Homer's Odyssey

Aired January 21, 1990 (episode #7G03)

Title
The title obviously comes from the greek myth of "wikipedia:Homer's Odyssey| Homer's Odyssey," or in its more common known form of just The Odyssey.

Plot
While on a field trip to the Springfeild Nuclear Power Plant, Bart waves to  Homer, distracting him and he ends up breaking something, which causes him to get fired. But just when his family stops Homer from killing himself, he notices there isn't a stop sign on a dangerous intersection. He becomes a public safety advocate and rallies to have speed bumps installed on roads and fights against his old boss. Eventually, he abandons his cause and gets rehired at the plant with a raise.

First Appearances

 * Otto Mann
 * Mr. Burns
 * Smithers (first "on-screen" appearance his voice can be heard in the Christmas special)

Behind the Scenes
The cartoon at the power plant was given an old-time reel footage feel by having the animation cells dragged across a cement floor to scratch it up. This trick was used several times by the animators for the next 10 seasons.

At the first appearence of Mr.Smithers. He skin color was actually black instead of yellow. According to David Silverman, Gyorgi Peluci, the person who did the color styling randomly decided the ethnicity of various characters, which usually wasn't much of a a problem, but it sort of ruined the ``white sycophant'' persona for Smithers. Budget constraints precluded recoloring, so they left it the way it was. If it really bothers you, just imagine that he has a ``Caribbean suntan.''

Although Mr. Burns was seen in Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire, this was his first appearance in order of production codes, hence the dramatic music when the camera pans out on him.

Triva

 * The power plant doors that open up in different forms is a homage to the openign sequence in the 1960's show Get Smart.
 * In the Season 1 DVD commentary, we find out that the "J" in Homer's full name was inserted by the writers as a tribute to Bullwinkle J. Moose from The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show.
 * The first time we see Mr.Burns office, it was rather differently arranged and smaller compared to later episodes.
 * One of the signs Homer puts up says: "Sign Ahead."