Colonel Homer
Encyclopedia
"Colonel Homer" is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons
' third season
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 26, 1992. In the episode, Homer
embarrasses his wife Marge
at a movie theater, leading to a big argument between the two. Homer, angry at Marge, visits a redneck
bar in the middle of the night where he meets a waitress named Lurleen Lumpkin, a talented singer. Homer becomes Lurleen's manager and tries to make her famous, but he does not appear aware that Lurleen has fallen in love with him. With Marge already upset and thinking Homer is cheating on her, he must decide on the importance of his marriage after Lurleen makes romantic advances toward him.
The episode was written by The Simpsons creator Matt Groening
, and directed by Mark Kirkland
. It is the only episode of the series for which Groening received an individual writing credit. American singer and actress Beverly D'Angelo
guest starred in the episode as Lurleen. Although the character makes several cameo appearance
s after this episode, Lurleen makes her second full-time appearance sixteen years later in "Papa Don't Leech
". The episode features cultural references to songs such as "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" by The Carpenters
and "Funkytown
" by Lipps Inc
, and the films Deliverance
, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
, and Look Who's Talking
.
Since airing, "Colonel Homer" has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It attained a Nielsen rating
of 14.8, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network for the week it aired. The episode was selected for inclusion in a video collection of selected episodes, titled The Last Temptation Of Homer, that was released on November 9, 1998. An action figure
set based on "Colonel Homer" was released in March 2002, and two of Lurleen's songs from the episode appeared on the Simpsons compilation album Songs in the Key of Springfield
.
goes to the local movie theater to see a film. Bart
and Lisa
see Space Mutants VI, while Homer and Marge see The Stockholm Affair. As the films starts, Homer acts loud and obnoxious, embarrassing Marge. When he gives away the film's ending, Marge tells him to shut up and the audience applauds, embarrassing Homer. During the car ride home, Marge tries to apologize for what she said, but Homer will not accept it. He drops Marge and the children off at home and goes off on a long drive into the night. He finally stops at a redneck bar called the Beer 'N' Brawl, where he grabs a beer while listening to an attractive young waitress named Lurleen Lumpkin performing on stage. She sings a song that follows Homer's current state with every detail, and once she finishes, Homer introduces himself to her.
Several days later, still humming Lurleen's song, Homer drives to her mobile home
to ask for a copy. Lurleen tells him she has not recorded the song, so Homer insists that she come to a recording company to record a CD. Homer grants the recording company clerk permission to play the song on the radio, and Lurleen's songs are an instant hit all over Springfield. At home, Marge asks Homer about Lurleen; he claims that she is just a waitress who is turning into a music superstar. Marge does not approve that he is seeing her, as she fears that something more will come of the relationship. Homer becomes Lurleen's manager, and to fit with the role, he buys an expensive white cowboy suit which he wears at home. Marge is furious, and asks if he is having an affair. He denies it, and says whether Marge likes it or not, he is going to help Lurleen become a country music
star. The whole family gathers at the recording studio with Lurleen to record more of her songs. Her new single, a suggestive love metaphor called "Bagged Me a Homer", leads Marge to gnash her teeth in rage.
Homer gets Lurleen a gig on a country western television series called Ya-Hoo!. Just before her performance, Homer and Lurleen spend the night in her mobile home, and she shows him one of her new songs. In the song she asks Homer to "bunk
" with her, but Homer knows that would violate his marital vows and leaves. During her performance, Homer is approached by a business agent who asks to buy Lurleen's contract, but Homer refuses. In Lurleen's dressing room, Homer becomes locked in an embrace with her, then describes how his love life is flashing before his eyes. Homer tells Lurleen that he only wanted share her voice with the world and leaves before he does anything to lose his family. He again runs into the agent and this time sells Lurleen's contract for US$
50. At home, a naked Marge watches the Ya-Hoo! show when Homer returns. When Homer gets into bed, Marge hears what Homer did through Lurleen's bluesy song on the television which Lurleen concludes by saying she hopes Marge knows how lucky she is.
The episode was written by The Simpsons creator Matt Groening
. It is the only episode of the series in which he received an individual writing credit, though he has co-written the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening
", "The Telltale Head
", and "22 Short Films About Springfield
". "Colonel Homer" was partly based on the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter
, which tells the story of country music singer Loretta Lynn
. Groening said he had always wanted to write an episode in which Homer is offered a glamorous life, other than being with his family, but then chooses his family over glamor at the end. He pitched the idea to the writers of the show, who suggested the parody of Coal Miner's Daughter and also that Homer should become a manager for a country singer. Show runner
Mike Reiss
was originally skeptical about the episode, as he did not think Homer could get a new job when he already had a full-time job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Reiss eventually gave in, but in future episodes the writers tried to develop the explanation that he got fired from the plant and then rehired at the end. Groening said that during the episode production, he received comments from the production team that Homer was acting like a "jerk" in it, but Groening's explanation was that Homer's behavior was due to his desire to make Lurleen a star and he was oblivious to her attempts to seduce him until the end.
