King-Size Homer vs. Mountain of Madness

[stip]

King-Size Homer

Mr. Burns organizes a morning calisthenics program at the nuclear power plant, much to everyone's delight but to the dismay of Homer (the only worker who hates doing five minutes of light aerobic exercise). After learning that someone who is disabled can work from home, and thus be excluded from the exercise program, Homer tries to find a way to achieve this goal. Homer soon discovers that any employee that weighs 300 pounds (136 kg) or more qualifies as disabled, and so he decides to gain the 61 pounds he needs to reach 300. He begins eating excessively, despite Marge and Lisa's repeated warnings that he could seriously endanger his health. With Bart's help, Homer soon reaches his goal, and Mr. Burns installs a stay-at-home work terminal in the Simpson house.

Homer is given simple responsibilities but he still neglects his responsibilities as a safety inspector by simply typing "yes" every time the system prompts him. He also discovers he can no longer fit in his clothes, and he takes up wearing a muumuu as a result. Looking for shortcuts, he leaves his terminal, with a drinking bird to press the Y key to indicate "yes" on the keyboard and goes out to see a film. Refused admission because of his size, Homer is angered after the cinema manager and other members of the public tease him about his appearances. He immediately leaves, claiming that he is not food crazy and that overweight people are as hardworking as anyone else. Returning home, he discovers in his absence that the nodding drinking bird fell over and that a nuclear meltdown is about to take place at the plant unless the system is manually shut down. As he is unable to prevent it via the computer and unable to phone the plant and warn them because his fingers have become too fat to dial properly, Homer tries to run, skateboard, and drive to the plant, all of which fail as a result of his obesity. He eventually gets to the plant by stealing an ice cream truck. Homer arrives at the power plant and climbs up to reach the manual shutdown button, but ends up accidentally falling onto the gas store, blocking the release tube with the oversized lower half of his body and thus preventing the explosion. As a reward for turning the "potential Chernobyl" into a "mere Three Mile Island", Mr. Burns gives Homer a medal and guarantees that he will make Homer thin once more after he gets decontaminated from the tank. But when Homer could not even do one sit-up in their first work-out session, Mr. Burns reluctantly decides to simply pay for liposuction instead, much to Homer's delight.

Mountain of Madness

Mr. Burns decides to hold a good old-fashioned fire drill in order to excite things up around the plant. Upon hearing the bells ring, the employees panic and fail to clear the plant within 15 minutes. Outraged, Burns declares that everyone will be subjected to a teamwork competition at Mt. Useful. Homer brings his family to the mountain, not realizing it was only for employees, so he leaves them in the visitor center. Homer ends up being partnered with Burns while Smithers has to journey on his own, fuming that he was not paired with his boss. The object of this competition is to reach a cabin at the top of the mountain; the last team to arrive will be fired.

Along the way, Burns talks Homer into cheating and they use a snowmobile (which Burns refers to as a "horseless sleigh") to reach the cabin. Arriving several hours early, they settle down in the comfortable surroundings. Burns and Homer quickly become friends. However, while clinking their champagne glasses, they inadvertently cause an avalanche that buries the entire cabin. Despite Burns's attempt to operate a telegraph machine or Homer's attempt to dig a tunnel through the snow, they remain trapped. The pair attempt further tunneling escapes, but each time they speak, they cause more avalanches that place even more snow between them and freedom. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa meet Smithers and offer to help him proceed to the cabin, though they cause more stalling than helping.

Back in the cabin, Burns and Homer are beset by cabin fever. They build snowmen to pass the time (though Burns insists they build real men out of snow) and clothe them at the expense of their own warmth. The other employees reach what appears to be their destination; however, it is actually a ranger station and they begin to realize that something bad has happened to their colleagues. In the cabin, Homer and Burns stare at each other's eyes, filling their minds with paranoia. They are both driven mad and attempt to kill each other. After a vicious struggle, Burns ignites the cabin's propane tank, launching the building out of the snow and propelling it toward the horrified onlookers. Once it comes to a halt, Mr. Burns reminds everyone of the contest, and all the workers hurry inside.

Lenny is the last person in the cabin, and is told he is fired. Burns is informed the completion time of the competition has set a new record, and then decides that no one will be fired after all (although Lenny, who is outside and falls into a crevasse, does not know that). The episode ends with Mr. Burns and Homer alternately laughing and glaring at each other

[stip]

fuck

[Jorge]

Mountain of Madness! C'mon man!

[tragabigzanda]

King-Size Homer has few laughs, but those it does have are stronger.

[LoathedVermin72]

Two classics, but MOM is better.

[doug rr]

[Norah]

Sir, I am in your debt.