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Simpson and Delilah

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"Simpson and Delilah"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 2
Directed byRich Moore
Written byJon Vitti
Production code7F02[1]
Original air dateOctober 18, 1990 (1990-10-18)
Guest appearance
Episode features
Chalkboard gag"Tar is not a plaything"[2]
Couch gagThe family does a little Egyptian dance.[3]
CommentaryMatt Groening
Jon Vitti
Al Jean
James L. Brooks
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Bart Gets an 'F'" 		Next →
"Treehouse of Horror"
The Simpsons season 2
List of episodes

"Simpson and Delilah" is the second episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 18, 1990.[1] In the episode, Homer uses the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's medical insurance plan to buy Dimoxinil (a parody of Minoxidil), a miracle hair growth formula. When Homer's bald head sprouts a full mane of hair, he is promoted at work and hires a gay secretary named Karl. The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Rich Moore, and guest starred Harvey Fierstein as Karl.[3]

Plot

[edit]

Homer uses Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's medical insurance plan to pay for a hair restoring drug worth $1,000, although the plan doesn't actually cover the Dimoxinil treatment, because he's sick of being laughed at and overlooked because of his baldness. After applying the drug, he wakes up the next day with a full head of hair. Mr. Burns scans the security monitors to find someone to promote to the "token" position of junior executive. Mistaking Homer for a young, unspoiled go-getter, Mr. Burns promotes him.

When Homer has trouble finding a secretary who is not a seductive young woman, a man named Karl persuades Homer to hire him. Karl soon proves indispensable to Homer. When he forgets his own wedding anniversary, Karl hires a singing telegram service to serenade Marge with "You Are So Beautiful".

At an executive board meeting, Homer comes up with a way to increase worker productivity. After this, workplace safety improves and accidents decrease, and Smithers' correct observation that is due to Homer no longer being in a position to cause problems is mocked and dismissed by Mr. Burns. Homer spends his paycheck on home improvements and plans to give the kids what they always wanted, and when Marge is concerned he should save for a rainy day, Homer dismisses it by telling her that the good times are here to stay.

After Homer receives the key to the executive washroom, Smithers is angry that he is now in Mr. Burns's good graces while Smithers's loyal service is forgotten. Smithers attempts to get Homer fired for committing insurance fraud, but Karl takes the blame and is fired instead. Homer is nervous about giving a speech at the plant, and discovers Bart has spilled and ruined the contents of the miracle hair drug. Homer tells his son that he's caused a lot of damage and worst of all that "baldness is hereditary."

The next day, Homer loses all his hair, as he had to keep applying the drug on his head. Before the meeting, Karl appears with a prepared speech for Homer and reassures him that all his accomplishments were due to his will and effort, not his hair. Homer gives his speech, but the audience refuses to take him seriously because he has no hair and walks out on him. Mr. Burns gives Homer his old job back, sympathizing with him having male pattern baldness like Mr. Burns does.

At home that night, Marge insists that Homer's old "dead end" job as a safety inspector has always provided for the family and the kids will get over having less than their friends. When Homer is worried about his baldness making him ugly to Marge, she sings "You Are So Beautiful" to him.

Production

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Harvey Fierstein voiced Karl, and gave suggestions on the character's appearance.

Homer's hair product Dimoxinil is a spoof on a similar product, Minoxidil, which fascinated the writers.[4] The production staff tried to give Homer a new hairstyle in each scene after he grows hair, which started with his long hair, then changed into a 1970s small afro, then a close-cropped 1950s haircut, and finally a moussed 1980s hairdo with a small ponytail. Homer's final look was inspired by the television series Miami Vice.[4] The character Karl was played by openly gay actor Harvey Fierstein. Groening had originally intended to design Karl to look like Fierstein, who objected to the idea because he felt he did not "look like gay people, how they're supposed to look." Fierstein suggested that the character be made "blond, and tall, and gorgeous, and skinny, and [given] a beautiful place to live."[5]

In contrast to Albert Brooks, Dustin Hoffman, and Michael Jackson, who did not allow their real names to be used (Brooks later did), Fierstein was one of the very few early guest stars who was not embarrassed or reluctant to be associated with the show and welcomed his name in the credits.[4]

The episode features a kiss between Homer and Karl, which occurred a decade prior to US television's first real man-on-man kiss on Dawson's Creek.[6][7] In the episode, Karl is implied to be homosexual; creator Matt Groening says that when people began asking "was he gay?" the day after the episode aired, his response was "he's whatever you want him to be." However, Groening points out, "he does kiss Homer: He does give him a nice pat on the butt" which is "beyond [what] any other cartoon" had done at the time.[8]

Karl was originally supposed to return for a cameo appearance in the season 14 episode "Three Gays of the Condo". In the script, Homer was thrown out of the house by Marge, and encountered Karl. The purpose of the appearance was to introduce a gay couple that Homer would live with. Fierstein however felt that "the script was a lot of very clever gay jokes, and there just wasn't that Simpsons twist" and turned the role down.[5]

Cultural references

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The episode's title is a play on the biblical story of Samson, an Israelite judge with superhuman strength. All of his power was lost when his long hair was cut, similar to what happens to Homer when he loses his hair again. In the Bible, Delilah is Samson's lover, who betrays him by ordering a servant to cut his hair in his sleep and turns him over to Philistine lords.

