"Kill the Alligator and Run" is the nineteenth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 30, 2000. In the episode, Homer has a nervous breakdown when it is revealed on a quiz that he only has three years left to live. To calm him down, the family goes to Florida for vacation. There, they end up in the middle of a raucous spring break, where Homer joins in on the party and ends up getting himself and his family in trouble for killing the county's beloved mascot: an alligator named Captain Jack. Diedrich Bader, Robert Evans, Charlie Rose, Joe C., and Kid Rock guest starred in the episode.
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Homer gets a magazine loaded with personality tests and quizzes his friends and family with them. Later on, he takes his own test and reveals that he will only live until 42, which is only three years away. Terrified of his supposedly impending death, he develops insomnia and goes insane. Homer visits the power plant's psychiatrist, who suggests that he go on a long vacation. The Simpsons go on a trip to Florida, which Homer calls "America's Wang". When the family arrives there, they find themselves in the middle of a raucous spring break. Marge wants Homer to stay in his hotel room, but he escapes to party and attend a Kid Rock concert. Homer becomes the life of the Spring Break party — until spring break ends and the wild college kids return to catch up on their studies.
Homer, who still wants to party, rents an airboat and forces the family to come with him. He races through the swamp, killing the town's most famous resident and reptile, an alligator named Captain Jack, whom Marge, Maggie, Lisa and Bart had seen on a tour while Homer made a fool of himself at the concert. Despite the fact that Homer is the sole guilty culprit, the entire family is charged for killing the alligator, but they flee from the sheriff and are hit by an Amtrak train. They escape to a restaurant and nearby trailer, where they become hillbillies and work until the sheriff tracks them down and kidnaps them while sleeping. For their crime (and the fact that Homer addressed the jury at their trial as "drunken hicks"), the family is put into forced labor. One night when they are working, the family encounters the alligator, who is not dead but was rather knocked out. The family is acquitted, but they are banned from returning to Florida. For their next trip (which is planned out on a map of the United States with nearly all of the continental states crossed out), the family plans to go to North Dakota, the only state other than Arizona (which Homer complains "smells funny") in which they are allowed to vacation.
"Kill the Alligator and Run" was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Jen Kamerman as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000).[1] The episode features guest appearances from Diedrich Bader as the sheriff,[2] and Robert Evans, Charlie Rose, Joe C. and Kid Rock as themselves.[1][3][4]
The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 30, 2000.[3][5] On October 7, 2008, it was released on DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season. Staff members Mike Scully, George Meyer, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman, Julie Thacker, Dan Castellaneta, and Steven Dean Moore, as well as guest star Diedrich Bader, participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set.[4]
According to Mike Scully, who was the show runner of The Simpsons when the episode aired, "Kill the Alligator and Run" is often cited by fans of The Simpsons as one of the worst episodes in the history of the show.[6] Annie Alleman of The Herald News, on the other hand, named it her eighth favorite Simpsons episode.[7] While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented on the episode, writing: "Wow – this may be the most jumbled Simpsons to date! The episode seems to suffer from ADD as it can’t focus on any topic for very long. It flits from one gag to another with abandon and rarely makes much sense – or produces many laughs. Yeah, it has a few amusing moments, but it’s too scattershot to succeed." [5]