The episode's director, Mark Kirkland
, said he enjoyed directing the episode because the characters' emotions throughout it are "very human and real". He believed many viewers watching the episode would recognize the emotions from experiences in their own lives, and would feel sympathy for the characters. The idea of Homer annoying the people at the movie theater was based on an experience Groening had with a friend of his when he was younger. They were sitting by themselves in a movie theater and two "annoying" women sat down right in front of them. Groening's friend told the women to move and they did. One of the women then turned to Groening and his friend and said, "Now are you satisfied?", to which Groening's friend replied: "I won't be satisfied until I see you burn in hell."
guest starred in the episode as Lurleen Lumpkin. The actress first met Groening at a party at Frank Zappa
's house, and was called in to audition for Lurleen based on her performance as Patsy Cline
in Coal Miner's Daughter. She got the role after completing a singing test. D'Angelo wrote two songs for the episode: "Your Wife Don't Understand You" (which Lurleen sings at the Beer 'N' Brawl where Homer hears her for the first time) and "I Bagged a Homer". D'Angelo wrote both songs in an hour and presented them to Groening at the episode's table read. Unlike most other guest stars on The Simpsons who record their lines and then leave to accommodate their schedule, D'Angelo stayed with the production team all day and pitched several jokes for the episode. Entertainment Weekly
named D'Angelo's performance as Lurleen one of the sixteen best guest appearances on The Simpsons. Tom Nawrocki of Rolling Stone
rated the songs D'Angelo wrote as two of the best songs in the history of the show.
The episode marks the debut appearance of Lurleen on The Simpsons. She was created by one of the show's character designers, John Rice. Kirkland thought the first design Rice drew of Lurleen was too "bland" and "plain", so they decided to model her after D'Angelo and add "every kind of pretty girl cliché" into the design. Rice and Kirkland then sent the character to Groening, who sent back a note saying "wow". Reiss's show runner partner Al Jean
said that "one of the most difficult things when translating real people to a Simpsons look is for women to look beautiful", as the Simpson overbite and facial construction make it particularly difficult to design women's looks. Lurleen's last name, Lumpkin, came from the country bumpkin character Tony Lumpkin in the 1773 comedy play She Stoops to Conquer
by Oliver Goldsmith
.
Bart's voice actor, Nancy Cartwright
, wrote in her autobiography My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy
that the episode's script gives the audience a "visual and aural feast". She said the background designers "must have gone on another field trip for this one" because they captured the look of a typical musical recording studio. The recording studio in the episode, where Lurleen records her new songs with the Simpson family, features two rooms, one for the artist and one for the engineer, with a pane of glass between them. Cartwright said the designers added their own "special touch" by putting a few cracks on the walls, designing a slightly dilapidated ceiling, and by making it look as if the soundproofing on the walls is falling off. The property designer
s went on a field trip to Sun Studio
to receive inspiration for the prop
s in the recording studio, such as the "in session" red light, the mixing board, the musical instruments, and the volume-unit meters that indicates how loud the artist is singing. For the interior design of the recording studio, the color designers mixed colors such as orange, mauve, gray, and brown to make them complement each other. The colors in the engineer's booth were darker to make Homer's white suit stand out from the background. The appearance of the engineer at the recording studio was based on John Boylan, an American music producer who produced the highly successful album The Simpsons Sing the Blues
. Lurleen's mobile home was designed to be "very confined" and "tiny" so that the compositions of Homer and Lurleen would be tighter, thus giving the scene an intimate, romantic feeling.
The episode's title and Homer's attire are references to Colonel Tom Parker
, singer Elvis Presley
's manager. Films playing at the Springfield Googolplex movie theater at the beginning of the episode include Honey, I Hit a School Bus (a parody of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
), Look Who's Oinking (a parody of Look Who's Talking
), and a film called Ernest vs. The Pope which stars the fictional character Ernest P. Worrell
. During his long drive to the Beer 'N' Brawl, Homer passes a boy playing a banjo on a porch, a reference to the "Dueling Banjos
" sequence in the film Deliverance
. The same boy appears later at the recording studio waiting in line with his banjo to record a CD. William Irwin writes in his book Philosophy and the Interpretation of Pop Culture that this "burst of banjo" must convey a message even if the viewers do not "get" the reference to Deliverance: "Thanks to prevailing connotations of banjo music, viewers who do not recognize the banjo tune as the theme from Deliverance will not laugh, but the mere sound of banjo tells the audience that Homer has entered a backward, redneck area."
