| "Homer the Moe"
|
| Episode Information
|
After Homer tells a bizarre story about Bart digging a hole in the backyard for no reason, Moe complains about the routine at his tavern. Recalling his days at Swigmore University, he decides to return there for some inspiration, and leaves Homer in temporary charge of the bar. At the university, Moe finds his old, dying professor, who advises Moe to improve his situation by modernizing his bar just before his professor drowns himself in the campus lake. Soon, the tavern is renovated by Formico, the self proclaimed "Dean of Design", into a swanky nightclub renamed “M” with a post-modern decor.
Homer and his bar-buddies Lenny, Carl and Barney find that they do not fit in with the new, affluent crowd, and miss their old tavern experience. Homer decides to convert his garage into a new tavern for himself and his friends. Meanwhile, Moe realizes that he does not fit in with his new clientèle either, and leaves to find Homer. Arriving at the Simpsons’ home, he finds that the new garage bar has quickly become quite popular, and even has the alternative rock band R.E.M. playing. When confronted by Moe with the fact that it is illegal to operate a bar in a private residence, Homer claims that it is in fact a hunting club (which, though indicated by a sign, angers Michael Stipe, lead singer of R.E.M. who was told by Homer that this was an environmental activist bar), citing a law book. Moe consults the book and determines that the club must engage in the sport of hunting. Homer decides that he will hunt for a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, despite Lisa’s objections.
Homer sets out the next day to find a turkey, but Lisa and Moe come up with a plan to stop him; using a whistle that sounds like a cougar, they distract him from his quarry. However, Homer mistakes the whistle for an actual cougar, and shoots Moe in the leg. After he apologizes, the Simpson family, Moe and R.E.M. return to Moe’s tavern, reverted to its original decor, for a Thanksgiving meal of a turkey, made “entirely of tofu and gluten” provided by Michael Stipe.
