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Difference between revisions of "The Homer They Fall"

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{{episode
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{{Tab}}
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|image=ci.jpg
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{{EpisodePrevNext|You Only Move Twice|Burns, Baby Burns}}
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|productionCode=4F03
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{{Episode
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|originalAirdate=November 10, 1996
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|image=The Homer They Fall.png
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|blackboardText="I am not my long-lost twin"
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|number=156
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|couchGag=The family is depicted as if they are from a Western.
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|season=8
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|specialGuestVoices=[[Paul Winfield]] as Lucius Sweet<br />[[Michael Buffer]] as himself
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|snumber=3
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|Written By=[[Jonathan Collier]]
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|prodcode=4F03
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|Directed By=[[Mark Kirkland]]
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|airdate=November 10, [[1996]]
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|blackboard="I am not my long-lost twin"
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|couchgag=The family sit on the Couch in the western, then the couch runs away with them on it like a Horse.
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|guests=[[Paul Winfield]] as [[Lucius Sweet]]<br>[[Michael Buffer]] as {{Ch|Michael Buffer|himself}}
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|showrunner1= Bill Oakley
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|showrunner2= Josh Weinstein
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|writer=[[Jonathan Collier]]
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|director=[[Mark Kirkland]]
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|DVD features=yes
 
}}
 
}}
  
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'''"The Homer They Fall"''' is the third episode in the eighth season of ''[[The Simpsons]]''. The title is named after the phrase "The bigger they are, the harder they fall".
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"'''The Homer They Fall'''" is the third episode of [[Season 8]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and the one-hundred and fifty-sixth episode overall. It originally aired on November 10, [[1996]]. The episode was written by [[Jonathan Collier]] and directed by [[Mark Kirkland]]. It guest stars [[Paul Winfield]] as [[Lucius Sweet]] and [[Michael Buffer]] as {{Ch|Michael Buffer|himself}}.
  
 
== Synopsis ==
 
== Synopsis ==
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In a store, [[the Simpsons]] family look around for things they want to buy. While there, [[Comic Book Guy]] could not return his small-sized gimmicky belt because he does not have his proof of purchase. [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] obtains it from him for $4.  He shows off its features at his classmates until he is chased and beaten by [[Springfield Elementary School]] bullies and the belt is stolen. In response, [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] meets with the bullies' parents at [[Moe's Tavern]] but is also beaten. Despite the force used against Homer, he does not fall, and the bartender [[Moe]] is sufficiently impressed to arrange a boxing career for Homer.  Homer can only do weak punches. So Moe decides what he should do is push his opponent on the ring over when the opponent gets exhausted of trying to knock him down. The obese Homer does well, mostly facing underfed [[hobo]] opponents who cannot force Homer to fall. Homer, at every match, follows Moe's advice. Somewhere in the episode we see that Moe used to be a boxer. His former boxing manager, puts the strategy in jeopardy by arranging a match between Homer and the physically powerful [[Drederick Tatum]] (a Mike Tyson parody).  Despite a promise to [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] to stop the fight if Homer's life is endangered, Moe is prepared to have Homer endure three rounds. However, just seconds into the fight, it is clear that Homer is going to get killed. Homer can handle Tatum's punches for only a few seconds. Homer decides to punch his opponent but misses his aim, then just about Tatum is about to knock Homer down off, Moe airlifts the badly-beaten boxer from the ring using Fan Man's paramotor. Moe, still with the paramotor, flies off to save people from natural disasters mainly from [[India]]. We see these actions as the credits roll.
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{{Desc|[[Bart]] buys an extravagant belt on a trip to the mall, but the school bullies beat him up and steal it. When [[Homer]] goes to confront the parents of the boys in [[Moe's Tavern]] he promptly receives a beating of his own. During the beating, however, Homer remains completely unfazed; [[Moe]] sees this and proposes to Homer that he test out his abilities in boxing.}}
  
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== Trivia ==
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== Plot ==
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* [[Paul Winfield]] played the real Don King in HBO's 1995 biopic ''Tyson''.
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In a store, the [[Simpson family]] looks around for things they want to buy. While there, [[Comic Book Guy]] could not return his small-sized gimmicky belt because he does not have his proof of purchase. [[Bart]] obtains it from him for $4. He shows off its features to his classmates, but is then chased and beaten by the [[Springfield Elementary]] bullies, who steal his belt. In response, [[Homer]] meets with the bullies' parents at [[Moe's Tavern]] but is also beaten. Despite the force used against Homer, he does not fall down (explained by [[Dr. Hibbert]] as an ability gained from [[Simpson Gene#Homer Simpson Syndrome|a genetic defect]]). [[Moe]] is impressed enough to reveal that he used to be a boxer, and agrees to coach Homer. There is one problem - Homer's punches are especially weak - so Moe decides that Homer should wait for his opponents to get exhausted from pummeling him, then push them over.
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* The announcer is played by legendary boxing ring announcer [[Michael Buffer]].
 
