Homerpalooza
Encyclopedia
"Homerpalooza" is the 24th episode of The Simpsons
' seventh season
and originally aired on May 19, 1996. The plot focuses around Homer's depression about aging and no longer being cool, and his quest to become cool again by joining the "Hullabalooza" music festival as a carnival freak. The episode title is a play on the Lollapalooza
music festival. It would prove to be the last Simpsons episode written by Brent Forrester
and the last episode directed by Wes Archer. Peter Frampton
and musical groups The Smashing Pumpkins
, Cypress Hill
and Sonic Youth
guest star as themselves.
radio station
that plays Grand Funk Railroad
and is shocked to discover that all of the kids hate it, and have never heard of them. After several more days of the kids hating his music (which Bart calls "dinosaur bands"), Homer visits a music store and realizes that what he likes is no longer considered cool. As a result, Homer decides to take Bart and Lisa to the Hullabalooza music festival. At the festival, Homer tries to act cool by wearing a Rastafarian
hat, but all he does is humiliate himself and is confronted by an angry crowd of Generation X
ers who mistake him for a narc. After being tossed out by the crowd, Homer angrily kicks a cannon, which shoots one of Peter Frampton
's inflatable pig
s (purchased at "Pink Floyd
's yard sale") at his stomach. The festival head is impressed and Homer is hired as a part of the festival's freak show
.
As a result, Homer gets to go on tour with the festival and hangs out with The Smashing Pumpkins
, Cypress Hill
and Sonic Youth
. Homer suddenly finds himself living the high life: partying with big name rock stars and becoming respected among American youth, including Bart. As the tour approaches a stop in Springfield, Homer's stomach begins to hurt and he is sent to a veterinarian. The veterinarian advises Homer that if he performs his act one more time, his stomach will burst and he will die. Homer shrugs this news off, not wanting to lose his popularity. At first he decides to do his job, but at the last second he loses his nerve and dodges the cannonball. He is released from the festival and goes back to not being respected by his children.
, although it was written by Brent Forrester
, who felt that Cohen at least deserved a "story by" credit. To do research for this episode, Forrester went to one of the Lollapalooza concerts, which he thought would be a fun little perk, but ended up being a horrible experience. Several of the jokes in this episode are based on his experiences: cameras (including his own) were being seized and thrown in the garbage, there were numerous advertisements, several "sour faced teens", a real freak show and at one point a stranger approached Forrester and asked "how's it going, narc?"
During Homer's confrontation with the Hullabalooza crowd, there is a brief shot of Homer with the members of the musical group No Doubt
behind him. Gwen Stefani
's brother Eric Stefani
, who himself had been a member of the band, was working as an animator at The Simpsons at the time and added them in.
(Cypress Hill), alternative rock
(Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins) and a classic rock singer. Originally, Bob Dylan
was sought for this role, but he was replaced by Peter Frampton. Neil Young
and Pearl Jam
were also sought for the episode but turned down the offer.
Originally, Courtney Love
and Hole
were wanted for this episode, but they declined. According to the DVD commentary an unnamed group had said that if Courtney Love was in the episode, they would not be. An Entertainment Weekly
article revealed that the group was Sonic Youth. It was thought that Love would appear in the episode because she had recently done a movie with James L. Brooks
, but she never responded to the request. Love was wanted specifically for one joke which would be in an exchange between her and Homer:
Courtney Love: Hi Homer! I'm a big fan, Courtney Love.
Homer: Homer Grateful!
However, she did not appear and the joke was reworded for Billy Corgan
of the Smashing Pumpkins:
Billy Corgan: Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins.
Homer: Homer Simpson, smiling politely.
. Several of the scenes where Homer is hit with a cannonball are based on famous stock footage
of Frank "Cannonball" Richards being hit with a cannonball. Otto's drug-induced hallucination of his "talking shoes" are based on the opening of the album version of the song "1999
" by Prince
. Homer's walk in one scene parodies the walk in the Keep on Truckin' comic that was drawn by Robert Crumb
.
of 7.8, equivalent to approximately 7.5 million viewing households. It was the third highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following X-Files and Married... with Children
.
The BBC website called the episode "One of the most memorable episodes, if not one of the greatest – the satire on youth counterculture is well handled, and Homer's flashback to his youth is fabulous." and IGN.com would also state that the episode was one of the best of Season 7. In a list of the 25 greatest guest voices on the show, released September 5, 2006, IGN
.com ranked the Hullabalooza performers 23rd. The noise rock
version of the end credits performed by Sonic Youth has been ranked among the best versions of the theme by Matt Groening and also by Chris Turner in his book Planet Simpson. Bill Oakley has said that Peter Frampton is one of his favorite guest stars and he wished he could have done a TV show with him.
Alternatively, the Rover Hendrix act break joke has been called one of the worst jokes in Simpsons history by the writers and producers. In 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times
listed the Smashing Pumpkins' and Cypress Hill's performances among the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show. Andrew Martin of Prefix Mag named Cypress Hill
his sixth favorite musical guests on The Simpsons out of a list of ten.