The Beer 'N' Brawl redneck bar is based on the bar in the film Urban Cowboy
. The Beer 'N' Brawl sells Laramie High Tar cigarettes, a reference to the American cigarette brand Laramie
. After arriving home from the Beer 'N' Brawl, Lurleen's song is stuck in Homer's head, and he even sings it to his bowling ball for good luck. Homer's co-worker Lenny decides to give it a shot and sings "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)", a 1976 song by The Carpenters
, to his bowling ball. Homer says that the last song before Lurleen's "Your Wife Don't Understand You" that he could not get out of his mind was the Lipps Inc
song "Funkytown
". The syndicated country comedy show that Lurleen appears on, Ya-Hoo!, is based on the country television series Hee Haw
, which ran in syndication from 1971 to 1993.
of 14.8, equivalent to approximately 16.63 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed gave the episode a 5/5 rating and called it "another great" episode that chronicles the love between Homer and Marge, showing the "ups and downs" of their marriage. He said Lurleen's songs are "filled with clever observations", but it is Homer's befuddlement that makes it a "classic" episode. Meyers added, however, that country music fans might "take offense at Matt Groening's script, which hams up every stereotype imaginable". DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said that after the "great" previous episode "Dog of Death
", "one might expect some drop-off with 'Colonel Homer', but virtually none occurs. It offers another classic episode that benefits from a memorable guest voice performance from D’Angelo. Homer’s moment in the sun creates a fun plot and the program nicely lampoons the country music business." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said the episode is a "good example of The Simpsons fixing itself on a target (in this case, country and western music) and extracting every possible gag. Lurleen's songs are all marvelous."
Hock Guan Teh of DVD Town said he enjoyed the episode, and although it does not contain the "usual amount" of The Simpsons humor, the "rich character development itself makes this episode worth multiple viewings. However, anyone allergic to country music should give this one a pass!" Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict thought the episode featured "one of the best" parodies the Simpsons writers have ever conceived, the parody of the country television series Hee-Haw called Ya-Hoo!: "While one must give multiple kudos to Beverly D'Angelo for writing and performing her own witty hillbilly ditties, it's the twisted cornpone [television series Ya-Hoo!], with such stars as Big Shirtless Ron and Cappy Mae, that really propels this installment into comic heaven. Homer's sheepish response to Lurlene's advances shows just what a decent, family loving man he is." A reviewer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
called the episode "heartwarming", and commented that The Simpsons "once again shows that at the heart of this crazy family there is an abiding love." Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club
said "it's a pretty impossible question for a die-hard fan, but if I were forced at gunpoint to name my favorite episode ever, 'Colonel Homer' would probably be the first to leap to mind, if only for the pure joy that is 'Bagged Me a Homer'."
", voiced by Doris Grau
, as she is briefly interviewed by Kent Brockman
during the monorail's maiden voyage party. When he asks her what she has been doing lately, she responds that since Homer left her, her personal and professional life have gone downhill. She looks dirty and scuffed up, and talks with a harsh, croaky, gravelly voice, rather than the soft, Southern voice she had when she was first introduced. Lurleen also has a cameo in the season four episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled
" as the center square on The Springfield Squares, and appears in "Team Homer
" as a member of the bowling team "The Home Wreckers". In the season seven episode "Bart on the Road
", Lurleen's name can be seen briefly on a banner saying "playing tonight" in Branson, Missouri
. She made her second full-time appearance in the season nineteen episode "Papa Don't Leech
", in which the Simpsons family takes Lurleen into their home after she becomes a fugitive from the Springfield authorities for not paying her taxes.
Compared to "Colonel Homer", Lurleen's comeback episode "Papa Don't Leech" received rather negative reviews from television critics. Richard Keller of TV Squad expressed dislike for the episode, stating that he hopes the show will reconsider the next time they decide to give a "solo opportunity" to a supporting character "many people don't remember". Robert Canning of IGN
said, "there were too few laugh-out-loud moments in this lackluster episode. Overall, it was nice to see Lurleen again, but she'd probably get more laughs in future cameos than in carrying an entire episode."
", "Homer Alone
", and "Simpson and Delilah
". The episode was later included on The Simpsons season three DVD set that was released on August 26, 2003. Matt Groening, Mark Kirkland, cast member Dan Castellaneta
, and show runners Al Jean and Mike Reiss participated in the DVD's audio commentary
of the episode. "Colonel Homer" was again included in the 2005 DVD release of the Last Temptation Of Homer set. An action figure
set based on the episode was released exclusively to Toys "R" Us stores in March 2002. The set, featuring Homer in his white suit and Lurleen with her guitar, is part of the World of Springfield
series of The Simpsons action figures created by Playmate Toys. Lurleen's songs "Your Wife Don't Understand You" and "Bagged Me a Homer" appeared on the Simpsons compilation album Songs in the Key of Springfield
, that was released on March 18, 1997.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
The Simpsons (season 3)
The Simpsons third season originally aired on the Fox network between September 19, 1991 and May 7, 1992. The show runners for the third production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss who executive produced 22 episodes the season, while two other episodes were produced by James L. Brooks, Matt...
