The Homer They Fall
Encyclopedia
"The Homer They Fall" is the third episode of The Simpsons
' eighth season
and originally aired November 10, 1996. After Homer Simpson
realizes he has a bizarre medical condition that renders him unable to be knocked out, he decides to embark on a career as a boxer
with Moe Szyslak
as his manager. It was written by Jonathan Collier
and directed by Mark Kirkland
. The episode guest stars Michael Buffer
as himself and Paul Winfield
as Lucius Sweet. The title is a parody of the phrase "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
The Simpson family visits a high-tech gadget store and Bart buys a gimmicky utility belt from Comic Book Guy
, which he cannot return due to no proof of purchase for $4. He shows off its features to his classmates until he is beaten up by Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney, who steal the belt. In response, Homer decides to talk with the bullies' fathers at Moe's Tavern, but he is also beaten; however, they are unnerved when they cannot even knock Homer down and are then chased away by a shotgun-wielding Moe.
Moe is impressed by Homer's ability to absorb punishment and suggests he take up boxing, with Moe – a failed boxer himself – as his trainer and manager. Marge
is appalled by the idea, but a medical test diagnoses Homer with a rare genetic abnormality effectively rendering him near-invulnerable to knockout punches. However, while training, it is discovered that Homer is a weak puncher, and is so out of shape that throwing one punch completely exhausts him. Moe strategizes that Homer should stand still in the ring and let his opponents exhaust themselves trying to knock him out and then knock them down with a tap.
Homer does well in his first fights, mostly facing underfed hobo
opponents who cannot force Homer to fall. At every match, he follows Moe's advice and starts to gain widespread attention. Moe's former boxing manager, Lucius Sweet visits Moe and announces that the current Heavyweight Champion, Drederick Tatum is being released from prison and is ready for a comeback fight, and Sweet wants Tatum to fight Homer. Moe, despite knowing full well that Tatum is far too good for a fighter of Homer's ability, still wants to take his last shot at the big time and promises Sweet that Homer will last three rounds with Tatum.
Tatum is paroled and the media begins hyping the fight. The odds against Homer are 1000–1 and everybody believes that Homer will lose. Even Homer himself visualizes that the only way he could win is if a heart defect fells Tatum before entering the ring. Marge makes Moe promise her that the moment Homer is in any danger, he will throw in the towel. But after Marge leaves, Moe throws away the towel in a garbage can.
The fight starts and it is soon obvious that Homer cannot withstand Tatum's fearsome barrage and is in danger of being knocked out within six seconds. Homer decides to fight back, but misses completely. Moe, seeing Homer get destroyed, flees. As Tatum readies himself to deliver the final blow, Moe flies in using the Fan Man's paramotor
and carries Homer away, saving him. Outside the arena, Homer thanks Moe for saving him and Tatum shows respect for the love Moe showed for Homer. Sweet declares that Moe will always be a loser but still gives him a check for a hundred thousand dollars. Moe starts up the paramotor and flies off into the night. During the credits he is seen helping people around the world with the paramotor.
The episode was written by Jonathan Collier
, who is a huge boxing fan. Knowing that the people on the internet would "give them grief", the writers went to a lot of effort to explain how Homer would be able to challenge for the Heavyweight Title. A lot of the stuff involving Homer fighting hobos was pitched by John Swartzwelder
. Lucius Sweet is a parody of Don King, voiced by Paul Winfield
who had previously played King in HBO's 1995 biopic Tyson. In the script, Sweet was described as "A Don King type who looks and sounds exactly like Don King." The similarity is even pointed out by Homer with the line "He is exactly as rich and as famous as Don King - and he looks just like him, too!" King was asked to guest star, but turned the part down. Drederick Tatum is a parody of Mike Tyson
. The name came from George Meyer
, who went to high school with a boy named Drederick Timmins, which Meyer thought was a cool name. Tatum's having done time in prison is a reference to the fact that, at the time of the episode's production, Tyson had just recently been released from prison after serving three years for rape
. Homer is named "The Southern Dandy" as a reference to the old-time boxers and wrestlers who had similar nicknames.
