The Simpsons - Classics - The Last Temptation Of Homer (DVD)

The Simpsons - Classics - The Last Temptation Of Homer is a compilation of episodes with one recurring theme, this one being Homer, the head of the Simpsons household who loves his family, almost as much as he loves doughnuts and Duff Beer. The four episodes included are "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish", "Simpson And Delilah", "Colonel Homer" and "Homer Alone".

"One Fish, Two Fish, ...
...how things turn out in the end, but when Homer slouches down in his chair after listening to the bible as read by Larry King, you fear the worst and feel for his family.

In "Simpson And Delilah" Homer lies to his company health plan in order to get Demoxinil, a hair growth formula. Purely based on his new well quaffed 'do, he begins to move up at the plant, with the help of his new assistant Karl (voiced by Harvey Fierstein), ... more

The Simpsons - Classics - The Last Temptation Of Homer is a compilation of episodes with one recurring theme, this one being Homer, the head of the Simpsons household who loves his family, almost as much as he loves doughnuts and Duff Beer. The four episodes included are "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish", "Simpson And Delilah", "Colonel Homer" and "Homer Alone".

"One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" is as far away from the wacky Simpsons people know as is possible. Homer goes to a sushi bar and eats some blowfish that hadn't been cut properly and is given a day to love by Dr. Hibbert. Confronted with this news, Homer makes a list of things he always wanted to do, and tries to do them all before his time runs out. A very touching episode that deals with death very respectfully, you see Homer larking around with his friends, but also teaching Bart how to shave and making sure to do things with his family. You can guess how things turn out in the end, but when Homer slouches down in his chair after listening to the bible as read by Larry King, you fear the worst and feel for his family.

In "Simpson And Delilah" Homer lies to his company health plan in order to get Demoxinil, a hair growth formula. Purely based on his new well quaffed 'do, he begins to move up at the plant, with the help of his new assistant Karl (voiced by Harvey Fierstein), until a jealous Smithers threatens to destroy everything. Homer is out of his depth here, and needs Karl to help him with his suit choices, his speeches and his confidence. When he leaves at the end, he gives Homer a kiss, which back then was a daring thing to do I think. I like the courage of the shows staff to keep things like that in, which probably wasn't liked too much by the very conservative Rupert Murdoch.

"Colonel Homer" involves Homer going to cowboy bar where he meets a country singer called Lurleen Lumpkin (voiced by Beverly D'Angelo). He decides to manage her career, without knowing how she feels about him. Meanwhile, Marge is getting more jealous and his kids are starting to lose respect for him. A well written episode and as it deals with proper marital problems, is a lot more realistic than a lot of other animated shows. Shows like this propel Homer from a 2-d idiot who loves beer to a honorable, respectful guy, who has problems in his marriage just like anyone else, and he has to work hard to resolve them.

Finally, "Homer Alone" has Marge breaking down from stress in the middle of a traffic jam, so the family sends her to Ranch o Relaxo ("Remember, you can't spell Relaxo without 'relax'"). Bart and Lisa are shipped off to live with Patty and Selma, while Homer takes care of Maggie, who, rather unsurprisingly, loses her. Will he find her in time before Marge arrives back? Another good family episode, although slightly more Simpsons-like with Homer losing Maggie. It shows Homer really does have a heart of gold, even if he does have the brain of an idiot.

No extras which is a shame, you'd think they'd at least put something on here seeing as the season box sets have such a wealth of behind the scenes features. 5 stars for the episodes. 

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