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 26, 1992. In the episode, Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
embarrasses his wife Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
at a movie theater, leading to a big argument between the two. Homer, angry at Marge, visits a redneck
Redneck
Redneck is a historically derogatory slang term used in reference to poor, uneducated white farmers, especially from the southern United States...
bar in the middle of the night where he meets a waitress named Lurleen Lumpkin, a talented singer. Homer becomes Lurleen's manager and tries to make her famous, but he does not appear aware that Lurleen has fallen in love with him. With Marge already upset and thinking Homer is cheating on her, he must decide on the importance of his marriage after Lurleen makes romantic advances toward him.
The episode was written by The Simpsons creator Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, and directed by Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland is an American director. He has directed 69 episodes, from 1990-present, of The Simpsons, more than any other person.-Career:...
. It is the only episode of the series for which Groening received an individual writing credit. American singer and actress Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly D'Angelo
Beverly Heather D'Angelo is an American actress and singer.-Early life:D'Angelo was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Priscilla , a violinist, and Gene D'Angelo, a bass player and television station manager. She is of part Italian ancestry...
guest starred in the episode as Lurleen. Although the character makes several cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s after this episode, Lurleen makes her second full-time appearance sixteen years later in "Papa Don't Leech
Papa Don't Leech
"Papa Don't Leech" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons nineteenth season. It was first broadcast on April 13, 2008. It features the return of Lurleen Lumpkin from the third season episode "Colonel Homer", after an absence of sixteen years...
". The episode features cultural references to songs such as "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" by The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
and "Funkytown
Funkytown
"Funkytown" is a 1980 disco hit song by the disco band Lipps Inc. The song expresses the singer's pining for a metaphorical place that will "keep me movin', keeps me groovin' with some energy". It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Dance charts in 1980, also reaching number 1 in Germany,...
" by Lipps Inc
Lipps Inc
Lipps Inc. was a studio band that achieved two significant hits, "Funkytown", in 1980 and "Designer Music", in 1981.The group was formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Steven Greenberg, who wrote and produced all of the group's music, and who also played several musical instruments...
, and the films Deliverance
Deliverance
Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty in his film debut. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the...
, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a 1989 comedy film. The directorial debut of Joe Johnston and released through Walt Disney Pictures and Silver Screen Partners III, the film tells the story of an inventor who accidentally shrinks his and his neighbor's kids to 1/4 of an inch with his electromagnetic...
, and Look Who's Talking
Look Who's Talking
Look Who's Talking is a 1989 romantic comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling and stars John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Bruce Willis plays the voice of Mollie's son, Mikey. The film features George Segal as Albert, the illegitimate father of Mikey.-Plot:Mollie Jensen is an accountant...
.
Since airing, "Colonel Homer" has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It attained a Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 14.8, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network for the week it aired. The episode was selected for inclusion in a video collection of selected episodes, titled The Last Temptation Of Homer, that was released on November 9, 1998. An action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
set based on "Colonel Homer" was released in March 2002, and two of Lurleen's songs from the episode appeared on the Simpsons compilation album Songs in the Key of Springfield
Songs in the Key of Springfield
Songs in the Key of Springfield is a soundtrack/novelty album from The Simpsons compiling many of the musical numbers from the series. The album was released in the United States on March 18, 1997, and in the United Kingdom in June 1997...
.
Plot
The Simpson familySimpson family
The Simpson family is a family of fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town...
goes to the local movie theater to see a film. Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
see Space Mutants VI, while Homer and Marge see The Stockholm Affair. As the films starts, Homer acts loud and obnoxious, embarrassing Marge. When he gives away the film's ending, Marge tells him to shut up and the audience applauds, embarrassing Homer. During the car ride home, Marge tries to apologize for what she said, but Homer will not accept it. He drops Marge and the children off at home and goes off on a long drive into the night. He finally stops at a redneck bar called the Beer 'N' Brawl, where he grabs a beer while listening to an attractive young waitress named Lurleen Lumpkin performing on stage. She sings a song that follows Homer's current state with every detail, and once she finishes, Homer introduces himself to her.
