Kill the Alligator and Run

Homer joins in on the party and ends up getting himself and his family in trouble for killing the state's beloved mascot, an alligator named Captain Jack.

Terrified of his supposedly impending death, he develops insomnia and has a mental breakdown, which is fully exhibited during an inspection of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.

Wanting Homer to get the rest and recuperation he needs, Marge tries to confine him to his hotel room, but he escapes to party and attends a concert featuring Joe C. and Kid Rock.

For their crimes (and Homer's foolish attempt at defending himself in court – calling the jury "drunken hicks"), the family is put into forced labor.

While assigned to work at a party held by a judge in front of the capitol, it is then revealed that Captain Jack was never dead, simply knocked out, the family are released but are banned from the state of Florida - leaving them only able to travel to Arizona or North Dakota.

"Kill the Alligator and Run" was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Jen Kamerman as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000).

[1][2] When the animation department finished its work on the episode, it had ended up being about four minutes too long and the staff of the show was forced to make some difficult cuts.

One scene that was cut saw Captain Jack lying in state at the capitol in Florida, with Kid Rock being one of the people present to pay their respects to the alligator.

[3] The Simpsons showrunner Mike Scully has expressed regret for cutting this scene because it "hurts the logic" later in the episode when Captain Jack crawls out of the capitol and reveals himself to everyone, thus creating a plot hole due to a lack of any explanation as to how he got there.

[4] The Simpsons producer Ian Maxtone-Graham directed Bader during his recording session, telling the guest star to do a Southern accent.

[8] Rappers Kid Rock and Joe C. also guest star in the episode as themselves,[6][7] performing at the annual spring break concert that Homer sneaks out to attend.

[11] On October 7, 2008, "Kill the Alligator and Run" was released on DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season.

"[3] Meyer, a writer and producer on the show, said in the DVD audio commentary that the fans thought it was "kind of a frenetic and crazy, chaotic episode," adding: "I can't disagree.

"[10] Annie Alleman of The Herald News, on the other hand, named "Kill the Alligator and Run" her eighth favorite Simpsons episode.