Homer Scissorhands
Encyclopedia
"Homer Scissorhands" is the twentieth episode of the 22nd season
of The Simpsons
. It first aired on the Fox network
in the United States on May 8, 2011. Kristen Schaal
guest stars in the episode as Taffy. This major episode sees Milhouse dating Taffy after Lisa rejected his romantic confession. Seeing the two together makes Lisa question her own feelings for him.
This episode was the last episode to be shown in the UK of season 22 during August, 2011. The season continued on October 30th, when "500 Key" first aired.
and Lisa
accidentally ruin a sleeping Patty's hair, Homer
uses garden shears
to cut the remaining hair, miraculously styling it. Selma demands that Homer style her hair, and he becomes Springfield
's most popular hairdresser
. Soon he is styling hair for Helen Lovejoy, Luann Van Houten, Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon and numerous other women in Springfield. However, he discovers that listening to the inane chatter upsets and angers him. He attempts to commit suicide
by drinking a jar of disinfectant, which fails. Complaining to Moe and the other barflies, Homer realises that he cannot even look at the men in the bar without seeing everything that the women dislike about them. Eventually, after declaring that he can hear the hair
growing around town, Homer styles Marge
's hair for a party, and they pretend that Julio (from Three Gays of the Condo
) did the hairstyle instead. Julio immediately gets surrounded by women demanding that he style them, too.
Meanwhile, Milhouse
has had a life-changing experience. He has watched Finding Nemo
from the beginning. Previously he and Bart
have only watched the film from "Chapter 2" which takes place after Nemo's mother has died. Deciding that, since death
can happen to a fish
, it can happen to anyone, he decides to live each day as if it were his last. In doing so, he professes his love for Lisa
even "writing" her a love song (the tune for which is clearly plagiarised). Lisa rejects his love, but he has managed to inspire a fifth-grader called Taffy (Kristen Schaal
). Taffy and Milhouse begin to date, but Lisa finds herself jealous of their relationship and begins to spy on them both. (She accidentally discovers that Hans Moleman
and Lunchlady Doris are trying to patch up their relationship.) Her appearance annoys Taffy who decides that Milhouse will never love her as he is too obsessed with Lisa and she leaves. Distraught, Milhouse asks Lisa just how upset she wants him to be in life, but she kisses him to make him feel better.
" after the planned B-story of Homer fighting with Don Rickles
after Rickles insults him during a stand-up show was rejected. Kristen Schaal
guest stars as Taffy, although her surname is spelled incorrectly as "Schall" in the credits. The chalkboard gag from the following episode "500 Keys
" was written to correct the error.
The Simpsons (season 22)
The Simpsons twenty-second season began airing on Fox on September 26, 2010 and ended on May 22, 2011. The Simpsons was renewed for at least two additional seasons during the twentieth season leading up to this season. The cast is currently signed through the 25th season. On November 11, 2010, the...
of The Simpsons
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...
. It first aired on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on May 8, 2011. Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal is an American actress, writer and comedienne, best known for her role as Mel in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, as Louise in Bob's Burgers and as a contributor on The Daily Show.-Early life:...
guest stars in the episode as Taffy. This major episode sees Milhouse dating Taffy after Lisa rejected his romantic confession. Seeing the two together makes Lisa question her own feelings for him.
This episode was the last episode to be shown in the UK of season 22 during August, 2011. The season continued on October 30th, when "500 Key" first aired.
Plot
After BartBart 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...
accidentally ruin a sleeping Patty's hair, 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...
uses garden shears
Pruning shears
Pruning shears, also called hand pruners , or secateurs are a type of scissors for use with plants. They are strong enough to prune hard branches of trees and shrubs, sometimes up to two centimetres thick...
to cut the remaining hair, miraculously styling it. Selma demands that Homer style her hair, and he becomes Springfield
Springfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...
's most popular hairdresser
Hairdresser
Hairdresser is a term referring to anyone whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques...
