{{distinguish|text=the American Christmas comedy film, [[Home Alone]]}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | caption = | season = 3 | episode = 15 | director = [[Mark Kirkland]] | writer = [[David M. Stern]] | production = 8F14 | airdate = {{Start date|1992|02|06}} | guests = * [[Phil Hartman]] as [[Troy McClure]] | blackboard = "I will not spank others"<ref>{{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/79 79] |ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}} }}.</ref> | couch_gag = The family forms a pyramid<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season3/page15.shtml |title=Homer Alone |access-date=2010-03-21 |last1=Martyn |first1=Warren |author-link1=Gary Russell |last2 = Wood |first2=Adrian |author-link2=Gareth Roberts (writer) |year=2000 |publisher=BBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031223190603/https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season3/page15.shtml|archive-date=2003-12-23}}</ref> | commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br>[[Al Jean]]<br>[[Dan Castellaneta]]<br>[[Julie Kavner]]<br>[[Mark Kirkland]]<BR>[[Brad Bird]] | prev = [[Lisa the Greek]] | next = [[Bart the Lover]] }} "'''Homer Alone'''" is the fifteenth episode of the [[The Simpsons season 3|third season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]'', and the fiftieth episode overall. It originally aired on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in the United States on February 6, 1992. In the episode, stress from household chores and her family's demands causes [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] to suffer from a [[nervous breakdown]], so she vacations alone at a spa. She leaves [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] and [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] with [[Patty and Selma Bouvier|Patty and Selma]]; [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] stays at home with [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] but leaves home looking for her mother, causing Homer to frantically search for her.
The episode was written by [[David M. Stern]] and directed by [[Mark Kirkland]]. Stern had noticed that most of the writers were pitching stories about Bart and Homer, and he thought a "deeper vein of comedy" could be reached by having Marge suffer from a nervous breakdown.<ref name="Castellaneta"/> Originally, Marge's trip was to a distressed mother's institute rather than a spa. However, the plot was not well received at the [[table read]] for the episode and much of it was rewritten. The episode's title references the film ''[[Home Alone]]'', which starred David Stern's brother [[Daniel Stern (actor)|Daniel]].
"Homer Alone" contains references to the [[Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner]] cartoons, ''[[Thelma and Louise]]'', ''[[Home Alone]]'', ''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]'', and the song "[[Baby Come Back (Player song)|Baby Come Back]]" by [[Player (band)|Player]]. The episode has received generally positive reviews from critics. During its original airing on Fox during [[Nielsen ratings#Sweeps|February sweeps]], it acquired a 14.2 [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]].
==Plot== [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] is exhausted from cleaning up after her family and running errands. [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] and [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] miss their bus to school, forcing Marge to drive them. They fight on the back seat, putting Marge on edge. After buying groceries and failing to get [[Homer Simpson|Homer's]] [[bowling ball]] flushed, Marge hears DJs [[Bill and Marty]] make a cruel prank call during their radio show. When Maggie pulls the lid off her baby bottle, splattering milk everywhere, Marge suffers a [[nervous breakdown]] and blocks traffic by parking her car across both lanes of a bridge. When the police are unable to convince her to move, Homer persuades her to surrender with the offer of a romantic "[[sexual intercourse|snuggle]]", and she is arrested. Since the town's women sympathize with Marge's plight, [[Joe Quimby|Mayor Quimby]] orders her release over [[Chief Wiggum]]'s objections.
Marge decides to take a vacation by herself to a health spa called Rancho Relaxo. She leaves Bart and Lisa with [[Patty and Selma]]; since [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] is scared of Patty and Selma, she ends up staying at home with Homer. Marge enjoys her much-needed rest while the rest of the family find it hard to adapt to life without her. Homer finds himself lonely and unable to care for Maggie. Bart and Lisa dislike living with Patty and Selma because they snore loudly, watch ''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]'' and ''[[Divorce Court]]'', and serve meals of [[Beef tongue|tongue sandwiches]], [[Clamato]], [[Mr. Pibb]] and [[soy milk]].
Upset by her mother's absence, Maggie leaves the house to find Marge. When Homer and [[Barney Gumble|Barney]] are unable to find her, Homer calls a missing baby hotline. Maggie is found atop the roof of an ice cream shop (whose mascot resembled Marge) and returned to Homer as Marge leaves the spa. Marge finds her forlorn and disheveled family waiting for her on a train platform when she arrives home. While Homer and the kids are sleeping next to her that night, Marge tells them she needs their help around the house; they assure her she has nothing to worry about.
==Production== [[Image:Davidmstern.jpg|right|thumb|[[David M. Stern]] wrote the episode.]]
