The loser

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Episode of the series The Simpsons
title The loser
Original title Homer's Odyssey
Country of production United States
original language English
length approx. 22 minutes
classification Season 1, episode 3
3rd episode in total ( list )
First broadcast January 21, 1990 on FOX
German-language
first broadcast		 October 11, 1991 on ZDF
Rod
Director Wesley Archer
script Jay Kogen ,
Wallace Wolodarsky
music Richard Gibbs
Guest appearance (s)

Christopher Collins as Mr. Burns

synchronization

 ►  Main article: Dubbing The Simpsons

chronology

←  Predecessor
Bart becomes a genius

Successor  →
A completely normal family

The failure ( English original title: Homer's Odyssey) is the third episode of the first season of the American animated series The Simpsons .

action

Bart takes his class on a field trip to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, where his father Homer works. There the witnesses how Homer pushes an electric cart into a cooling opening and is fired. Homer, who is now desperate, is unsuccessfully looking for a new job. Feeling like a failure, he writes a note to his family and decides to commit suicide by hanging a boulder from him and jumping off a bridge.

Lisa finds Homer's note and alerts the family. They rush to the bridge to save him, but are almost run over by a speeding truck. Homer gets them to safety just in time, and suddenly he has a new reason to live: to put a stop sign at the dangerous intersection. After successfully filing a petition with the city council, Homer goes on a public safety crusade, placing speeding and warning signs across the city.

Dissatisfied with his own efforts, Homer takes the greatest danger in Springfield, the nuclear power plant. After Homer brings people together for his cause, Mr. Burns decides to put an end to the excitement he has caused by offering Homer a new position as health and safety inspector and a higher salary. Torn between his principles and his livelihood, Homer tearfully tells his followers that from that point on they will have to fight their struggles alone and accepts the job.

Trivia

  • The character of Waylon Smithers was incorrectly animated as an African American in this episode. According to David Silverman, Smithers has always been conceived as a "white sycophant of Mr. Burns" and the writers thought it was "a bad idea to have a black submissive character". As a result, Smithers' character is now yellow in the other episodes.
  • Smithers also makes his first physical appearance in this episode. In addition, the characters Otto Mann, Chief Wiggum, Jasper Beardley, Sam and Larry, Mr. and Mrs. Winfield as well as Sherri and Terri have their first appearance.
  • The title of the episode comes from the Greek epic Odyssey , which is attributed to the poet Homer .
  • On the bus, Bart sings "At the Well in Front of the (Big) Gate," an American folk song about a 19th century working-class hero who builds railroads over the mountains of West Virginia.

reception

The episode received mostly mixed reviews after it was broadcast. Critics Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Inofficial Simpsons Guide , stated that "the story tends to blur in the end, but there are many good moments, especially at the Kraftwerk" .

Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide wrote that the episode “suffers a bit from a strange tone because the characters were not sedentary. Nevertheless it seems surprisingly clever and funny. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ / The Simpsons: The Complete First Season , accessed October 10, 2017