Homer the Whopper
Encyclopedia
"Homer the Whopper" is the season premiere of The Simpsons
' twenty-first season
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 27, 2009. In the episode, Comic Book Guy
creates a new superhero called Everyman who takes powers from other superheroes. Homer
is cast as the lead in the film adaptation. To get Homer into shape, the movie studio hires a celebrity fitness trainer, Lyle McCarthy, to help him. Homer gets into great shape and is really excited, but when McCarthy leaves to train another client, he starts over-eating again and ultimately this leads to the film's failure.
The episode was written by Seth Rogen
and Evan Goldberg
, who are "obsessed" fans of the show, and directed by Lance Kramer
. "Homer the Whopper" was intended to be a commentary on how Hollywood treats superhero film
s. Rogen also guest stars in the episode as the character Lyle McCarthy, making him the second guest star to both write an episode and appear in it; Ricky Gervais
was the first. "Homer the Whopper" has received mixed reviews from television critics and acquired a Nielsen rating
of 4.3 in its original broadcast.
and Milhouse
convince Comic Book Guy
to publish a comic book he wrote titled Everyman, in which the title character can absorb superpowers from the characters of comic books he touches. The comic becomes an instant hit, and many Hollywood studios become interested in making it into a movie. Comic Book Guy agrees to let Everyman become a movie, but only if he can pick the star. When Comic Book Guy sees Homer
, he considers Homer perfect for the role, as he wants Everyman to be played by a middle-aged fat man. But the studio executives realize that audiences want a physically fit actor for the role, so they hire celebrity fitness trainer Lyle McCarthy to get Homer into shape. After a month, Homer becomes fit and the movie begins production.
Soon afterward, however, McCarthy leaves Homer for another client. Without McCarthy to keep him in shape, Homer starts eating again and gains all the weight back. Homer can no longer fit into his costume or even his trailer, and the movie begins to go over budget. The studio executives and Comic Book Guy worry that the film will not be successful. The final version of the movie features scenes with the fat Homer and the physically fit Homer merged together, upsetting and confusing the audience. After the premiere of the film, McCarthy returns and offers to get Homer into shape again, which Homer accepts. The studio executives offer to let Comic Book Guy direct the sequel, on the condition that Comic Book Guy lie to the fans and say he liked the film. Though pleased by the offer, Comic Book Guy rejects it and openly criticizes the movie online, and thus it becomes a box office failure
and Everyman is never adapted again.
Seth Rogen
and Evan Goldberg
, writers of the film Superbad, are "obsessed" fans of The Simpsons. After learning that The Simpsons executive producer James L. Brooks
was a fan of Superbad, they decided to ask the producers of the show if they could write an episode. In 2006, Ricky Gervais
, co-creator of The Office
, received credit for writing the season 17
episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife
". Rogen and Goldberg "thought if [Gervais] got to write one, maybe [they] could try." They were invited to The Simpsons writers room, where they pitched several episode ideas. One was accepted, and they wrote an outline with the help of some feedback from the regular writers.
Rogen commented that he and Goldberg wanted to show with the episode how Hollywood generally ruins superhero film
s. He said that "the whole joke is that Homer is cast to play a guy who's an everyman and they try to make him into this physically fit guy." Rogen also noted that the plot mirrors the situation he was in while working on the film The Green Hornet
, when he had to lose weight and do physical training for his role. Show runner
Al Jean
commented that the writers tried not to repeat the comic book film theme from the "Radioactive Man
" episode. Instead they decided to parody the fact that almost every comic book has been turned into a film. Jean commented that that scene in the episode in which the studio executives "are trying to think up an idea that hasn't been done really is what they are doing these days [in real life]."
The table read
took place in August 2008, and production on the episode began soon after that. Rogen later said that "we sat down for a read-through and three hours later I'm in a studio improv-ing
with Homer Simpson, it was the single greatest day of my life." Rogen also guest stars in the episode as the character Lyle McCarthy, making him the second guest star to both write an episode and appear in it; Gervais also appeared in the episode he wrote. The Simpsons creator Matt Groening
also makes an appearance in the episode.
/12% share. The rating was down seven percent from the previous season's premiere
, which was viewed in 9.3 million homes the night it aired.
Since airing, "Homer the Whopper" has received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. Steve Fritz of Newsarama
called the episode "amazing" and commented that the "overall comic book theme was perfect." Reviewers for TV Guide
cited Matt Groening's cameo, the dinner table scene, Homer trying to lose weight at the Kwik-E-Mart, and the opening scene where Bart questions Comic Book Guy about Spider-Man
as the highlights of the episode.
