"Thank God, It's Doomsday" is the nineteenth episode of the
sixteenth 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, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
''. It first 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 May 8, 2005.
Al Jean
Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
claims that the recorded commentary for this episode was the last time he saw
Don Payne, the writer credited for the episode.
Plot
Marge tries to get the kids hair cuts, but is stopped when
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 ...
takes them to get haircuts at a new barbershop in the mall. The kids' haircuts are done so badly, that they hide with Homer in a movie theater showing the film ''Left Below'', a parody of ''
Left Behind: The Movie''. In response to the kids losing their hair, Marge later makes them wigs using the leftover hair trimmings. Homer now fears that the Rapture will soon be coming. Despite being consoled by Marge and
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 ...
(who think God would not end the world unless He announced it), Homer encounters
signs suggestive of the
Rapture
The rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an Eschatology, end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurre ...
. He uses
numerology
Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...
to calculate the date and time of the Rapture and concludes that it is only a week away.
Homer predicts that "stars will fall from the sky", then a blimp accident at the ''
Krusty
Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...
Celebrity Salute to Specials'' causes some celebrities (or "stars") to fall to their deaths. His prophecy causes many of Springfield's residents to believe that the world will end and they go with him to the Springfield
Mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...
to wait for the Rapture. The hour passes without incident, and the people go home. All of them are annoyed at Homer, particularly
Moe, who had sold his tavern to be converted to a Japanese
sushi
is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...
bar. Homer goes home and realizes that he has made an error in his calculation, so he returns to the Mesa with no support after getting ostracized by his family. Suddenly, he finds himself naked and ascending into Heaven.
Homer
arrives in
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
, where he is greeted by the tour guide who shows him around. He is then shown to his room where he requests to see his family on the
big TV screen in his room. Marge and the children are shown being tormented by the devil. He has a talk with
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
about saving his family. When God refuses to help, due to Jesus' suffering on Earth, Homer becomes angry. He runs around vandalizing Heaven and gets stopped by security. God finally agrees to undo the Rapture by turning back time. Homer later wakes up on the mesa and is reunited with his family, also discovering Moe's Tavern to curiously be back in its normal set up.
Reception
Don Payne was nominated for a
Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the
58th Writers Guild of America Awards for his script to this episode.
Cultural references
*The title is a reference to the popular saying "
thank God it's Friday".
*The "''Left Below''" film watched by Homer, Bart and Lisa is a pastiche of the ''
Left Behind
''Left Behind'' is a multimedia franchise that started with a series of 16 bestselling religious novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It focuses on a seven-year conflict between the Tribulation Force, an underground network of converts, a ...
'' franchise.
*Homer says that the movie ''
Cannonball Run 2'' haunted him for the rest of his life.
*In the final scene, Homer, his fellow bar patrons, and Moe form a tableau of ''
The Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thank God, It's Doomsday
2005 American television episodes
The Simpsons (season 16) episodes
Fiction about the Devil
Fiction about God