Simpson and Delilah

Homer Simpson sees an ad for Dimoxinil, a new "miracle breakthrough" for baldness. He visits a store which sells Dimoxinil, but it is far out of Homer's price range. At work, Lenny suggests Homer pay for Dimoxinil through the company medical insurance plan. He successfully applies the drug, and the next day, Homer wakes up with hair. After finding this, Homer runs through the streets of Springfield, celebrating his new full head of hair. At work, Mr. Burns surveys the security monitors to find a new person to promote to an executive position. He sees Homer with hair and, mistaking him for a young go-getter, chooses Homer for the job.

As he is about to become an executive, Homer tries to look for a good secretary, but all the applicants fail - until Homer finds a man, Karl, who applies. Homer eventually picks Karl, and they go shopping for a suit. When Burns notes how meltdowns and accidents have dramatically decreased, Smithers notes that the decrease is exactly the number of accidents Homer has caused in the past, and production is at the same level it was during Homer's last vacation. Burns dismisses this as jealousy and is so impressed with Homer's efforts that he gives Homer the key to the executive washroom. Smithers begins to feel jealous of Homer and, after one look at Homer's file, discovers the case of insurance fraud that gave Homer hair in the first place.

Karl introducing himself to Homer

Homer is about to be fired for the scam, but Karl takes the blame and is fired instead. Homer is invited to give a speech at the next meeting. Homer is nervous about giving the speech without Karl, but reasons that as long as he has hair, everything will be fine. When he gets home, he finds that Bart has spilled all of Homer's Dimoxinil in a misguided attempt to grow a beard. The next day, Homer, bald again, arrives at the meeting. His fears are alleviated when Karl appears with a pre-written speech for him. Karl then kisses Homer and pats him on the butt, explaining Karl's loyalty to Homer. Homer presents his speech, but the audience is unable to take him seriously without hair. Rather than punishing him, Burns, a fellow sufferer of male pattern baldness, sympathizes with Homer's situation. Homer is demoted back to his old position. In bed that night, Homer is devastated now that he is making less money, can not buy the kids things he promised them and that Marge will not be attracted to him anymore. Marge assures him that his old job always got them by and the kids would have to get over it. As for Homer still being attractive, Marge reassures him by singing "You Are So Beautiful To Me."

[edit] Production

The character Karl was played by openly gay actor Harvey Fierstein. In the episode, Karl is implied to be homosexual; creator Matt Groening says that when people began asking "Was he gay?" the day after the episode aired, his response was "He's whatever you want him to be." However, Groening points out, "He does kiss Homer: He does give him a nice pat on the butt" which is "beyond [what] any other cartoon" had done at the time.^[1] Karl's homosexuality is later confirmed by the booklet for the season's DVD set. Karl's appearance marks the beginning of a trend of several LGBT characters on The Simpsons. The character was supposed to reappear in "Three Gays of the Condo," but Fierstein objected, feeling that episode to be playing to stereotypes too much.

[edit] Reception

Harvey Fierstein is number two on TV Guide's "All-time Favorite Guest Voices."^[2] The Daily Telegraph characterized the episode as one of "The 10 Best Simpsons TV Episodes."^[3] In a 2008 article, Entertainment Weekly named Harvey Fierstein's role as Karl as one of the sixteen best guest appearances on The Simpsons.^[4]

[edit] Cultural references

The title comes from the Bible story "Samson and Delilah": Samson's strength depended on keeping Nazarite law, which included not cutting his hair.
Dimoxinil is a spoof on a similar product, Minoxidil, which was originally used for high blood pressure, and later became Rogaine.
Reference to movie "It's a Wonderful Life", when Homer ran through town when he gets his hair.
Reference to movie "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?", when Homer receives the key to the executive washroom.
The scene where Homer burns a banknote is a reference to Serge Gainsbourg, celebrates French singer which had also burned a banknote to him on line on television, to denounce the taxation taken of what it gained.