52-503: " Hungry, Hungry Homer " is the fifteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American television series The Simpsons . It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 4, 2001. In the episode, Homer becomes a Good Samaritan after discovering the simple joys of helping people in need – which is put to the test when he goes on a hunger strike after the owner of the Springfield Isotopes baseball team attempts to discredit him when Homer stumbles on his plot to discreetly move
104-473: A Twitter account. It was confirmed official by several of his former Simpsons colleagues. The account mostly tweets excerpts from Swartzwelder's books. In 2021, Swartzwelder gave his only interview to date, with Mike Sacks in The New Yorker . Swartzwelder said he agreed to the interview out of his fondness for The New Yorker and the writers whose work it has published. Swartzwelder said he
156-455: A 9.8 rating/15 share Nielsen Rating making it into the top twenty. Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide gave the episode a mixed review writing "Though it has something of a rehashed feel – an impression that we’ve seen this episode before – 'Hungry' still manages to be fairly effective. Chock full of laughs? No, but the show has its moments. Or maybe I just like it because it's the origin of
208-408: A Board of Directors Ongoing Commitment Award. The show also won at the 2002 Kids' Choice Awards . The season ranked 21st in the seasonal ratings with an average of 14.7 million viewers an episode, rising 6% from last season. As of 2023, season 12's Nielsen ranking of #21 remains the highest in the show's history. When Homer refuses to pay a five dollar airport tax to fly to Delaware , the family
260-469: A children's book written in the late 1970s by Swartzwelder and illustrated by David Schutten was published by Green House Books. Swartzwelder self-publishes his books. Swartzwelder has been referred to as a libertarian and a "hardcore conservative ". He is a gun rights advocate, and despite having written many of the environmentally themed Simpsons episodes, he has been described as an "anti-environmentalist". Simpsons writer David Cohen related
312-419: A hunger strike in protest. The writers shelved the idea of Homer having a motorcycle (though it would be used for the season 11 episode " Take My Wife, Sleaze "), but held on to Homer having a hunger strike until Al Jean pitched this episode. Another inspiration was that a team was moving to another city. Dan Castellaneta ad libbed the lyrics to Homer's "Dancing Away My Hunger Pains" song. The ending scene with
364-625: A joke submission to the writers of Late Night with David Letterman , in which he signed but left no address. Writer Jim Downey traced Swartzwelder based on the Chicago postmark on the card via phone books at the New York Public Library . After he contacted Swartzwelder's mother in Seattle, she redirected him to her son, who was then working at an advertising agency in Chicago. Downey described Swartzwelder's interview as "one of
416-463: A large margin. After his retirement from the show, he began a career as a writer of self-published absurdist novels . He has written more than a dozen novels, the most recent of which, Dead Detective Mountain , was published in 2023. Swartzwelder is revered among comedy fans and his colleagues. He is known for his reclusiveness, and gave his first-ever interview in 2021, in The New Yorker . Per Mike Sacks , "Swartzwelder’s specialty on The Simpsons
468-437: A newly implemented policy banning smoking in the writers' room. Swartzwelder's scripts typically needed less rewriting than those of other writers, with about 50% being used. According to Simpsons creator Matt Groening , Swartzwelder wrote Simpsons episodes sitting in a booth at a coffee shop "drinking copious amounts of coffee and smoking endless cigarettes". When California passed an anti-smoking law, Swartzwelder bought
520-543: A producer. The season began with the annual Treehouse of Horror episode, beginning a practice of starting the season with the episodes, as well as airing the episodes shortly after Halloween in November, due to Fox 's coverage of the World Series . This season brought back Sideshow Bob , who had not been seen since the eighth-season episode " Brother from Another Series ". Ian Maxtone-Graham's episode " Tennis
572-543: A publicity stunt. They claim publicly that Homer will not eat until the Isotopes win the pennant, covering up his real message. As his health declines and he begins rapidly losing weight, he nearly gives in while seeing fans eat at the ballpark. However, a visit by the ghost of Cesar Chavez (who assumes the appearance of Cesar Romero , since Homer does not know what Chavez looks like) inspires him to stand his ground. Thinking that Homer has gone insane and that his popularity
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#1732776283760624-491: A special limited edition "embossed head case" package was also released. John Swartzwelder John Joseph Swartzwelder Jr. (born February 8, 1949) is an American comedy writer and novelist , best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons . Born in Seattle, Washington , Swartzwelder began his career working in advertising. He was later hired to work on comedy series Saturday Night Live in
676-520: A spoof of western films. Starring Stephen Kearney, Mark Derwin , Lisa Robin Kelly , and Brian Doyle Murray , the pilot was shot using crew from the television series Gunsmoke at Swartzwelder's insistence. John Rich , veteran television director known for The Dick Van Dyke Show , All in the Family , and Gunsmoke , directed the pilot, which was shot at Veluzat Motion Picture Ranch . Fox passed on
728-511: A story of Swartzwelder going on an extended diatribe about how there is more rainforest on Earth now than there was 100 years ago. Swartzwelder is reclusive, and rarely makes media appearances. At one point, fans of The Simpsons debated his existence online; some theorized that "John Swartzwelder" was actually a pseudonym for when writers did not want to take credit for an episode, or for episodes that were penned by several writers in concert. Comedy writer Mike Sacks described Swartzwelder as
