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"Homer Defined" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons' third season. The episode aired on October 17, 1991.

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler On the bus ride to school, Bart gives Milhouse one of a pair of Krusty walkie-talkies as a birthday present. Bart is crushed to discover that Milhouse had held a birthday party the previous Saturday, but he had not been invited. Milhouse seems unwilling to talk to Bart and avoids him for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, at the power plant, as Homer eats jelly donuts, one of them splatters onto a dial nearing the red zone. The plant is on the verge of a nuclear meltdown, and Homer seems to be the only person who can stop it. He has no skills and cannot remember any training, however, and in desperation chooses a button via eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Miraculously, Homer presses the button that averts the meltdown; Springfield is saved, and Homer is honored as a hero.

Milhouse finally tells Bart why he was not invited to the party: Mrs. Van Houten thinks Bart is a bad influence on her son. She has ordered Milhouse to stay away from Bart, which he has reluctantly done. Suddenly deprived of his best friend, Bart resorts to playing with Maggie.

Mr. Burns rewards Homer for saving the plant with an "Employee of the Month" award (displacing longtime holder Smithers), a ham, a plaque, a discount coupon book, Burns' personal "thumbs-up", and a call from Magic Johnson. Even Lisa begins to admire Homer as a role model, but Homer's conscience haunts him. He knows (and fears that everyone else will realize) that his "heroism" was nothing but luck. Burns introduces Homer to Aristotle "Ari" Amadopolis, the owner of the Shelbyville Nuclear Power Plant. Ari wants Homer the hero to give a pep talk to his plant's lackluster workers. Homer is hesitant to accept, but Burns forces him into it.

Marge visits Milhouse's mother to try to repair their children's friendship. Marge admits that Bart really does influence Milhouse badly, but begs Mrs. Van Houten to let Bart and Milhouse be friends again. Upon realizing that both Bart and Milhouse are miserable without each other, his mother relents.

As Homer gives his fumbling "motivational" speech, an impending meltdown threatens the Shelbyville plant. The crowd marches Homer to the control room, asking him to perform his heroic deeds once again. In front of everyone, Homer repeats his juvenile rhyme and presses a button blindly. By sheer dumb luck, he manages to avert this meltdown as well. He is even more widely derided as a lucky imbecile than he was hailed as a hero, and "to pull a Homer" becomes a widely-used phrase meaning "to succeed despite idiocy" (even entering the dictionary illustrated with a small portrait of Homer).

Trivia

• Magic Johnson is the first professional athlete ever to appear on The Simpsons.
• Jon Lovitz plays Aristotle Amadopolis, the fourth different named character he has played in the show (Artie Ziff and Professor Lombargo being the first and, in a later episode, as Jay Sherman).
• This episode marks the first apparence of Milhouse's mother and the first time his surname, Van Houten, is used.
• When Homer stops the first meltdown, the timer stops on 007. This is reminiscent of Goldfinger at the end where James Bond stops a timer on a bomb and the timer ends on 007, his agent number. The timer in the plant also looks exactly like the one in the movie.
• This is the second Simpsons episode where it is suggested that Smithers might be gay. The Telltale Head was the first.
• The news coverage of the crisis at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant parodies the coverage of the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.

Cultural References

• The children duck under their desks in a fashion taught to elementary school students during the early years Cold War in the 60s.

Goofs

• The phrase "critical mass" is used incorrectly in this episode. It is used as a synonym for "meltdown" when in reality a critical mass would be required for normal nuclear plant operation.

Quotes

• Voice: Warning... Problem in Sector 7-G.
  Mr. Burns: 7-G? Good God! Who's the safety inspector there?
  Smithers: Homer Simpson, sir.
  Mr. Burns: Simpson, eh? Good man? Intelligent?
  Smithers: (reluctantly) Actually, sir, he was hired under Project Bootstrap.
  Mr. Burns: (sarcastically) Thank you, President Ford.
• Smithers: (seconds before the plant will explode) Sir, There may never be another time to say... I love you sir.
  Mr. Burns: (sarcastically) Oh, hot dog. Thank you for making my last few moments on Earth socially awkward.
• Mr. Burns: Oh Smithers, I guess there's nothing left to do but kiss my sorry ass* good bye.
  Smithers: May I sir?
  Mr. Burns: Eeew.audio clip

*The word "ass" was replaced by "butt" in certain airings of the episode.

• Kent Brockman: Uh, Mr. Burns, people are calling this a meltdown.
  Mr. Burns' voice: (laugh) Oh, meltdown. It's one of these annoying buzzwords. We prefer to call it an unrequested fission surplus.
• Mr. Burns: Oh, and what's this? A congratulatory phone call from Earvin "Magic" Johnson?
  Homer: Magic Johnson!? (picks up the phone) Y'ello?
  Magic Johnson: (calling) Is this really Homer Simpson?
  Homer: Yeah.
  Magic Johnson: Wow. Homer, I just used our last time-out to call and congratulate you on averting that nuclear holocaust.
  (...)
  Homer: Uh Magic, What if people think a guy's a hero, but he was really just lucky?
  Magic Johnson: Don't worry. Sooner or later, people like that are exposed as the frauds they are.
  Homer: (sarcastically and saddened) Thanks Magic.
• Milhouse: Bart, my mom won't let me be your friend any more. That's why you couldn't come to the party.
  Bart: What's she got against me?
  Milhouse: She says you're a bad influence.
  Bart: (slams his hand on the table) Bad influence, my butt! How many times have I told you? Never listen to your mother!

*This particular quote was notable for inexplicably replacing the tamer "butt" with the word "ass" used in previews for the episode, though in some countries such as Canada "ass" was kept. The DVD release also uses the word butt.

• Kent Brockman: Eenie meenie miney moe: Is Homer a hero? The answer is... "No."

External links

• Episode Capsule on "Simpsons Archive"

• The Simpsons episodes, season 3