacon-fed bacon, Farmer Billy's travel bacon...Mr. Simpson, if you really want to kill yourself, I also sell handguns!
• Disclaimer: Warning—bacon factory may explode.
• (Homer sees Burns whipping Lenny and Carl, telling them to eat faster)
  Pie 1: Hey Homer, throw me at Mr. Burns.
  Pie 2 (Phyllis Diller voice): No, throw me! I'm old and stale. I might just kill him! (laughs)
  Cake: (Droopy's voice) Don't do it Homer. You made a promise to Lisa.
  Homer: Since when do I listen to cakes!
  Pie 3: (smoking a cigar) Tell ya what Homer. Ya make one last hit, den yer out of the business forever. Lisa'll understand.
  Homer: Oh, you're all so wise. I wish I could eat each and every one of you!
  (the pies make affectionate sounds)
• Mr. Burns Grow a spine on your own time, fatso. Now pie that Brownie, Fruitcake!
• Rich Texan: (after seeing Lisa's place setting contest entry) Lordy, girl! Your entry stinks like the south end of a northbound mule.
• (Homer is on the roof)
  Homer/Pie Man: Wherever danger appears, the Pie Man will strike!
  (Bart (as "Cupcake Kid") climbs up)
  Bart/Cupcake Kid: And wherever the Pie Man goes, the Cupcake Kid will not be far away!
  Marge: While you two are up there, why don't you clean the leaves out of the gutter?
  (they both groan and they go clean out the gutter)
• Host of Paradise Idiot's Island: Now, ladies, when you agreed to do this show, you were told you would be living with a millionaire on his private island. Well, I'm afraid we've misled you. (the women gasp)
  Marge (watching show): Get ready, skanks! Here comes the Truth Train!
  Host: This isn't an island at all. It's a peninsula!
  Woman 1: (walking away) This was supposed to be about trust!
  Woman 2 (crying): I just want to get on that boat and go home!
  Host: Well, you don't need a boat, because you can walk. (Woman 2 continues crying) (coldly) Yeah.
• on the news: Wiggum (after the bomb squad destroys a large pile of pies): God, those poor, innocent pies, some days you just don't want to be a cop. I think I'll turn the siren on. that always cheers me up. (turns his car's siren on and laughs)

Kent Brockman: that'll be good footage

• Homer/Pie Man (to Comic Book Guy): Don't do the crime if you can't do the KEY LIME!

• The Simpsons episodes, season 15