Homer Alone
Encyclopedia
"Homer Alone" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons
' third season
. It originally aired on the Fox network
in the United States on February 6, 1992. In the episode, stress at home causes Marge
to have a mental breakdown and she decides to go on a vacation. She leaves for a spa called Rancho Relaxo, putting Bart
and Lisa
into the care of her sisters Patty and Selma and leaving Maggie
at home with Homer
.
The episode was written by David M. Stern
and directed by Mark Kirkland
. Stern had noticed that most of the writers were pitching stories about Bart and Homer, and he thought a "deeper vein of comedy" could be reached by having Marge suffer from a nervous breakdown. Originally, Marge's trip was to a distressed mother's institute rather than a spa. However, the plot was not well-received at the table read for the episode and much of it was re-written. The episode's title references the film Home Alone
which starred David Stern's brother Daniel
.
"Homer Alone" contains references to the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
cartoons, Thelma and Louise
and MacGyver
, while a portion of the song "Baby Come Back" by Player
is heard. The episode has received generally positive reviews from critics. During its original airing on the Fox network during February sweeps, it acquired a 14.2 Nielsen rating
.
becomes stressed from all of the chores she does for her family
. The day is particularly stressful as she must run several errands. While driving over a bridge, she listens to the radio and hears the DJs make a cruel prank call to a man. She suddenly snaps and parks her car in the middle of the bridge, blocking traffic. The police try to convince her to move her car, to no avail. Finally, Homer
arrives and convinces her to get out of the car, and she is promptly arrested by the police. Many women sympathize with Marge's plight, and Mayor Quimby
, hoping to gain popularity, orders her release.
That night, Marge decides to unwind by taking a vacation to a spa called Rancho Relaxo. She goes alone, putting Bart
and Lisa
into the care of her sisters Patty and Selma and leaving Maggie
at home with Homer. Marge enjoys her much-needed rest while the rest of the family have difficulty adapting to life without her. Homer finds that he is lonely, and not adept at taking care of Maggie. Bart and Lisa have a hard time adjusting to life with their aunts.
Maggie, upset about her mother's absence, makes her way out of the house looking for Marge and goes missing. After a long search from Homer and Barney
, Homer calls a baby search hotline. Meanwhile, Marge has done everything she wanted to do in her vacation and calls Homer to tell him she is coming back and he should pick her up at the train station. Maggie is found on the edge of the top of an ice-cream shop and is returned to Homer just in time for Marge's arrival. That night, Marge tells Homer and the kids, who are all sleeping next to her, that she would like more help around the house; they assure her she has nothing to worry about.
"Homer Alone" was written by David M. Stern
. He had noticed that most of the writers were pitching stories about Bart and Homer, and he thought a "deeper vein of comedy" could be reached by having Marge suffer from a nervous breakdown. Executive producer James L. Brooks
immediately approved the idea. Originally, Marge's trip was to a distressed mother's institute so they could show "what made Marge tick." However, the plot was not well-received at the table read for the episode. The writers then re-wrote much of the episode, switching the institute to a spa. They also added a video appearance from the fictional actor Troy McClure
, voiced by Phil Hartman
. According to executive producer Al Jean
, the writers often used McClure as a "panic button" when they felt an episode needed more humor. The episode's title references the movie Home Alone
; David Stern's brother Daniel
had starred in the movie as one of the main antagonists.
