Homerpalooza

Last updated

"Homerpalooza"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 24
Directed by Wes Archer
Written by Brent Forrester
Featured music"Insane In The Brain" and "Throw Your Set in the Air" by Cypress Hill
Production code3F21
Original air dateMay 19, 1996 (1996-05-19)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Couch gag The family enters in a black-light haze, lighting returns to normal when Homer turns on the lights. [1]
Commentary Matt Groening
Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Brent Forrester
Wes Archer
Ken Keeler
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Much Apu About Nothing"		Next →
"Summer of 4 Ft. 2"
The Simpsons season 7
List of episodes

"Homerpalooza" is the twenty-fourth and penultimate episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 19, 1996. In the episode, Homer is shocked to find classic rock is no longer considered cool. Hoping to earn "street cred", he joins the Hullabalooza music festival as a carnival freak. The episode's title is a play on the Lollapalooza music festival. It was the last Simpsons episode written by Brent Forrester and the last one directed by Wes Archer (both Forrester and Archer left to work on King of the Hill ). [1] Peter Frampton and musical groups Sonic Youth, Cypress Hill, and The Smashing Pumpkins guest star as themselves.

Contents

Plot

After Otto destroys the school bus, Homer is forced to carpool several students to school. He is shocked to find all the kids hate the classic rock radio station he listens to. Homer realizes that music from his high school days is no longer considered cool after a hipster at a record store derides it.

Hoping to impress them, Homer takes Bart and Lisa to the Hullabalooza music festival. Homer tries to act cool by wearing a Rastafarian hat, but an angry crowd of Generation Xers confronts him after mistaking him for a narc. After being tossed out by the crowd, Homer angrily kicks a cannon, which shoots one of Peter Frampton's inflatable pigs at his stomach. The festival head is impressed by Homer's ability to absorb cannon fire and hires him for the festival's freak show (played by the Jim Rose Circus), called the pageant of the transmundane.

Homer tours with the festival and parties with rap and rock stars Sonic Youth, Cypress Hill and The Smashing Pumpkins while earning respect among young people, including Bart. As the tour approaches a stop in Springfield, Homer's stomach aches and he is sent to a veterinarian. The doctor informs Homer he will die if he takes another cannonball to his gut. Homer decides to perform his act one last time, but he dodges the cannonball at the last second. After a warm sendoff from the touring bands, Homer leaves the festival and loses his kids' respect for no longer being cool, which he embraces. [2] [3]

Production

The entire story of this episode was developed by David Cohen, although it was written by Brent Forrester, [1] who felt that Cohen at least deserved a "story by" credit. [4] To do research for this episode, Forrester went to one of the Lollapalooza concerts, which he thought would be a fun little perk, but ended up being a horrible experience. Several of the jokes in this episode are based on his experiences: cameras were being seized and thrown in the garbage, there were numerous advertisements, several "sour faced teens", a real freak show (Jim Rose Circus), and at one point a stranger approached Forrester and asked, "how's it going, narc?". [4]

During Homer's confrontation with the Hullabalooza crowd, there is a brief shot of Homer with the members of the band No Doubt behind him. Eric Stefani, the founding member of No Doubt and the brother of its lead singer Gwen Stefani, was working as an animator on the show at the time and added them in. [5]

Sonic Youth threatened to not appear in the episode if Courtney Love was cast in it. SonicYouth.JPG
Sonic Youth threatened to not appear in the episode if Courtney Love was cast in it.

The writers were aiming to have artists that represented several genres: hip hop (Cypress Hill), alternative rock (Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins), and a classic rock singer. Originally, Bob Dylan was sought for this role, but he was replaced by Peter Frampton. [6] Billy Corgan impressed the production staff by doing strong impersonations of Homer and Marge, though it was decided to not have him use them in the episode. Pearl Jam was asked to appear in the episode but declined.

Originally, Courtney Love and Hole were wanted for this episode, but they declined. [7] According to the DVD commentary, an unnamed group (later revealed by Entertainment Weekly to be Sonic Youth) said that they would refuse to appear in the episode if Courtney Love was involved. [8] It was thought that Love would appear in the episode because she had recently done a film with James L. Brooks, but she never responded to the request. [7] Love was wanted specifically for one joke which would be in an exchange between her and Homer:

Courtney Love: Hi Homer! I'm a big fan, Courtney Love.
Homer: Homer Grateful!