In preparation for this episode, Mark Kirkland
watched several boxing films and is satisfied with how it turned out. Whenever designing rooms, Kirkland tries to show a bare lightbulb because he feels that it makes things more depressing. In the scene in Moe's office, there is a brief shot of a poster advertising "Szyslak Vs. Oakley" and "Kirkland Vs. Silverman," referring to then-Executive Producer Bill Oakley
and Simpsons directors Mark Kirkland
and David Silverman
. The scene where Tatum is walking to the ring surrounded by shady characters, one of whom appears to be cross-eyed, is based on a real life photo of Tyson.
Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney's fathers make their first and only appearances in the history of the show.
. The montage of Homer fighting various hobos was based on a similar montage in Raging Bull. The music is "The Flower Duet
" from the opera "Lakmé
" by Léo Delibes
. During the montage, there is a brief parody of the George Bellows
painting "Dempsey and Firpo". The "Fan Man" is based on James Miller
, a fan famous for parachuting into arenas during big events. Homer's theme song is "Why Can't We Be Friends?
" by War
and Tatum's is "Time 4 Sum Aksion
" by Redman. The song heard over the end credits is a rendition of Barbra Streisand
's "People," sung by Sally Stevens.
of 10.0, equivalent to approximately 9.7 million viewing households. It was the second highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-Files
.
In response to "Barting Over
", which is about skateboarding, Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star
listed what he thought were "excellent" Simpsons episodes and scenes also related to sports. He included "The Homer They Fall," writing that Drederick Tatum is "a thinly veiled Mike Tyson parody who's made cameos over the years." Similarly, in 2004 ESPN.com released a list of the Top 100 Simpsons sport moments, ranking the entire episode at #2, saying "Greatest sports introduction ever: In the Tatum fight, Homer is introduced as the Brick Hithouse (and is also known as the Southern Dandy), and his walk-to-the-ring music is 'Why Can't We Be Friends?'" Drederick Tatum was placed at the eighteenth spot on the list. Conversely, 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 it "the dullest, one-joke episode of the entire series."
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 8)
The Simpsons eighth season originally aired between October 27, 1996 and May 18, 1997, beginning with "Treehouse of Horror VII". The show runners for the eighth production season were Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. The aired season contained two episodes which were hold-over episodes from season...
and originally aired November 10, 1996. After Homer Simpson
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...
realizes he has a bizarre medical condition that renders him unable to be knocked out, he decides to embark on a career as a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
with Moe Szyslak
Moe Szyslak
Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"...
as his manager. It was written by Jonathan Collier
Jonathan Collier
Jonathan Collier is an American television writer, best known for his work on The Simpsons, Monk, and King of the Hill. He worked as an executive producer on Mike Reiss' DVD movie, "Queer Duck: The Movie". He attended and graduated from Harvard University.-Season Seven:*"Lisa the Iconoclast"*"22...
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:...
. The episode guest stars Michael Buffer
Michael Buffer
Michael Buffer is an American professional ring announcer for boxing and professional wrestling matches. He is known for his trademarked catchphrase, "Let's get ready to rumble!" He is known for pioneering a distinct announcing style in which he rolls certain letters and adds other inflections to...
as himself and Paul Winfield
Paul Winfield
Paul Edward Winfield was an American television, film, and stage actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark film Sounder which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Winfield also portrayed Dr....
as Lucius Sweet. The title is a parody of the phrase "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
Plot
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...
, which he cannot return due to no proof of purchase for $4. He shows off its features to his classmates until he is beaten up by Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney, who steal the belt. In response, Homer decides to talk with the bullies' fathers at Moe's Tavern, but he is also beaten; however, they are unnerved when they cannot even knock Homer down and are then chased away by a shotgun-wielding Moe.
