Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment
Encyclopedia
"Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons
' second season
and the 26th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 7, 1991. In the episode, Homer gets an illegal cable hook-up. Despite the family
's enjoyment of the new channels, Lisa
becomes suspicious that they are stealing cable. Her suspicions are confirmed by Reverend Lovejoy
and she protests by no longer watching television. Meanwhile, Homer invites his friends over to watch a boxing match, but Lisa's protest gets to him. He decides not to watch the fight and cuts the cable.
The episode was written by freelance writer Steve Pepoon
and directed by Rich Moore
. It is based on the Eighth Commandment ("thou shalt not steal"), which is one of the Ten Commandments
. The episode marks the debut of Troy McClure
who was voiced by Phil Hartman
and based on the typical "washed up" Hollywood actor. The character Drederick Tatum, one of the boxers in the boxing match Homer and his friends watch, also makes his first appearance on the show in this episode.
In its original broadcast, "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" received a Nielsen rating
of 15.2, finishing 25th the week it aired. It received favorable reviews from critics and became the second episode of The Simpsons to win the Primetime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
.
reject an offer from a man to get an illegal cable hook-up for $50, Homer
chases after the cable man. He agrees to hook up the Simpsons' television. Homer likes the new channels and spends a lot of time watching the television along with his family. Lisa
, however, feels suspicious about the cable hook-up. Following a Sunday School
lesson regarding the existence and nature of Hell
, Lisa becomes terrified of violations of the 10 Commandments, the adherence to which she is assured will keep one's soul safe from Hell. She fears that because Homer violated the Eighth Commandment
, he will go to Hell when he dies.
Lisa additionally opposes other examples of common thievery all around her. She even convinces Marge
to pay the cost on two grapes she sampled in a grocery store. Lisa pays a visit to Reverend Lovejoy
at church, where he suggests that Lisa cannot turn her father in to the police for the illegal hook-up, since she must continue to "Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother", according to the Fifth Commandment. He instead encourages Lisa to not watch anything on Homer's cable hook-up, setting a good example that he hopes others will follow. Marge pleads with Homer to cut the cable (or at least pay for it) but he refuses, saying that the cable will stay as long as he desires. Meanwhile, Bart
sets up posters on the back door for his showing of an adult channel
for 50 cents, but he is caught a few seconds later by Homer, who then forbids him from doing it.
Homer sees a commercial for "The Bout to Knock the Other Guy Out!", a much-anticipated boxing match in which Drederick Tatum will fight for the World Heavyweight Championship. Homer decides to have a party and invites all of his friends to come over and watch the fight. Lisa tries to boycott
the party, and this results in Homer making her stay outside on the lawn. Homer’s conscience eventually bothers him, more in the form of his daughter's distress than a moral objection to stealing cable. He finally gives in to Lisa's protests, begrudgingly choosing not to watch the last minutes of the fight. Marge and Maggie
join them as well. Bart, on the other hand, does not care, wanting to see the fight, but Homer drags him outside. The family sits the fight out and when everyone has left, Homer hesitantly cuts his cable hook-up despite Bart's objection. Unfortunately, he ends up cutting the power to the whole neighborhood.
and directed by Rich Moore
. It was originally going to be named "Homer vs. the 8th Commandment", but the writers decided to include Lisa in the title because they wanted the cast to feel as if all their characters were equally represented on the show. The episode is based on the Eighth Commandment ("thou shall not steal"), which is one of the Ten Commandments
, a list of religious and moral imperatives that, according to Judaism
and Christianity
tradition, were authored by God
and given to Moses
in the form of two stone tablets. The Simpsons writer Al Jean said that "whenever people come up to me and say that The Simpsons is just sort of this outrageous show that has no moral center, I always point them to this [episode], where Homer gets an illegal cable hook-up (which many people have done in real life) and suffers enormous consequences." The Simpsons writer Mike Reiss
feels that episodes such as "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" are his favorite episodes to write because they have a "solid theme or an issue" (in this case, religion
and theft), that one can "discuss endlessly and just have it present itself in so many different ways." Producer Jeff Martin
said that the writers tried to use a "very strict construction of the Eighth Commandment," considering cable theft to be "essentially a victimless crime." "Homer vs. the 8th Commandment" was produced at a time when illegal cable hookups were becoming commonplace in many homes. This episode later inspired the season four episode "Homer the Heretic
", in which Homer stops going to church on Sundays. Based on the Fourth Commandment, "remember the Sabbath
and keep it holy", that episode originated when Jean commented to Reiss, "We had a lot of luck with Homer stealing cable, so maybe we could look to other commandments?"
