Homer's Food Song
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"Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner" is the third episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
''. It originally aired on the
Fox network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...
in the United States on October 24, 1999. In the episode,
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient 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. Despite doubts about his autho ...
becomes a food critic for a Springfield newspaper and ends up annoying the restaurant owners of Springfield after he makes negative reviews just to be mean, advice he took from fellow critics. Springfield's restaurant owners then attempt to kill Homer by feeding him a poisoned
éclair An éclair ( or , ; ) is a pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with a flavored icing. The dough, which is the same as that used for profiteroles, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked ...
. American actor
Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor. He is most notable for portraying Lou Grant on the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977) and drama '' Lou Grant'' (1977–1982), making him one of the few ...
guest starred in the episode as the newspaper editor who hires Homer. The episode has received generally mixed to positive reviews from television critics since airing.


Plot

Springfield Elementary Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an unknown state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundings ...
arranges a field trip to the offices of '' The Springfield Shopper'' for the students, with
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient 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. Despite doubts about his autho ...
volunteering to drive and chaperone (having skipped work using a crude dummy). While the students are introduced to the newspaper's history and operations, Homer smells cake and follows it to a retirement party for the newspaper's food critic, which he crashes before greedily eating the food. The editor, seeing Homer's love of food, offers him a job as the new food critic. He asks Homer to prepare a 500-word sample review. Homer struggles with the review, which is exacerbated by his malfunctioning typewriter (having to not use the letter "e"), but
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...
helps him. He praises every restaurant he visits, and the people of Springfield begin to grow fat like him. At the ''Springfield Shopper'' office, the editor introduces Homer to other critics, who chide him for being too generous in his reviews. Homer gives into
peer pressure Peer pressure is a direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests and experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, religion and beh ...
and writes a series of bad reviews, criticizing everything. When Lisa stops helping him for being needlessly cruel, Homer attempts to continue reviewing by himself, but the quality of his reviews reverts back to his old poor standard (having used
Santa's Little Helper Santa's Little Helper is a fictional dog in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. He was previously voiced by Frank Welker, and is currently voiced by Dan Castellaneta. The do ...
as inspiration for adjectives). Meanwhile, the local restaurateurs hold a secret meeting regarding Homer's negative reviews and ultimately decide to kill him. One of the chefs volunteers to do the deed by feeding him a poisonous
éclair An éclair ( or , ; ) is a pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with a flavored icing. The dough, which is the same as that used for profiteroles, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked ...
at an upcoming food festival. While Homer goes about his reviewing duties,
Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...
overhears some of the restaurateurs discussing the murder plot, and he,
Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...
and Lisa attempt to warn Homer. Although Homer initially ignores Lisa's warning about the murder plot, he eventually throws away the lethal pastry in revulsion when she exclaims that the éclair is "low fat"; it lands in
Hans Moleman The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The writ ...
's
gruel Gruel is a food consisting of some type of cereal—such as ground oats, wheat, rye, or rice—heated or boiled in water or milk. It is a thinner version of porridge that may be more often drunk rather than eaten. Historically, gruel has been a ...
pot and explodes. The police rush to the scene and arrest the chef, who easily manages to escape while they were distracted. As Homer and Lisa leave, he is relieved over an apparent lack of comeuppance, but the angry restaurateurs along with the other critics and townsfolk aggrieved with Homer follow them and beat Homer up.


