Faith Off
Encyclopedia
"Faith Off" is the eleventh episode of the eleventh season
of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 16, 2000. In the episode, Bart
believes he has the power to heal others through faith after removing a bucket glued to Homer
's head. Meanwhile, Homer creates a homecoming game float
for Springfield University. The episode, which features guest appearances from Don Cheadle
and Joe Mantegna
, has received mixed reviews from critics.
visits Springfield
University to pull a prank on Dean Bobby Peterson with his old nerd friends, Benjamin, Doug, and Gary. Homer tries to put a bucket filled with glue on the Dean's head, but another fraternity had already hung another bucket full of glue over the door; it falls on Homer's head, and he cannot get it off. He tries to drive with holes cut in the bucket over his eyes, but he drives the family off course — to a religious revival, hosted by a faith healer
named Brother Faith, where Bart
pulls the bucket off Homer's head. Brother Faith considers this act a sign that Bart has "the power" of healing. Lisa
is skeptical and attempts to use reason to explain that the hot stage lights heated the metal bucket, causing the glue to liquefy and thus loosen, while at the same time expanding the bucket and allowing Bart to pull it off. Undaunted, Bart becomes a faith healer, pulls miracles of his own, and even forms his own church which massively outdraws Reverend Lovejoy
's congregation on its first day of operation. There, Bart heals Springfield's residents (when in fact, his demonstrations for the day consist of punching Grandpa
in his paining artificial hip, Professor Frink
where he had been suffering a cramp in his back, and slapping Patty's cigarette out of her mouth).
The church is cut short, however, when Milhouse
is run down, though not fatally, after he mistakes an oncoming truck for a dog; Bart had "healed" him of his myopia
during his revival meeting by knocking his glasses off his face. Subsequently, Bart decides to end his career as a faith healer. Meanwhile, Homer prepares for Springfield University's homecoming football game by building a float
that he has fashioned out of flowers he has stolen from Ned Flanders
. At the game, everyone cheers for S.U.'s football team's star player, a kicker named Anton Lubchenko. Homer gets drunk and forgets he has made a float to celebrate SU. He crowd surfs down to the playing field, and runs to his float. Unfortunately, the other floats have left the field and the players have come back on. Homer drives his float over the leg of Lubchenko, horribly wounding him. Fat Tony
, who had bet
a substantial amount of money on Lubchenko's performance, threatens to kill Homer with an ice pick if Lubchenko does not return to the game. Homer convinces Bart to try to heal the kicker. Bart prays to God to help him heal the kicker. With his team down by two points, Lubchenko returns to the game and kicks the winning field goal, losing his leg in the process. Bart announces at the end of the game that he now knows that he does not have special powers and so is not a healer. Dr. Hibbert
tells Bart he is happy with this, as he will surgically reattach
Lubchenko's leg and get all the healing business for himself.
and directed by Nancy Kruse
as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000). The episode features guest appearances from Don Cheadle
as Brother Faith and Joe Mantegna
as Fat Tony
. A major theme in "Faith Off" is the Christian practice of faith healing
. In his 2008 book The Springfield Reformation: The Simpsons, Christianity, and American Culture, Jamey Heit wrote that "The Simpsons reiterates the vibrancy that defines black Christianity in 'Faith Off.' A faith healer, Brother Faith, inspires Bart to nurture his spirituality. Bart responds to the call and at least for the rest of the episode embraces the spiritual vibrancy that he learns from a black Christian leader."
for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set. A song Bart sings in the episode, called "Testify", was released on the soundtrack album The Simpsons: Testify
in 2007.
