{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | caption = | season = 1 | episode = 10 | director = [[Rich Moore]] | writer = [[Jon Vitti]] | production = 7G10{{Sfn|Groening|2010|p=43}} | airdate = {{Start date|1990|03|25}} | guests = [[Sam McMurray]] as Gulliver Dark<ref name="bbc"/> | blackboard = "I will not call my teacher 'hot cakes'"<ref name="book">{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |editor1-first=Ray |editor1-last=Richmond |editor1-link=Ray Richmond |editor2-first=Antonia |editor2-last=Coffman |title=[[The Simpsons episode guides#The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family|The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family]] |edition=1st |year=1997 |location=New York |publisher=[[HarperPerennial]] |lccn=98141857 |ol=433519M |oclc=37796735 |isbn=978-0-06-095252-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomplete00groe/page/26 26] |ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}} }}.</ref> | couch_gag = The couch collapses after the family squeezes into it. | commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br />[[Rich Moore]]<br />[[Jon Vitti]] | prev = [[Life on the Fast Lane]] | next = [[The Crepes of Wrath]] }} "'''Homer's Night Out'''" is the tenth episode of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in the United States on March 25, 1990.{{Sfn|Groening|2010|p=43}} It was written by [[Jon Vitti]] and directed by [[Rich Moore]].<ref name="bbc">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season1/page10.shtml Homer's Night Out] ''BBC.co.uk''. Retrieved on 29 August 2008</ref> In the episode, [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] orders a [[mail-order]] [[spy|spy camera]], which he uses to secretly photograph [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] dancing with an [[Exotic dancer|exotic]] [[belly dance]]r. [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] makes Homer apologize to the exotic dancer to teach Bart that women are not objects. [[Sam McMurray]] guest stars in the episode as Gulliver Dark,<ref name="bbc"/> the man who introduces Homer to the crowd at the [[American burlesque|burlesque show]].
The episode was well received by critics and was the second highest rated show on the [[Fox network]] the week it aired. This episode, along with three other episodes of the show, is featured on [[The Simpsons DVDs#The Simpsons Gone Wild|''The Simpsons'' "Gone Wild"]] DVD released in 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/Simpsons-Gone-Wild-Neil-Affleck/dp/B0002IQK7M |title=The Simpsons — Gone Wild |website=Amazon |date=14 September 2004 |access-date=2008-09-02}}</ref>
==Plot== [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] purchases a miniature spy camera from a [[Mail order|mail-order catalog]] and uses it to take candid photos around the house. Later, [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] tells [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] he is going to a [[bachelor party]] for a co-worker, Eugene Fisk. While Homer is gone, Marge decides to take the children to a seafood restaurant where — unknown to her — the bachelor party is under way in another room.
A belly dancer named [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Princess Kashmir|Princess Kashmir]] arrives at the party and invites Homer to dance with her onstage. Walking out of the bathroom, Bart wanders into the bachelor party and snaps a picture of Homer and Princess Kashmir dancing. Bart brings the photo to school and gives a copy to [[Milhouse Van Houten|Milhouse]], who promptly gets requests for copies from other students. When the students' parents get hold of the photo, more copies circulate until everyone in [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]] has seen the picture, including Marge, who is furious. When Homer arrives home later that day, Marge demands an explanation. Bart inadvertently reveals that he had taken the picture, angering both his parents. Homer spends the night at [[Barney Gumble|Barney]]'s apartment after Marge kicks him out of the house.
The next day, Homer goes home to apologize to Marge, who worries the picture will make Bart think it is acceptable to treat women as sex objects. She insists that Homer take Bart to meet Princess Kashmir so he can see that she is more than just a stripper. Homer and Bart scour Springfield's [[strip club]]s searching for Princess Kashmir, eventually finding her at the Sapphire Lounge.
Homer introduces himself and Bart to Princess Kashmir, who is preoccupied with her upcoming performance but understands what Homer is trying to teach his son. Homer inadvertently finds himself onstage when the [[striptease]] show starts. He is about to be thrown offstage when the audience recognizes him from the picture. Homer gets caught up in the audience's fanfare and starts dancing with the showgirls until he remembers the lesson he is trying to teach Bart. Homer stops the show and makes a plea to the audience to treat women with respect. Marge, who is in the audience, accepts Homer's apology and they reconcile.