Several days later, still humming Lurleen's song, Homer drives to her mobile home
Mobile home
Mobile homes or static caravans are prefabricated homes built in factories, rather than on site, and then taken to the place where they will be occupied...
to ask for a copy. Lurleen tells him she has not recorded the song, so Homer insists that she come to a recording company to record a CD. Homer grants the recording company clerk permission to play the song on the radio, and Lurleen's songs are an instant hit all over Springfield. At home, Marge asks Homer about Lurleen; he claims that she is just a waitress who is turning into a music superstar. Marge does not approve that he is seeing her, as she fears that something more will come of the relationship. Homer becomes Lurleen's manager, and to fit with the role, he buys an expensive white cowboy suit which he wears at home. Marge is furious, and asks if he is having an affair. He denies it, and says whether Marge likes it or not, he is going to help Lurleen become a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
star. The whole family gathers at the recording studio with Lurleen to record more of her songs. Her new single, a suggestive love metaphor called "Bagged Me a Homer", leads Marge to gnash her teeth in rage.
Homer gets Lurleen a gig on a country western television series called Ya-Hoo!. Just before her performance, Homer and Lurleen spend the night in her mobile home, and she shows him one of her new songs. In the song she asks Homer to "bunk
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
" with her, but Homer knows that would violate his marital vows and leaves. During her performance, Homer is approached by a business agent who asks to buy Lurleen's contract, but Homer refuses. In Lurleen's dressing room, Homer becomes locked in an embrace with her, then describes how his love life is flashing before his eyes. Homer tells Lurleen that he only wanted share her voice with the world and leaves before he does anything to lose his family. He again runs into the agent and this time sells Lurleen's contract for US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
50. At home, a naked Marge watches the Ya-Hoo! show when Homer returns. When Homer gets into bed, Marge hears what Homer did through Lurleen's bluesy song on the television which Lurleen concludes by saying she hopes Marge knows how lucky she is.
Writing and directing
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
. It is the only episode of the series in which he received an individual writing credit, though he has co-written the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening
Some Enchanted Evening (The Simpsons)
"Some Enchanted Evening" is the thirteenth, final aired, and first produced episode of The Simpsons first season and originally aired on the Fox network on May 13, 1990. Although it was the first episode produced, it aired as the season finale due to significant animation problems. The episode...
", "The Telltale Head
The Telltale Head
"The Telltale Head" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons first season, and it originally aired February 25, 1990. It was written by Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Sam Simon, Matt Groening, and directed by Rich Moore. In the episode, Bart cuts the head off the statue of Jebediah Springfield in the center of...
", and "22 Short Films About Springfield
22 Short Films about Springfield
"22 Short Films About Springfield" is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons seventh season, which originally aired on April 14, 1996. It was written by Richard Appel, David S. Cohen, Jonathan Collier, Jennifer Crittenden, Greg Daniels, Brent Forrester, Rachel Pulido, Steve Tompkins, Josh...
". "Colonel Homer" was partly based on the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical film which tells the story of country music icon Loretta Lynn. It stars Sissy Spacek in her Academy Award for Best Actress winning role, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm, and was directed by Michael Apted.-Background:The film was...
, which tells the story of country music singer Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
. Groening said he had always wanted to write an episode in which Homer is offered a glamorous life, other than being with his family, but then chooses his family over glamor at the end. He pitched the idea to the writers of the show, who suggested the parody of Coal Miner's Daughter and also that Homer should become a manager for a country singer. Show runner
Show runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss
Michael "Mike" Reiss is an American television comedy writer. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series The Simpsons and co-created the animated series The Critic...
was originally skeptical about the episode, as he did not think Homer could get a new job when he already had a full-time job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Reiss eventually gave in, but in future episodes the writers tried to develop the explanation that he got fired from the plant and then rehired at the end. Groening said that during the episode production, he received comments from the production team that Homer was acting like a "jerk" in it, but Groening's explanation was that Homer's behavior was due to his desire to make Lurleen a star and he was oblivious to her attempts to seduce him until the end.
The episode's director, Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland is an American director. He has directed 69 episodes, from 1990-present, of The Simpsons, more than any other person.-Career:...
, said he enjoyed directing the episode because the characters' emotions throughout it are "very human and real". He believed many viewers watching the episode would recognize the emotions from experiences in their own lives, and would feel sympathy for the characters. The idea of Homer annoying the people at the movie theater was based on an experience Groening had with a friend of his when he was younger. They were sitting by themselves in a movie theater and two "annoying" women sat down right in front of them. Groening's friend told the women to move and they did. One of the women then turned to Groening and his friend and said, "Now are you satisfied?", to which Groening's friend replied: "I won't be satisfied until I see you burn in hell."