However, she did not appear and the joke was reworded for Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins:

Billy Corgan: Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins.
Homer: Homer Simpson, smiling politely.

Cultural references

The flashback where Homer meets the guys in the van is based on the film Dazed and Confused . [6] Several of the scenes where Homer is hit with a cannonball are based on famous stock footage of Frank "Cannonball" Richards being hit with a cannonball, as is the entire concept of a "cannonball catcher". [6] Otto's drug-induced hallucination of his "talking shoes" is based on the opening of the album version of Prince's song "1999". [6] Homer's walk in one scene parodies the walk in Robert Crumb's comic Keep on Truckin' . [2]

Reception

In its original broadcast, "Homerpalooza" finished 57th in ratings for the week of May 13–19, 1996, with a Nielsen rating of 7.8, equivalent to approximately 7.5 million viewing households. It was the third highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-Files and Married... with Children . [9]

In 1998, TV Guide listed it in its list of top twelve Simpsons episodes. [10]

The BBC website called the episode "One of the most memorable episodes, if not one of the greatest – the satire on youth counterculture is well handled, and Homer's flashback to his youth is fabulous." [1] and IGN said the episode was one of the best of season seven. [11]

In 2019, Consequence of Sound ranked it the third greatest episode on its list of top 30 Simpsons episodes. [12]

In a list of the 25 greatest guest voices on the show, released September 5, 2006, IGN ranked the Hullabalooza performers 23rd. [13]

The noise rock version of the end credits performed by Sonic Youth has been ranked among the best versions of the theme by Matt Groening [13] [14] and also by Chris Turner in his book Planet Simpson . [15]

Bill Oakley has said that Peter Frampton is one of his favorite guest stars and he wished he could have done a TV show with him. [16] Alternatively, the Rover Hendrix act break joke has been called one of the worst jokes in The Simpsons history by the writers and producers. [4] [6] [14] [16]

In 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times listed the Smashing Pumpkins' and Cypress Hill's performances among the 33 funniest cameos in the history of the show. [17] In 2024, the group made the joke of performing with the London Symphony Orchestra a reality. [18]

Andrew Martin of Prefix Mag named Cypress Hill his sixth-favorite musical guests on The Simpsons out of a list of ten. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grampa Simpson</span> Recurring character in The Simpsons

Abraham Jay "Abe" Simpson II, better known as Grampa Simpson, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He made his first appearance in the episode entitled "Grandpa and the Kids", a one-minute Simpsons short on The Tracey Ullman Show, before the debut of the television show in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troy McClure</span> Fictional character from The Simpsons franchise

Troy McClure is a fictional character in the American animated series The Simpsons. He was originally voiced by Phil Hartman and first appeared in the second season episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment". McClure is a washed-up actor who is usually shown doing low-level work, most notably hosting manipulative infomercials and questionable educational films. He appears as the main character in "A Fish Called Selma", in which he marries Selma Bouvier to aid his failing career and quash rumors about his personal life. McClure also hosts "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" and "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire</span> 1st episode of the 1st season of The Simpsons

"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" is the series premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons. A Christmas special, the show had a very long delayed release. It first aired on Fox in the United States on December 17, 1989. Introducing the Simpson family into half-hour television in this episode, Bart Simpson disobediently gets a tattoo without the permission of his parents. After Marge spends all the family's holiday budget on having it removed, Homer learns that his boss is not giving employees Christmas bonuses, and takes a job as a shopping mall Santa in order to pay for his children's Christmas presents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marge vs. the Monorail</span> 12th episode of the 4th season of The Simpsons

"Marge vs. the Monorail" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 14, 1993. The plot revolves around Springfield's impulse purchase of a faulty monorail from a conman, and how it subsequently falls to Marge to stop the train from destroying the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror V</span> 6th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror V" is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the fifth entry in the Treehouse of Horror series. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 30, 1994, and features three short stories: "The Shinning", "Time and Punishment", and "Nightmare Cafeteria".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zero (The Smashing Pumpkins song)</span> 1996 single by The Smashing Pumpkins