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 7)
The Simpsons seventh season originally aired on the Fox network between September 17, 1995 and May 19, 1996. The show runners for the seventh production season were Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein who would executive produce 21 episodes this season. David Mirkin executive produced the remaining...
and originally aired on May 19, 1996. The plot focuses around Homer's depression about aging and no longer being cool, and his quest to become cool again by joining the "Hullabalooza" music festival as a carnival freak. The episode title is a play on the Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
music festival. It would prove to be the last Simpsons episode written by Brent Forrester
Brent Forrester
Brent Forrester is an American writer, who wrote several episodes of the animated television sitcom The Simpsons between 1993 and 1997. He has also worked as an executive producer on King of the Hill, and a writer on The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show with Bob and David, Undeclared, and The Office...
and the last episode directed by Wes Archer. Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
and musical groups The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
, Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
and Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
guest star as themselves.
Plot
After the school bus is destroyed at the auto wrecking yard, Homer is forced to drive his (and other) kids to school. Along the way, he listens to a classic rockClassic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
that plays Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad
Grand Funk Railroad is an American rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad toured constantly to packed arenas worldwide. A popular take on the band during its heyday was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them...
and is shocked to discover that all of the kids hate it, and have never heard of them. After several more days of the kids hating his music (which Bart calls "dinosaur bands"), Homer visits a music store and realizes that what he likes is no longer considered cool. As a result, Homer decides to take Bart and Lisa to the Hullabalooza music festival. At the festival, Homer tries to act cool by wearing a Rastafarian
Rastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
hat, but all he does is humiliate himself and is confronted by an angry crowd of Generation X
Generation X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...
ers who mistake him for a narc. After being tossed out by the crowd, Homer angrily kicks a cannon, which shoots one of Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
's inflatable pig
Pink Floyd pigs
Inflatable Pink Floyd flying pigs were one of the staple props of their live shows. The first was a sow, but a very obviously male pig appeared in the 1980s...
s (purchased at "Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's yard sale") at his stomach. The festival head is impressed and Homer is hired as a part of the festival's freak show
Freak show
A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with both male and female secondary sexual characteristics, people with other extraordinary diseases and...
.
As a result, Homer gets to go on tour with the festival and hangs out with The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
, Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
and Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
. Homer suddenly finds himself living the high life: partying with big name rock stars and becoming respected among American youth, including Bart. As the tour approaches a stop in Springfield, Homer's stomach begins to hurt and he is sent to a veterinarian. The veterinarian advises Homer that if he performs his act one more time, his stomach will burst and he will die. Homer shrugs this news off, not wanting to lose his popularity. At first he decides to do his job, but at the last second he loses his nerve and dodges the cannonball. He is released from the festival and goes back to not being respected by his children.
Production
The entire story of this episode is the brainchild of David CohenDavid X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
, although it was written by Brent Forrester
Brent Forrester
Brent Forrester is an American writer, who wrote several episodes of the animated television sitcom The Simpsons between 1993 and 1997. He has also worked as an executive producer on King of the Hill, and a writer on The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show with Bob and David, Undeclared, and The Office...
, who felt that Cohen at least deserved a "story by" credit. To do research for this episode, Forrester went to one of the Lollapalooza concerts, which he thought would be a fun little perk, but ended up being a horrible experience. Several of the jokes in this episode are based on his experiences: cameras (including his own) were being seized and thrown in the garbage, there were numerous advertisements, several "sour faced teens", a real freak show and at one point a stranger approached Forrester and asked "how's it going, narc?"
During Homer's confrontation with the Hullabalooza crowd, there is a brief shot of Homer with the members of the musical group No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
behind him. Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...
's brother Eric Stefani
Eric Stefani
Eric Matthew Stefani is an American musician, composer, writer and animator, best known as a former member of the pop rock band No Doubt. He is the older brother of Gwen Stefani and is also a former animator on the animated sitcom The Simpsons.-Biography:Stefani attended Loara High School in...
, who himself had been a member of the band, was working as an animator at The Simpsons at the time and added them in.
Casting
The writers were aiming to have artists that represented several genres: hip hopHip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
(Cypress Hill), alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
(Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins) and a classic rock singer. Originally, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
was sought for this role, but he was replaced by Peter Frampton. Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
were also sought for the episode but turned down the offer.
Originally, Courtney Love
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
and Hole
Hole (band)
Hole is an American alternative rock band that originally formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The band is fronted by vocalist/songwriter and rhythm guitarist Courtney Love, who co-founded Hole with former songwriter/lead guitarist Eric Erlandson...
were wanted for this episode, but they declined. According to the DVD commentary an unnamed group had said that if Courtney Love was in the episode, they would not be. An Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
article revealed that the group was Sonic Youth. It was thought that Love would appear in the episode because she had recently done a movie with 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...
, but she never responded to the request. Love was wanted specifically for one joke which would be in an exchange between her and Homer:
Courtney Love: Hi Homer! I'm a big fan, Courtney Love.
