Homer Defined vs. The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace

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Homer Defined

At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer is eating doughnuts. One of them splatters onto the nuclear reactor core's temperature dial, which is nearing the red zone. Homer fails to see the warning and the plant approaches a nuclear meltdown. He seems to be the only person who can stop it, though he has no skills and cannot remember any of his training (due to being distracted and occupied with a Rubik's Cube at the time). In desperation, he chooses a button at random with a counting rhyme, which miraculously averts the meltdown. Springfield is saved and Homer is hailed as a hero. Mr. Burns names Homer "Employee of the Month". Homer's family is also proud of him, especially Lisa, who starts to see him as a role model. Meanwhile, Homer himself is troubled by the fact that his so-called heroism was nothing but luck, and his gloomy mood deepens when he receives a congratulatory phone call from Magic Johnson, who tells Homer "People like that are eventually exposed as the frauds they are".

Burns introduces Homer to Aristotle Amadopoulos, the owner of the nuclear power plant in Shelbyville, Springfield's neighbor town. Amadopoulos wants Homer to give a pep talk to his plant's lackluster workers. Homer is hesitant to accept, but Burns forces him into it. At the Shelbyville plant, he gives a fumbling motivational speech. Suddenly an impending meltdown threatens the Shelbyville plant. Amadopoulos and Homer go to the control room, and Amadopoulos asks Homer to avert the meltdown. In front of everyone, Homer repeats his rhyme and presses a button blindly. By luck, he again manages to avert a meltdown. Amadopoulos thanks Homer for saving the plant, but angrily berates him for his stupidity. Soon the phrase "to pull a Homer", meaning "to succeed despite idiocy," becomes widely used and is entered into the dictionary.

In the subplot, the relationship between Bart and his friend Milhouse has changed. On the bus ride to school, Bart is upset to discover that Milhouse had held a birthday party without inviting him. It turns out that Milhouse's mother, Luann Van Houten, thinks Bart is a bad influence on Milhouse and has banned him from seeing Bart, a decision Milhouse is downbeat about but makes no effort to defy. Suddenly deprived of his friend, a depressed Bart resorts to playing with Maggie. When Marge finds out about the situation, she decides to visit Luann. Marge admits that Bart is a "bit of a handful," and she explains that he and Milhouse are best friends and only have each other, so she asks Luann to allow the boys to play together. Later, Milhouse invites Bart over to his house, and Bart thanks Marge for standing up for him.


The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace

Homer is shocked to hear on the radio that the average life expectancy for men is now 76.2 years, which makes him realize that, at 38.1, his life is half over. Marge informs him that he is actually 39, which depresses him even more. Homer thinks he has not accomplished anything that will be considered worthwhile after he dies. His family tries to cheer him up by showing him a film of his accomplishments and a special appearance by the character KITT from the Knight Rider television series that Homer is a fan of. When the film projector stops working, Lisa mentions that Thomas Edison invented the projector as well as many other inventions. Homer decides to learn more about Edison and eventually idolizes him. He becomes so obsessed with him that he unknowingly begins to annoy people with stories about Edison's life and inventions. In an attempt to follow in Edison's footsteps, Homer quits his job at the power plant to become an inventor.
Thomas Edison inspires Homer to begin inventing

Homer gets to work and develops a few inventions, such as an alarm that beeps every three seconds when everything is alright, a shotgun which shoots make-up onto women's faces, an electric hammer, and a reclining chair which has a built-in toilet. None of these inventions are well received by his family and he feels disappointed over his failure to invent anything useful. However, he soon becomes encouraged when he discovers that the family likes one of his other inventions – a chair with two hinged legs on the back, making it impossible to tip over backwards. His hopes are destroyed when he notices his poster of Edison, which shows Edison sitting in the same type of chair, indicating that he has already invented Homer's untippable chair. Bart points out that the chair is not featured on a list of Edison's inventions, and that maybe no one knows he invented it.

Homer and Bart therefore set out to the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, New Jersey with his electric hammer to destroy the chair. Before he smashes the chair, Homer notices a poster of Edison's which shows he had fewer inventions than Leonardo da Vinci. This means that Edison compared himself to Leonardo, much like Homer compares himself to Edison. Feeling a renewed connection to Edison, Homer decides not to destroy the chair. Homer also suggests that they destroy some of Leonardo's creations, but when Bart points out those are in Italy, Homer settles for taking it out on Eli Whitney.

Homer and Bart return to Springfield, without knowing that they left Homer's electric hammer behind at the museum. Later when the family watches the news on television, Kent Brockman announces that the chair and the electric hammer have just been discovered at the Edison Museum and are expected to generate millions for Edison's already wealthy heirs. After Lisa complains that it should have been Homer's money, Homer angrily comments that it is a good thing he is sitting on his reclining toilet chair.

[Chris_H_2]

Homer, you've got it set to whore.

[E.H. Ruddock]

I love Homer Defined.

[LoathedVermin72]

Both great episodes, but I gave it to Wizard by a hair.

[tragabigzanda]

Tough call. I remember both eps, but should watch them again to get a refresh on the jokes.

[LoathedVermin72]

Watching Homer Defined right now.

"Nuclear reactors are a lot like women: you just have to read the manual and push the right button."