"Zero" is a song by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released as the third single from their third album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995). Written by Billy Corgan, it was the first song recorded for the album and features six rhythm guitars with two line-in 12-string acoustic guitars. The cover artwork and music video were created by Ukrainian photographer and Corgan's then-girlfriend Yelena Yemchuk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homer's Barbershop Quartet</span> 1st episode of the 5th season of The Simpsons

"Homer's Barbershop Quartet" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 30, 1993. It features the Be Sharps, a barbershop quartet founded by Homer Simpson. The band's story roughly parallels that of the Beatles. George Harrison and David Crosby guest star as themselves, and the Dapper Dans partly provide the singing voices of the Be Sharps.

"A Star Is Burns" is the eighteenth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on March 5, 1995. In the episode, Springfield decides to hold a film festival, and famed critic Jay Sherman is invited to be a judge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase</span> 24th episode of the 8th season of The Simpsons

"The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" is the twenty-fourth and penultimate episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 11, 1997. The episode centers on fictional pilot episodes of non-existent television series derived from The Simpsons, and is a parody of the tendency of networks to spin off characters from a hit series. As such it includes references to many different television series. The first fictional spin-off is Chief Wiggum P.I., a cop-dramedy featuring Chief Wiggum and Seymour Skinner. The second is The Love-matic Grampa, a sitcom featuring Moe Szyslak who receives dating advice from Abraham Simpson, whose ghost is possessing a love testing machine. The final segment is The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour, a variety show featuring the Simpson family except for Lisa, who has been replaced.

"El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer ", also known simply as "The Mysterious Voyage of Our Homer", is the ninth episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 5, 1997. In the episode, Homer eats several hot chili peppers and hallucinates, causing him to go on a mysterious voyage. Following this, he questions his relationship with Marge and goes on a journey to find his soulmate.

"The Front" is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired in the United States on Fox on April 15, 1993. In the episode, Bart and Lisa decide to write an episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show; after their script is rejected, they resubmit it under the name of their grandfather Abraham Simpson, resulting in Grampa being hired as a staff writer. Meanwhile, Homer returns to high school to retake a failed science course.

"Flaming Moe's" is the tenth episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on November 21, 1991. In the episode, Homer tells Moe Szyslak about the Flaming Homer, an alcoholic cocktail of cough medicine and fire that he invented. Moe steals Homer's recipe, renames it the Flaming Moe and sells it at his tavern. The drink is wildly successful and boosts Moe's business, but Homer is angry at him for his betrayal and seeks revenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homer vs. Patty and Selma</span> 17th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons

"Homer vs. Patty and Selma" is the seventeenth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 26, 1995. In the episode, Homer loses all his money in pumpkin futures and must turn to Patty and Selma for a loan. Meanwhile, Bart takes up ballet lessons, with an instructor voiced by actress Susan Sarandon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mother Simpson</span> 8th episode of the 7th season of The Simpsons

"Mother Simpson" is the eighth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on November 19, 1995. After faking his own death to get a day off work, Homer reunites with his mother Mona, who he thought had died over two decades prior. It was directed by David Silverman and was the first episode to be written by Richard Appel. Glenn Close makes her first of eleven guest appearances as Homer's mother. This episode is dedicated to the memory of staff member Jackie Banks, who died on November 4, 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Otto Show</span> 22nd episode of the 3rd season of The Simpsons

"The Otto Show" is the twenty-second episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on April 23, 1992. In the episode, Bart wants to become a rock star after attending a Spın̈al Tap concert, so Homer and Marge buy him a guitar. He shows the guitar to the school bus driver Otto, who plays it and makes the children late for school. While racing to Springfield Elementary, Otto crashes the school bus and is suspended until he earns a driver's license. Unable to pay his rent, Otto moves in with the Simpsons.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 7 Season of television series

The seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 17, 1995, and May 19, 1996. The show runners for the seventh production season were Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein who would executive produce 21 episodes this season. David Mirkin executive produced the remaining four, including two hold overs that were produced for the previous season. The season was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Animated Program and won an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Program. The DVD box set was released in Region 1 on December 13, 2005, Region 2 on January 30, 2006, and Region 4 on March 22, 2006. The set was released in two different forms: a Marge-shaped box and also a standard rectangular-shaped box in which the theme is a movie premiere.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 6 Season of television series

The sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 4, 1994, and May 21, 1995, and consists of 25 episodes. The Simpsons is an animated series about a working class family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield, and lampoons American culture, society, television and many aspects of the human condition.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 5 Season of television series

The fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 30, 1993, and May 19, 1994. The showrunner for the fifth production season was David Mirkin who executive produced 20 episodes, with the season being produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. Al Jean and Mike Reiss executive produced the remaining two, which were both hold overs that were produced for the previous season. The season contains some of the series' most acclaimed and popular episodes, including "Cape Feare", "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy", "Homer Goes to College", "Deep Space Homer", and "Rosebud". It also includes the 100th episode, "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song". The season was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and won an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Program as well as an Environmental Media Award and a Genesis Award. The DVD box set was released in Region 1 on December 21, 2004, Region 2 on March 21, 2005, and Region 4 on March 23, 2005.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 3 Season of television series

The third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 19, 1991, and August 27, 1992. The showrunners for the third production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss who executive produced 22 episodes for the season, while two other episodes were produced by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, and Sam Simon, with it being produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. An additional episode, "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?", aired on August 27, 1992, after the official end of the third season and is included on the Season 3 DVD set. Season three won six Primetime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance" and also received a nomination for "Outstanding Animated Program" for the episode "Radio Bart". The complete season was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 26, 2003, Region 2 on October 6, 2003, and in Region 4 on October 22, 2003.

Brent Forrester is an American writer and producer, who has written for 6 Emmy Award-winning television comedies. He wrote several episodes of the animated television sitcom The Simpsons between 1993 and 1997. He has worked as a writer on The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show with Bob and David, Undeclared, Super Fun Night and The Office. He served as head writer and executive producer on King of the Hill, Love, The Office and Space Force. Forrester has also written feature films.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Homerpalooza Archived December 1, 2004, at the Wayback Machine BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on February 8, 2007
  2. 1 2 Richmond & Coffman 1997, p. 206.
  3. ↑ Martyn, Warren; Adrian Wood (2000). I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide. Virgin Books. ISBN   0-7535-0495-2.
  4. 1 2 3 Forrester, Brent (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Homerpalooza" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ↑ Archer, Wes (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Homerpalooza" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Weinstein, Josh (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Homerpalooza" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  7. 1 2 Keeler, Ken (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Homerpalooza" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  8. ↑ Snierson, Dan (May 10, 1996). "The Simpsons rock and roll". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  9. ↑ "NBC keeps its lock on no. 1 spot". Sun-Sentinel. Associated Press. May 23, 1996. p. 4E.
  10. ↑ "A Dozen Doozies". TV Guide . January 3–9, 1998. Archived from the original on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  11. ↑ Canning, Robert; Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan; Zoromski, Brian (January 2010). "The Simpsons: 20 Seasons, 20 Episodes". IGN. Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  12. ↑ "The Simpsons' Top 30 Episodes". Consequence. December 17, 2019. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  13. 1 2 Zoromski, Brian; Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan (January 4, 2010). "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances". IGN. Archived from the original on June 22, 2007. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  14. 1 2 Groening, Matt (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Homerpalooza" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  15. ↑ Turner 2004.
  16. 1 2 Oakley, Bill (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Homerpalooza" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  17. ↑ Crerar, Simon (July 5, 2007). "The 33 funniest Simpsons cameos ever". The Times . Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  18. ↑ Hall, Rachel (July 10, 2024). "Hip-hop band Cypress Hill makes 1996 Simpsons joke come true". Music. The Guardian . ISSN   1756-3224. OCLC   60623878 . Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  19. ↑ Martin, Andrew (October 7, 2011). "Top 10 Best Musical Guests On 'The Simpsons'". Prefix Mag. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
Bibliography
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.