Deep Space Homer
Encyclopedia
"Deep Space Homer" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons
' fifth season
and first aired on February 24, 1994. The episode was directed by Carlos Baeza
and was the only episode of The Simpsons written by David Mirkin
, who was also the executive producer at the time. The episode follows Homer
becoming an astronaut
, and the ensuing chaos when the navigation system on his space shuttle
is destroyed. Buzz Aldrin
and James Taylor
both guest starred as themselves. The critically acclaimed episode became the source of the Overlord meme, and features numerous film parodies, mostly of The Right Stuff and 2001: A Space Odyssey
. A copy of the episode is available for astronauts to watch at the International Space Station
.
gives the award to an 'inanimate carbon
rod'. The dejected Homer, feeling that no one respects him, turns to TV for solace and happens upon a live space shuttle
launch, which he finds dull. Meanwhile, NASA
, frustrated over its drop in the Nielsen ratings
, decides to send an "average shmoe" into space as the solution. At that moment, Homer telephones NASA to complain about their "boring space launches," and NASA chiefs realize they have found their man. When they arrive at Moe's Tavern in search of Homer, he believes he is in trouble for making a prank call to NASA and blames Barney
for the incident. The NASA employees ask Barney to be an astronaut, and when Homer realizes what the proposal entails, he steps in and takes credit for the call.
NASA takes both Homer and Barney to Cape Canaveral
for training. As only one of them can go into space, they soon find themselves in competition. Under NASA's alcohol ban, the newly sober Barney quickly develops superior skills and is selected to fly with Buzz Aldrin
and astronaut Race Banyon. However, when Barney toasts his victory with non-alcoholic champagne, he inexplicably reverts to his normal alcoholic self and escapes, promptly damaging some special equipment. Homer wins by default and is selected for space flight, but after watching an episode of Itchy and Scratchy involving space exploration, he becomes very nervous about going. Just as they prepare to take off in the Corvair space shuttle, Homer runs away. He talks with Marge
on the phone, and she says that he ought to take advantage of the opportunity. He agrees, and the launch, which is also a Nielsen ratings smash, proceeds.
Finally in space, Homer reveals he has smuggled potato chip
s on board. He opens the bag, but is unaware that, due to the effects of weightlessness
, they will spread around and clog the instruments. His appetite seems to save the day as he floats after the chips, eating them, but he manages to fly into an experimental ant farm, letting the ants loose in the shuttle. James Taylor
comes in over the radio to sing a song, but the disaster continues on board as the ants destroy the navigation system. James Taylor suggests that they blow the bugs out the front hatch, which the astronauts do, but Homer fails to put on his harness and is nearly blown out of the open hatch before grabbing its handle and clinging for life. Buzz pulls him inside, but due to the vacuum's sheer force, Homer breaks the hatch handle, preventing the door from closing and potentially resulting in the shuttle's destruction on re-entry
. When Race declares he will attack Homer in frustration, Homer pulls a rod out of the wall to defend himself, and he inadvertently uses it to seal the door shut. With the problems solved, the shuttle successfully returns to Earth, making a convenient crash-landing through the roof of a press reporters' convention.
Although Buzz Aldrin declares Homer a hero, the press only have eyes for the inanimate carbon rod he used. The rod is featured on magazine covers with the headline "In Rod We Trust" and is given its own ticker-tape parade
. Back at home, Homer is disappointed that he did not get as much respect as he had hoped, but the family still honors him for his achievement.
and is his only writing credit for The Simpsons. Mirkin had worked on the idea for the episode for a long time, basing the story on NASA's Teacher in Space Project
scheme to send ordinary civilians into space in order to spark interest amongst the general public. There was some controversy amongst the show's writing staff during production. Some of the writers felt that having Homer go into space was too large an idea. Matt Groening
felt that the idea was so big that it gave the writers "nowhere to go." Several silly gags were therefore toned down to make the episode feel more realistic, including an idea that everyone at NASA was as stupid as Homer. The writers focused more upon the relationship between Homer and his family and Homer's attempts to be a hero.
Buzz Aldrin
, the second man to walk on the Moon
, and James Taylor
both guest star as themselves in this episode. Some of the writers were concerned about Aldrin's line, "second comes right after first," feeling it was insulting to Aldrin. An alternative line was written: "first to take a soil sample," but Aldrin had no problem with saying the original line. A version of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain
" was recorded specifically for the episode containing some altered lyrics. Taylor's original recording session was included as an extra on the DVD.
