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Season 01  ·  Episode 03

"Homer's Odyssey"

Episode Rating
Written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky
Most Valuable Character Marge
Why the MVC? Marge is only in this episode for about 30 seconds, but whenever she pops in she is easily the MVP due to how supportive she is of Homer. She's willing to do anything to support him and the family and give unconditional love. We don't talk enough about Marge, a true icon!
Best Joke The only open seat on the bus being next to sickly Wendell. Also, just the character design of Wendell.
Best Line Terri: “Hey, Bart, our dad says your dad is incompetent.” Bart: “What does incompetent mean?” Sherri: “It means he spends more time yakking and scarfing down doughnuts than doing his job.” Bart: “Oh, okay, I thought you were putting him down”
Couch Gag
What happens: The family runs to the couch, just as the sides fall off and the family is left sitting on the floor. It’s fine, but you can clearly tell that they were just dipping their toes into what the couch gag COULD be.
"Homer's Odyssey"
S01E03
Episode Synopsis

After an incident at the power plant, Homer is fired and realizes he has very little qualifications for any other jobs. However, after a near death experience Homer finds his true calling- public safety.

Homer's Odyssey is kind of a dull episode. Compared to the past two which were not only highly clever and funny, but also had compelling plot lines, this episode falls flat. There were very little jokes or visual gags that caught my attention or made me chuckle. It takes a dark turn when Homer steals Bart's piggy bank looking for some money to buy a beer... and then feels so much guilt from his actions that he goes to kill himself? There were no morals that stuck with me and the ending just felt predictable. Honestly, the opening where Bart and his class go on a field trip to the power plant was more compelling than anything that happened in the rest of the episode. The animation seems to have gone down in quality, which is really weird when you look at it next to the past two episodes which were already rough. To be fully honest, this was the first Simpsons episode that felt old. Not just in appearance, but also just the general layout and writing of the episode. It felt like I was watching something from the 80’s and not in the good nostalgic way. I find that the charm The Simpsons carries is it’s timeless laughter, the moment when a joke can still make me laugh even after 40+ years. This episode however didn’t have that same affect and was a 22 minute run that happened, and didn’t contribute anything to my day.

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EPISODE S01 · E03
TITLE "Homer's Odyssey"

MVC Marge
BEST JOKE The only open seat on the bus being next to sickly Wendell. Also, just the character design of Wendell.
BEST LINE Terri: “Hey, Bart, our dad says your dad is incompetent.” Bart: “What does incompetent mean?” Sherri: “It means he spends more time yakking and scarfing down doughnuts than doing his job.” Bart: “Oh, okay, I thought you were putting him down”

COUCH GAG
RATING