The episode was directed by Mark Kirkland
. The scene at the train station where Marge leaves for Rancho Relaxo includes a brief cameo appearance of a character modeled after Simpsons director Jim Reardon
. Reardon dislikes flying, and took trains whenever possible, so the animators always tried to include him in scenes at a train station. Susie Dietter
served as assistant director for the episode and animated several of the scenes for the subplot with Bart, Lisa, Patty and Selma. In a scene where Homer sings a song to Maggie, he was designed to look dishevelled because the writers had wanted him to look drunk, although no attention was called to it.
cartoons. The scene freezes, during which Bart and Homer's scientific names
are given as Brat'us Don'thaveacow'us and Homo Neanderthal'us respectively. The background in the sequence references the Hanna–Barbera tradition of using backgrounds over and over and making it look like there is an "endless living room." The scene where Marge is booked in prison references the Coen brothers
film Raising Arizona
. The song that plays while Homer is on hold on the missing child hotline is "Baby Come Back" by Player
. One of the films available at Rancho Relaxo is Thelma and Louise
, which Marge ends up watching. "Homer Alone" is the first episode of The Simpsons that shows Patty and Selma's fondness for MacGyver
, and Selma says "Richard Dean Anderson
will be in my dreams tonight."
and was viewed in approximately 13.08 million homes. It finished 25th in the ratings for the week of February 3–9, 1992, up from the season's average rank of 37th. The Simpsons was the highest rated show on Fox that week.
Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "After the first few minutes, this episode becomes less about Marge than the family's reliance on her. Bart and Lisa's torturous time at Patty and Selma's is wonderful [...], but it's Homer losing Maggie, and working out what to tell Marge upon her return, that provides the best jokes." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson felt that the episode "comes close to finding the series in a rut, as it sort of offers another iteration of the 'Homer's a bad father' theme. However, the emphasis on Marge's issues makes it different, and it's also fun to see life at Patty and Selma's place. It's another solid show." Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed gave the episode 3/5, writing, "The episode serves only to demonstrate what is already obvious: that Marge holds the family together. It's entertaining to see Homer struggle with the most basic of parenting skills, but this happens at the expense of all the other episodes this season that show him to be a good father (albeit flawed). Still, it's nice to see Marge get her own show."
Primus
bassist
Les Claypool
named his house "Rancho Relaxo" after the spa in this episode.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
The Simpsons (season 3)
The Simpsons third season originally aired on the Fox network between September 19, 1991 and May 7, 1992. The show runners for the third production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss who executive produced 22 episodes the season, while two other episodes were produced by James L. Brooks, Matt...
. It originally aired on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on February 6, 1992. In the episode, stress at home causes Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
to have a mental breakdown and she decides to go on a vacation. She leaves for a spa called Rancho Relaxo, putting Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
into the care of her sisters Patty and Selma and leaving Maggie
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
at home with Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
.
The episode was written by David M. Stern
David M. Stern
David M. Stern is an American television screenwriter. Among his first work in television was writing episodes of The Wonder Years in the late 1980s. He then proceeded to write several episodes of The Simpsons in the 1990s. In 2010, he developed the animated television series Ugly Americans...
and directed by Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland is an American director. He has directed 69 episodes, from 1990-present, of The Simpsons, more than any other person.-Career:...
. Stern had noticed that most of the writers were pitching stories about Bart and Homer, and he thought a "deeper vein of comedy" could be reached by having Marge suffer from a nervous breakdown. Originally, Marge's trip was to a distressed mother's institute rather than a spa. However, the plot was not well-received at the table read for the episode and much of it was re-written. The episode's title references the film Home Alone
Home Alone
Home Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy, who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation...
which starred David Stern's brother Daniel
Daniel Stern (actor)
Daniel Jacob Stern is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the Hollywood films C.H.U.D., Diner, City Slickers and the first two Home Alone films, and as the narrator for the television series The Wonder Years.-Early life:Stern was born in Bethesda, Maryland to a...
.
"Homer Alone" contains references to the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros., while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese...
cartoons, Thelma and Louise
Thelma and Louise
Thelma & Louise is a 1991 film co-produced and directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri, the film's plot revolves around Thelma and Louise's escape from their troubled and caged lives. It stars Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise, and co-stars Harvey Keitel as a...
and MacGyver
MacGyver
MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
, while a portion of the song "Baby Come Back" by Player
Player (band)
Player is an American rock band that made their mark during the late 1970s. The group scored a few US Hot 100 hits, three of which went into the Top 40 -two of those single releases went Top 10, including the #1 hit "Baby Come Back". That song was written by group members Peter Beckett and J.C....
is heard. The episode has received generally positive reviews from critics. During its original airing on the Fox network during February sweeps, it acquired a 14.2 Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
.