Reception from critics has been mixed. While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented on "Faith Off", noting: "If nothing else, I like this one for the sight of Homer with the bucket stuck on his head; something about seeing him with those little eyeholes entertains me. Otherwise there’s not much powerful at work here. The healing plot is a decent one, and Don Cheadle gives us a good guest performance. The program is fine but not much more than that." Nancy Basile of About.com
, on the other hand, listed the episode as one of the episodes she felt "shined in season eleven". In 2003, the Orlando Sentinel
s Gregory Hardy named "Faith Off" the fifth best episode of the show with a sports theme. Jerry Greene, another Orlando Sentinel columnist, listed the episode at number seven on his 2004 list of the show's "Top 10 Sporting Episodes". He particularly liked the inscription on Springfield University's gateway that says: "If you can read this, you're accepted."
The Simpsons (season 11)
The Simpsons 11th season originally aired between September 1999 and May 2000, beginning on Sunday, September 26, 1999, with "Beyond Blunderdome". The show runner for the 11th production season was Mike Scully...
of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons
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...
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 16, 2000. In the episode, Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
believes he has the power to heal others through faith after removing a bucket glued to 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...
's head. Meanwhile, Homer creates a homecoming game float
Float (parade)
A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, the...
for Springfield University. The episode, which features guest appearances from Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
and Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
, has received mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
HomerHomer 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...
visits Springfield
Springfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...
University to pull a prank on Dean Bobby Peterson with his old nerd friends, Benjamin, Doug, and Gary. Homer tries to put a bucket filled with glue on the Dean's head, but another fraternity had already hung another bucket full of glue over the door; it falls on Homer's head, and he cannot get it off. He tries to drive with holes cut in the bucket over his eyes, but he drives the family off course — to a religious revival, hosted by a faith healer
Faith Healer
Faith Healer is a play by Brian Friel about the life of faith healer Francis Hardy as monologued through the shifting memories of Hardy, his wife, Grace, and stage manager, Teddy.-Synopsis:...
named Brother Faith, where Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
pulls the bucket off Homer's head. Brother Faith considers this act a sign that Bart has "the power" of healing. Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
is skeptical and attempts to use reason to explain that the hot stage lights heated the metal bucket, causing the glue to liquefy and thus loosen, while at the same time expanding the bucket and allowing Bart to pull it off. Undaunted, Bart becomes a faith healer, pulls miracles of his own, and even forms his own church which massively outdraws Reverend Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy Lovejoy
Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Lovejoy is the minister at The First Church of Springfield—the Protestant church in Springfield which most of...
's congregation on its first day of operation. There, Bart heals Springfield's residents (when in fact, his demonstrations for the day consist of punching Grandpa
Abraham Simpson
Abraham J. "Abe" Simpson, often known simply as Grampa, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and he is also the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer Simpson, and the grandfather of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson...
in his paining artificial hip, Professor Frink
Professor Frink
Professor John Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr., or simply Professor Frink, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money". Frink is Springfield's nerdy scientist and professor and is extremely...
where he had been suffering a cramp in his back, and slapping Patty's cigarette out of her mouth).
The church is cut short, however, when Milhouse
Milhouse Van Houten
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....
is run down, though not fatally, after he mistakes an oncoming truck for a dog; Bart had "healed" him of his myopia
Myopia
Myopia , "shortsightedness" ) is a refractive defect of the eye in which collimated light produces image focus in front of the retina under conditions of accommodation. In simpler terms, myopia is a condition of the eye where the light that comes in does not directly focus on the retina but in...
during his revival meeting by knocking his glasses off his face. Subsequently, Bart decides to end his career as a faith healer. Meanwhile, Homer prepares for Springfield University's homecoming football game by building a float
Float (parade)
A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, the...
that he has fashioned out of flowers he has stolen from Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...
. At the game, everyone cheers for S.U.'s football team's star player, a kicker named Anton Lubchenko. Homer gets drunk and forgets he has made a float to celebrate SU. He crowd surfs down to the playing field, and runs to his float. Unfortunately, the other floats have left the field and the players have come back on. Homer drives his float over the leg of Lubchenko, horribly wounding him. Fat Tony
Fat Tony
Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico is a recurring character in the animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Joe Mantegna and first appeared in the third season episode "Bart the Murderer"...