. Soon he is styling hair for Helen Lovejoy, Luann Van Houten, Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon and numerous other women in Springfield. However, he discovers that listening to the inane chatter upsets and angers him. He attempts to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by drinking a jar of disinfectant, which fails. Complaining to Moe and the other barflies, Homer realises that he cannot even look at the men in the bar without seeing everything that the women dislike about them. Eventually, after declaring that he can hear the hair
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
growing around town, Homer styles 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...
's hair for a party, and they pretend that Julio (from Three Gays of the Condo
Three Gays of the Condo
"Three Gays of the Condo" is the seventeenth episode in the fourteenth season of The Simpsons and aired April 13, 2003.-Plot:Marge brings an "Oprah's Puzzle Club" jigsaw puzzle to the Simpson Family Wednesdays, for everyone to work on except for Grampa and Maggie, as the box clearly reads for ages...
) did the hairstyle instead. Julio immediately gets surrounded by women demanding that he style them, too.
Meanwhile, Milhouse
Milhouse Van Houten
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....
has had a life-changing experience. He has watched Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo is a 2003 American comi-drama animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin who, along with a regal tang called Dory , searches for his abducted son Nemo...
from the beginning. Previously he and 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...
have only watched the film from "Chapter 2" which takes place after Nemo's mother has died. Deciding that, since death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
can happen to a fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, it can happen to anyone, he decides to live each day as if it were his last. In doing so, he professes his love for 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...
even "writing" her a love song (the tune for which is clearly plagiarised). Lisa rejects his love, but he has managed to inspire a fifth-grader called Taffy (Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal is an American actress, writer and comedienne, best known for her role as Mel in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, as Louise in Bob's Burgers and as a contributor on The Daily Show.-Early life:...
). Taffy and Milhouse begin to date, but Lisa finds herself jealous of their relationship and begins to spy on them both. (She accidentally discovers that Hans Moleman
Hans Moleman
Hans Moleman is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and first appeared in the episode "Principal Charming". He normally appears in a running gag, where he usually suffers unfortunate, nearly fatal, events...
and Lunchlady Doris are trying to patch up their relationship.) Her appearance annoys Taffy who decides that Milhouse will never love her as he is too obsessed with Lisa and she leaves. Distraught, Milhouse asks Lisa just how upset she wants him to be in life, but she kisses him to make him feel better.
Production
The plot of Homer becoming a hairdresser was also an unused side story idea from the Season 4 episode "New Kid on the BlockNew Kid on the Block
"New Kid on the Block" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons fourth season, which originally aired on November 12, 1992. After meeting his new neighbor, Laura, Bart develops a crush on her, only to later discover that she has a boyfriend, Jimbo Jones, whom he attempts to scare off so that he can...
" after the planned B-story of Homer fighting with Don Rickles
Don Rickles
Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
after Rickles insults him during a stand-up show was rejected. Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal is an American actress, writer and comedienne, best known for her role as Mel in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, as Louise in Bob's Burgers and as a contributor on The Daily Show.-Early life:...
guest stars as Taffy, although her surname is spelled incorrectly as "Schall" in the credits. The chalkboard gag from the following episode "500 Keys
500 Keys
"500 Keys" is the twenty-first episode of the twenty-second season of The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 15, 2011. It was written by John Frink and directed by Bob Anderson.-Plot:...
" was written to correct the error.
Reception
In its original American broadcast on May 8, 2011, "Homer Scissorhands" was viewed by an estimated 5.480 million households and received a 2.5 rating/8% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. This means that it was seen by 2.5% of all 18–49 years olds, and 8% of all 18–49 year olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This marked a 7 percent drop in the ratings from the previous episode.Cultural references
- The episode title is a reference to the 1990 film Edward ScissorhandsEdward ScissorhandsEdward Scissorhands is a 1990 romantic fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The film shows the story of an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands. Edward is taken in by a suburban family and falls in love with their teenage daughter...
directed by Tim BurtonTim BurtonTimothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
and starring Johnny DeppJohnny DeppJohn Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
in the title role. During the episode Homer tells Marge to just call him "Homer Fingerhands". - Lady GaGaLady GaGaStefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
is mentioned in the episode.