Although the episode was directed by Carlos Baeza
, the potato chip sequence was directed by David Silverman. Some computer animation created using an Amiga
was used in the sequence in order to make the potato chip rotation as smoothly as possible.
TV shows the people at NASA watch are Home Improvement and Married... with Children
. In the scene where the family arrives at Cape Canaveral, the car is a parody of The Beverly Hillbillies
, with Marge sitting in Granny's position. Homer and Barney's duel is a reference to the classic Star Trek
episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion", complete with one of Star Treks fight themes (originally from the episode "Amok Time") and the NASA administrators betting on the combatants in "quatloos". Homer running while lying on the floor and trying to read the back of his head is an homage to the Three Stooges
, particularly Curly
. The TV anchor is a parody of Tom Brokaw
, and is voiced by Harry Shearer
. A lot of words containing the letter L were intentionally written into the dialogue because the writers "enjoy the way Tom says them."
The music at the start of the episode of the Itchy & Scratchy
cartoon parodies the theme from the original Star Trek
series. Itchy bursts out of Scratchy's stomach in a parody of the creature
from the Alien
films. Itchy comes out to torture Scratchy in an EVA
pod much like those aboard the Discovery
. Homer hopes that his crew will not be sent to "that terrible Planet of the Apes
," only to suddenly figure out the film's ending; he then unwittingly performs Charlton Heston
's final scene in the film. Much of the episode parodies The Right Stuff, with sequences such as Barney and Homer's training, Homer's walk to the shuttle and the shuttle's re-entry paying homage to the film. Barney sings the first part of the Major-General's Song
from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance
while doing flips to show how fit he is.
The episode also contains numerous references to Stanley Kubrick
´s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey
. In the space shuttle, Homer floats in zero gravity, eating potato chips. This echoes the docking scene in 2001, with the use of the music piece The Blue Danube
. At the end of the episode, Bart throws a marker into the air; in slow motion it rotates in mid-air, before a match cut
replaces it with a cylindrical satellite. This parodies a similar transition scene between "The Dawn of Man" and the future sequence in the film, including the use of the famous Richard Strauss
piece Also sprach Zarathustra.
In its original broadcast, "Deep Space Homer" finished 32nd in ratings for the week of February 21-27, 1994, with a Nielsen rating
of 11.1, equivalent to approximately 10.3 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beating Living Single
.
NASA
loved the episode, and astronaut Edward Lu
asked for a copy of it to be sent on a supply ship to the International Space Station
. The DVD remains there for astronauts to view. "Deep Space Homer" is MSNBC
s fourth favorite episode, citing Homer's realization that Planet of the Apes is set on Earth as "pure genius." Empire
magazine named it a "contender for greatest ever episode", and listed it as the third best movie parody in the show. In his book, Planet Simpson, Chris Turner names the episode as being one of his five favorites, saying it is "second to none," despite listing "Last Exit to Springfield
" as his favorite episode. He described the long sequence that begins with Homer eating potato chips in the space shuttle and ends with Kent Brockman's dramatic speech as being "simply among the finest comedic moments in the history of television". The Daily Telegraph
also named the episode among their ten favorites.
Both Buzz Aldrin and James Taylor received praise for their guest performances. IGN
ranked James Taylor as being the twenty-first best guest appearance in the show's history. The Phoenix.com published their own list of "Top 20 guest stars" and Taylor placed eighteenth. Among The Simpsons staff, the episode is a favorite of David Silverman
. On the other hand it also contains one of Matt Groening's least favorite jokes, when Homer's face changes into Popeye
and Richard Nixon
while exposed to G-force
.