Moe is impressed by Homer's ability to absorb punishment and suggests he take up boxing, with Moe – a failed boxer himself – as his trainer and manager. 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...
is appalled by the idea, but a medical test diagnoses Homer with a rare genetic abnormality effectively rendering him near-invulnerable to knockout punches. However, while training, it is discovered that Homer is a weak puncher, and is so out of shape that throwing one punch completely exhausts him. Moe strategizes that Homer should stand still in the ring and let his opponents exhaust themselves trying to knock him out and then knock them down with a tap.
Homer does well in his first fights, mostly facing underfed hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
opponents who cannot force Homer to fall. At every match, he follows Moe's advice and starts to gain widespread attention. Moe's former boxing manager, Lucius Sweet visits Moe and announces that the current Heavyweight Champion, Drederick Tatum is being released from prison and is ready for a comeback fight, and Sweet wants Tatum to fight Homer. Moe, despite knowing full well that Tatum is far too good for a fighter of Homer's ability, still wants to take his last shot at the big time and promises Sweet that Homer will last three rounds with Tatum.
Tatum is paroled and the media begins hyping the fight. The odds against Homer are 1000–1 and everybody believes that Homer will lose. Even Homer himself visualizes that the only way he could win is if a heart defect fells Tatum before entering the ring. Marge makes Moe promise her that the moment Homer is in any danger, he will throw in the towel. But after Marge leaves, Moe throws away the towel in a garbage can.
The fight starts and it is soon obvious that Homer cannot withstand Tatum's fearsome barrage and is in danger of being knocked out within six seconds. Homer decides to fight back, but misses completely. Moe, seeing Homer get destroyed, flees. As Tatum readies himself to deliver the final blow, Moe flies in using the Fan Man's paramotor
Paramotor
Paramotor is a generic name for the propulsive portion of a powered paraglider . It consists of a frame that combines the motor, propeller, harness and cage...
and carries Homer away, saving him. Outside the arena, Homer thanks Moe for saving him and Tatum shows respect for the love Moe showed for Homer. Sweet declares that Moe will always be a loser but still gives him a check for a hundred thousand dollars. Moe starts up the paramotor and flies off into the night. During the credits he is seen helping people around the world with the paramotor.
Production
Jonathan Collier
Jonathan Collier is an American television writer, best known for his work on The Simpsons, Monk, and King of the Hill. He worked as an executive producer on Mike Reiss' DVD movie, "Queer Duck: The Movie". He attended and graduated from Harvard University.-Season Seven:*"Lisa the Iconoclast"*"22...
, who is a huge boxing fan. Knowing that the people on the internet would "give them grief", the writers went to a lot of effort to explain how Homer would be able to challenge for the Heavyweight Title. A lot of the stuff involving Homer fighting hobos was pitched by John Swartzwelder
John Swartzwelder
John Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as a number of novels. He is credited with writing the largest number of Simpsons episodes by a large margin...
. Lucius Sweet is a parody of Don King, voiced by Paul Winfield
Paul Winfield
Paul Edward Winfield was an American television, film, and stage actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark film Sounder which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Winfield also portrayed Dr....
who had previously played King in HBO's 1995 biopic Tyson. In the script, Sweet was described as "A Don King type who looks and sounds exactly like Don King." The similarity is even pointed out by Homer with the line "He is exactly as rich and as famous as Don King - and he looks just like him, too!" King was asked to guest star, but turned the part down. Drederick Tatum is a parody of 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...
. The name came from 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...
, who went to high school with a boy named Drederick Timmins, which Meyer thought was a cool name. Tatum's having done time in prison is a reference to the fact that, at the time of the episode's production, Tyson had just recently been released from prison after serving three years for rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
. Homer is named "The Southern Dandy" as a reference to the old-time boxers and wrestlers who had similar nicknames.
