Homer to the Max

"Homer to the Max"
The Simpsons episode
Character "Homer Simpson" in his first episode of Police Cops
Episode no.	216
Prod. code	AABF09
Orig. airdate	February 7, 1999
Show runner(s)	Mike Scully
Written by	John Swartzwelder
Directed by	Pete Michels
Chalkboard gag	"No one wants to hear about my sciatica"
Couch gag	Marge carries a laundry basket and hangs sheet versions of Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie on a clothesline in the living room.
Guest star(s)	Ed Begley, Jr. as himself
DVD commentary	Mike Scully Richard Appel Matt Selman Ron Hauge Pete Michels
Season 10 August 23, 1998 – May 16, 1999 "Lard of the Dance" "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" "Bart the Mother" "Treehouse of Horror IX" "When You Dish Upon a Star" "D'oh-in in the Wind" "Lisa Gets an "A"" "Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble"" "Mayored to the Mob" "Viva Ned Flanders" "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" "Homer to the Max" "I'm with Cupid" "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"" "Make Room for Lisa" "Maximum Homerdrive" "Simpsons Bible Stories" "Mom and Pop Art" "The Old Man and the "C" Student" "Monty Can't Buy Me Love" "They Saved Lisa's Brain" "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo" List of all The Simpsons episodes
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"Homer to the Max" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons' tenth season, which originally broadcast on February 7, 1999.^[1] Homer discovers that a television show broadcasting in Springfield, Police Cops, has a hero also named Homer Simpson. He is delighted with the positive attention he receives because of the show. However, when the television character is changed from a hero to a bumbling idiot, Homer is mocked and taunted by those he knows, so he changes his name to "Max Power" to rid himself of the negative attention. He gains new friends, and is forced into a protest to prevent a forest from being knocked down. In the end, "Max" changes his name back to Homer. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Pete Michels.^[2] Overall, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 8.5.^[3]

Plot

The Simpson family looks through new mid-season TV shows, and realize they are all pretty lousy. They settle on a show called Police Cops, a show which follows a suave detective named Homer Simpson and his partner. Homer is delighted with the positive attention he receives because he shares the dashing, intelligent character's name. Despite the family telling him it is just a coincidence, Homer begins to receive congratulatory phone calls. He begins imitating the character, adopting his distinctive scarf and catchphrase, "...and that's the end of that chapter." Unfortunately, by the second episode of Police Cops, the Homer Simpson character has been rewritten into a stupid, fat, and lazy detective who uses the catchphrase "Uh-oh, Spaghettios!" when he makes a mistake, which results in Homer being mocked by his friends. Humiliated at being laughed at and being the subject of negative attention, Homer appeals to the producers to change the character back, demanding why they changed the character to being so stupid. When the producers refuse to either explain their reasons or change the character back, Homer legally changes his name to "Max Power" (a name he got off a hair dryer) after unsuccessfully attempting to sue the company for improper usage of his old name.

Though Max seems to be more well-adjusted with his new name as all the negative attention had faded away for good, Marge is somehow worried that he changed his name without consulting her, saying that she fell in love with "Homer Simpson". At work, Mr. Burns is impressed by the new name and compliments Max, who decides to shop at Costington's in order to further improve his image. There, he meets a successful businessman named Trent Steel and, after a chat, they go out to lunch. Trent invites Max and family to a garden party. Despite Marge's reservations, the couple attend the party, where they meet lots of famous people, including actor Woody Harrelson, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton, TV producer Lorne Michaels and actor Ed Begley, Jr. Max finds out that the garden party is nothing more than an excuse to save a redwood forest from destruction, something which Max does not like.

After traveling with the party guests to the forest, Max, Marge, and the rest of the guests chain themselves to the trees in order to prevent the bulldozers from knocking them down. Chief Wiggum arrives and decides to get rough with the protesters. Eddie and Lou start chasing Max around his tree, trying to "swab" him with mace. However, as he runs round and round the tree, the chain around Max begins cutting into the tree. The huge redwood falls, knocking down all the other redwoods in a large domino-like chain reaction, angering their newfound friends. That night at home, Marge is happy that Max has changed his name back to "Homer Simpson". Homer, however, informs Marge that while he was at the courthouse, he took the opportunity to change her name to "Chesty La Rue", and if she doesn't like it she can have the name Busty St. Claire or Hootie McBoob.

Production

Pete Michels, director of the episode, had read a story in the newspaper about people with famous names. He came up with a way of how Homer's life could be affected if he saw someone on TV with his name.^[4] While creating the Homer Simpson television character, the production staff was deciding if the character should be "cool" throughout the episode, or if he should be an idiot from the beginning.^[5] The staff decided to use both methods and have him become an idiot after being seen as cool in the first episode of the new program. The hat Homer wears while walking through the mall is a parody of one owned by Woody Allen.^[5] Ron Hauge, a The Simpsons show producer, suggested the name Max Power to a friend who wanted to change his name. His friend, however, did not take it.^[6] The episode would also inspire Tom Martin's cousin to name his son Max Power.^[7]

Cultural references

The TV show Police Cops is a parody of the television series Miami Vice.^[6] One of the new TV shows features Archie Bunker in the show All in the Family 1999.^[5] Homer suggests the names Hercules Rockefeller, Rembrandt Q. Einstein, and Handsome B. Wonderful to Judge Snyder for his name change.^[2] The "Max Power" song is sung to the melody of the "Goldfinger", the theme from the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964).^[2] Actor Woody Harrelson, President Bill Clinton and producers Lorne Michaels, Brian Grazer and Jerry Bruckheimer are shown in attendance at the party.^[2][5]

Reception

"Homer to the Max" finished 39th in the weekly ratings for the week of Feb 1–7, 1999, with a Nielsen rating of 8.5.^[3] Morgan Larrick of About.com noted "Homer to the Max" as "one of the most unforgettable episodes".^[8] 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 that though it was "funny in all the right places, this is an episode of two distinct stories, neither of which mesh together. The whole Ed Begley Jr. saving the forest bit seems to have been tacked on, as if the stuff about Homer finding his name being abused (shades of Mr Sparkle again?) ran out of steam. Not a bad show, more a sort of 'So what?' show."^[2] Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a 7.7/10 rating, commenting that "it has a number of really funny scenes and memorable lines", but overall "the storyline didn't really have anywhere to go and the final half of the third act is a complete waste of time."^[9]

References

1. ^ "Homer to the Max". The Simpsons.com. http://www.thesimpsons.com/#/recaps/season-10_episode-13. Retrieved 2008-09-07. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Homer to the Max". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season10/page12.shtml. Retrieved 2008-09-07. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Weekly Nielsen Ratings". The Stuart News. 1998-02-21. p. P10. 
4. ^ Michels, Pete (2007). The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season Commentary for the Episode "Homer to the Max" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Scully, Mike (2007). The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season Commentary for the Episode "Homer to the Max" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Hauge, Ron (2007). The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season Commentary for the Episode "Homer to the Max" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 
7. ^ Martin, Tom (2009). The Simpsons The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Pokey Mom" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 
8. ^ Larrick, Morgan. "The Simpsons -The Complete Tenth Season DVD". AnimatedTV.About.com. http://animatedtv.about.com/od/dvds/gr/simpdvd10.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-07. 
9. ^ Canning, Robert (2009-08-18). "The Simpsons Flashback: "Homer to the Max" Review". IGN. http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/101/1014826p1.html. Retrieved 2010-04-25. 

External links

The Simpsons portal

• "Homer to the Max" at The Simpsons.com
• "Homer to the Max" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
• "Homer to the Max" at the Internet Movie Database