Robert Canning of IGN
was positive about "Homer the Whopper", giving it a 8.6/10 rating. He commented that the first act of the episode was the strongest, while the others were weaker. Canning believed the reason for this was that the viewers have already seen Homer "struggle with his weight countless times, and Rogen's trainer, though funny much of the time, will likely never be remembered as a classic guest role." He added, however, that Rogen and Goldberg are able to find "a few new angles with the weight jokes, so it's not a complete loss." Overall, Canning thought "Homer the Whopper" was a good start to the twenty-first season, and although the plot may not be very original, the writers added "freshness to the proceedings." The A.V. Club
s Todd VanDerWerff did not think the script was as good as Gervais', but commented that Rogen and Goldberg "managed to make a mostly amusing season premiere." He added that he thought the Hollywood satirizing featured in this episode had been overused on the show, but "the specificity of what the [episode] was making fun of—trainers who help stars slim down (in this case, helping Homer slim down)—went a long way toward making the episode palatable." VanDerWerff concluded that while the episode "didn’t try anything new [...], [he] had fun with it all the same."
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 21)
The Simpsons twenty-first season aired on Fox from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010. It was the first of two seasons that the show was renewed for by Fox, and also the first season of the show to air entirely in high definition....
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 27, 2009. In the episode, Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
creates a new superhero called Everyman who takes powers from other superheroes. 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...
is cast as the lead in the film adaptation. To get Homer into shape, the movie studio hires a celebrity fitness trainer, Lyle McCarthy, to help him. Homer gets into great shape and is really excited, but when McCarthy leaves to train another client, he starts over-eating again and ultimately this leads to the film's failure.
The episode was written by Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
and Evan Goldberg
Evan Goldberg
Evan Goldberg is a Canadian film screenwriter and producer. Goldberg attended Point Grey Secondary School and McGill University before joining the staff of Da Ali G Show along with his childhood friend and comedy partner Seth Rogen. Rogen and Goldberg collaborated the films Knocked Up, Superbad,...
, who are "obsessed" fans of the show, and directed by Lance Kramer
Lance Kramer
Lance Kramer is an animation director on The Simpsons. He also worked as an assistant animator on Tom and Jerry: The Movie.-History:Kramer graduated from Bismarck High School in Bismarck, ND...
. "Homer the Whopper" was intended to be a commentary on how Hollywood treats superhero film
Superhero film
A superhero film, superhero movie, or superhero motion picture is: action, fantasy and science fiction film; that is focused on the actions of one or more superheroes, individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities relative to a normal person and are dedicated to protecting the public...
s. Rogen also guest stars in the episode as the character Lyle McCarthy, making him the second guest star to both write an episode and appear in it; Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
was the first. "Homer the Whopper" has received mixed reviews from television critics and acquired 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 4.3 in its original broadcast.
Plot
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 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....
convince Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
to publish a comic book he wrote titled Everyman, in which the title character can absorb superpowers from the characters of comic books he touches. The comic becomes an instant hit, and many Hollywood studios become interested in making it into a movie. Comic Book Guy agrees to let Everyman become a movie, but only if he can pick the star. When Comic Book Guy sees 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...
, he considers Homer perfect for the role, as he wants Everyman to be played by a middle-aged fat man. But the studio executives realize that audiences want a physically fit actor for the role, so they hire celebrity fitness trainer Lyle McCarthy to get Homer into shape. After a month, Homer becomes fit and the movie begins production.
Soon afterward, however, McCarthy leaves Homer for another client. Without McCarthy to keep him in shape, Homer starts eating again and gains all the weight back. Homer can no longer fit into his costume or even his trailer, and the movie begins to go over budget. The studio executives and Comic Book Guy worry that the film will not be successful. The final version of the movie features scenes with the fat Homer and the physically fit Homer merged together, upsetting and confusing the audience. After the premiere of the film, McCarthy returns and offers to get Homer into shape again, which Homer accepts. The studio executives offer to let Comic Book Guy direct the sequel, on the condition that Comic Book Guy lie to the fans and say he liked the film. Though pleased by the offer, Comic Book Guy rejects it and openly criticizes the movie online, and thus it becomes a box office failure
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
and Everyman is never adapted again.
Production
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
and Evan Goldberg
Evan Goldberg
Evan Goldberg is a Canadian film screenwriter and producer. Goldberg attended Point Grey Secondary School and McGill University before joining the staff of Da Ali G Show along with his childhood friend and comedy partner Seth Rogen. Rogen and Goldberg collaborated the films Knocked Up, Superbad,...
, writers of the film Superbad, are "obsessed" fans of The Simpsons. After learning that The Simpsons executive producer James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
was a fan of Superbad, they decided to ask the producers of the show if they could write an episode. In 2006, Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
, co-creator of The Office
The Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...
