Homerazzi

"Homerazzi" is the sixteenth episode of season 18. It originally aired March 25, 2007. It was written by J. Stewart Burns, directed by Matthew Nastuk, and guest starred J. K. Simmons, Betty White and Jon Lovitz.

Plot
It is Homer's birthday, and all the family sing "Happy Birthday to You" to him. Homer pretends he doesn't need to make a wish, but wishes for infinite hamburgers, and tries to blow out his candles. He can't, however, and he thinks they are candles you can't blow out. They are actually the opposite: E-Z Blo candles. Homer continues attempting to blow the candles out, but after three hours, he gives up. He flops down on the birthday cake, and, in doing so, a candle sets fire to his party hat.

The house ends up being set on fire, and the family wait outside. Flint Drywall suggests they buy a fire-proof safe to keep their irreplaceable items safe, and they do. All of the family put something special in the safe; for Marge the family album, for Lisa a Malibu Stacy car (although she originally intended to put in a decision tree), for Homer a cologne bottle he wore on his first date with Marge, called Scent of a Wookiee, and for Bart a Krusty doll. All the items are locked away in the safe, but Marge pats the safe. This sets off the Krusty doll, which walks across the safe. The doll falls into the car, who's headlights turn on, and focus on the cologne bottle. The bottle starts heating up, and smoke comes out of the safe.

The family notices the smoke, and Homer predicts that what just happened did. Then, the safe explodes, and all of the items are ruined. The family album crumbles up, and Marge is upset. Lisa tells her that they will have to move on, as they can't restage their family photos. Marge gets an idea from this, and proceeds to do just that. However, one of their restaged photos reveals a secret affair between Boobarella and Duffman.

Production
It was written by J. Stewart Burns, directed by Matthew Nastuk, and guest starred J. K. Simmons as the tabloid editor, Betty White as herself, and Jon Lovitz as Enrico Irritazio. The full-length opening sequence and couch gag ran for over 1 minute, making it one of the longest in the history of the show.

Casting
In the Fox press release, Peter Wolf and Harry Hamlin were announced as guest stars for this episode. However, neither of them made an appearance in the broadcast version. Several guest stars return in this episode. It is Jon Lovitz' ninth appearance and J. K. Simmons and Betty White's second. J. K. Simmons was previously a guest star in "Moe'N'a Lisa".

Reception
Robert Canning praised this episode, calling it "clever, ingenious, and one of the most memorable of the season". The episode scored a 9.0 on TV.com, an equivalent to a "superb" rating.

Homerazzi