Homer: Homer Grateful!
However, she did not appear and the joke was reworded for Billy Corgan
Billy Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
of the Smashing Pumpkins:
Billy Corgan: Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins.
Homer: Homer Simpson, smiling politely.
Cultural references
The flashback where Homer meets the guys in the van is based on Dazed and ConfusedDazed and Confused
"Dazed and Confused" is a song by Jake Holmes, which was covered by The Yardbirds, and later reworked by Led Zeppelin who hold a separate copyright on the song.-Jake Holmes:...
. Several of the scenes where Homer is hit with a cannonball are based on famous stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
of Frank "Cannonball" Richards being hit with a cannonball. Otto's drug-induced hallucination of his "talking shoes" are based on the opening of the album version of the song "1999
1999 (song)
"1999" is a song by Prince, the title track from his 1982 album of the same name. The song is one of Prince's best-known, and a defining moment in his rise to superstar status....
" by Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
. Homer's walk in one scene parodies the walk in the Keep on Truckin' comic that was drawn by Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
.
Soundtrack
Music in this episode:- "Shinin' OnShinin' OnShinin' On is the eighth album by Grand Funk Railroad, released in 1974. Although not as successful as its predecessor, We're an American Band, it peaked at #5 in the US and was certified gold. The original cover was done in bi-visual 3-D and included the required blue and red lensed glasses to...
" by Grand Funk RailroadGrand Funk RailroadGrand Funk Railroad is an American rock band that was highly popular during the 1970s. Grand Funk Railroad toured constantly to packed arenas worldwide. A popular take on the band during its heyday was that, although the critics hated them, audiences loved them... - "Mississippi QueenMississippi Queen"Mississippi Queen" is a song by the American rock band Mountain. Considered a rock classic, it was their most successful single, reaching #21 in the Billboard Hot 100 record chart in 1970...
" by MountainMountain (band)Mountain is an American hard rock band that formed in Long Island, New York in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist Felix Pappalardi and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today... - "ZeroZero (song)"Zero" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the third single from their third album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, and was a return to the familiar angsty rock of the first single, "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". This style of their music was called...
" by The Smashing Pumpkins - "You Make Me Feel Like DancingYou Make Me Feel Like Dancing"You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" is a song by the British singer Leo Sayer, taken from his 1976 album Endless Flight. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it his first number one single in United States, and #2 on the UK Singles Chart...
" by Leo SayerLeo SayerLeo Sayer is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. Sayer became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. Sayer was a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s...
(sung by Homer & Barney) - "Do You Feel Like We DoDo You Feel Like We Do"Do You Feel Like We Do" is a song by Peter Frampton originally on the Frampton's Camel album released in 1973. The song became one of the highlights of his live performance in following years...
" by Peter Frampton - "Insane in the BrainInsane in the Brain"Insane in the Brain" is a hit single by the American hip hop group Cypress Hill. It was released in 1993 and in addition to hitting number 1 on the US rap chart, the song also was a surprise crossover hit, reaching number 19 in the Hot 100 chart in 1994. It was highly successful in other countries...
" by Cypress Hill - "FrankensteinFrankenstein (song)"Frankenstein" is a rock instrumental by The Edgar Winter Group from their album They Only Come Out at Night.In live performances of the song, Edgar Winter further pioneered the advancement of the synthesizer as a lead instrument by becoming the first person ever to strap a keyboard instrument...
" by the Edgar Winter GroupEdgar WinterEdgar Holland Winter is an American musician. He is famous for being a multi-instrumentalist. He is a highly skilled keyboardist, saxophonist and percussionist. He often plays an instrument while singing. He was most successful in the 1970s with his band, The Edgar Winter Group, notably with their... - Sonic YouthSonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
plays their version of the theme over the end credits
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Homerpalooza" finished 57th in ratings for the week of May 13–19, 1996, with a 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...
of 7.8, equivalent to approximately 7.5 million viewing households. It was the third highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following X-Files and Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
.
The BBC website called the episode "One of the most memorable episodes, if not one of the greatest – the satire on youth counterculture is well handled, and Homer's flashback to his youth is fabulous." and IGN.com would also state that the episode was one of the best of Season 7. In a list of the 25 greatest guest voices on the show, released September 5, 2006, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
.com ranked the Hullabalooza performers 23rd. The noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
version of the end credits performed by Sonic Youth has been ranked among the best versions of the theme by Matt Groening and also by Chris Turner in his book Planet Simpson. Bill Oakley has said that Peter Frampton is one of his favorite guest stars and he wished he could have done a TV show with him.
Alternatively, the Rover Hendrix act break joke has been called one of the worst jokes in Simpsons history by the writers and producers. In 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
listed the Smashing Pumpkins' and Cypress Hill's performances among the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show. Andrew Martin of Prefix Mag named Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...
his sixth favorite musical guests on The Simpsons out of a list of ten.
External links
- "Homerpalooza" at The Simpsons.com