Homer Loves Flanders

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Simpsons episode
"Homer Loves Flanders"

Episode no.	97
Prod. code	1F14
Orig. Airdate	March 17, 1994
Show Runner(s)	David Mirkin
Written by	David Richardson
Directed by	Wesley Archer
Chalkboard	"I am not delightfully saucy"
Couch gag	The family walks in, seeing two couches, and the family split in half, with half of each member choosing a couch.
DVD commentary by	Matt Groening David Mirkin David Rchardson Wes Archer David Silverman
Season 5 September 30, 1993 – May 19, 1994
Homer's Barbershop Quartet Cape Feare Homer Goes to College Rosebud Treehouse of Horror IV Marge on the Lam Bart's Inner Child Boy-Scoutz N the Hood The Last Temptation of Homer $pringfield Homer the Vigilante Bart Gets Famous Homer and Apu Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy Deep Space Homer Homer Loves Flanders Bart Gets an Elephant Burns' Heir Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song The Boy Who Knew Too Much Lady Bouvier's Lover Secrets of a Successful Marriage
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"Homer Loves Flanders" is the sixteenth episode from the fifth season of The Simpsons.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Homer attempts to win a radio contest for a football game, only to have Ned Flanders win the tickets. Ned offers him a ticket to the game, and asks Homer to join him, which he does reluctantly. After the game, Ned succeeds in getting a signed football for Homer.

Homer responds by being overly grateful, annoying Flanders and his family to no end. Bart and Lisa become afraid that Homer's change in attitude could mark the end of the family's "wacky adventures". The Flanders family and the Simpsons go on a roadtrip to Springfield lake, where antics by Homer cause problems (such as causing a food fight and destroying Ned's boat and car). Ned realises that he hates Homer Simpson.

In order to get away from Homer, Ned and his family try to escape in their car, while Homer chases them Terminator II style. Afterwards Ned is humiliated in front of the church bus when he is pulled over by Chief Wiggum and suspected on being on drugs, or "goofballs". The Flanders reluctantly go to church on Sunday, where they are shunned. After a huge outburst, Homer steps to the aid of Ned, and all is resolved.

The next week, all is seemingly back to normal, Homer hates Ned again, and the Simpsons end by spending the night in a haunted house.

[edit] Cultural references

Reference to Texas-Tower Massacre

Homer sings (and air guitars) along to "Two Tickets to Paradise" by Eddie Money.
Homer's "Nacho Man" song is a parody of the Village People song "Macho Man". A similar song would be used in an Old El Paso commercial in 1996.
The homeless shelter that Homer and Ned Flanders visit is called Helter Shelter, a reference to the song "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles.
Moe is shown tearfully reading My Friend Flicka and Little Women to children at the homeless shelter (though in both cases the last line has been altered to feature the book's title).
When playing pool Homer refers to himself as Springfield Fats, a reference to Minnesota Fats from The Hustler.
Homer flying the boat over the parking lot is a spoof of a scene in the James Bond picture Live and Let Die.
Flanders' nightmare about shooting people from a bell tower is a reference to the Texas-Tower massacre in 1966 at the University of Texas.
Homer walking through a hedge, and subsequently chasing down the Flanders' car, references the T-1000 in the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Ned is shown driving a Geo, a brand of small cars marketed by General Motors from 1989 to 1997. The cars were known mainly for their lack of engine power, hence Ned was screaming that he couldn't make the Geo go any faster when Maude was pleading him to hurry.
Chief Wiggum's line, "Where's your Messiah now, Flanders?" was originally from a Billy Crystal parody of Edward G. Robinson's character inThe Ten Commandments. Hank Azaria based Wiggum's voice on Robinson.