Voice acting and music
American singer and actress Beverly D'AngeloBeverly D'Angelo
Beverly Heather D'Angelo is an American actress and singer.-Early life:D'Angelo was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Priscilla , a violinist, and Gene D'Angelo, a bass player and television station manager. She is of part Italian ancestry...
guest starred in the episode as Lurleen Lumpkin. The actress first met Groening at a party at Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
's house, and was called in to audition for Lurleen based on her performance as Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline
Patsy Cline , born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Gore, Virginia, was an American country music singer who enjoyed pop music crossover success during the era of the Nashville sound in the early 1960s...
in Coal Miner's Daughter. She got the role after completing a singing test. D'Angelo wrote two songs for the episode: "Your Wife Don't Understand You" (which Lurleen sings at the Beer 'N' Brawl where Homer hears her for the first time) and "I Bagged a Homer". D'Angelo wrote both songs in an hour and presented them to Groening at the episode's table read. Unlike most other guest stars on The Simpsons who record their lines and then leave to accommodate their schedule, D'Angelo stayed with the production team all day and pitched several jokes for the episode. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
named D'Angelo's performance as Lurleen one of the sixteen best guest appearances on The Simpsons. Tom Nawrocki of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
rated the songs D'Angelo wrote as two of the best songs in the history of the show.
Animation
Al Jean
Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...
said that "one of the most difficult things when translating real people to a Simpsons look is for women to look beautiful", as the Simpson overbite and facial construction make it particularly difficult to design women's looks. Lurleen's last name, Lumpkin, came from the country bumpkin character Tony Lumpkin in the 1773 comedy play She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a great favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in Britain and the United States. It is one of the few plays from the 18th...
by Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...
.
Bart's voice actor, Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...
, wrote in her autobiography My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy
My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy
My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy is an autobiography written by Nancy Cartwright. First published in September 2000 by Hyperion, it details Cartwright's career, particularly her experiences as the voice of Bart Simpson on The Simpsons and contains insights on the show, diary entries and anecdotes about...
that the episode's script gives the audience a "visual and aural feast". She said the background designers "must have gone on another field trip for this one" because they captured the look of a typical musical recording studio. The recording studio in the episode, where Lurleen records her new songs with the Simpson family, features two rooms, one for the artist and one for the engineer, with a pane of glass between them. Cartwright said the designers added their own "special touch" by putting a few cracks on the walls, designing a slightly dilapidated ceiling, and by making it look as if the soundproofing on the walls is falling off. The property designer
Property designer
A property designer or prop designer is a person who designs props for use in theatre, film, television, etc. Prop designers work in liaison with the costume designers, set designers and sound designers, under the direction of the art director or technical director.However, the public seems to...
s went on a field trip to Sun Studio
Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business...
to receive inspiration for the prop
Theatrical property
A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...
s in the recording studio, such as the "in session" red light, the mixing board, the musical instruments, and the volume-unit meters that indicates how loud the artist is singing. For the interior design of the recording studio, the color designers mixed colors such as orange, mauve, gray, and brown to make them complement each other. The colors in the engineer's booth were darker to make Homer's white suit stand out from the background. The appearance of the engineer at the recording studio was based on John Boylan, an American music producer who produced the highly successful album The Simpsons Sing the Blues
The Simpsons Sing the Blues
The Simpsons Sing the Blues is the first album released as an offshoot of The Simpsons. The album contains originally recorded music not featured in the series save for the first verse of the track "Moaning Lisa Blues" which was first featured in the episode "Moaning Lisa", aired February 11, 1990...
. Lurleen's mobile home was designed to be "very confined" and "tiny" so that the compositions of Homer and Lurleen would be tighter, thus giving the scene an intimate, romantic feeling.
Cultural references
Colonel Tom Parker
"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...
, singer Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
's manager. Films playing at the Springfield Googolplex movie theater at the beginning of the episode include Honey, I Hit a School Bus (a parody of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a 1989 comedy film. The directorial debut of Joe Johnston and released through Walt Disney Pictures and Silver Screen Partners III, the film tells the story of an inventor who accidentally shrinks his and his neighbor's kids to 1/4 of an inch with his electromagnetic...
), Look Who's Oinking (a parody of Look Who's Talking
Look Who's Talking
Look Who's Talking is a 1989 romantic comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling and stars John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Bruce Willis plays the voice of Mollie's son, Mikey. The film features George Segal as Albert, the illegitimate father of Mikey.-Plot:Mollie Jensen is an accountant...
), and a film called Ernest vs. The Pope which stars the fictional character Ernest P. Worrell
Ernest P. Worrell
Ernest P. Worrell is a fictional character most principally portrayed by the late American actor Jim Varney in a series of television commercials, and later in a television series as well as a series of feature films. Ernest was created by the Nashville advertising agency Carden and Cherry and was...
. During his long drive to the Beer 'N' Brawl, Homer passes a boy playing a banjo on a porch, a reference to the "Dueling Banjos
Dueling Banjos
"Dueling Banjos" is an instrumental composition by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. The song was composed in 1955 by Smith as a banjo instrumental he called "Feudin' Banjos", which contained riffs from "Yankee Doodle". Smith recorded it playing a four-string plectrum banjo and accompanied by...
