Homer Goes to College

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The Simpsons episode
"Homer Goes to College"
Homer blows off learning the periodic table of elements.
Episode no. 84
Prod. code 1F02
Orig. airdate October 14, 1993
Show runner(s) David Mirkin
Written by Conan O'Brien
Directed by Jim Reardon
Couch gag The family sits on the couch, only to be squashed by a giant foot.[1]
DVD
commentary		 Matt Groening
David Mirkin
James L. Brooks
Conan O'Brien
Jim Reardon
David Silverman
Season 5
September 30, 1993 – May 19, 1994
  1. "Homer's Barbershop Quartet"
  2. "Cape Feare"
  3. "Homer Goes to College"
  4. "Rosebud"
  5. "Treehouse of Horror IV"
  6. "Marge on the Lam"
  7. "Bart's Inner Child"
  8. "Boy-Scoutz N the Hood"
  9. "The Last Temptation of Homer"
  10. "$pringfield"
  11. "Homer the Vigilante"
  12. "Bart Gets Famous"
  13. "Homer and Apu"
  14. "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy"
  15. "Deep Space Homer"
  16. "Homer Loves Flanders"
  17. "Bart Gets an Elephant"
  18. "Burns' Heir"
  19. "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song"
  20. "The Boy Who Knew Too Much"
  21. "Lady Bouvier's Lover"
  22. "Secrets of a Successful Marriage"
List of all The Simpsons episodes

"Homer Goes to College" is the third episode of The Simpsons' fifth season. It was originally going to be the season premiere. If it had been, then it would have been the first without a chalkboard gag; consequently, the first such premiere was season 9's "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson".

Contents

[edit] Plot

During a surprise inspection of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant by employees from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Homer is placed in a test module that simulates an emergency situation. He somehow manages to cause a nuclear meltdown, although there is no nuclear material inside the van that holds the test module. The NRC officials tell Mr. Burns that Homer's job requires college training in nuclear physics, and that he must go back to college to keep his job. After failing to get into the colleges he applied to, Burns is able to help Homer get into Springfield University.

Homer ignores the educational aspect of college and instead focuses on his preconceived notions of college life (through adolescent movies such as The School of Hard Knockers, which stereotype college life as pranks, partying, and rigid deans). He also decides he does not like the college dean, Dean Peterson, believing him to be a crusty, conservative administrator, and tries to insult him. In reality, Peterson actually relates well with the students and is relatively young. After Homer causes a nuclear meltdown in class, Dean Peterson takes him aside and recommends hiring a tutor. Homer is reluctant but agrees. The tutors turn out to be three computer nerds named Benjamin, Doug and Gary. Benjamin, Doug and Gary are determined to help Homer understand the material from his physics course, but Homer refuses to cooperate. Instead, he is determined to help them gain a social life by pulling a prank on rival college Springfield A&M University. The prank involves kidnapping the other school's pig mascot, Sir Oinks-a-lot. However, Homer causes the pig to become very ill after force-feeding it malt liquor, and Benjamin, Doug and Gary are blamed for the incident. Despite the evidence that Homer is the guilty one, Dean Peterson is forced to expel the nerds. A remorseful Homer immediately invites Benjamin, Doug and Gary to move in with his family. However, their interests quickly disrupt the normal family routine, and Marge orders Homer to evict the nerds, leading him to try to get the three re-admitted to school.

Homer's plan involves an attempt to run down Dean Peterson with his car, but have the nerds push him out of the way at the last instant. The idea being that Peterson's life would be saved, and he would re-admit the nerds in a show of gratitude. However, the prank backfires, and Homer winds up running down the dean, seriously injuring him. At the hospital, as Dr. Hibbert contemplates surgery to replace Dean Peterson's shattered hip, Homer admits he was fully responsible for the pranks, and he asks that Benjamin, Doug and Gary be reinstated. Surprisingly, the dean agrees to reinstate them, but he does not punish Homer, agreeing to forget everything that has happened. The nerds thank Homer for his assistance and move back into their old dormitory room.

The end of the semester is fast approaching, and Homer is not prepared for final exams. The nerds say the only way to pass is to cram for the final exam, which they help him do. However, Homer fails the exam. The nerds say that they can hack into the school's student records and change his grade to an A-plus (which they do to Homer's delight), but Marge finds out and makes him take the course again.

[edit] Production

One of the most notable parts of this episode is when Homer sings "I am so smart! S-M-R-T... I mean S-M-A-R-T!". This line was actually an ad-lib by Dan Castellaneta. During recording, Dan was singing the song and accidentally misspelled "smart". The writers agreed that it was much funnier that way, and left the joke in. The song has since become a fan favorite.[2]

[edit] Cultural references

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The couch gag with the huge pink foot squashing the Simpsons is a reference to the opening titles of the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus.[1]
  • Mr. Burns asks Homer to "find the jade monkey" in a reference to the film The Maltese Falcon.[1]
  • The scene where Mr. Burns holds a meeting and hits one of the participants with a baseball bat references the scene in the movie The Untouchables where Robert De Niro as Al Capone does the same thing.
  • This episode contains the first reference to the Internet on The Simpsons, as "Computer Signals" being sent between the Nerds and MIT.
  • Benjamin, Doug and Gary imitate the Knights Who Say Ni scene from Monty Python and The Holy Grail.
  • Benjamin, Doug and Gary play Dungeons & Dragons and hold arguments over Star Trek.
  • The image of Homer in a Roman toga is a reference to the college film Animal House in which John Belushi wears the same robe.
  • Benjamin, Doug and Gary have on their wall a poster of the musical group Devo wearing their signature red "flower pot" hats.
  • The nerds room number is 222, a reference to the television series Room 222.[3]
  • Mr Burns offering the nuclear inspectors a washer and dryer or the contents of a mysterious box parodies the gameshow Let's Make a Deal.[3]
  • When Homer enters the room Benjamin, Doug, and Gary were in, the nerds exclaim, "Intruder alert! Stop the humanoid!" Robots in Berzerk, a video game, refer to the player as the humanoid and announce "intruder alert!" upon his or her arrival.
  • The song played over the end credits is "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen.[1]
  • Mr. Burns' escape pod resembles the one used by R2-D2 and C-3PO in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). Homer Goes to College. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
  2. ^ Groening, Matt; Castellaneta, Dan; Jean, Al. (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart's Inner Child" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  3. ^ a b Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers, p. 122. ISBN 0-00-638898-1. 
  4. ^ Scott Chernoff. "I Bent My Wookiee! Celebrating the Star Wars/Simpsons Connection", Star Wars.com, 2007-07-24. Retrieved on 2008-04-22. 

[edit] External links

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