"Deep Space Homer" is the source of the "Overlord meme", which is lifted from Kent Brockman
's line "And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords" and is commonly used on internet forums to express mock submission, usually for the purpose of humor or when a "participant vastly overstates the degree of oppression or social control expected to arise from the topic in question." The term was used by New Scientist
magazine, and was referenced on the February 16, 2011 episode of Jeopardy!
by Ken Jennings
in acknowledgment of the accomplishments of the computer Watson.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
The Simpsons (season 5)
The Simpsons fifth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 30, 1993 and May 19, 1994. The show runner for the fifth production season was David Mirkin who executive produced 20 episodes. Al Jean and Mike Reiss executive produced the remaining two, which were both hold overs...
and first aired on February 24, 1994. The episode was directed by Carlos Baeza
Carlos Baeza
Carlos Baeza is an animation director. He has worked for The Simpsons and Futurama.- The Simpsons episodes :He is credited with directing the following episodes:*"Lisa's Pony"*"Radio Bart"*"Bart the Lover"*"Treehouse of Horror III"...
and was the only episode of The Simpsons written by David Mirkin
David Mirkin
David Mirkin is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up...
, who was also the executive producer at the time. The episode follows Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
becoming an astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
, and the ensuing chaos when the navigation system on his space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
is destroyed. Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
and James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
both guest starred as themselves. The critically acclaimed episode became the source of the Overlord meme, and features numerous film parodies, mostly of The Right Stuff and 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
. A copy of the episode is available for astronauts to watch at the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
.
Plot
At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, it is time for the ceremony for the "Worker of the Week" award and Homer, the only employee who has never won the award, is confident he will win. However, Mr. BurnsMontgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
gives the award to an 'inanimate carbon
Carbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
rod'. The dejected Homer, feeling that no one respects him, turns to TV for solace and happens upon a live space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
launch, which he finds dull. Meanwhile, NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, frustrated over its drop in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, decides to send an "average shmoe" into space as the solution. At that moment, Homer telephones NASA to complain about their "boring space launches," and NASA chiefs realize they have found their man. When they arrive at Moe's Tavern in search of Homer, he believes he is in trouble for making a prank call to NASA and blames Barney
Barney Gumble
Barnard "Barney" Gumble is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The character is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the town drunk and Homer Simpson's best friend. His capacity for...
for the incident. The NASA employees ask Barney to be an astronaut, and when Homer realizes what the proposal entails, he steps in and takes credit for the call.
NASA takes both Homer and Barney to Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral
Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...
for training. As only one of them can go into space, they soon find themselves in competition. Under NASA's alcohol ban, the newly sober Barney quickly develops superior skills and is selected to fly with Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
and astronaut Race Banyon. However, when Barney toasts his victory with non-alcoholic champagne, he inexplicably reverts to his normal alcoholic self and escapes, promptly damaging some special equipment. Homer wins by default and is selected for space flight, but after watching an episode of Itchy and Scratchy involving space exploration, he becomes very nervous about going. Just as they prepare to take off in the Corvair space shuttle, Homer runs away. He talks with Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
on the phone, and she says that he ought to take advantage of the opportunity. He agrees, and the launch, which is also a Nielsen ratings smash, proceeds.
Finally in space, Homer reveals he has smuggled potato chip
Potato chip
Potato chips are thin slices of potato that are deep fried...
s on board. He opens the bag, but is unaware that, due to the effects of weightlessness
Weightlessness
Weightlessness is the condition that exists for an object or person when they experience little or no acceleration except the acceleration that defines their inertial trajectory, or the trajectory of pure free-fall...
, they will spread around and clog the instruments. His appetite seems to save the day as he floats after the chips, eating them, but he manages to fly into an experimental ant farm, letting the ants loose in the shuttle. James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
comes in over the radio to sing a song, but the disaster continues on board as the ants destroy the navigation system. James Taylor suggests that they blow the bugs out the front hatch, which the astronauts do, but Homer fails to put on his harness and is nearly blown out of the open hatch before grabbing its handle and clinging for life. Buzz pulls him inside, but due to the vacuum's sheer force, Homer breaks the hatch handle, preventing the door from closing and potentially resulting in the shuttle's destruction on re-entry
Re-Entry
"Re-Entry" was the second album released by UK R&B / Hip Hop collective Big Brovaz. After the album was delayed in May 2006, the band finally release the follow-up to "Nu Flow" on 9 April 2007...
. When Race declares he will attack Homer in frustration, Homer pulls a rod out of the wall to defend himself, and he inadvertently uses it to seal the door shut. With the problems solved, the shuttle successfully returns to Earth, making a convenient crash-landing through the roof of a press reporters' convention.