==Production== The episode was written by [[Jon Vitti]] and directed by [[Rich Moore]].<ref name="bbc"/> Barney's apartment, which Homer spends the night in when he is kicked out by Marge, is partly based on an apartment that [[Jim Reardon]], Moore, and a few other animators of ''The Simpsons'' shared in college.<ref name="Rich">{{cite video |people=Moore, Rich |date=2001 |title=Commentary for the episode "Homer's Night Out". The Simpsons: The Complete First Season |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> One of the strip clubs Homer and Bart visit when they are trying to find Princess Kashmir is based on the Seventh Veil Strip Club in [[Los Angeles, California]].<ref name="Rich"/> The staff went around [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]] taking pictures of strip clubs so they could get inspiration for the [[interior design]] of the strip club buildings in Springfield.<ref name="Rich"/> The character designer designed over fifty different international showgirl costumes for the showgirls in the burlesque show sequence.<ref name="Rich"/> [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Carl Carlson|Carl Carlson]] made his first appearance on ''The Simpsons'' in this episode,<ref name="bbc"/> though he is voiced by [[Harry Shearer]] instead of [[Hank Azaria]] or [[Alex Désert]] who voice him in later appearances.
==Reception== In its original American broadcast, "Homer's Night Out" finished fourteenth place in the weekly ratings for the week of March 19–25, 1990, with a [[Nielsen rating]] of 16.9. It was the second highest rated show on Fox that week.<ref name="nielsen">{{cite news |title='Old Man and the Sea' sinks NBC's competition |date=1990-03-28 |page=L12 |publisher=[[The Orange County Register]] |author=Richmond, Ray}}</ref>
"Homer's Night Out" received generally positive reviews from critics. In a DVD review of the first season, David B. Grelck rated this episode a{{nbsp}}4 (of 5) and named it one of his two favorite episodes of the season. He added that it "allows us to see that Homer really does love Marge a lot without having to blatantly stamp sentimentality all over it. The episode is strange, goofy and fun."<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202012353/http://www.wdbgproductions.com/cinerama/reviews/simpsonsseason1.htm |url=http://www.wdbgproductions.com/cinerama/reviews/simpsonsseason1.htm |title=The Complete First Season |access-date=2011-09-15 |archive-date=2009-02-02 |date=2001-09-25 |author=Grelck, David B. |publisher=WDBGProductions}}</ref> Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said that "the concept of Marge's anger at Homer got old, but this episode managed to offer a reasonably entertaining affair. It was fun to see Homer treated like a party god, and this offered a few nice moments. The overall level of quality remained good throughout the show, but it didn't rise to any great heights."<ref name="dvdmg">{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonone.shtml |title=The Simpsons: The Complete First Season (1990) |access-date=2008-08-29 |first=Colin |last=Jacobson |publisher=DVD Movie Guide}}</ref>
David Packard at DVD Verdict said in a review of ''The Simpsons'' "Gone Wild" DVD that "this episode sports some of the awkward animation and voice work that is prevalent in episodes from the first season. That aspect isn't an issue to me; in fact, I quite enjoy season one as it shows the early efforts of the series getting its legs in making the transition from its origin on ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]''. The problem I have with this episode is that it's not particularly funny. I chuckled a few times, but the episode doesn't have the rollicking gags and sly humor of the two episodes to follow."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsgonewild.php |title=DVD Verdict Review — The Simpsons Gone Wild |author=Judge David Packard |publisher=DVD Verdict |date=2004-12-08 |access-date=2008-08-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517024910/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsgonewild.php |archive-date=2011-05-17 }}</ref>
==References == {{Reflist|2}}
=== Bibliography === {{refbegin}} *{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |title=Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 |title-link=Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 |date=2010-10-28 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=9780061711282 |editor1-last=Richmond |editor1-first=Ray |editor1-link=Ray Richmond |edition=1st |editor2-last=Gimple |editor2-first=Scott M. |editor2-link=Scott M. Gimple |editor-last3=McCann |editor-first3=Jessie L. |editor-last4=Seghers |editor-first4=Christine |editor-last5=Bates |editor-first5=James W.}} {{refend}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_1#Homer.27s_Night_Out|Homer's Night Out}} {{Portal|The Simpsons}} * {{Snpp capsule|7G10}} * {{IMDb episode |id=0701123}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|1}}
{{Good article}}
[[Category:1990 American television episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes about sexism]] [[Category:The Simpsons season 1 episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes written by Jon Vitti]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Rich Moore]]