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* The ring announcer announces [[Fat Tony]] as "Anthony 'Fat Tony' D'Amico", however, in "[[Bart the Murderer]]", his name was given as "William 'Fat Tony' Williams."
 
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* Above the boxing ring there is an advertisement for the Assassin shoes that Homer buys in the earlier episode "[[Bart's Dog Gets an F]]".
 
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* Moe says that no women have been to his bar since 1979, yet in [[Flaming Moe's]] he hires a female waitress.
 
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*The match referee is obviously based on veteran boxing referee Mills Lane.
 
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*In Moe's "office", there is a poster featuring [[Moe Szyslak]] vs [[Bill Oakley]] (One of the executive producers for the epidose), and [[Mark Kirkland]] vs [[David Silverman]] (both are animators on The Simpsons)
 
  
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== Cultural references ==
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Homer does well, mostly facing underfed homeless people, who cannot force him to fall. Eventually [[Lucius Sweet]], Moe's former boxing manager, arrives with a proposition for Moe; the two arrange a match between Homer and the powerful boxing champion [[Drederick Tatum]], in a massive star-studded event. Despite a promise to [[Marge]] to stop the fight if Homer's life is endangered, Moe is prepared to have Homer endure three rounds. Just seconds into the fight, it becomes clear that Tatum is brutal and inexhaustible, meaning that Homer is going to get killed. Homer realizes the original plan is not going to work, and decides to punch his opponent, but misses. Just as Tatum is about to strike a possibly fatal blow, Moe airlifts the badly-beaten Homer from the ring using {{W2|James Miller|parachutist|Fan Man's}} paramotor. During the credits, Moe, still with the para-motor, is shown saving people from natural disasters in [[India]].
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* The Homer v. Tatum bout is a reference to the film Rocky, where a local champion faces the heavyweight champion.
 
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*The title of this episode alludes to the 1956 movie ''The Harder They Fall'', the last film starring Humphrey Bogart. Its plot is the main inspiration for "The Homer They Fall". Bogart plays a washed up, cynical sports writer who agrees to lend his services to a criminal boxing promoter (played by Rod Steiger) by writing  stories that make a star out of an untalented, naive Latino boxer whose fights - unbeknownst to him - are all fixed. When that system doesn't work any more and the boxer is about to be thrashed for good in what would surely be his last fight, Bogart's conscience reawakes. He helps the boxer escape to his home country of Argentina before the gangsters can take back all the money he won in his short-lived career. Moe's role in this ''Simpson's'' episode is in fact a combination of the roles played by Steiger and Bogart in the movie. 
 
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*The character of Drederick Tatum is based on real life boxer Mike Tyson and his many run-ins with the law. Just before the fight with Homer, Drederick is seen walking to the ring with a group of shady looking characters walking behind him. This is also based on a real-life photo of Tyson.
 
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*The character of Lucius Sweet is an obvious parody of Don King, a vicious boxing promoter. Homer even points this out with the line "He's one of the biggest names in boxing! He's exactly as rich and as famous as Don King, and he looks just like him, too!" King was also the manager for Mike Tyson.
 
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*It is possible that Homer's "take punches until they're tired, then finish them off" is based on Muhammad Ali's Rope-a-dope tactic.
 
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*The montage of Homer's victories mid-episode spoofs ''Raging Bull''.  Some controversy has arisen about what song is exactly played during Homer's montage.  DVD commentary of the episode has attributed the song to an original [[Alf Clausen]] composition.  Some people alternatively have stated that it is "The Flower Duet" from Delibes' opera Lakme. However, there is no passage in "The Flower Duet" song that convincingly matches up with the boxing montage scene but it can be said that the song is done in the style and semblance of "The Flower Duet."  The song can also be a reference to Yanni's song Aria, based off the music of Lakme, and which was popular around this time due to its heavy usage in British Airways advertisements.
 
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*A lot of the training sequences are based on the movie ''Rocky'', including Homer running alongside Moe, Marge asking Moe not to let Homer fight and the line "You will always be a loser".
 
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*At one point in the episode, the screen freezes and turns to a black and white view of one of Homer's boxing opponents falling out of the ring. This scene is a parody of the 1924 painting ''Dempsey and Firpo'' by George Bellows.
 
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*Drederick Tatum's theme song is "Time 4 Sum Aksion" by Redman. It is the same song chosen by Mike Tyson for his first fight upon his prison release.
 
