When You Dish Upon a Star

When the family spends the day at Lake Springfield, Homer meets Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger (voicing themselves), who is hiding from the media in their secluded summer home.

While there, Homer attempts parasailing and is involved in an accident when he tells Marge to send him up far too high; as a result, his rope detaches.

Appel then offered Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger the opportunity to provide their voices, and they agreed to guest star in the episode.

It also includes movie franchises from 20th Century Fox that Disney purchased such as X-Men, Deadpool, and Fantastic Four,[9] which was completed on March 20, 2019.

The episode contains multiple references to the series Happy Days, in which Ron Howard played Richie Cunningham.

When Howard secures the movie deal with Homer's screenplay, a snippet of the Happy Days theme song is played.

[4] The drinks wobbling as the townspeople approach Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin's house is a reference to the film Jurassic Park (1993).

[11] In his review of The Simpsons' tenth season, James Plath of Dvdtown.com noted "When You Dish upon a Star" was written to be "one of the funnier episodes".

"[13] The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote in a negative review: "Despite three very high-profile guest actors, this episode is really rather dull and uninspired.

The only real moment of interest is the car chase at the end, and Kim Basinger's delightfully self-deprecating quips about her constant adoration of her Oscars, Alec Baldwin apparently not having one himself.

[14] Total Film's Nathan Ditum ranked Baldwin and Basinger's performances as the second-best guest appearances in the show's history.