" sequence in the film Deliverance
Deliverance
Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty in his film debut. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the...
. The same boy appears later at the recording studio waiting in line with his banjo to record a CD. William Irwin writes in his book Philosophy and the Interpretation of Pop Culture that this "burst of banjo" must convey a message even if the viewers do not "get" the reference to Deliverance: "Thanks to prevailing connotations of banjo music, viewers who do not recognize the banjo tune as the theme from Deliverance will not laugh, but the mere sound of banjo tells the audience that Homer has entered a backward, redneck area."
The Beer 'N' Brawl redneck bar is based on the bar in the film Urban Cowboy
Urban Cowboy
Released as a 2× vinyl record album, re-released on CD in 1995.Side A:#Hello Texas – Jimmy Buffett #All Night Long – Joe Walsh #Times Like These – Dan Fogelberg #Nine Tonight – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band...
. The Beer 'N' Brawl sells Laramie High Tar cigarettes, a reference to the American cigarette brand Laramie
Laramie (cigarette)
Laramie was a brand of cigarettes extant in the United States from the 1930s into the 1950s.Later, the name was used for a cigarette rolling system ....
. After arriving home from the Beer 'N' Brawl, Lurleen's song is stuck in Homer's head, and he even sings it to his bowling ball for good luck. Homer's co-worker Lenny decides to give it a shot and sings "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)", a 1976 song by The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
, to his bowling ball. Homer says that the last song before Lurleen's "Your Wife Don't Understand You" that he could not get out of his mind was the Lipps Inc
Lipps Inc
Lipps Inc. was a studio band that achieved two significant hits, "Funkytown", in 1980 and "Designer Music", in 1981.The group was formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Steven Greenberg, who wrote and produced all of the group's music, and who also played several musical instruments...
song "Funkytown
Funkytown
"Funkytown" is a 1980 disco hit song by the disco band Lipps Inc. The song expresses the singer's pining for a metaphorical place that will "keep me movin', keeps me groovin' with some energy". It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Dance charts in 1980, also reaching number 1 in Germany,...
". The syndicated country comedy show that Lurleen appears on, Ya-Hoo!, is based on the country television series Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
, which ran in syndication from 1971 to 1993.
Ratings and critical reviews
In its original broadcast, "Colonel Homer" finished twenty-second in the ratings for the week of March 23–29, 1992, with a Nielsen ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 14.8, equivalent to approximately 16.63 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed gave the episode a 5/5 rating and called it "another great" episode that chronicles the love between Homer and Marge, showing the "ups and downs" of their marriage. He said Lurleen's songs are "filled with clever observations", but it is Homer's befuddlement that makes it a "classic" episode. Meyers added, however, that country music fans might "take offense at Matt Groening's script, which hams up every stereotype imaginable". DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said that after the "great" previous episode "Dog of Death
Dog of Death
"Dog of Death" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 12, 1992. In the episode, Santa's Little Helper falls ill and the Simpson family must make budget cuts in order to pay for his operation...
", "one might expect some drop-off with 'Colonel Homer', but virtually none occurs. It offers another classic episode that benefits from a memorable guest voice performance from D’Angelo. Homer’s moment in the sun creates a fun plot and the program nicely lampoons the country music business." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said the episode is a "good example of The Simpsons fixing itself on a target (in this case, country and western music) and extracting every possible gag. Lurleen's songs are all marvelous."
Hock Guan Teh of DVD Town said he enjoyed the episode, and although it does not contain the "usual amount" of The Simpsons humor, the "rich character development itself makes this episode worth multiple viewings. However, anyone allergic to country music should give this one a pass!" Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict thought the episode featured "one of the best" parodies the Simpsons writers have ever conceived, the parody of the country television series Hee-Haw called Ya-Hoo!: "While one must give multiple kudos to Beverly D'Angelo for writing and performing her own witty hillbilly ditties, it's the twisted cornpone [television series Ya-Hoo!], with such stars as Big Shirtless Ron and Cappy Mae, that really propels this installment into comic heaven. Homer's sheepish response to Lurlene's advances shows just what a decent, family loving man he is." A reviewer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...
called the episode "heartwarming", and commented that The Simpsons "once again shows that at the heart of this crazy family there is an abiding love." Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
said "it's a pretty impossible question for a die-hard fan, but if I were forced at gunpoint to name my favorite episode ever, 'Colonel Homer' would probably be the first to leap to mind, if only for the pure joy that is 'Bagged Me a Homer'."