, received credit for writing the season 17
The Simpsons (season 17)
The Simpsons' seventeenth season originally aired between September 2005 and May 2006, beginning on Sunday, September 11, 2005. It broke Fox's tradition of pushing its shows' season premieres back to November to accommodate the Major League Baseball games airing on the network during September...
episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife
Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife
"Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife" is the fifteenth episode of the seventeenth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 26, 2006, and was watched by around ten million viewers during that broadcast. In the episode, Homer signs the Simpson family...
". Rogen and Goldberg "thought if [Gervais] got to write one, maybe [they] could try." They were invited to The Simpsons writers room, where they pitched several episode ideas. One was accepted, and they wrote an outline with the help of some feedback from the regular writers.
Rogen commented that he and Goldberg wanted to show with the episode how Hollywood generally ruins superhero film
Superhero film
A superhero film, superhero movie, or superhero motion picture is: action, fantasy and science fiction film; that is focused on the actions of one or more superheroes, individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities relative to a normal person and are dedicated to protecting the public...
s. He said that "the whole joke is that Homer is cast to play a guy who's an everyman and they try to make him into this physically fit guy." Rogen also noted that the plot mirrors the situation he was in while working on the film The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet (2011 film)
The Green Hornet is a 2011 American superhero action-comedy film based on the character of the same name that had originated in a 1930s radio program and has appeared in movie serials, a television series, comic books, and other media...
, when he had to lose weight and do physical training for his role. 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...
Al Jean
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...
commented that the writers tried not to repeat the comic book film theme from the "Radioactive Man
Radioactive Man (The Simpsons episode)
"Radioactive Man" is the second episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 24, 1995. The episode sees the film version of the comic book series Radioactive Man set up production in Springfield. Much to Bart's disappointment, the...
" episode. Instead they decided to parody the fact that almost every comic book has been turned into a film. Jean commented that that scene in the episode in which the studio executives "are trying to think up an idea that hasn't been done really is what they are doing these days [in real life]."
The table read
Read-through
The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted....
took place in August 2008, and production on the episode began soon after that. Rogen later said that "we sat down for a read-through and three hours later I'm in a studio improv-ing
Improvisational theatre
Improvisational theatre takes many forms. It is best known as improv or impro, which is often comedic, and sometimes poignant or dramatic. In this popular, often topical art form improvisational actors/improvisers use improvisational acting techniques to perform spontaneously...
with Homer Simpson, it was the single greatest day of my life." Rogen also guest stars in the episode as the character Lyle McCarthy, making him the second guest star to both write an episode and appear in it; Gervais also appeared in the episode he wrote. 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....
also makes an appearance in the episode.
Reception
In its original American broadcast in the United States on September 27, 2009, "Homer the Whopper" was watched in 8.31 million homes and acquired a 4.3 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...
/12% share. The rating was down seven percent from the previous season's premiere
Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes
"Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes" is the season premiere of The Simpsons’ twentieth season, and first aired September 28, 2008. After getting charged for being involved in a fight, Homer meets bail bondsman Lucky Jim and Wolf the Bounty Hunter, who convince Homer to become a bounty hunter. In a...
, which was viewed in 9.3 million homes the night it aired.
Since airing, "Homer the Whopper" has received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. Steve Fritz of Newsarama
Newsarama
Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
called the episode "amazing" and commented that the "overall comic book theme was perfect." Reviewers for TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
cited Matt Groening's cameo, the dinner table scene, Homer trying to lose weight at the Kwik-E-Mart, and the opening scene where Bart questions Comic Book Guy about Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
as the highlights of the episode.
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...
was positive about "Homer the Whopper", giving it a 8.6/10 rating. He commented that the first act of the episode was the strongest, while the others were weaker. Canning believed the reason for this was that the viewers have already seen Homer "struggle with his weight countless times, and Rogen's trainer, though funny much of the time, will likely never be remembered as a classic guest role." He added, however, that Rogen and Goldberg are able to find "a few new angles with the weight jokes, so it's not a complete loss." Overall, Canning thought "Homer the Whopper" was a good start to the twenty-first season, and although the plot may not be very original, the writers added "freshness to the proceedings." 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...
s Todd VanDerWerff did not think the script was as good as Gervais', but commented that Rogen and Goldberg "managed to make a mostly amusing season premiere." He added that he thought the Hollywood satirizing featured in this episode had been overused on the show, but "the specificity of what the [episode] was making fun of—trainers who help stars slim down (in this case, helping Homer slim down)—went a long way toward making the episode palatable." VanDerWerff concluded that while the episode "didn’t try anything new [...], [he] had fun with it all the same."