"Homer Alone" was written by David M. Stern. He had noticed that most of the writers were pitching stories about Bart and Homer, and he thought a "deeper vein of comedy" could be reached by having Marge suffer from a nervous breakdown.<ref name="Castellaneta">Castellaneta, Dan. (2003). Commentary for "Homer Alone", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Executive producer [[James L. Brooks]] immediately approved the idea.<ref name="Jean">Jean, Al. (2003). Commentary for "Homer Alone", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Originally, Marge's trip was to a distressed mother's institute so they could show "what made Marge tick". However, the plot was not well received at the [[table read]] for the episode. The writers then re-wrote much of the episode, switching the institute to a spa.<ref name="Castellaneta"/> They also added a video appearance from [[Troy McClure]] ([[Phil Hartman]]). According to executive producer [[Al Jean]], the writers often used McClure as a "panic button" when they felt an episode needed more humor.<ref name="Jean"/>
The episode was directed by Mark Kirkland. The scene at the train station where Marge leaves for Rancho Relaxo includes a brief cameo appearance of a character modeled after ''Simpsons'' director [[Jim Reardon]]. Reardon dislikes flying, and took trains whenever possible, so the animators always tried to include him in scenes at a train station.<ref name="Kirkland">Kirkland, Mark. (2003). Commentary for "Homer Alone", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> [[Susie Dietter]] served as assistant director for the episode and animated several of the scenes for the subplot with Bart, Lisa, Patty and Selma.<ref name="Kirkland"/> In a scene where Homer sings a song to Maggie, he was designed to look disheveled because the writers had wanted him to look drunk, although no attention was called to it.<ref name="Kirkland"/>
==Cultural references==
The title is a play on ''[[Home Alone]]'' (1990); David Stern's brother [[Daniel Stern (actor)|Daniel]] had starred in the movie as one of the main antagonists. A scene in the episode where Homer screams with his hands on his cheeks is also a reference to ''Home Alone'' where the eight year old Kevin McCallister ([[Macaulay Culkin]]) screams with his hands on his cheeks.<ref name="Jean"/> The opening where Homer chases Bart is a reference to the [[Warner Bros.]]/[[Chuck Jones]] [[Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner]] cartoons. The scene freezes, during which Bart and Homer's [[Binomial nomenclature|scientific names]] are given as Brat'us Don'thaveacow'us and Homo Neanderthal'us respectively.<ref name="BBC"/> The background in the sequence references the [[Hanna–Barbera]] tradition of using backgrounds over and over and making it look like there is an "endless living room".<ref name="Bird">Bird, Brad. (2003). Commentary for "Homer Alone", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> The scene where Marge is booked in prison references the [[Coen brothers]] film ''[[Raising Arizona]]''.<ref name="Castellaneta"/>
The song that plays while Homer is on hold on the missing child hotline is "[[Baby Come Back (Player song)|Baby Come Back]]" by [[Player (band)|Player]].<ref name="BBC"/> One of the films available at Rancho Relaxo is ''[[Thelma and Louise]]'', which Marge watches.<ref name="BBC"/> "Homer Alone" is the first episode of ''The Simpsons'' that shows Patty's and Selma's fondness for ''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]'', and Selma says "[[Richard Dean Anderson]] will be in my dreams tonight."<ref name="BBC"/>
==Reception==
In its original airing on February 6, 1992, on Fox during [[Nielsen ratings#Sweeps|February sweeps]], the episode acquired a 14.2 [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] and was viewed in approximately 13.08 million homes. It finished 25th in the ratings for the week of February 3–9, 1992, up from the season's average rank of 37th.<ref name="Nielsen">{{cite news |title=Nielsen Ratings/Feb. 3–9 |date=1992-02-20 |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Long Beach Press-Telegram]]}}</ref> ''The Simpsons'' was the highest rated show on Fox that week.<ref>{{Cite news |title=CBS brings home ratings Gold with Olympics, '60 Minutes' |work=[[Daily News of Los Angeles]] |date=1992-02-12 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>
Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from critics. The authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', [[Gary Russell]] and [[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv51/garyrussell.html|title=Gary Russell: From Peladon to Placebos|author=Preddle, Jon|date=June 1997|magazine=Time Space Visualiser|issue=51|access-date=20 August 2020|publisher=The New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club|quote=I've just done my first non-fiction book, Oh No It's A Completely Unofficial Simpsons Guide for Virgin, co-authored with Gareth Roberts which has, to be frank, been more of a nightmare than it needed to be [the book was published as I Can't Believe It's An Unofficial Simpsons Guide, with Gary and Gareth writing under the pseudonyms Warren Martyn & Adrian Wood].}}</ref> wrote, "After the first few minutes, this episode becomes less about Marge than the family's reliance on her. Bart and Lisa's torturous time at Patty and Selma's is wonderful{{nbsp}}... but it's Homer losing Maggie, and working out what to tell Marge upon her return, that provides the best jokes."<ref name="BBC" />
DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson felt that the episode "comes close to finding the series in a rut, as it sort of offers another iteration of the 'Homer's a bad father' theme. However, the emphasis on Marge's issues makes it different, and it's also fun to see life at Patty and Selma's place. It's another solid show."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonthree.shtml |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season (1991) |last=Jacobson |first=Colin |date=2003-08-21 |publisher=DVD Movie Guide |access-date=2010-03-29}}</ref> Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed rated the episode a 3{{nbsp}}(of 5), writing "The episode serves only to demonstrate what is already obvious: that Marge holds the family together. It's entertaining to see Homer struggle with the most basic of parenting skills, but this happens at the expense of all the other episodes this season that show him to be a good father (albeit flawed). Still, it's nice to see Marge get her own show."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/displaylegacy.php?ID=6129 |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season |last=Meyers |first=Nate |date=2004-06-23 |publisher=Digitally Obsessed |access-date=2010-03-29 |archive-date=2016-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313103432/http://digitallyobsessed.com/displaylegacy.php?id=6129 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== {{wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_3#Homer_Alone|Homer Alone}} {{portal|The Simpsons}} *{{snpp capsule|8F14}} *{{IMDb episode |id=0768555}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|3}} {{Good article}}
[[Category:The Simpsons season 3 episodes]] [[Category:1992 American television episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes about mental health]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Mark Kirkland]] [[Category:Television episodes about vacationing]]