Although Buzz Aldrin declares Homer a hero, the press only have eyes for the inanimate carbon rod he used. The rod is featured on magazine covers with the headline "In Rod We Trust" and is given its own ticker-tape parade
Ticker-tape parade
A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in a built-up urban setting, allowing large amounts of shredded paper to be thrown from nearby office buildings onto the parade route, creating a celebratory effect by the snowstorm-like flurry...
. Back at home, Homer is disappointed that he did not get as much respect as he had hoped, but the family still honors him for his achievement.
Production
"Deep Space Homer" was written by then-executive producer David MirkinDavid Mirkin
David Mirkin is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up...
and is his only writing credit for The Simpsons. Mirkin had worked on the idea for the episode for a long time, basing the story on NASA's Teacher in Space Project
Teacher in Space Project
The Teacher in Space Project was a NASA program announced by Ronald Reagan in 1984 designed to inspire students, honor teachers, and spur interest in mathematics, science, and space exploration....
scheme to send ordinary civilians into space in order to spark interest amongst the general public. There was some controversy amongst the show's writing staff during production. Some of the writers felt that having Homer go into space was too large an idea. Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
felt that the idea was so big that it gave the writers "nowhere to go." Several silly gags were therefore toned down to make the episode feel more realistic, including an idea that everyone at NASA was as stupid as Homer. The writers focused more upon the relationship between Homer and his family and Homer's attempts to be a hero.
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
, the second man to walk on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, and James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
both guest star as themselves in this episode. Some of the writers were concerned about Aldrin's line, "second comes right after first," feeling it was insulting to Aldrin. An alternative line was written: "first to take a soil sample," but Aldrin had no problem with saying the original line. A version of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain
Fire and Rain
"Fire and Rain" is a folk/rock song written and performed by James Taylor. As a song on his second album, Sweet Baby James, the song engendered widespread attention for him. The album was released in February 1970, with the song being released as a single that month. "Fire and Rain" quickly rose to...
" was recorded specifically for the episode containing some altered lyrics. Taylor's original recording session was included as an extra on the DVD.
Although the episode was directed by Carlos Baeza
Carlos Baeza
Carlos Baeza is an animation director. He has worked for The Simpsons and Futurama.- The Simpsons episodes :He is credited with directing the following episodes:*"Lisa's Pony"*"Radio Bart"*"Bart the Lover"*"Treehouse of Horror III"...
, the potato chip sequence was directed by David Silverman. Some computer animation created using an Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
was used in the sequence in order to make the potato chip rotation as smoothly as possible.
Cultural references
The two blue collarBlue-collar worker
A blue-collar worker is a member of the working class who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled, manufacturing, mining, construction, mechanical, maintenance, technical installation and many other types of physical work...
TV shows the people at NASA watch are Home Improvement and Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
. In the scene where the family arrives at Cape Canaveral, the car is a parody of The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
, with Marge sitting in Granny's position. Homer and Barney's duel is a reference to the classic Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion", complete with one of Star Treks fight themes (originally from the episode "Amok Time") and the NASA administrators betting on the combatants in "quatloos". Homer running while lying on the floor and trying to read the back of his head is an homage to the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
, particularly Curly
Curly Howard
Jerome Lester "Jerry" Horwitz , better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and vaudevillian. He is best known as a member of the American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges, along with his older brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and actor Larry Fine...
. The TV anchor is a parody of Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
, and is voiced by Harry Shearer
Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...
. A lot of words containing the letter L were intentionally written into the dialogue because the writers "enjoy the way Tom says them."
The music at the start of the episode of the Itchy & Scratchy
The Itchy & Scratchy Show
The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
cartoon parodies the theme from the original Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
series. Itchy bursts out of Scratchy's stomach in a parody of the creature
Xenomorph (Alien)
The Alien is a fictional endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species that is the primary antagonist of the Alien film series. The species made its debut in the 1979 film Alien, and reappeared in its sequels Aliens , Alien 3 , and Alien Resurrection , two crossovers Alien vs...
from the Alien
Alien (film series)
The Alien film series is a science fiction horror film franchise, focusing on Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and her battle with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien"...
films. Itchy comes out to torture Scratchy in an EVA
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
pod much like those aboard the Discovery
Discovery One
United States Spacecraft Discovery One is a fictional spacecraft appearing in The Space Odyssey series, including the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Discovery One is a large, nuclear-powered interplanetary spaceship.-History:...