The episode marks the debut appearance of the character Troy McClure
, voiced by Phil Hartman
. McClure was based on the typical "washed up" Hollywood actor, and B movie
actors Troy Donahue
and Doug McClure
served as inspiration for his name and certain character aspects. According to show creator Matt Groening
, Hartman was cast in the role due to his ability to pull "the maximum amount of humor" out of any line he was given. McClure's visual appearance is similar to that of Hartman himself. McClure became a recurring character on the show after "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment", but was retired in 1998 after Hartman's death. In addition to McClure, Hartman also provided the voice of the cable guy. The character Drederick Tatum, one of the boxers in the boxing game Homer and his friends watch, also makes his first appearance on the show in this episode. His physical appearance was based on the American boxer Mike Tyson
, and he was named after a real boxer Simpsons writer George Meyer
had seen.
.jpg)
The scene in which Homer stands in front of and is struck by the cable man's truck resembles a scene in Alfred Hitchcock
's film North by Northwest
. Drederick Tatum is based on Mike Tyson
, his manager strongly resembles Don King, and his opponent looks like Marvin Hagler. In a joke about Mr. Burns' age, Burns recalls watching a bare-knuckle match between Gentleman Jim Corbett
and "an Eskimo
fellow." The films that are watched by the family on the new cable are Jaws
, Die Hard
, and Wall Street. One of the X-rated
films Bart and his friends watch on cable is called Broadcast Nudes. The title parodies Broadcast News
, which was written by Simpsons executive producer James L. Brooks
.
of 15.2, and was viewed in approximately 14 million homes. It did better than the show's season average rank of 32nd, and was the highest rated program on Fox that week. The episode finished second in its timeslot to The Cosby Show
, which aired at the same time on NBC
and had a Nielsen rating of 16.8.
In The Gospel According to The Simpsons, Mark I. Pinsky writes that the episode has "the structure of an exquisitely crafted twenty-two minute sermon." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson felt that "[The episode] helped establish the show’s reputation as a master lampooner of pop culture. The introduction of cable into the home allowed [the writers] to mock many different movies and other media outlets, and this helped make the episode very entertaining. It also worked in many other ways and offered a fine show." Writing for MacLean's
magazine, Jaime J. Weinman described "Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment" as "the first truly great episode — the one that established The Simpsons as the funniest and most multi-layered sitcom around. The story of Homer stealing cable was an excuse for dozens of parodies of early 90s cable TV, but it was also a story about Homer and his daughter and an examination of how we rationalize little acts of theft in our daily lives."
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called the episode a "skilful demonstration of a moral dilemma that must have plagued millions since the inception of cable TV." Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and Rolling Stone
contributor, wrote that "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" is "one of the many demonstrations that while [The Simpsons] may have pushed the censorship envelope for its day, it remained moral to its core. The running satire of cable programs is also quite amusing."
The episode won the Primetime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
. It was the second episode of the show the win the award. It was also nominated in the "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special" category.
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 2)
The Simpsons second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt...
and the 26th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 7, 1991. In the episode, Homer gets an illegal cable hook-up. Despite the family
Simpson 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...
's enjoyment of the new channels, 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...
becomes suspicious that they are stealing cable. Her suspicions are confirmed by Reverend Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Lovejoy is the minister at The First Church of Springfield—the Protestant church in Springfield which most of...
and she protests by no longer watching television. Meanwhile, Homer invites his friends over to watch a boxing match, but Lisa's protest gets to him. He decides not to watch the fight and cuts the cable.
The episode was written by freelance writer Steve Pepoon
Steve Pepoon
Steve Pepoon is a television writer who has written for The Simpsons , ALF, and Get a Life...
and directed by Rich Moore
Rich Moore
Rich Moore is an American animation director and a business partner in Rough Draft Studios, Inc., where he serves as Sr. Vice President of creative affairs. He is one of a handful of artists who in the early 90s redefined prime time television animation with his work on The Simpsons...
. It is based on the Eighth Commandment ("thou shalt not steal"), which is one of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
. The episode marks the debut of Troy McClure
Troy McClure
Troy McClure is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He was voiced by Phil Hartman and first appears in the second season episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment". McClure is a washed-up actor, usually shown doing low-level work, such as hosting infomercials...
who was voiced by Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
and based on the typical "washed up" Hollywood actor. The character Drederick Tatum, one of the boxers in the boxing match Homer and his friends watch, also makes his first appearance on the show in this episode.
In its original broadcast, "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" received 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 15.2, finishing 25th the week it aired. It received favorable reviews from critics and became the second episode of The Simpsons to win the Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series which is judged to have been the best...
