HOMЯ
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"HOMЯ"
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Episode Information
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"HOMЯ" is the ninth episode of season 12. It originally aired on January 7, 2001.
Synopsis
An x-ray reveals that Homer has a crayon lodged in his brain that has been there since childhood. Upon removal of the crayon, Homer's IQ suddenly jumps to a very high level; he and Lisa form a great new bond, but when his way of life changes drastically he wonders if removing the crayon was a good idea.
Plot
When the family visits the Sick, Twisted and Totally F***ed up Animation Festival,[1] Homer discovers Animotion, a motion capture technology that enables a cartoon character to mimic a human's movements. He likes it so much that he invests the family's life savings in Animotion. The next day at work, Homer checks his stocks, the operator tells him that Animotion's stock is up by one. Homer shouts,"Yahoo!" and the operator tells him that Yahoo!'s stocks are up by six. Homer says,"Huh? What the hell is this crap?" and the operator tells him FOX's stocks are down by eight. The next day, Homer learns that the Animotion has gone into "super-duper" bankruptcy. To earn the family's life savings money back, Homer takes a job at a medical testing center. During one experiment, the doctors find a crayon lodged in Homer's brain from when he was a child, which has been the cause of his life-long stupidity.
After the crayon is removed, Homer's IQ goes up from 55 to 105 points, which allows him to form a bond with Lisa. Homer gives a speech at Springfield Elementary, where Nelson gives him a fake question, saying,"A-moron-says-what?" Homer responds with,"Not being a moron, I wouldn't know. However, [mumbles]" tricking Nelson into saying "what?" Homer says,"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your moron!" And all the children 'ha-ha!' Nelson. Homer then writes a report on the nuclear plant's safety, which results in the plant being shut down, and the laying off of all employees. Homer's friends, initially thrilled to have a smarter Homer around, quickly reject him, and a Homer model is even burned at Moe's Tavern, which he is not allowed in. Lisa tries to explain, with the aid of a graph, that as you get smarter, happiness decreases. Homer decides to put a crayon back in his brain, with the aid of Moe, who says he is an unlicensed surgeon, and describes the procedure as "the old Crayola oblongata". Homer arrives home his old, dumb, self, which initially disappoints Lisa. However, she finds a letter Homer wrote to her before the surgery, explaining that he now understands what it is like to be smart like her, and how much more he appreciates her because of this. When Homer comes into the living room eating a sandwich, Lisa runs up to hug him. Homer mistakes her for wanting his sandwich and pull away, then saying,"Oh, you want a hug." As they hug, Homer takes another bite of his sandwich and says,"Mmm... hug."
Production
The episode was written by current show runner Al Jean and directed by supervising director Mike B. Anderson. Jean based the episode's plot on Flowers for Algernon, a novel which he had read in the 8th grade.
Reception
The episode received extremely positive reviews from TV critics. The episode won the series a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour), making it the eleventh win for the series. The episode was nominated for various other awards, but lost to the Futurama episode, "The Luck of the Fryrish".
See also
References
