The Frying Game
"The Frying Game" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons.
As part of his sentence, Homer delivers Meals on Wheels to an old woman called Mrs. Bellamy, who subtly guilt trips him, and later Marge, into becoming her personal servants.
The idea that Homer's execution was in fact part of a reality game show was conceived by former staff writer George Meyer.
Bound by law to care for it, Homer accidentally injures the loud, annoying larva while reading a bedtime story.
For trying to bury the larva to cover up the injury, Homer is sentenced to two weeks of community service for "attempted insecticide and aggravated buggery".
Bart, Lisa and Maggie are adopted by Cletus Spuckler, who decides to change their names to "Dingus Squatford Jr." and "Pamela E. Lee".
Chief Wiggum is annoyed that the police department's time and taxpayers' money was wasted on what turned out to not even be a real case, but is excited to learn he will be in the show and has them give Lou and Eddie producer credits.
On the way to the electric chair, Homer meets a man resembling Michael Clarke Duncan's character John Coffey in The Green Mile.
[1] In the DVD commentaries, creator Matt Groening and the majority of people who work on the show state several times that they are very liberal, but some, such as John Swartzwelder (the writer of this and many other The Simpsons episodes), are conservative.
When Homer tries to squash it, an EPA official tells him that allowing an endangered species to die is a federal offense, under the "Reversal of Freedoms Act of 1994.
[5] In its original American broadcast on May 19, 2002, "The Frying Game" received a 6.2 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 6.5 million viewers.
[6] On August 24, 2010, "The Frying Game" was released as part of The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season DVD and Blu-ray set.
"[10] DVD Talk's Ryan Keefer wrote a negative review as well, calling it "definitely forgettable" and criticizing it for "fall[ing] apart quickly.
"[11] Ron Martin of 411Mania criticized the Screamapillar character, describing it as "just as annoying as Homer's constant screaming earlier in the season.
