Homer the Heretic

Season 4, Episode 3, Aired

Episode Summary

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Homer skips church one cold Sunday morning. After realizing the freedom he can obtain from having the house all to himself, Homer decides to stop going to church altogether despite Marge's disapproval.
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Fan Episode Reviews (33)

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  • It's Sunday morning. Homer (once again) tells Marge that he does not want to go to church. This time, Homer wins the battle. He soon realizes how much fun he is having being home alone and decides to stop attending church for good.moreless

    8.5
    "Great"
    By meathead704, Aug 22, 2011
    "Homer the Heretic" is one of the all time classic episodes of this long running series. No matter how many times I have seen it, I have never stopped laughing. The best laughs come at the opening segment. Seeing Marge and the kids suffering in the horrific blizzard and Homer having the time of his life is The Simpsons at its best. The laughs don't stop there. The razor sharp dialogue and the the terrific climax of Homer being rescued from the fire add to this episode's entertainment value. It's formlula plot is a liability, but the episode still delivers.moreless

  • Classic episode

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By fenway98, Aug 25, 2010
    One freezing winter morning, Homer decideds to skip church. He has a great day. He makes waffles, whizzes with the door open, dances, swears, and finds a penny. After seeing what skipping church does to him, he now stops going forever. Marge does not approve, but Homer stays home still.

    One day, there's a fire in the house, and Flanders, Krusty and Apu help save him, all members of different religions. Homer now starts going to church again, but sleeps through it.

    This was a great episode. There were so many great and funny parts, I can't list them all.

    Overall GradeL 95%/A+moreless

  • Funny! Another Simpsons Classic!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Sami5118, Jul 16, 2010
    Homer decides to skip church one Sunday because it was too cold and he didn't want to leave his nice, warm house. He decides to stop going all together once he realizes all the freedom he has when the rest of the family goes to church. Marge thinks that this is bad and she is really mad at Homer, but there is nothing that she can do because he is a grown man and is (somewhat) capable of making his own decisions. Then Homer starts being a complete ass to other people because of their religions. When his house starts on fire, it's Ned Flanders who saves hi, but Homer thinks that he wouldn't do it for Flanders. Then he decides to start going back to The Church of Springfield.

    Overall, this was one of my favorite episodes and the parts that I liked the most from the episode were when Homer decided to skip church, when he found the penny, and when God came down and talked to Homer.

    So, I would give this episode an A+ because it was funny and most other shows probably wouldn't go near this kind of stuff.moreless

  • Church of Homer

    10
    "Perfect"
    By futuramarama, Jul 16, 2010
    Homer skips church because it is too cold and he would much rather sleep {or just plain do anything else inside}.

    So, after finding a penny, and doing a couple other things, Homer has concluded that not going to church is great, and plans to give up going forever.

    Marge thinks this is really bad and so she is mad. But she can't do anything because Homer is a grown man picking his faith.

    He decides to make his own religion. But, after a fire he goes back to church of Springfield.

    Great. Funny. Awesome plot. Another superb season 4 offering. And the ending is hilariousmoreless

  • Another classic Simpsons episode

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Southparkfa, Jul 16, 2010
    This episode is yet another Simpsons classic, and is possibly one of their best, definitly one of the best of season 4 too. In this episode, Homer decides not to go to church one morning because he wants to sleep in, and when he has a great time watching football, drinking beer, and (Of course) finding a penny, he decides not to go to church anymore. The funny moments are hit after hit, with great convos with God, Homer being ass to people because of their religion, and Ned saving Homer, and Homer thinking that he wouldn't do it for him. Overall, another classic I'd reccomend checking out. 9/10 Amoreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (9)

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  • QUOTES (24)

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    • (Krusty, wearing a kippah, comes to Homer's door) Krusty: Hello, I'm collecting for the Brotherhood of Jewish clowns. Last year, tornadoes claimed the lives of 75 Jewish clowns. The worst incident was during our convention at Lubbock, Texas. There were floppy shoes and rainbow wigs everywhere! (sobs) It was terrible! Homer: Wait a minute! Is this a religious thing? Krusty: A religious clown thing, yes. Homer: Sorry. Krusty: Well, bless you anyw-- (Homer slams the door in Krusty's face)

    • Bart: Hey, where's Homer? Marge: Your father is... resting. Bart: Resting "hung over," resting "got fired," come on, help me out here!

    • Homer: Boy, everyone is stupid except me.

    • Apu: You are on your honor not to steal anything. Kearny: (lying and eating a box of cereal) Oh we won't. Apu looks at them for a moment and then puts a little boy on the counter. Apu: Little Jamshed, the store is in your hands. Little Jamshed: Oh, how I have waited for this day. (whips out a shot gun and cocks it.) Kearny's shocked as his mouth hangs open and he drops the box of cereal.

    • Homer: God, I gotta ask you something. What's the meaning of life? God: Homer, I can't tell you that. Homer: C'mon! God: You'll find out when you die. Homer: I can't wait that long! God: You can't wait six months? Homer: No! Tell me now! God: Well... okay. The meaning of life is... (gets cut off by the closing music)

    • Reverend Lovejoy: Homer, you remember Matthew 21-27, "The Foolish man who built his house on sand". Homer: And you remember Matthew...21-17? Reverend Lovejoy: And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there? Homer: Yeah...(regains confidence) think about it.

    • Homer: You bet your sweet...(looks around)...ass! Heh, heh, heh!

    • God: (To Homer) Now if you'll excuse me, I have to appear on a tortilla in Mexico.

