All's Fair in Oven War

"All's Fair in Oven War" is the second episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons.

Meanwhile, Bart finds Homer's vintage Playdude magazines and decides to adopt the lifestyle he sees within the articles.

His ineptitude leads Marge to hire a contractor; the upgrade ultimately takes two years and costs the family $100,000.

The first dish that Marge cooks in the completed kitchen, wasabi Buffalo wings earns rave reviews from many Springfieldians, as well as author Thomas Pynchon.

Angered by the behaviour of her competitors, Marge secretly taints their dishes with Maggie's ear medicine to ruin the taste.

[3][4] Meanwhile, Homer finds his old stash of Playdude magazines while trying to remodel the kitchen, but throws them away after Marge cuts out all the nude pictures.

Bart and Milhouse find the magazines in the trash and, after reading them, decide to remodel their treehouse and adopt the lifestyle espoused in the articles.

They develop an interest in luxurious living and jazz music and begin speaking in sexual innuendos without understanding their meaning, and the treehouse quickly becomes a popular hangout similar to the Playboy Club.

Horrified at what he learns, Bart quickly spreads the word to the other children of Springfield, unsettling them as well and bringing their Playdude fascination to an end.

Reclusive novelist Thomas Pynchon guest stars as himself in the episode, wearing a paper bag over his head.

[9] The Godfather parody was cut short in the UK version, and several sexual references from Bart's "playdude" plot were removed.

[10] The episode's title is a play on the saying "All's fair in love and war", a proverb found in John Lyly's 16th-century book Euphues[11] that is commonly used to justify cheating.

[3][13] Marge suggesting that the pope has been letting things slide lately, is a reference to the sex abuse scandal of the early 2000s.