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*Homer's theme song is Why Can't We Be Friends?" by War. He also comes in wearing a robe labeled "Opponent".
 
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*The closing song is "People" sung by Sally Stevens.
 
  
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== Production ==
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<gallery>
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File:4F03 Script.jpg
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</gallery>
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== In other languages ==
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{{LanguageBox
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|it=yes
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|itName=Homer Toro Scatenato
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|itTrans=Raging Bull Homer}}
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{{Images|ep=yes}}
 
{{Season 8}}
 
{{Season 8}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homer They Fall, The}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homer They Fall, The}}
  
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[[Category:Episodes]]
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[[sv:The Homer They Fall]]
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[[Category:Season 8]]
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[[Category:1996]]
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[[Category:Homer episodes]]
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[[Category:Moe episodes]]
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[[Category:Sport-themed episodes]]
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[[Category:Episodes written by Jonathan Collier]]
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[[Category:Episodes directed by Mark Kirkland]]

Latest revision as of 13:08, March 28, 2024

Season 8 Episode
← 155 "You Only Move Twice"
156
"The Homer They Fall"
"Burns, Baby Burns" 157 →
"The Homer They Fall"
The Homer They Fall.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 156
Season number: S8 E3
Production code: 4F03
Original airdate: November 10, 1996
Chalkboard gag: "I am not my long-lost twin"
Couch gag: The family sit on the Couch in the western, then the couch runs away with them on it like a Horse.
Guest star(s): Paul Winfield as Lucius Sweet
Michael Buffer as himself
Showrunners: Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Written by: Jonathan Collier
Directed by: Mark Kirkland
DVD features


"The Homer They Fall" is the third episode of Season 8 of The Simpsons and the one-hundred and fifty-sixth episode overall. It originally aired on November 10, 1996. The episode was written by Jonathan Collier and directed by Mark Kirkland. It guest stars Paul Winfield as Lucius Sweet and Michael Buffer as himself.

Synopsis[edit]

"Bart buys an extravagant belt on a trip to the mall, but the school bullies beat him up and steal it. When Homer goes to confront the parents of the boys in Moe's Tavern he promptly receives a beating of his own. During the beating, however, Homer remains completely unfazed; Moe sees this and proposes to Homer that he test out his abilities in boxing."


Plot[edit]

In a store, the Simpson family looks around for things they want to buy. While there, Comic Book Guy could not return his small-sized gimmicky belt because he does not have his proof of purchase. Bart obtains it from him for $4. He shows off its features to his classmates, but is then chased and beaten by the Springfield Elementary bullies, who steal his belt. In response, Homer meets with the bullies' parents at Moe's Tavern but is also beaten. Despite the force used against Homer, he does not fall down (explained by Dr. Hibbert as an ability gained from a genetic defect). Moe is impressed enough to reveal that he used to be a boxer, and agrees to coach Homer. There is one problem - Homer's punches are especially weak - so Moe decides that Homer should wait for his opponents to get exhausted from pummeling him, then push them over.

Homer does well, mostly facing underfed homeless people, who cannot force him to fall. Eventually Lucius Sweet, Moe's former boxing manager, arrives with a proposition for Moe; the two arrange a match between Homer and the powerful boxing champion Drederick Tatum, in a massive star-studded event. Despite a promise to Marge to stop the fight if Homer's life is endangered, Moe is prepared to have Homer endure three rounds. Just seconds into the fight, it becomes clear that Tatum is brutal and inexhaustible, meaning that Homer is going to get killed. Homer realizes the original plan is not going to work, and decides to punch his opponent, but misses. Just as Tatum is about to strike a possibly fatal blow, Moe airlifts the badly-beaten Homer from the ring using Fan Man's paramotor. During the credits, Moe, still with the para-motor, is shown saving people from natural disasters in India.

Production[edit]

  • 4F03 Script.jpg

In other languages[edit]

Language Name Translation
Italy Flag.png Italiano "Homer Toro Scatenato" Raging Bull Homer


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "The Homer They Fall".
Season 8 Episodes
Treehouse of Horror VII • You Only Move Twice • The Homer They Fall • Burns, Baby Burns • Bart After Dark • A Milhouse Divided • Lisa's Date with Density • Hurricane Neddy • El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer • The Springfield Files • The Twisted World of Marge Simpson • Mountain of Madness • Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious • The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show • Homer's Phobia • Brother from Another Series • My Sister, My Sitter • Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment • Grade School Confidential • The Canine Mutiny • The Old Man and the Lisa • In Marge We Trust • Homer's Enemy • The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase • The Secret War of Lisa Simpson
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