Production

"Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner" was written by
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 ...
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). American actor
Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor. He is most notable for portraying Lou Grant on the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977) and drama '' Lou Grant'' (1977–1982), making him one of the few ...
guest starred in the episode as the newspaper editor that hires Homer. The character is based on
Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...
, the character Asner played in the series ''
The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...
'' and ''
Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...
''. Both shows were created by Simpsons co-producer
James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. He co-created the sitcoms ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', and ''The Simpsons'' and directed the films '' Terms of ...
. The song Homer sings upon being given the food critic job is set to the tune of "I Feel Pretty" from the musical ''
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...
''. The restaurant Planet Springfield is a parody of
Planet Hollywood Planet Hollywood International Inc. (stylized as planet Hollywood, planet Hollywood observatory and ph) is a themed restaurant chain inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood. The company is owned by Earl Enterprises corporation. Earl E ...
, containing items such as the film script for ''
The Cable Guy ''The Cable Guy'' is a 1996 American satirical black comedy thriller film directed by Ben Stiller and written by Lou Holtz Jr. It stars Jim Carrey as an eccentric cable installer who becomes overly intrusive in the life of a customer (Matthew ...
'' (1996),
Herbie Herbie, the Love Bug is a sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle racing car which has been featured in several Walt Disney motion pictures starting with ''The Love Bug in'' 1968. He has a mind of his own, being capable of driving himself and often be ...
from ''
The Love Bug ''The Love Bug'' (also known as Herbie the Love Bug) is a 1968 American sports film, sports adventure film, adventure comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson (director), Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh (producer), Bill Walsh a ...
'' (1968), a model of the RMS ''Titanic'' from ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' (1997), an alien similar to those from ''
Mars Attacks! ''Mars Attacks!'' is a 1996 American science fiction film, science fiction black comedy, black comedy film directed by Tim Burton, who also co-produced it with Larry J. Franco. The screenplay by Jonathan Gems was based on the Topps trading ca ...
'' (1996), models of a
TIE fighter The TIE fighter or Twin Ion Engine fighter is a series of fictional Starfighter (science fiction), starfighters featured in the ''Star Wars'' Universe of Star Wars, universe. TIE fighters are depicted as fast, agile, yet fragile starfighters p ...
, an
X-wing fighter The X-wing starfighter is a name applied to a family of fictional spacecraft manufactured by the Incom Corporation and later the Incom-FreiTek Corporation from the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Named for the distinctive shape made when its s-foils (w ...
and
C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a protocol droid (Star Wars), droid designed to assist in etiquette and translation, and is fluent in over six million forms of communication. The chara ...
from the ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' saga, as well as "the coffee mug" from the film ''
Heartbeeps ''Heartbeeps'' is a 1981 American romantic-comedy and science fiction film about two robots who fall in love and decide to strike out on their own. The film was directed by Allan Arkush, written by John Hill, and stars Andy Kaufman and Bernade ...
'' (1981) and "the cane" from ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'' (1941), which is not a real prop. The episode's title is a play on the movie "
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy drama film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, and written by William Rose. It stars Spencer Tracy (in his final role), Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Hepburn, and feat ...
". The episode was originally going to be called "The Great Chefs Of Springfield Are Killing Homer", a play on " Who Is Killing the Great Chiefs of Europe?", however it was pointed out that this spoiled the episode's plot for the viewer. The episode contains a scene where Homer swears at an ambulance, his swears being intentionally bleeped out.
Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis Castellaneta ( ; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, ...
's reading of the lines apparently contained "fuck you" and "goddamn".Jean, Al. Scully, Mike (2008). Commentary for "Treehouse of Horror X", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Eleventh Season'' VD 20th Century Fox. A common note that was often received from Fox Network was that a character who has done something wrong has to "receive their comeuppance", so the episode was written specifically to subvert this, with Homer "addressing the camera" to acknowledge his lack of comeuppance.


Reception

"Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner" originally aired on the
Fox network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...
in the United States on October 24, 1999. On October 7, 2008, the episode was released on DVD as part of the box set ''The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season''. Staff members Mike Scully, Al Jean, George Meyer, Dan Greaney, 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. Since airing, the episode has received generally mixed reviews from critics. In 2003, Ryan Lane of ''
The Daily Orange ''The Daily Orange'', commonly referred to as ''The D.O.'', is an independent student newspaper published in Syracuse, New York. It is free and published once a week during the Syracuse University academic year. It was one of the first college ...
'' listed it as the ninth best episode of the series, noting that the "most recent episode on the list is also perhaps the show's last classic." Nancy Basile of
About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) 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, hom ...
listed the episode as one of the episodes she felt "shined in season eleven". In 2011, Keith Plocek of ''
LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...
''s Squid Ink blog named "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner" the sixth best episode of the show with a food theme. While reviewing the eleventh season of ''The Simpsons'', DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson however commented that "after the solid Brother's Little Helper' Season 11 dips with the more mediocre Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner' Oh, the show has its moments, especially when Homer’s criticism becomes more mean-spirited. Still, the program rarely becomes anything more than okay; it’s certainly enjoyable but that’s about it." Karma Waltonen and Denise Du Vernay analyzed "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner" in their book ''The Simpsons in the Classroom'', in which they demonstrate how episodes of the series can be used in teaching. They wrote: "Although the show's characters do not often model expository writing, we can still find ways to use ''The Simpsons'' to illustrate the importance of style. Young writers, for example, may find that their writing resembles Homer's when he attempts to write restaurant reviews in 'Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner.' Homer's diction is poor, his piece rambles off, and he attempts to make the word count by repeating 'Screw
Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
' several times. We can thus illustrate that students need to reduce wordiness .. while developing their arguments through pertinent content or parallelism. We can also stress revision by showing what Lisa is able to do when she helps her father brainstorm. For example, when they need two more words to end the review, Lisa replaces 'Screw Flanders' with 'Bon appétit'."


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guess Who's Coming To Criticize Dinner The Simpsons season 11 episodes 1999 American television episodes Television episodes written by Al Jean Television episodes directed by Nancy Kruse