.
Plot
After seeing Ned FlandersNed Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...
reject an offer from a man to get an illegal cable hook-up for $50, 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...
chases after the cable man. He agrees to hook up the Simpsons' television. Homer likes the new channels and spends a lot of time watching the television along with his family. 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...
, however, feels suspicious about the cable hook-up. Following a Sunday School
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
lesson regarding the existence and nature of Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, Lisa becomes terrified of violations of the 10 Commandments, the adherence to which she is assured will keep one's soul safe from Hell. She fears that because Homer violated the Eighth Commandment
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
, he will go to Hell when he dies.
Lisa additionally opposes other examples of common thievery all around her. She even convinces 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...
to pay the cost on two grapes she sampled in a grocery store. Lisa pays a visit to Reverend Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Lovejoy is the minister at The First Church of Springfield—the Protestant church in Springfield which most of...
at church, where he suggests that Lisa cannot turn her father in to the police for the illegal hook-up, since she must continue to "Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother", according to the Fifth Commandment. He instead encourages Lisa to not watch anything on Homer's cable hook-up, setting a good example that he hopes others will follow. Marge pleads with Homer to cut the cable (or at least pay for it) but he refuses, saying that the cable will stay as long as he desires. Meanwhile, 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...
sets up posters on the back door for his showing of an adult channel
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
for 50 cents, but he is caught a few seconds later by Homer, who then forbids him from doing it.
Homer sees a commercial for "The Bout to Knock the Other Guy Out!", a much-anticipated boxing match in which Drederick Tatum will fight for the World Heavyweight Championship. Homer decides to have a party and invites all of his friends to come over and watch the fight. Lisa tries to boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
the party, and this results in Homer making her stay outside on the lawn. Homer’s conscience eventually bothers him, more in the form of his daughter's distress than a moral objection to stealing cable. He finally gives in to Lisa's protests, begrudgingly choosing not to watch the last minutes of the fight. Marge and Maggie
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
join them as well. Bart, on the other hand, does not care, wanting to see the fight, but Homer drags him outside. The family sits the fight out and when everyone has left, Homer hesitantly cuts his cable hook-up despite Bart's objection. Unfortunately, he ends up cutting the power to the whole neighborhood.
Production
The episode was written by freelance writer Steve PepoonSteve Pepoon
Steve Pepoon is a television writer who has written for The Simpsons , ALF, and Get a Life...
and directed by Rich Moore
Rich Moore
Rich Moore is an American animation director and a business partner in Rough Draft Studios, Inc., where he serves as Sr. Vice President of creative affairs. He is one of a handful of artists who in the early 90s redefined prime time television animation with his work on The Simpsons...
. It was originally going to be named "Homer vs. the 8th Commandment", but the writers decided to include Lisa in the title because they wanted the cast to feel as if all their characters were equally represented on the show. The episode is based on the Eighth Commandment ("thou shall not steal"), which is one of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
, a list of religious and moral imperatives that, according to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
tradition, were authored by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and given to Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
in the form of two stone tablets. The Simpsons writer Al Jean said that "whenever people come up to me and say that The Simpsons is just sort of this outrageous show that has no moral center, I always point them to this [episode], where Homer gets an illegal cable hook-up (which many people have done in real life) and suffers enormous consequences." The Simpsons writer 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...
feels that episodes such as "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" are his favorite episodes to write because they have a "solid theme or an issue" (in this case, religion
Religion in The Simpsons
Religion is one of the major themes on the American animated television series The Simpsons. Much of the series religious humor satirizes aspects of Christianity. However, the series is not necessarily anti-religious, as the Simpsons themselves are Christian and some episodes are actually...
and theft), that one can "discuss endlessly and just have it present itself in so many different ways." Producer Jeff Martin
Jeff Martin (writer)
Jeff Martin is an American television producer and writer. He was a writer for The Simpsons during the first four seasons. He attended Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, as have many other Simpsons writers...
said that the writers tried to use a "very strict construction of the Eighth Commandment," considering cable theft to be "essentially a victimless crime." "Homer vs. the 8th Commandment" was produced at a time when illegal cable hookups were becoming commonplace in many homes. This episode later inspired the season four episode "Homer the Heretic
Homer the Heretic
"Homer the Heretic" is the third episode of The Simpsons fourth season, which originally aired on FOX in the United States on October 8, 1992. In the episode, Homer decides to forgo going to church and has an excellent time staying home. His behavior quickly attracts the wrath of God, who visits...
