5. Dancin' Homer

Episode Title: "Dancin' Homer"
Episode Number: 18
Original Air Date: November 8, 1990

Plot Synopsis: The episode begins with Homer recounting the story of his "big break" to all the drunks down at Moe's Bar. During a "nuclear plant employee" night down at the local minor league baseball stadium (or, more specifically, the "Nuclear Plant Employee, Spouses and No More Than Three Children" night), Homer is worried that he can't get drunk during the game because he's been seated directly next to Mr. Burns. Much to everyone's surprise, Burns buys Homer a bunch of 72 ounce beers and gets him hammered enough to get up in front of everyone in their section and act as an unofficial mascot. Which he does, to great success.

Homer gets the job as the official mascot of the Springfield Isotopes from the team's owner. He is so successful during games (despite the actual team's stunning lack of success) that eventually he is "called up to the majors" and is offered the job as the official mascot for the Capital City Capitals. The Simpsons move to Capital City so that Homer can take part in the opportunity of a lifetime. Homer almost immediately fails at this, as nobody in Capital City cares about his mascot schtick at all, so they move back home. Everyone in Moe's Bar loved the story so much that they make him immediately tell it again for some reason.

Overall Thoughts: This is another episode told almost completely in flashback, similar in execution to season one's "The Telltale Head." In my review of that episode I literally said that "I can't for the life of me remember another episode" that does that. For those keeping score at home: this episode, coupled with the fact that I also obviously forgot about all those "when Homer and Marge were young" themed episodes from future seasons, means that I'm a big dumb idiot.

What Works: This episode features a good little story that, at its core, is really just about Homer wanting to make his family proud, albeit in a really indirect fashion. Homer is thrilled with the opportunity of his big break and even more thrilled when even Bart suddenly finds a new respect for him, and super bummed when nothing works out in the end. It's always been a touching sentiment that I think helps make the Simpsons more than just another animated family. Even though this isn't necessarily one of the strongest examples of that sentiment across the series, it still shows that the writers were always willing to inject at least a little real emotion into these scripts.

This episode also features lots of great lines. Homer has one of the best, when describing the thrill of getting up in front of people as "Dancin' Homer" at the minor league game: "For the first time in my life people weren't laughing at me, they were laughing towards me!" Marge also displays another classic example of the show's self-referential humor when she sees "Dancin' Homer" merchandise: "A Simpson on a t-shirt. I never thought I'd see the day."

The idea of "calling a mascot up to the majors" really makes me laugh, even if it is just a plot device.

What Doesn't Work: The first act goes on too long. Too much of it is just various members of the Simpson family, and eventually Mr. Burns, yelling at minor league baseball players. Though the sequence does start to pick up once Burns and Homer inexplicably start bonding over their love of, again, minor league baseball, it still felt like wasted time. Bleeding Gums Murphy taking forever to sing the National Anthem feels like a real joke. Bart, Lisa, Homer and Burns all yelling variations of "We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher!" feels like stalling for time.

The episode also ends very suddenly. Homer gets his big break, fails, goes back home and... that's really it. He does gain the admiration of everyone hanging out at Moe's, but not for any decent reason. They just make him tell the story over again. So he does. The end.

Speaking of which, I don't love the wraparounds in Moe's bar. The commentary tells me that they're there because the writers didn't know how to end the episode, which is fair enough, I suppose, but I don't think they really add anything of value to justify their own existence beyond "we now have an ending." They're mainly just expositional, which is a waste of great characters like Moe and Barney.

The staff also way, way oversells what is already the world's most obvious Lou Gehrig reference by suddenly switching the sequence where Homer proclaims that he's "the luckiest man on the face of the Earth" to black and white.

Closing Thoughts: This episode is a bit of a misstep compared to the previous four from season two. Though, to be fair, it isn't nearly the misstep that about half of "season one" is. The show is still very funny, but the problem is that the story of the episode itself, while great on paper, fumbles a bit during the actual execution.

Mr. Burns already can't remember Homer, even though he vowed to make sure his "dreams never come true" in the very last episode, which is good fun. I'm not sure if that had entirely become an intentional running joke yet, or if it began with this episode, but it's still great.

Lisa's admiration for Bleeding Gums Murphy's marathon rendition of the National Anthem, even when everyone else in the stadium is super bored, is a very nice touch.

From the "Noteworthy, I Guess" files: one of the player's ex-wives during the "Capital City" sequence sounds like Bart doing an impression of a middle-aged lady. To the point where, if you looked away from the screen for a second, you would no doubt ask yourself "Why is Bart doing an impression of a middle-aged lady?" This completes our presentation from the "Noteworthy, I Guess" files.

Final Grade (out of 10): 7