Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment
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"Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" is the 13th episode of the second season of The Simpsons. This episode tells the story of Homer buying stolen cable and the resulting situation with Lisa feeling moral conflict, as well as Bart watching an adult movie channel. It is one of the few Simpsons episodes that have won an Emmy.
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[edit] Synopsis
After seeing Ned Flanders reject an offer to get an illegal cable hook-up, Homer chases after the cable man and wants to be hooked up for free. He likes the new channels he gets, which the family watches with him. Lisa, however, feels suspicious. 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 (Though "Thou Shall not Steal" is listed as the Seventh Commandment in Catholicism and Lutheranism), he will go to Hell when he dies. She additionally opposes other examples of common and harmless thievery, including her mother's tasting of grapes in a grocery store which she has not paid for. Lisa pays a visit to Reverend Lovejoy at church, where he suggests that Lisa cannot turn her father into the police (as she must Honour Thy Father and Thy Mother), and instead encourages Lisa to not watch anything on Homer's cable hook-up, setting a good example.
Homer invites his friends from the power plant, as well as Apu, Moe, and Barney to watch "The Bout to Knock the Other Guy Out!", on pay-per-view. (Mr. Burns and Waylon Smithers show up as well). Meanwhile, Bart has set up posters on the back door for his showing of an adult channel for 50 cents (although his age requirement is 8), but is caught a few seconds later by Homer. Homer's conscience eventually bothers him, moreso in the form of his daughter's distress than a moral objection to stealing cable, and he gives into Lisa's protests, begrudgingly choosing not to watch the fight. Marge and Maggie joins them as well. Bart, on the other hand, decided to go back to see the fight, but Homer stops him for good. He sits the fight out and when it is over, he hesitantly (and unprofessionally) cuts his cable hook-up, despite Bart's objection. He accidentally (somehow) cuts the electricity to all of Springfield in his random wire-cutting before finally cutting the cable wire.
[edit] Trivia
- This is the first appearance of Troy McClure (voiced by Phil Hartman).
- Although his first official appearance is in the episode "Moaning Lisa", this episode marks the "true" first appearance of Ralph Wiggum as he appears for the rest of the series.
- At one point, Homer watches something that looks like Seinfeld.
- When Homer is flipping through channels, The Itchy and Scratchy cartoon entitled "Porch Pals" from the episode Itchy and Scratchy and Marge can be heard.
- This episode is based on the common assumption that morality is derived directly from sources of authority, such as religious scripture. There is actually abundant evidence to suggest that people are mostly driven by innate moral intuitions that have a biological basis.
- This is the second appearance of Satan in the second season.
- The movies that are watched on the new cable are Jaws, Die Hard, and Wall Street.
[edit] Cultural references
- Drederick Tatum is obviously based on Mike Tyson, his manager looks exactly like Don King, and his opponent resembles James "Buster" Douglas, famous for giving Tyson his first knockout on February 11, 1990.
- In a joke about Mr. Burns' age, he recalls watching a bare-knuckle match between Gentleman Jim Corbett and "an Eskimo fellow". Corbett would later be referenced as "Gentleman Jim Simpson" in a deleted scene in "The Homer They Fall" on the Season 8 DVD boxset.
- Mr. Burns gives Homer a bag of Cheetos.
[edit] Awards
- This episode was The Simpsons submission to the 1991 Emmys. It won the award, the second for The Simpsons.
[edit] External links
