# Homer Badman

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9th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons

"Homer Badman" The Simpsons episode Episode no. Season 6 Episode 9 Directed by Jeffrey Lynch Written by Greg Daniels Production code 2F06 Original air date November 27, 1994 (1994-11-27) Guest appearance Dennis Franz as himself portraying Homer Episode features Chalkboard gag "I will not whittle hall passes out of soap"[1] Couch gag The family chases the couch and back wall down a long and portal-type hallway.[2] Commentary Matt Groening David Mirkin Greg Daniels Julie Kavner Jeffrey Lynch David Silverman Episode chronology ← Previous "Lisa on Ice" Next → "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" The Simpsons season 6 List of episodes

"**Homer Badman**" is the ninth episode of the [sixth season](/source/The_Simpsons_season_6) of the American animated television series *[The Simpsons](/source/The_Simpsons)*. It originally aired on [Fox](/source/Fox_Broadcasting_Company) in the United States on November 27, 1994. In the episode, [Homer](/source/Homer_Simpson) is falsely accused of [sexual harassment](/source/Sexual_harassment) and must clear his name. [Dennis Franz](/source/Dennis_Franz) guest stars as himself portraying a fictionalized and exaggerated version of Homer in a [television film](/source/Television_film) called *Homer S: Portrait of an Ass-Grabber*.[3]

The episode was written by [Greg Daniels](/source/Greg_Daniels) and directed by [Jeffrey Lynch](/source/Jeffrey_Lynch).[2]

## Plot

[Homer](/source/Homer_Simpson) gets tickets for a candy convention and decides to take [Marge](/source/Marge_Simpson) with him as she hires [feminist](/source/Feminist) graduate student Ashley Grant to [babysit](/source/Babysitting) their children. Homer outfits Marge with an oversized [trench coat](/source/Trench_coat) in order to smuggle out as much candy as possible. At the candy convention, Homer attempts to steal a rare [gummy](/source/Gummi_candy) modeled after the *[Venus de Milo](/source/Venus_de_Milo)*. When caught in the act, Homer creates a makeshift explosive out of [Pop Rocks](/source/Pop_Rocks) and a can of Buzz Cola to provide cover while he and Marge escape.

That night, Homer apparently loses the gummy Venus and frantically searches for it until Marge reminds him to drive Ashley home. As she exits Homer's car, he notices the gummy stuck to her pants. Mesmerized, Homer seizes the confection and Ashley turns around to see him drooling at it. Misinterpreting this as a sexual advance, a horrified Ashley runs off.

The next morning, an angry mob of college students led by Ashley marches onto the Simpsons' lawn, falsely accusing Homer of sexual harassment. Homer attempts to explain that he did not mean to, but the students do not believe him. The tabloid news show *Rock Bottom* airs an interview with Homer that is selectively, albeit poorly edited and presented out of context to make him look like a crazed [pervert](/source/Pervert), further tarnishing his reputation. The resulting [media circus](/source/Media_circus) monitors Homer's movements around the clock.

[Lisa](/source/Lisa_Simpson) and Marge suggest that Homer videotape his side of the story for a [public-access](/source/Public-access_television) [cable television](/source/Cable_television) channel, but since it airs during a [graveyard timeslot](/source/Graveyard_slot), few viewers see it and it only succeeds in angering a [penny-farthing](/source/Penny-farthing) enthusiast. [Groundskeeper Willie](/source/Groundskeeper_Willie), who enjoys shooting and watching amateur videos, sees Homer's tape and showcases videotaped evidence of what actually happened the night Homer drove Ashley home. After watching it, she apologizes for causing the media circus and Homer is exonerated. *Rock Bottom* then makes Willie's videotaping exploits the target of the next media circus. Having learned nothing from his experience, Homer lambasts Willie, much to Marge's annoyance.

## Production

[Greg Daniels](/source/Greg_Daniels), the writer of the episode, originally pitched this episode as being more centered on Lisa's and Homer's opposing ideas on feminism. Eventually, the episode became more of a [satire](/source/Satire) of [tabloid media](/source/Tabloid_television), such as *[Hard Copy](/source/Hard_Copy)*.[4] [David Mirkin](/source/David_Mirkin), the series' showrunner at the time, felt very strongly about the "tabloidization of the media" and has said that the episode was as current in 2005 as it was when it first aired and things have since gotten worse.[5] Several gags in the episode are based on what real life shows like *Hard Copy* would do, such as making people look to be guilty without a trial as well as creating a complete invasion of privacy by setting up camp outside people's homes.[5] The talk show "Ben", which is hosted by a bear named "[Gentle Ben](/source/Gentle_Ben)" wearing a microphone on its head, reflects the writers' feeling that anyone could host a talk show because all they need is a microphone and an audience.[5]

[Dennis Franz](/source/Dennis_Franz) was the writers' second choice for the actor who portrays Homer in the television dramatization.[5] According to the DVD commentary, the original actor was more "barrel-chested".[6]

## Cultural references

At the candy convention, a voice over an intercom says that the front desk is "[Looking for Mr. Goodbar](/source/Looking_for_Mr._Goodbar_(film))" and the escape scene was "based on every [Bruce Willis](/source/Bruce_Willis) movie ever made".[5] [Bart](/source/Bart_Simpson) asks Homer if "the dog in the [Coppertone](/source/Coppertone_(sunscreen)) commercial" received sexual harassment. Homer's fantasy of living underwater is a parody of the "[Under the Sea](/source/Under_the_Sea)" sequence from [Disney](/source/Disney)'s *[The Little Mermaid](/source/The_Little_Mermaid_(1989_film))*.[5] The episode additionally includes parodies of *[Hard Copy](/source/Hard_Copy)*, [Sally Jessy Raphael](/source/Sally_Jessy_Raphael), the *[Late Show with David Letterman](/source/Late_Show_with_David_Letterman)*, *[Gentle Ben](/source/Gentle_Ben)* and media coverage of the [O. J. Simpson](/source/O._J._Simpson) standoff.[5] At the end of the episode, the *Rock Bottom* announcer refers to Groundskeeper Willie as "Rowdy Roddy Peeper", a reference to professional wrestler [Rowdy Roddy Piper](/source/Rowdy_Roddy_Piper). Like Willie, Piper's gimmick was that of a stereotypical Scot.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Reception