Plot
One day, MargeMarge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
becomes stressed from all of the chores she does for her family
Simpson family
The Simpson family is a family of fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town...
. The day is particularly stressful as she must run several errands. While driving over a bridge, she listens to the radio and hears the DJs make a cruel prank call to a man. She suddenly snaps and parks her car in the middle of the bridge, blocking traffic. The police try to convince her to move her car, to no avail. Finally, Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
arrives and convinces her to get out of the car, and she is promptly arrested by the police. Many women sympathize with Marge's plight, and Mayor Quimby
Joe Quimby
Mayor Joseph "Joe" Quimby, nicknamed "Diamond Joe," is a recurring character from the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and first appeared in the episode "Bart Gets an F". A member of the Democratic Party, Quimby is the mayor of Springfield, and is a...
, hoping to gain popularity, orders her release.
That night, Marge decides to unwind by taking a vacation to a spa called Rancho Relaxo. She goes alone, putting Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
into the care of her sisters Patty and Selma and leaving Maggie
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
at home with Homer. Marge enjoys her much-needed rest while the rest of the family have difficulty adapting to life without her. Homer finds that he is lonely, and not adept at taking care of Maggie. Bart and Lisa have a hard time adjusting to life with their aunts.
Maggie, upset about her mother's absence, makes her way out of the house looking for Marge and goes missing. After a long search from Homer and Barney
Barney Gumble
Barnard "Barney" Gumble is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The character is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the town drunk and Homer Simpson's best friend. His capacity for...
, Homer calls a baby search hotline. Meanwhile, Marge has done everything she wanted to do in her vacation and calls Homer to tell him she is coming back and he should pick her up at the train station. Maggie is found on the edge of the top of an ice-cream shop and is returned to Homer just in time for Marge's arrival. That night, Marge tells Homer and the kids, who are all sleeping next to her, that she would like more help around the house; they assure her she has nothing to worry about.
Production
David M. Stern
David M. Stern is an American television screenwriter. Among his first work in television was writing episodes of The Wonder Years in the late 1980s. He then proceeded to write several episodes of The Simpsons in the 1990s. In 2010, he developed the animated television series Ugly Americans...
. He had noticed that most of the writers were pitching stories about Bart and Homer, and he thought a "deeper vein of comedy" could be reached by having Marge suffer from a nervous breakdown. Executive producer James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
immediately approved the idea. Originally, Marge's trip was to a distressed mother's institute so they could show "what made Marge tick." However, the plot was not well-received at the table read for the episode. The writers then re-wrote much of the episode, switching the institute to a spa. They also added a video appearance from the fictional actor Troy McClure
Troy McClure
Troy McClure is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He was voiced by Phil Hartman and first appears in the second season episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment". McClure is a washed-up actor, usually shown doing low-level work, such as hosting infomercials...
, voiced by Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
. According to executive producer Al Jean
Al Jean
Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...
, the writers often used McClure as a "panic button" when they felt an episode needed more humor. The episode's title references the movie Home Alone
Home Alone
Home Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy, who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation...
; David Stern's brother Daniel
Daniel Stern (actor)
Daniel Jacob Stern is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the Hollywood films C.H.U.D., Diner, City Slickers and the first two Home Alone films, and as the narrator for the television series The Wonder Years.-Early life:Stern was born in Bethesda, Maryland to a...
had starred in the movie as one of the main antagonists.
The episode was directed by Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland is an American director. He has directed 69 episodes, from 1990-present, of The Simpsons, more than any other person.-Career:...