In preparation for this episode, 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:...
watched several boxing films and is satisfied with how it turned out. Whenever designing rooms, Kirkland tries to show a bare lightbulb because he feels that it makes things more depressing. In the scene in Moe's office, there is a brief shot of a poster advertising "Szyslak Vs. Oakley" and "Kirkland Vs. Silverman," referring to then-Executive Producer Bill Oakley
Bill Oakley
Bill Oakley is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series The Simpsons. Oakley and Josh Weinstein became best friends and writing partners at high school; Oakley then attended Harvard University and was Vice President of the Harvard Lampoon...
and Simpsons directors 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:...
and David Silverman
David Silverman
David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...
. The scene where Tatum is walking to the ring surrounded by shady characters, one of whom appears to be cross-eyed, is based on a real life photo of Tyson.
Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney's fathers make their first and only appearances in the history of the show.
Cultural references
The episode opens with a parody of BonanzaBonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
. The montage of Homer fighting various hobos was based on a similar montage in Raging Bull. The music is "The Flower Duet
The Flower Duet
The Flower Duet is a famous duet for sopranos from Léo Delibes' opera Lakmé, first performed in Paris in 1883. The duet takes place in Act 1 of the three act opera, between characters Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers by a river...
" from the opera "Lakmé
Lakmé
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
" by Léo Delibes
Léo Delibes
Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
. During the montage, there is a brief parody of the George Bellows
George Bellows
George Wesley Bellows was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City, becoming, according to the Columbus Museum of Art, "the most acclaimed American artist of his generation".-Youth:Bellows was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio...
painting "Dempsey and Firpo". The "Fan Man" is based on James Miller
James Miller (parachutist)
James Jarrett Miller also known as Fan Man was a parachutist and paraglider pilot from Henderson, Nevada, known for his outrageous appearances at various sporting events...
, a fan famous for parachuting into arenas during big events. Homer's theme song is "Why Can't We Be Friends?
Why Can't We be Friends (song)
"Why Can't We Be Friends?" is a song by the band War. The song has a simple structure, with the phrase "Why can't we be friends?" being sung four times after each two-line verse amounting to over forty times in under four minutes. It was played in space when NASA beamed it to the linking of Soviet...
" by War
War (band)
War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...
and Tatum's is "Time 4 Sum Aksion
Time 4 Sum Aksion
"Time 4 Sum Aksion" is the second single from Redman's highly acclaimed debut album, Whut? Thee Album. It features production from Erick Sermon and Redman that contains a sample from Lowell Fulson's "Tramp".-Song information:...
" by Redman. The song heard over the end credits is a rendition of Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
's "People," sung by Sally Stevens.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "The Homer They Fall" finished 29th in ratings for the week of November 4-10, 1996, 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 10.0, equivalent to approximately 9.7 million viewing households. It was the second highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
.
In response to "Barting Over
Barting Over
"Barting Over" is an episode of The Simpsons advertised by Fox, and indicated on-screen, to be the 300th episode of the show . It aired on February 16, 2003. In this episode, Bart discovers that he used to be a child star in commercials—and that Homer blew all the money he earned...
", which is about skateboarding, Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
listed what he thought were "excellent" Simpsons episodes and scenes also related to sports. He included "The Homer They Fall," writing that Drederick Tatum is "a thinly veiled Mike Tyson parody who's made cameos over the years." Similarly, in 2004 ESPN.com released a list of the Top 100 Simpsons sport moments, ranking the entire episode at #2, saying "Greatest sports introduction ever: In the Tatum fight, Homer is introduced as the Brick Hithouse (and is also known as the Southern Dandy), and his walk-to-the-ring music is 'Why Can't We Be Friends?'" Drederick Tatum was placed at the eighteenth spot on the list. Conversely, 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 it "the dullest, one-joke episode of the entire series."
External links
- "The Homer They Fall" at The Simpsons.com