Dimoxinil is an obvious play on Minoxidil, which at the time of this episode was much more costly and not available over the counter.

The scene in which Homer is running through town after he got his hair is a reference to the film It's a Wonderful Life.[3] The scene in which Homer receives the key to the executive washroom is a reference to the movie Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?[3]

When Homer meets Mr. Burns in the executive washroom, Burns shows his admiration for German World War II General Erwin Rommel, saying he watched a documentary on the DuMont Television Network about the 'Desert Fox' the night before. Burns exclaims "now there was a man who could get things done!"

The classical music heard in the executive washroom scene is from French composer Claude Debussy's string quartet in G minor.[9]

Reception

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During the second season, The Simpsons aired Thursdays at 8 p.m. on Fox, the same time as The Cosby Show on NBC.[10] The supposed "Bill vs. Bart" rivalry had been heavily hyped by the media.[11] The first airing of "Simpson and Delilah" had a 16.2 rating and 25% share, while The Cosby Show had an 18.5 rating. However, viewer-wise, The Simpsons won with 29.9 million viewers. It is one of the highest-rated episodes of The Simpsons.[12] "Bart Gets an 'F'", the season premiere and episode that aired the week before, averaged an 18.4 Nielsen rating, had 29% of the audience and was watched by an estimated 33.6 million viewers.[13]

This episode was placed twenty-third on Entertainment Weekly's top 25 The Simpsons episodes list.[14] The Daily Telegraph characterized the episode as one of "The 10 Best Simpsons TV Episodes."[15]

Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer, named it his favorite episode of the show together with "Lisa's Substitute" and "Homer the Heretic".[16] When The Simpsons began streaming on Disney+ in 2019, former Simpsons writer and executive producer Bill Oakley named this one of the best classic Simpsons episodes to watch on the service.[17]

Harvey Fierstein is number two on TV Guide's "All-time Favorite Guest Voices."[18] Entertainment Weekly named Fierstein's role as Karl as one of the sixteen best guest appearances on The Simpsons.[6] Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, praised Fierstein's performance, saying the episode was "brought to life by the superb character of Karl, helped no doubt by Harvey Fierstein's unique vocal drawl."[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Groening 2010, p. 55.
  2. ^ Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M.
  3. ^ a b c d e Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Simpson and Delilah". BBC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2003. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c Jean, Al (2002). Commentary for the episode "Simpson and Delilah". The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ a b Ortved, John (2009). The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History. Greystone Books. pp. 248–250. ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9.
  6. ^ a b "Springfield of Dreams: 16 Great 'Simpsons' Guest Stars". Entertainment Weekly. May 11, 2008. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2022. He is relisted in a 2010 article on Simpsons guest stars as well
  7. ^ Tucker, Ken (June 9, 2000). "Sweeps brings smooches". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved January 11, 2021. A scant few months later, The WB was promoting the May 24 season finale of Dawson's Creek on the strength of — whaddaya know — the first guy-on-guy kiss on network TV
  8. ^ Sadownick, Doug (February 26, 1991). "Groening Against the Grain; Maverick Cartoonist Matt Groening Draws in Readers With Gay Characters Akbar and Jeff". Advocate (571). Archived from the original on September 20, 2007. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "Simpson and Delilah (1990) Trivia". IMDB.
  10. ^ Reiss, Mike (2002). Commentary for the episode "Bart Gets an F". The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  11. ^ Walt Belcher (October 18, 1990). "" The Simpsons,' "Cosby' square off in second round". The Tampa Tribune. p. 6F.
  12. ^ "Bart vs. Bill results in a split decision!". The Record. October 23, 1990. p. B8.
  13. ^ Scott D. Pierce (October 18, 1990). "Don't have a cow, man! More viewers watch 'The Simpsons' than 'Cosby'!". The Deseret News. p. C5.
  14. ^ "The Family Dynamic". Entertainment Weekly. January 29, 2003. Archived from the original on April 17, 2007. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
  15. ^ Walton, James (July 21, 2007). "The 10 Best Simpsons TV Episodes (In Chronological Order)". The Daily Telegraph. p. 3.
  16. ^ Lawson, Tim; Persons, Alisa (2004). "Dan Castellaneta". The Magic Behind the Voices. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-57806-696-4.
  17. ^ Katz, Mathew (November 11, 2019). "The best classic Simpsons episodes on Disney+". Digital Trends.
  18. ^ Jones, Arnold Wayne (May 18, 2007). "The Simpsons Turns 400: We Name the Greatest Guests!". TV Guide. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
Bibliography
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