    • Ned: Homer, God didn't set your house on fire. Reverend Lovejoy: No, but He was working in the hearts of your friends and neighbors when they came to your aid, be they Christian (Ned), Jew (Krusty), or ... miscellaneous (Apu). Apu: Hindu! There are 700 million of us. Reverend Lovejoy: Aw, that's super.

    • Insurance Guy: Any valuables in the house? Homer: Well, the Picasso, my collection of classic cars-- Insurance Guy: Sorry, this policy only covers actual losses, not made-up stuff. Homer: Well that's just great!

    • Barney: What are these axes for? Chief Wiggum: I dunno, chopping stuff. Barney: Gotcha. (chops down the Simpson's mailbox) Chief Wiggum: That's some nice choppin'.

    • Apu: You ducks are really trying my patience! But you're so cute!

    • Homer: Oh, the song. The song. (sings) When the fire starts to burn, there's a lesson you must learn. Something something, then you'll see: You'll avoid catastrophe! D'oh!

    • (Homer buys a crate of Duff beer and a packet of cigars at the Kwik-E-Mart) Homer: Apu! I see you're not in church! Apu: Oh, but I am! I have a shrine to Ganesha, the god of worldly wisdom, located in the employee lounge! Homer: (approaching the shrine) Hey, Ganesha, want a peanut? Apu: Please do not offer my god a peanut. Homer: No offense Apu, but when they were handing out religions, you must have been out taking a whiz. Apu: (angrily) Mr. Simpson, please pay for your purchases and get out and (cheerfully) come again!

    • Marge: I'm going to ask you one last time. Are you sure you won't come with us to church? TV Announcer: Coming up next: make your own ladder! Homer: Very sure.

    • Homer: Kids, let me tell you about another so-called wicked guy. He had long hair and some wild ideas. He didn't always do what other people thought was right. And that man's name was... I forget. But the point is... I forget that, too. Marge, you know what I'm talking about. He used to drive that blue car?

    • Flanders Family: (singing to Homer) God said to Noah, there's gonna be a floody-floody. Rain came down, it started to get muddy, muddy. Get those animals, out of the arky-arky... Homer: Leave me alone! (drives off) Todd Flanders: Dad, the heathen's getting away! Ned Flanders: I see him, son! (gives chase)

    • Homer: God Himself told me I should seek a new path. Reverend Lovejoy: Oh, really... Homer: Yeah. He appeared before me in a dream, and I knew that was special because I usually dream about naked... Marge.

    • TV Announcer: We interrupt this public affairs program to bring you a football game.

    • (Homer is watching The Three Stooges) Lady: You must be the three chyropractors I sent for, now start manipulating my spine. Curly: Hey Moe, we don't know anything about manipulatin' Moe: You heard the lady, grab her spine and get crackin. Homer: Hehehe.. Moe is their leader.

    • Homer: I'm all naked and wet!

    • Marge: Homer, are you actually giving up your faith? Homer: No! No no no no no...well, yes.

    • Homer: There you go again. Always taking someone else's side. Flanders, the Water Department, God...

    • Homer: I'm whizzin' with the door open... and I love it!

  • NOTES (5)

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    • Itchy & Scratchy: "Flay Me To The Moon" Scratchy read of a space launch in the paper. Itchy sneaks into his house, and pulls his tongue out like a fishing-line, runs outside and ties it to the spaceship. It takes off, with Scratchy's tongue unwinding to enormous proportions until the vessel orbits the moon twice and ties a knot around it with the tongue. This pulls the moon towards the earth, and Scratchy only noticing now, panics and hides in his closet. The moon crushes his house with him inside. Inside NASA headquarters, 'Itchy' mice celebrate a successful mission and drink champagne.

    • When developing the script, the writers made sure that God only appeared in Homer's dreams and not in real life. This was done to prevent viewers from getting offended.

    • A number of New Orleans townspeople were upset at the "New Orleans" song in the previous episode. The Blackboard gag was a sendoff/apology to those people.

    • This is the first episode produced by Film Roman, which will later also produce The Critic, King of the Hill, the first two seasons of Family Guy and ultimately The Simpsons Movie. This is also the first episode where the animation production is outsourced to Rough Draft Studios, which will eventually join Akom Productions as one of the main overseas animation studios for The Simpsons.

    • Blackboard Joke: I will not defame New Orleans. Couch Gag: The American version has a couch gag where the Simpsons run to the couch and find that it's not there. The Canadian version has the couch gag where the family sit down and get transported into a secret passageway as the wall turns.

  • ALLUSIONS (7)

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    • White Lightning The climax to the car chase (Homer jumping his car onto a departing garbage barge to finally escape Flanders) is taken from the 1973 film White Lightning.

    • St. Francis of Assisi When Homer is wearing a brown robe and surrounded by animals, he resembles St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

    • The Dukes Of Hazzard The scene where Flanders chases Homer through the streets of Springfield is taken from the show The Dukes Of Hazzard.

    • When Harry Met Sally... The title of Reverend Lovejoy's sermon, "When Homer Met Satan," is an obvious pun on the 1989 movie When Harry Met Sally...

    • Itchy & Scratchy Episode: "Flay Me to the Moon" The title of the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, "Flay Me to the Moon," is a play on Frank Sinatra's hit song, "Fly Me to the Moon."

    • Backdraft
      The scene where Flanders struggles to drag an unconscious Homer out of his burning house mimics Backdraft.

    • Risky Business The scene where Homer – clad in only his undershorts – dances around his house with the music blaring copies a scene with Tom Cruise from Risky Business.

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