Homer the Whopper
"Homer the Whopper" is the twenty-first season premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 27, 2009.
| "Homer the Whopper" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
Promotional image featuring Homer as Everyman and Lyle McCarthy | |
| Episode no. | Season 21 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Lance Kramer |
| Written by | Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg |
| Production code | LABF13 |
| Original air date | September 27, 2009 |
| Guest appearances | |
| Seth Rogen as Lyle McCarthy Matt Groening as himself Kevin Michael Richardson as the security guard | |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "The class hamster isn't just sleeping" |
| Couch gag | The Simpsons arrive at a subway station, where the subway doors open to reveal their living room. |
In the episode, Comic Book Guy creates a new superhero, Everyman, who takes powers from other superheroes. Homer is cast as the lead in the film adaptation. To get Homer into shape, the movie studio hires a celebrity fitness trainer, Lyle McCarthy, to help him. Homer gets into great shape and is really excited, but when McCarthy leaves to train another client, he starts over-eating again and ultimately this leads to the film's failure.
The episode was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who are "obsessed" fans of the show, and directed by Lance Kramer. "Homer The Whopper" was intended to be a commentary on how Hollywood treats superhero films. Rogen also guest stars in the episode as the character Lyle McCarthy, making him the second guest star to both write an episode and appear in it; Ricky Gervais was the first.
"Homer the Whopper" has received mixed reviews from television critics and acquired a Nielsen rating of 4.3 in its original broadcast.