. The scene at the train station where Marge leaves for Rancho Relaxo includes a brief cameo appearance of a character modeled after Simpsons director Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon is an animation director and storyboard consultant, best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series, and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15...
. Reardon dislikes flying, and took trains whenever possible, so the animators always tried to include him in scenes at a train station. Susie Dietter
Susie Dietter
Susan E. Dietter, usually credited as Susie Dietter, is an American director, known primarily for her work on television cartoons. She has directed episodes of the popular series Futurama, Baby Blues, The Simpsons, Recess and The Critic. She also worked as an animator for the modern-day Looney...
served as assistant director for the episode and animated several of the scenes for the subplot with Bart, Lisa, Patty and Selma. In a scene where Homer sings a song to Maggie, he was designed to look dishevelled because the writers had wanted him to look drunk, although no attention was called to it.
Cultural references
The beginning of the episode where Homer chases Bart is a reference to the Warner Brothers Wile E. Coyote and Road RunnerWile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros., while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese...
cartoons. The scene freezes, during which Bart and Homer's scientific names
Binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...
are given as Brat'us Don'thaveacow'us and Homo Neanderthal'us respectively. The background in the sequence references the Hanna–Barbera tradition of using backgrounds over and over and making it look like there is an "endless living room." The scene where Marge is booked in prison references the Coen brothers
Coen Brothers
Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen known together professionally as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers...
film Raising Arizona
Raising Arizona
Raising Arizona is a 1987 comedy film directed by the Coen Brothers and starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand and Randall "Tex" Cobb. Not a blockbuster at the time of its release, it has since achieved cult status...
. The song that plays while Homer is on hold on the missing child hotline is "Baby Come Back" by Player
Player (band)
Player is an American rock band that made their mark during the late 1970s. The group scored a few US Hot 100 hits, three of which went into the Top 40 -two of those single releases went Top 10, including the #1 hit "Baby Come Back". That song was written by group members Peter Beckett and J.C....
. One of the films available at Rancho Relaxo is Thelma and Louise
Thelma and Louise
Thelma & Louise is a 1991 film co-produced and directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri, the film's plot revolves around Thelma and Louise's escape from their troubled and caged lives. It stars Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise, and co-stars Harvey Keitel as a...
, which Marge ends up watching. "Homer Alone" is the first episode of The Simpsons that shows Patty and Selma's fondness for MacGyver
MacGyver
MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
, and Selma says "Richard Dean Anderson
Richard Dean Anderson
Richard Dean Anderson is an American television and film actor, producer and composer. He began his television career in 1976 as Dr. Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series General Hospital, then rose to prominence as the lead actor in the television series MacGyver...
will be in my dreams tonight."
Reception
In its original airing on February 6, 1992 on the Fox network during February sweeps, the episode acquired a 14.2 Nielsen ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
and was viewed in approximately 13.08 million homes. It finished 25th in the ratings for the week of February 3–9, 1992, up from the season's average rank of 37th. The Simpsons was the highest rated show on Fox that week.
Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "After the first few minutes, this episode becomes less about Marge than the family's reliance on her. Bart and Lisa's torturous time at Patty and Selma's is wonderful [...], but it's Homer losing Maggie, and working out what to tell Marge upon her return, that provides the best jokes." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson felt that the episode "comes close to finding the series in a rut, as it sort of offers another iteration of the 'Homer's a bad father' theme. However, the emphasis on Marge's issues makes it different, and it's also fun to see life at Patty and Selma's place. It's another solid show." Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed gave the episode 3/5, writing, "The episode serves only to demonstrate what is already obvious: that Marge holds the family together. It's entertaining to see Homer struggle with the most basic of parenting skills, but this happens at the expense of all the other episodes this season that show him to be a good father (albeit flawed). Still, it's nice to see Marge get her own show."
Primus
Primus (band)
Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...
bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Les Claypool
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
named his house "Rancho Relaxo" after the spa in this episode.
External links
- "Homer Alone" at The Simpsons.com