. Homer hopes that his crew will not be sent to "that terrible Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (1968 film)
Planet of the Apes is a 1968 American science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, based on the 1963 French novel La Planète des singes by Pierre Boulle. The film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison...
," only to suddenly figure out the film's ending; he then unwittingly performs Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
's final scene in the film. Much of the episode parodies The Right Stuff, with sequences such as Barney and Homer's training, Homer's walk to the shuttle and the shuttle's re-entry paying homage to the film. Barney sings the first part of the Major-General's Song
Major-General's Song
I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General is a patter song from Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance. It is perhaps the most famous song in Gilbert and Sullivan's operas. It is sung by Major-General Stanley at his first entrance, towards the end of Act I...
from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
while doing flips to show how fit he is.
The episode also contains numerous references to Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
´s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
. In the space shuttle, Homer floats in zero gravity, eating potato chips. This echoes the docking scene in 2001, with the use of the music piece The Blue Danube
The Blue Danube
The Blue Danube is the common English title of An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 , a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866...
. At the end of the episode, Bart throws a marker into the air; in slow motion it rotates in mid-air, before a match cut
Match cut
A match cut, also called a graphic match, is a cut in film editing between either two different objects, two different spaces, or two different compositions in which an object in the two shots graphically match, often helping to establish a strong continuity of action and linking the two shots...
replaces it with a cylindrical satellite. This parodies a similar transition scene between "The Dawn of Man" and the future sequence in the film, including the use of the famous Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
piece Also sprach Zarathustra.
Reception
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 11.1, equivalent to approximately 10.3 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beating Living Single
Living Single
Living Single is an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 29, 1993 to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone.Throughout its run, Living...
.
NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
loved the episode, and astronaut Edward Lu
Ed Lu
Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu , is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions and an extended stay aboard the International Space Station.-Education:...
asked for a copy of it to be sent on a supply ship to the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
. The DVD remains there for astronauts to view. "Deep Space Homer" is MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
s fourth favorite episode, citing Homer's realization that Planet of the Apes is set on Earth as "pure genius." Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine named it a "contender for greatest ever episode", and listed it as the third best movie parody in the show. In his book, Planet Simpson, Chris Turner names the episode as being one of his five favorites, saying it is "second to none," despite listing "Last Exit to Springfield
Last Exit to Springfield
"Last Exit to Springfield" is the seventeenth episode of The Simpsons fourth season which originally aired March 11, 1993. It was directed by Mark Kirkland and was the last episode written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky...
" as his favorite episode. He described the long sequence that begins with Homer eating potato chips in the space shuttle and ends with Kent Brockman's dramatic speech as being "simply among the finest comedic moments in the history of television". The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
also named the episode among their ten favorites.
Both Buzz Aldrin and James Taylor received praise for their guest performances. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
ranked James Taylor as being the twenty-first best guest appearance in the show's history. The Phoenix.com published their own list of "Top 20 guest stars" and Taylor placed eighteenth. Among The Simpsons staff, the episode is a favorite of David Silverman
David Silverman
David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...
. On the other hand it also contains one of Matt Groening's least favorite jokes, when Homer's face changes into Popeye
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
and Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
while exposed to G-force
G-force
The g-force associated with an object is its acceleration relative to free-fall. This acceleration experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of non-gravitational forces acting on an object free to move. The accelerations that are not produced by gravity are termed proper accelerations, and...
.
"Deep Space Homer" is the source of the "Overlord meme", which is lifted from Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode "Krusty Gets Busted"...
's line "And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords" and is commonly used on internet forums to express mock submission, usually for the purpose of humor or when a "participant vastly overstates the degree of oppression or social control expected to arise from the topic in question." The term was used by New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
magazine, and was referenced on the February 16, 2011 episode of Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
by Ken Jennings
Ken Jennings
Kenneth Wayne "Ken" Jennings III is an American game show contestant and author. Jennings is noted for holding the record for the longest winning streak on the U.S. syndicated game show Jeopardy! and as being the all-time leading money winner on American game shows...
in acknowledgment of the accomplishments of the computer Watson.
External links
- "Deep Space Homer" at The Simpsons.com