Lurleen's legacy
Lurleen has made several cameo appearances on the show after this episode. She appears for her second time in the season four episode "Marge vs. the MonorailMarge vs. the Monorail
"Marge vs. the Monorail" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsonss fourth season and originally aired on January 14, 1993. The plot focuses around Springfield's purchase of a monorail from a conman, and Marge's dislike of the purchase. It was written by Conan O'Brien and directed by Rich Moore...
", voiced by Doris Grau
Doris Grau
Doris Grau was an American script supervisor, actress, and voice artist from Brooklyn. Shortly after moving to Hollywood in 1940, she began her career with supervising film and television scripts...
, as she is briefly interviewed by Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode "Krusty Gets Busted"...
during the monorail's maiden voyage party. When he asks her what she has been doing lately, she responds that since Homer left her, her personal and professional life have gone downhill. She looks dirty and scuffed up, and talks with a harsh, croaky, gravelly voice, rather than the soft, Southern voice she had when she was first introduced. Lurleen also has a cameo in the season four episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled
Krusty Gets Kancelled
"Krusty Gets Kancelled" is the twenty-second and final episode of The Simpsons fourth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 13, 1993. In the episode, a new show featuring a puppet named Gabbo premieres in Springfield and competes with Krusty the Clown's show...
" as the center square on The Springfield Squares, and appears in "Team Homer
Team Homer
"Team Homer" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 7, 1996. In the episode, Homer starts a bowling team with Moe, Apu, and Otto. When Mr. Burns discovers the team was funded with his money, he insists on joining...
" as a member of the bowling team "The Home Wreckers". In the season seven episode "Bart on the Road
Bart on the Road
"Bart on the Road" is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 31, 1996. In the episode, Bart makes his own fake driver's license. He rents a car with it and takes Milhouse, Martin, and Nelson on a road trip to...
", Lurleen's name can be seen briefly on a banner saying "playing tonight" in Branson, Missouri
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
. She made her second full-time appearance in the season nineteen episode "Papa Don't Leech
Papa Don't Leech
"Papa Don't Leech" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons nineteenth season. It was first broadcast on April 13, 2008. It features the return of Lurleen Lumpkin from the third season episode "Colonel Homer", after an absence of sixteen years...
", in which the Simpsons family takes Lurleen into their home after she becomes a fugitive from the Springfield authorities for not paying her taxes.
Compared to "Colonel Homer", Lurleen's comeback episode "Papa Don't Leech" received rather negative reviews from television critics. Richard Keller of TV Squad expressed dislike for the episode, stating that he hopes the show will reconsider the next time they decide to give a "solo opportunity" to a supporting character "many people don't remember". Robert Canning of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said, "there were too few laugh-out-loud moments in this lackluster episode. Overall, it was nice to see Lurleen again, but she'd probably get more laughs in future cameos than in carrying an entire episode."
Merchandise
"Colonel Homer" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 26, 1992. The episode was selected for release in a video collection of selected episodes, titled The Last Temptation Of Homer, that was released on November 9, 1998. Other episodes included in the set were "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue FishOne Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish
"One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 24, 1991. In the episode, Homer consumes a poisonous fugu fish at a sushi restaurant, and is told that he has only twenty-two hours...
", "Homer Alone
Homer Alone
"Homer Alone" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 6, 1992. In the episode, stress at home causes Marge to have a mental breakdown and she decides to go on a vacation...
", and "Simpson and Delilah
Simpson and Delilah
"Simpson and Delilah" is the second episode of The Simpsons second season and first aired on October 18, 1990. Homer uses the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant medical insurance plan to buy Dimoxinil, a miracle hair growth formula. Homer grows hair, and is given a promotion at work which allows him...
". The episode was later included on The Simpsons season three DVD set that was released on August 26, 2003. Matt Groening, Mark Kirkland, cast member Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
, and show runners Al Jean and Mike Reiss participated in the DVD's audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
of the episode. "Colonel Homer" was again included in the 2005 DVD release of the Last Temptation Of Homer set. An action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
set based on the episode was released exclusively to Toys "R" Us stores in March 2002. The set, featuring Homer in his white suit and Lurleen with her guitar, is part of the World of Springfield
World of Springfield
The World of Springfield is a series of action figures featuring characters from the animated sitcom The Simpsons. The line ran between December 1999 and December 2004 and was released by Playmates Toys....
series of The Simpsons action figures created by Playmate Toys. Lurleen's songs "Your Wife Don't Understand You" and "Bagged Me a Homer" appeared on the Simpsons compilation album Songs in the Key of Springfield
Songs in the Key of Springfield
Songs in the Key of Springfield is a soundtrack/novelty album from The Simpsons compiling many of the musical numbers from the series. The album was released in the United States on March 18, 1997, and in the United Kingdom in June 1997...
, that was released on March 18, 1997.
External links
- "Colonel Homer" at The Simpsons.com
- "Colonel Homer" at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...