The idea was pitched by Matt Selman, and the staff took inspiration from their own experience with web cartoons, such as Queer Duck and Hard Drinkin' Lincoln.
Before its original broadcast, "I Am Furious (Yellow)" faced scrutiny from fans as an example of the series jumping the shark, as they had interpreted pre-release materials as suggesting that Homer would literally transform into the Hulk in the episode.
Owing to the short and unengaging nature of his speech, Principal Skinner and Mrs. Krabappel take Lisa's advice and visit the Springfield Writer's Forum to find a better speaker, where they meet Jeff Jenkins, creator of the popular TV cartoon Danger Dog.
Later, Bart is approached by a spokesman for an Internet entertainment site who wants to make Angry Dad into an online animated cartoon series, and he agrees in exchange for stock.
He agrees to work on his issues by suppressing his anger from that point and to be a calmer person, disregarding Marge's attempts to convince him to go on a diet.
The next day, Homer stays true to his word and remains calm, though his attempts to repress his rage causes lumps to develop on his neck.
The trap ends with Homer falling into a pool full of green paint just as Bart and Milhouse arrive, prompting him to go berserk and storm through town à la the Hulk.
In the DVD audio commentary for the episode, he stated that Matt Groening, the creator of the series, would usually tell the writers about how he was the class clown and did not pay attention in school, and yet grew up to become very successful.
[2] The episode was also partly based on some of the Simpsons staff members' experience with making internet cartoons, such as Queer Duck and Hard Drinkin' Lincoln, both of which were created by Mike Reiss.
In their article "15 Simpsons Moments That Perfectly Captured Their Eras", Genevieve Koski, Josh Modell, Noel Murray, Sean O'Neal, Kyle Ryan and Scott Tobias of The A.V.
Club wrote: "By April 2002, the dot-com bubble of the late '90s had been popped for a couple of years, taking with it myriad Internet start-ups.
A sobering soul-searching settled in their place, which The Simpsons captured in this episode about Bart creating a popular Internet cartoon called Angry Dad.
Touring the laid-back start-up that hosts the cartoons, Lisa asks head honcho Todd Linux about their business model.
In his book What's Science Ever Done For Us: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe, Paul Halpern wrote "In the episode [...], one of Homer's favorite TV shows is preempted by the program The Boring World of Niels Bohr.
Homer is so upset that he clutches an ice-cream sandwich, and aims at the screen like it's a remote control, squeezes the contents out, and splatters Bohr's image.
In contrast to Homer's reaction, most physicists heap nothing but accolades upon Bohr, whose revolutionary ideas shaped the modern concept of the atom.
"[10] In its original American broadcast on April 28, 2002, "I Am Furious (Yellow)" received a 7.4 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 7.8 million viewers.
[13] Upon the episode's release, a promotional image of Homer mimicking the Hulk caused some of the series' internet fans to speculate that the show had jumped the shark.
[15] Colin Jacobsson of DVD Movie Guide called the episode one of the better installments from Season 13, referring to it as "very good" and saying that "the series has milked Homer's rage [as one of its chief sources of humor] for years, but does so in creative and satisfying ways here.
Shaffer of IGN described "I Am Furious (Yellow)", along with "Brawl in the Family" and "Half-Decent Proposal", as being "cleverly written" and the best episodes of the season.
"[21] Jennifer Malkowski of DVD Verdict gave the episode a B+, describing "Homer's random exclamation while running around on fire, 'Oh, I hope no one's drawing this!'"
Hoenig based this theory on the fact that shortly after "I Am Furious (Yellow)", which satirizes the dot-com bubble, aired, the dotcom stocks "began a massive rebound from bear-market lows.
"[25] "I Am Furious (Yellow)" inspired the idea for the twenty-second season episode "Angry Dad: The Movie", which originally aired on February 20, 2011, in the United States.