Hungry, Hungry Homer

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"Hungry, Hungry Homer" is the fifteenth episode of the twelfth season of The Simpsons. It aired on March 4, 2001.

Plot

The Simpson's visit Blockoland, a theme park which is completely made of blocks. Lisa is ripped off when her Eiffel Tower kit has a missing base piece. In response, Homer "sticks up for the little guy", and he gets Lisa the piece she needs. He also stands up for the little guy by helping Bart get a girlfriend for an upcoming school dance and helps Marge get two free hair streaks (while helping the stylist sort his finances). When he tries to help Lenny by getting him a refund on his tickets for the Springfield Isotopes, Homer encounters the Isotopes' owner Howard K. Duff VIII. The owner refuses to give Homer a refund but in his haste to leave, Homer discovers evidence that the Isotopes are moving to Albuquerque. Duff insists that they are not moving and he has Duffman drug Homer to cover up the truth.

Homer is shocked and attempts to alert the media to the plan, but Duff removes all traces of the evidence Homer found. The journalists dismiss Homer's story and call him a liar. In response, Homer stages a hunger strike in which he chains himself to a pole near Duff Stadium in order to force the owners of the team to admit they are moving to Albuquerque. He attracts a great deal of attention so the team decides to move him into the ballpark and exploit his popularity using the name "Hungry, Hungry Homer.". Meanwhile back at the Simpson house Bart Lisa and Maggie have all gotten fat from having to eat Homers share of dinner, when Lisa asks Marge why she doesn't just cook less Marge flatly replies "I don't do things that way Lisa.". Eventually Homer's strike results in him becoming so thin and sickly that the team decides to get rid of him, replacing him with a man who drinks a bucket of paint but falls down twitching doing so. In a public ceremony, the team's owner unchains him and offers him a free hot dog. Homer realizes the hot dog is topped with Southwestern ingredients and this proves the team really is moving to Albuquerque. The crowd then takes notice that the hot dogs are even wrapped with "Albuquerque Isotopes" paper and are enraged. Howard K. Duff VIII tries to continue his denials but even Duffman turns against him. Homer's hunger strike is over as he celebrates under a shower of food thrown by the cheering fans who now praised him as a hero. He eats the food as well.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Albuquerque decides to abandon his plan to steal the Isotopes and instead plans to purchase the Dallas Cowboys, when told that it was a football team he responds by say that they'll play what he tells them to play, as he menacingly says in the final shot of the episode, "for I am the MAYOR OF ALBUQUERQUE!"

Censorship

On subsequent airings of this episode, the ending with the mayor of Albuquerque choosing another city for his baseball team was cut in syndication, so the episode ends with Homer celebrating in the stadium. The original ending with the sinister mayor is still shown in Denmark, Britain, Canada, Australia and France.

Cultural references

Blockoland is a parody of Legoland.
The ghost of César Chávez visits Homer during his hunger strike, but takes the appearance of Cesar Romero, because Homer doesn't know what Chavez looks like.
The scene where Bart sees Homer lying on top of the red dog house is a direct reference to Charlie Brown and Snoopy. Bart even utters Charlie Brown's signature line "Good Grief".
The title is a play on the game, Hungry Hungry Hippos. Coincidentally, one of the hippos in the game is named Homer.
When Kent Brockman says that Mr. Duff is insisting that Homer is a liar, they show footage of Homer with his pants on fire. This is a nod to the classic chant, Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire.
When Marge gets streaks in her hair, this resembles the look of the Bride of Frankenstein's hair; tall white with two black streaks.