", in which Homer stops going to church on Sundays. Based on the Fourth Commandment, "remember the Sabbath
Biblical Sabbath
Sabbath in the Bible is usually a weekly day of rest and time of worship. The Sabbath is first mentioned in the Genesis creation narrative. The seventh day is there set aside as a day of rest—the Sabbath. It is observed differently in Judaism and Christianity and informs a similar occasion in...
and keep it holy", that episode originated when Jean commented to Reiss, "We had a lot of luck with Homer stealing cable, so maybe we could look to other commandments?"
The episode marks the debut appearance of the character Troy McClure
Troy McClure
Troy McClure is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He was voiced by Phil Hartman and first appears in the second season episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment". McClure is a washed-up actor, usually shown doing low-level work, such as hosting infomercials...
, voiced by Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
. McClure was based on the typical "washed up" Hollywood actor, and B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
actors Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue was an American actor, who was active between the late 1950s and late 1990s.-Life and career:...
and Doug McClure
Doug McClure
Douglas Osborne "Doug" McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s...
served as inspiration for his name and certain character aspects. According to show 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....
, Hartman was cast in the role due to his ability to pull "the maximum amount of humor" out of any line he was given. McClure's visual appearance is similar to that of Hartman himself. McClure became a recurring character on the show after "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment", but was retired in 1998 after Hartman's death. In addition to McClure, Hartman also provided the voice of the cable guy. The character Drederick Tatum, one of the boxers in the boxing game Homer and his friends watch, also makes his first appearance on the show in this episode. His physical appearance was based on the American boxer Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
, and he was named after a real boxer Simpsons writer George Meyer
George Meyer
George A. Meyer is an American producer and writer. Raised in Tucson, Arizona in a Roman Catholic family, Meyer attended Harvard University. There, after becoming president of the Harvard Lampoon, he graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry. Abandoning plans to attend medical school, Meyer...
had seen.
Cultural references
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's film North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
. Drederick Tatum is based on Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...
, his manager strongly resembles Don King, and his opponent looks like Marvin Hagler. In a joke about Mr. Burns' age, Burns recalls watching a bare-knuckle match between Gentleman Jim Corbett
James J. Corbett
James John "Gentleman Jim" Corbett was an Irish-American heavyweight boxing champion, best known as the man who defeated the great John L. Sullivan. He also coached boxing at the Olympic Club in San Francisco...
and "an Eskimo
Eskimo
Eskimos or Inuit–Yupik peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia , across Alaska , Canada, and Greenland....
fellow." The films that are watched by the family on the new cable are Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
, Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...
, and Wall Street. One of the X-rated
X-rated
In some countries, X is or has been a motion picture rating reserved for the most explicit films. Films rated X are intended only for viewing by adults, usually legally defined as people over the age of 17.-United Kingdom:...
films Bart and his friends watch on cable is called Broadcast Nudes. The title parodies Broadcast News
Broadcast News (film)
Broadcast News is a 1987 romantic comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by James L. Brooks. The film concerns a virtuoso television news producer , who has daily emotional breakdowns, a brilliant yet prickly reporter and his charismatic but far less seasoned rival...
, which was written by 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...
.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" finished 25th in ratings for the week of February 4–10, 1991 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 15.2, and was viewed in approximately 14 million homes. It did better than the show's season average rank of 32nd, and was the highest rated program on Fox that week. The episode finished second in its timeslot to The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
, which aired at the same time on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and had a Nielsen rating of 16.8.
In The Gospel According to The Simpsons, Mark I. Pinsky writes that the episode has "the structure of an exquisitely crafted twenty-two minute sermon." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson felt that "[The episode] helped establish the show’s reputation as a master lampooner of pop culture. The introduction of cable into the home allowed [the writers] to mock many different movies and other media outlets, and this helped make the episode very entertaining. It also worked in many other ways and offered a fine show." Writing for MacLean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
magazine, Jaime J. Weinman described "Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment" as "the first truly great episode — the one that established The Simpsons as the funniest and most multi-layered sitcom around. The story of Homer stealing cable was an excuse for dozens of parodies of early 90s cable TV, but it was also a story about Homer and his daughter and an examination of how we rationalize little acts of theft in our daily lives."
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called the episode a "skilful demonstration of a moral dilemma that must have plagued millions since the inception of cable TV." Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and 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...
contributor, wrote that "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" is "one of the many demonstrations that while [The Simpsons] may have pushed the censorship envelope for its day, it remained moral to its core. The running satire of cable programs is also quite amusing."
The episode won the Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series which is judged to have been the best...
. It was the second episode of the show the win the award. It was also nominated in the "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special" category.
External links
- "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" at The Simpsons.com