"Faith Off" is the eleventh episode of the
eleventh season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
''. It originally aired on the
Fox network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...
in the United States on January 16, 2000. In the episode,
Bart
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
believes he has the power to heal others through faith after removing a bucket glued to
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's head. Meanwhile, Homer creates a
homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia.
...
game
float
Float may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Albums
* ''Float'' (Aesop Rock album), 2000
* ''Float'' (Flogging Molly album), 2008
* ''Float'' (Styles P album), 2013
Songs
* "Float" (Tim and the Glory Boys song), 2022
* "Float", by Bush ...
for Springfield University.
The episode, which features guest appearances from
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned nom ...
and
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor.
Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeff ...
, received generally positive reviews from critics following its release on home video in the
season 11 DVD.
Plot
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
attends a
Springfield University reunion party, but it is really a fundraiser and he is forced to donate. To take revenge on the dean, Homer rigs a bucket of glue to fall on his head when he opens the front door of his home. However, Homer falls victim to an identical prank set up by a fraternity. It is impossible to remove the bucket.
The Simpson family come across a preacher’s revival tent. Despite his faith, the preacher cannot remove the bucket, but he lifts up
Bart
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
to try – and he does it. The preacher declares that Bart has the gift of
faith healing
Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...
.
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to:
People
People with the mononym
* Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam
* Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer
* Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
’s scientific explanation that metal bucket has expanded from the heat in the tent is dismissed. Bart starts his own revival movement and has great success apparently working cures.
Milhouse is convinced that Bart has cured his weak eyesight and is run over by a truck he thinks is a dog. In the hospital, powerless to cure him, Bart admits that his career as a faith healer is over.
Homer builds a float for the homecoming football game halftime show. He gets drunk and drives late onto the field, when the players are already there. He runs over Springfield U’s star place-kicker, breaking his leg.
Fat Tony has made a large
bet
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...
on SU and threatens to kill Homer if the team loses; Bart reluctantly prays to God for help in effecting a cure. Somehow, the player is apparently cured. He returns to the field and attempts a field goal. It looks as if it is just going to miss – but the lower half of his leg, severed, appears in the air and nudges it in. Springfield U have won.
Dr. Hibbert says that, with Bart’s help, he will be able to reattach the leg. Bart wearily repeats that he has no healing powers.
Production and themes
![JoeMantegnaMay08](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/JoeMantegnaMay08.jpg)
"Faith Off" was written by
Frank Mula
Frank Mula (January 20, 1950 – December 17, 2021) was an American television writer. He wrote for '' Cosby'', ''Madame's Place'', ''Grand'', ''The Simpsons'', and created the series '' Local Heroes'' which lasted 7 episodes.
Life and career
Mu ...
and directed by
Nancy Kruse
Nancy Kruse is a former animation director on ''The Simpsons''. She started working on the show during the first season as a background clean-up artist. After that she did background layout and character layout for several years on the show before ...
as part of the eleventh season of ''The Simpsons'' (1999–2000).
The episode features guest appearances from
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. (; born November 29, 1964) is an American actor. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including two Grammy Awards, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also earned nom ...
as Brother Faith and
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor.
Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeff ...
as
Fat Tony.
[ A major theme in "Faith Off" is the Christian practice of ]faith healing
Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...
. In his 2008 book ''The Springfield Reformation: The Simpsons, Christianity, and American Culture'', Jamey Heit wrote that "''The Simpsons'' reiterates the vibrancy that defines black Christianity in 'Faith Off.' A faith healer, Brother Faith, inspires Bart to nurture his spirituality. Bart responds to the call and at least for the rest of the episode embraces the spiritual vibrancy that he learns from a black Christian leader."
Release and reviews
The episode originally aired on the Fox network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...
in the United States on January 16, 2000. On September 4, 2000 the episode was included on the VHS compilation set ''The Simpsons: On Your Marks, Get Set, D'oh!''. On October 7, 2008, it was released on DVD as part of the box set ''The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season''. Staff members Mike Scully, George Meyer, Matt Selman, and Nancy Kruse participated in the DVD audio commentary
An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set. A song Bart sings in the episode, called "Testify", was released on the soundtrack album '' The Simpsons: Testify'' in 2007.
Reception from critics has been generally positive. While reviewing the eleventh season of ''The Simpsons'', DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented on "Faith Off", noting: "If nothing else, I like this one for the sight of Homer with the bucket stuck on his head; something about seeing him with those little eyeholes entertains me. Otherwise there’s not much powerful at work here. The healing plot is a decent one, and Don Cheadle gives us a good guest performance. The program is fine but not much more than that."
Nancy Basile of About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
, on the other hand, listed the episode as one of the episodes she felt "shined in season eleven". Alison Kerr of '' The Herald'' called the episode "brilliant".
In his review of the eleventh season, Den of Geek critic Mark Oakley wrote that "there are some fine episodes to be found", such as "Faith Off", which he described as a "highlight". He added that the "song Testify harks back to the brilliance of the show’s great musical numbers like The Stonecutters Song."[ In 2003, the '']Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
''s Gregory Hardy named "Faith Off" the fifth best episode of the show with a sports theme.
Jerry Greene, another ''Orlando Sentinel'' columnist, listed the episode at number seven on his 2004 list of the show's "Top 10 Sporting Episodes". He particularly liked the inscription on Springfield University's gateway that says: "If you can read this, you're accepted."
In popular culture
Singer-songwriter Mitski
Mitski Miyawaki (born Mitsuki Laycock; September 27, 1990), known professionally by the mononym Mitski, is a Japanese-born American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, '' Lush'' (2012) and '' Retired from Sad, New Caree ...
named her 2014 album ''Bury Me at Makeout Creek
''Bury Me at Makeout Creek'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the third studio album by Japanese-American indie rock musician Mitski, released through Double Double Whammy on November 11, 2014. The album was written entirely by Mitski, with product ...
'' after a quote from this episode, after Millhouse is hit by a truck.
References
External links
*
*
{{The Simpsons episodes, 11
The Simpsons (season 11) episodes
2000 American television episodes