, who had bet
Sports betting
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome.-United States of America:Aside from simple wagers such as betting a friend that one's favorite baseball team will win its division or buying a football "square" for the Super Bowl, sports betting is...
a substantial amount of money on Lubchenko's performance, threatens to kill Homer with an ice pick if Lubchenko does not return to the game. Homer convinces Bart to try to heal the kicker. Bart prays to God to help him heal the kicker. With his team down by two points, Lubchenko returns to the game and kicks the winning field goal, losing his leg in the process. Bart announces at the end of the game that he now knows that he does not have special powers and so is not a healer. Dr. Hibbert
Julius Hibbert
Dr. Julius M. Hibbert, usually referred to as Dr. Hibbert, is a recurring character on the animated series The Simpsons. His speaking voice is provided by Harry Shearer and his singing voice was by Thurl Ravenscroft, and he first appeared in the episode "Bart the Daredevil". Dr...
tells Bart he is happy with this, as he will surgically reattach
Replantation
Replantation is the surgical reattachment of a body part by microsurgical means, most commonly a finger, hand or arm, that has been completely cut from a person's body...
Lubchenko's leg and get all the healing business for himself.
Production and themes
"Faith Off" was written by Frank MulaFrank Mula
Frank Mula is an American television writer. He has written for Cosby, Madame's Place, Grand, The Simpsons and created the series, Local Heroes, which lasted 7 episodes.Mula was raised in South River, New Jersey....
and directed by Nancy Kruse
Nancy Kruse
Nancy Kruse is a former animation director on The Simpsons. She started working on the show during the first season as a background clean-up artist. After that she did background layout and character layout for several years on the show before becoming an assistant director...
as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000). The episode features guest appearances from Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
as Brother Faith and Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
as Fat Tony
Fat Tony
Marion Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico is a recurring character in the animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Joe Mantegna and first appeared in the third season episode "Bart the Murderer"...
. A major theme in "Faith Off" is the Christian practice of faith healing
Faith healing
Faith healing is healing through spiritual means. The healing of a person is brought about by religious faith through prayer and/or rituals that, according to adherents, stimulate a divine presence and power toward correcting disease and disability. Belief in divine intervention in illness or...
. In his 2008 book The Springfield Reformation: The Simpsons, Christianity, and American Culture, Jamey Heit wrote that "The Simpsons reiterates the vibrancy that defines black Christianity in 'Faith Off.' A faith healer, Brother Faith, inspires Bart to nurture his spirituality. Bart responds to the call and at least for the rest of the episode embraces the spiritual vibrancy that he learns from a black Christian leader."
Release
The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 16, 2000. On October 7, 2008, it was released on DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season. Staff members Mike Scully, George Meyer, Matt Selman, and Nancy Kruse participated in the DVD audio commentaryAudio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set. A song Bart sings in the episode, called "Testify", was released on the soundtrack album The Simpsons: Testify
The Simpsons: Testify
The Simpsons: Testify is an album that features songs from the animated television series The Simpsons. It was released on September 18, 2007 and includes songs from season 11 to season 18...
in 2007.
Reception from critics has been mixed. While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented on "Faith Off", noting: "If nothing else, I like this one for the sight of Homer with the bucket stuck on his head; something about seeing him with those little eyeholes entertains me. Otherwise there’s not much powerful at work here. The healing plot is a decent one, and Don Cheadle gives us a good guest performance. The program is fine but not much more than that." Nancy Basile of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
, on the other hand, listed the episode as one of the episodes she felt "shined in season eleven". In 2003, the Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. As of 2005, the Sentinel’s president and publisher was Kathleen Waltz; she announced her resignation in February 2008...
s Gregory Hardy named "Faith Off" the fifth best episode of the show with a sports theme. Jerry Greene, another Orlando Sentinel columnist, listed the episode at number seven on his 2004 list of the show's "Top 10 Sporting Episodes". He particularly liked the inscription on Springfield University's gateway that says: "If you can read this, you're accepted."
External links
- "Faith Off" at The Simpsons.com