"A Midsummer's Nice Dream" is the sixteenth episode of the
twenty-second 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 a ...
in the United States on March 13, 2011. The episode name is a play on the
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
play ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict ...
'' and the Cheech & Chong movie ''
Nice Dreams
''Nice Dreams'' is a 1981 American action adventure comedy film directed by Tommy Chong and starring Cheech & Chong, in their third feature film. Released in 1981 by Columbia Pictures, the film focuses on the duo having gotten rich selling canna ...
''.
Plot
The Simpsons are at a live
Cheech and Chong
Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and feature films, which were based on the hippie ...
show when Chong, upset by the act's repetitiveness, begins to improvise and ultimately leaves the stage. Homer is encouraged to take Chong's place on stage, and recites the "
Dave's not here, man" act from memory. Cheech is impressed, and asks Homer to join him for the rest of the tour under the name "Cheech and Chunk". Homer is disillusioned to learn that Cheech and Chong's lives are different from their stoner personae. Meanwhile, Chong has replaced Cheech with