"Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass" is the eighth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons.
When Homer is recruited to produce the Super Bowl halftime show, he enlists Ned to help him stage a Bible story.
Athletes Tom Brady, LeBron James, Michelle Kwan, Yao Ming, and Warren Sapp appear as themeselves.
Bart wins the grand prize in a carnival game, and then Homer beats him, going into an extended victory dance.
Mr. Burns decides to finance Ned's next film, Tales of the Old Testament, which has a running time of 800 minutes – more than 13 hours.
When the crowd blurt out alternative forms of power they can use, Burns admits defeat and says the film will never be seen again, much to Ned's dismay.
Homer's victory dances annoy some purist fans but become so popular that he is recruited by professional football to choreograph the Super Bowl halftime show.
The media and the general public later accuse the Super Bowl of forcing Christianity onto the country via their "blatant display of religion and decency".
In July 2004, Fox announced that this episode of The Simpsons would serve as the lead-out program for Super Bowl XXXIX and feature a football-themed plot.
[8] Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide said it was one of the season's best episodes and enjoyed Homer's story more than Ned's.