The Simpsons/Homer Goes to College

Homer Goes to College
Season 5, Episode 3
Airdate	October 14, 1993
Production Number	1F02
Written by	Conan O'Brien
Directed by	Jim Reardon
← 5x02 Cape Feare	5x04 → Rosebud
The Simpsons — Season Five

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Homer Goes to College is the third episode of the fifth season of The Simpsons, and the eighty-fourth episode overall.

The episode centers on Homer – after being found out during a surprise inspection that he is uncertified as safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant – being made to enroll at the local college to get a degree in nuclear physics and keep his job. The resulting plot centers on Homer's belief that college life is much like what is seen in the movies, three nerds trying to help Homer focus on his studies but Homer – still focused on causing hijinks – gets them to join in a prank that gets the nerds expelled from school.

Guest Stars:

Notes

Title Sequence

• Blackboard: None.
• Couch Gag: After the family sits on the couch, a giant foot styled a la Monty Python's Flying Circus crushes them underneath.

Trivia

The Show

• In the scene where Homer gloats that he has been accepted to Springfield University and sets fire to a GED certificate on his wall includes an "accidentally on purpose" goof. Dan Castellaneta flubbed a line in the song "I Am So Smart!", wherein Homer sang "S-M-R-T ... I mean S-M-A-R-T!". Originally unscripted, the writers, producers and Castellaneta realized the humorous potential of the gaffe and it was left in the final print.

Allusions and References

• Animal House: Homer's attempt to turn his college experience into a wild frat party is based on the 1978 movie starring John Belushi. The movie Homer watches in preparation for what college life will be like (or, at least, what he thinks it will be like) School Of Hard Knockers, itself a parody of Animal House.
• Berzerk: The nerds use the phrases "Intruder Alert" and "Stop the Humanoid!", enunciated in robotic voices, much like the computer-synthesized voice in the 1980 arcade game, where a player-controlled humanoid must attack robots intent on killing him.
• Happy Days: While boarding (temporarily) at the Simpsons, the nerds address Homer and Marge as "Mr. S" and "Mrs. S," as other temporary long-term guests have done.
• The Internet: An early satire on the then-novel medium, where the nerds use the Simpsons' telephone landline for dial-up access (common in the early 1990s), and Usenet groups (the nerds being members of a Star Trek forum and a discussion debating the merits of Picard vs. Kirk).
• Let's Make a Deal: Mr Burns' attempt to bribe nuclear regulators with a "take-it-or-leave-it" style deal (a washer-dryer for the contents of a mystery box) is taken from the classic game show.

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