In its original broadcast, "Homer Badman" finished 50th in ratings for the week of November 21–27, 1994, with a [Nielsen rating](/source/Nielsen_ratings) of 9.5, equivalent to approximately 9.1 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beating *[Married... with Children](/source/Married..._with_Children)*.[7] In the United Kingdom, "Homer Badman" is the earliest episode of *The Simpsons* to receive a [12](/source/British_Board_of_Film_Classification#Current_certificates) certificate for home release by the [British Board of Film Classification](/source/British_Board_of_Film_Classification); previous episodes remain certificated at U or PG.[8]

According to David Mirkin, the episode is very highly ranked among *Simpsons* fans.[5]

In *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*'s top 25 *The Simpsons* episodes list, compiled in 2003, "Homer Badman" was placed eighteenth.[9] *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)* characterized the episode as one of "The 10 Best Simpsons TV Episodes".[10]

In 2003, during the first meeting between [Ricky Gervais](/source/Ricky_Gervais), co-creator and star of *[The Office](/source/The_Office_(British_TV_series))*, and episode writer [Greg Daniels](/source/Greg_Daniels), Gervais revealed that this was his favorite episode of *The Simpsons*. Daniels would go on to adapt *[The Office](/source/The_Office_(American_TV_series))* for American television.[11]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-book_1-0)** [Groening, Matt](/source/Matt_Groening) (1997). [Richmond, Ray](/source/Ray_Richmond); Coffman, Antonia (eds.). *[The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family](/source/The_Simpsons_episode_guides#The_Simpsons:_A_Complete_Guide_to_Our_Favorite_Family)* (1st ed.). New York: [HarperPerennial](/source/HarperPerennial). pp. [158–159](https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomplete00groe/page/158). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-06-095252-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-06-095252-5). [LCCN](/source/LCCN_(identifier)) [98141857](https://lccn.loc.gov/98141857). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [37796735](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/37796735). [OL](/source/OL_(identifier)) [433519M](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL433519M)..

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bbc_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bbc_2-1) [Martyn, Warren](/source/Gary_Russell); [Wood, Adrian](/source/Gareth_Roberts_(writer)) (2000). ["Homer Badman"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050126091817/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season6/page9.shtml). BBC. Archived from [the original](https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season6/page9.shtml) on January 26, 2005. Retrieved August 13, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Homer Badman"](http://www.thesimpsons.com/episode_guide/0609.htm). *The Simpsons.com*. Retrieved March 1, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Daniels_4-0)** Daniels, Greg (2005). *The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Homer Badman"* (DVD). 20th Century Fox.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Mirkin_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Mirkin_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Mirkin_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Mirkin_5-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Mirkin_5-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Mirkin_5-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Mirkin_5-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Mirkin_5-7) Mirkin, David (2005). *The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Homer Badman"* (DVD). 20th Century Fox.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Lynch_6-0)** Lynch, Jeffrey (2005). *The Simpsons season 6 DVD commentary for the episode "Homer Badman"* (DVD). 20th Century Fox.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** "'Rockford' sweeps CBS to victory". *Sun-Sentinel*. December 1, 1994. p. 4E.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["The Simpsons (1995)"](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-simpsons-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0ymjgwmdu). *BBFC*. Retrieved August 3, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["The best *Simpsons* episodes, Nos. 16-20"](https://ew.com/article/2003/02/02/best-simpsons-episodes-nos-16-20/). Entertainment Weekly. January 29, 2003. Retrieved February 10, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Walton, James (July 21, 2007). ["The 10 Best Simpsons TV Episodes (In Chronological Order)"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8791597/The-10-best-Simpsons-TV-episodes.html). *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*. pp. Page 3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Greg Daniels Moves His Comedic Spotlight to Absurdity in The Afterlife"](https://www.npr.org/2020/05/16/856785024/greg-daniels-moves-his-comedic-spotlight-to-absurdity-in-the-afterlife). National Public Radio. May 16, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.

## External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to ***["Homer Badman"](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Simpsons/Season_6#Homer:_Bad_Man)***.

- [The Simpsons portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:The_Simpsons)

- ["Homer Badman episode capsule"](http://www.simpsonsarchive.com/episodes/2F06.html). *[The Simpsons Archive](/source/The_Simpsons_Archive)*.

- ["Homer Badman"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701109/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

v t e The Simpsons episodes Seasons 1–20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Season 21–present 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Season 6 "Bart of Darkness" "Lisa's Rival" "Another Simpsons Clip Show" "Itchy & Scratchy Land" "Sideshow Bob Roberts" "Treehouse of Horror V" "Bart's Girlfriend" "Lisa on Ice" "Homer Badman" "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" "Fear of Flying" "Homer the Great" "And Maggie Makes Three" "Bart's Comet" "Homie the Clown" "Bart vs. Australia" "Homer vs. Patty and Selma" "A Star Is Burns" "Lisa's Wedding" "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" "The PTA Disbands" "'Round Springfield" "The Springfield Connection" "Lemon of Troy" "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" See also Treehouse of Horror list The Simpsons episode guides "The Simpsons Guy" Category

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Homer Badman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Badman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Badman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.