Dancin' Homer

When a drunk Homer does an impromptu dance to the tune of "Baby Elephant Walk," the crowd responds with enthusiasm and the Isotopes go on to win the game, breaking the longest losing streak in professional baseball.

However, Homer's first performance fails to impress the crowd; he is fired immediately afterward, and the family moves back to Springfield.

[2] Levine, a former minor league baseball announcer, pitched the idea of using that sport as a background, and once he came up with Homer as a dancing mascot, producer Sam Simon was initially resistant given Bart had been the biggest draw of the series, only for the writers to reply they found Homer a more fun character to write.

[3] Executive producer James L. Brooks came up with the idea of the Moe's Tavern wraparounds at the beginning and the end of the episode.

[4] Along with giving the animators orientation regarding looks and ambience of minor league games, many of the new characters introduced in the episode were named after Levine's friends from his announcer career.

The minor league announcer in the episode, whom Levine voiced, was named Dan Hoard after his broadcasting partner in Syracuse, New York.

[7] Ron Taylor was meant to reprise his role of Oscar "Bleeding Gums" Murphy, who he had played in the first-season episode "Moaning Lisa", but was unable to record the part; Daryl L. Coley filled in for him.

[9] In 2000, it was included on video collection of selected sports-themed episodes, titled: The Simpsons: On Your Marks, Get Set, D'oh!.

Levine, Isaacs, Kirkland, Mike Reiss, and Matt Groening participated in the DVD's audio commentary.

[15] Homer's line, "Today, as I leave for Capital City, I consider myself the luckiest mascot on the face of the earth," is a reference to Lou Gehrig's farewell speech in the 1942 baseball film The Pride of the Yankees.

DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said it was "probably the best episode" of the season, and commented that "Dancin' Homer" offered a "consistently satisfying show.

From the Rastafarians who appear in the crowd when Homer performs 'Baby Elephant Walk', to the existence of the Players' Ex-Wives section at the ballpark, the episode provided a fun and rich program.

"[19] In a review of the second season, Bryce Wilson of Cinema Blend said "Dancin' Homer" felt "a bit flat", but "even in [its] lowest points, humor is easy to find.

"[20] Dawn Taylor of The DVD Journal thought the best line of the episode was Homer's "Marge, this ticket doesn't just give me a seat.