780-463: A theme park similar to Legoland which is completely made of blocks. When Lisa finds a piece missing from an Eiffel Tower kit she has bought, Homer persuades the gift shop clerk to give it to her. Energized by the idea of "standing up for the little guy", Homer talks a girl Bart likes into going to a school dance with him, gets a beauty salon owner to put free highlights in Marge 's hair, and finds
832-508: A way for the salon to cut its expenses. He next tries to get Lenny a refund on his season tickets for the Springfield Isotopes baseball team (previously introduced in the season 2 episode " Dancin' Homer "), after they continue to lose games repeatedly since being taken over by Duff Beer . At the Isotopes' ballpark, Homer encounters team owner Howard K. Duff VIII, who refuses to grant a refund. As he leaves, Homer goes through
884-428: Is denounced a liar by the media and Howard embarrasses him further by showing footage of him with his pants on fire on television. In retaliation, Homer stages a hunger strike , chaining himself to a pole in the parking lot and refusing to leave or eat until Howard admits the truth. After Homer begins to attract public attention, the team secretly moves him into the ballpark one night and dubs him "Hungry, Hungry Homer" as
936-622: Is forced to ride in a livestock car of a train instead. There they meet a singing hobo who tells three tall tales: The DVD boxset for season twelve was released by 20th Century Fox in the United States and Canada on Tuesday, August 18, 2009, eight years after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release feature bonus material including deleted scenes , animatics , and commentaries for every episode. The boxart features Comic Book Guy , and
988-464: Is waning, Howard unchains him and offers him a hot dog in a public ceremony during an Isotopes game. As Homer is about to eat it, he realizes that it is loaded with Southwestern-style toppings and angrily denounces Howard. Inspecting their own hot dogs, the fans discover their wrappers marked with the "Albuquerque Isotopes" team name and realize that Homer was right from the start. The crowd boos Howard, and Duffman turns against him and throws him bodily off
1040-470: The Kennedys . Why can't they make a cup of coffee that tastes good?" It's a horrifying idea juxtaposed with something really banal — and yet there's a kind of logic to it. It's illuminating because it's kind of how Americans see things: life's a big jumble, but somehow it leads to something I can consume. I love that. In 1988, Sam Simon , a reader of Army Man , recruited Swartzwelder and Meyer to write for
1092-403: The " Thomas Pynchon of the comedy world". Swartzwelder declined several requests to participate in the audio commentaries on The Simpsons DVD sets . Executive producer David Mirkin once invited Swartzwelder to make a brief appearance in a prerecorded bit in which he would be asked if he wanted to take part, to which he would respond with "No" as an ironic punchline, but he refused. During
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#17327762837601144-525: The American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired between November 2000 and May 2001. It began on Wednesday, November 1, 2000 with " Treehouse of Horror XI ". The season contains four hold-over episodes from the season 11 (BABF) production line. The showrunner for the twelfth production season was Mike Scully . The season won and was nominated for numerous awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards wins and an Annie Award . Season 12
1196-473: The Mayor of Albuquerque!" The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Nancy Kruse . The episode was originally pitched by Al Jean , possibly from his daughter, although it is not certain. The origin of the episode is that Mike Scully in season 8 pitched an episode where Homer gets a motorcycle; however, the town passes a helmet law that requires riders to wear a helmet, leading Homer to go on
1248-486: The Menace " became the second episode of the series to be animated using digital ink and paint , which had not been used since the season seven episode " Radioactive Man " and would not be used again (this time on a permanent basis) until the 14th season . The season would also have five episodes that would air the following season . The twelfth season has received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes ,
1300-400: The animated sitcom The Simpsons . By 1994, with the show's sixth season , Swartzwelder was granted a special dispensation and allowed not to attend rewrite sessions with the rest of the staff, instead being allowed to send drafts of his scripts in from home so other writers could revise them as they saw fit. This was reportedly a result of Swartzwelder's heavy smoking coming into conflict with
1352-548: The biggest compliments a Simpsons writer (or any comedy writer) can receive is to have a joke referred to as 'Swartzweldian.' Meaning: A joke that comes out of nowhere. A joke that no one else could have written. A joke that sounds almost as if it were never written, as if it’s always existed." Sacks cites the following, from " Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment ": "To alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems!" Swartzwelder has been animated in
1404-440: The booth and installed it in his house, allowing him to continue his process in peace. In his only interview, given to The New Yorker in 2021, Swartzwelder said he had negotiated his contract to allow him to work from home, but that this had nothing to do with smoking; he also said he bought a new booth, rather than one from the diner. In 1996, Swartzwelder created and produced his own pilot presentation for Fox, Pistol Pete ,
1456-534: The episode aired, Albuquerque Journal journalist Leanne Potts acknowledged how then Mayor Jim Baca was making similar efforts to move the Canadian baseball team to Albuquerque with a $ 28 million stadium offer, even stating "it seemed the "Simpsons" writers were commenting on politics in Albuquerque" and that the episode "wasn't a case of cartoons imitating life, but of life imitating cartoons." In tribute to
1508-626: The episode, statues of Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa were placed in the Albuquerque Isotopes stadium. This episode has also been credited for popularizing the word " meh ", which later entered the Collins English Dictionary . The word is an interjection expressing boredom or indifference, and an adjective describing something boring or mediocre. The word, which has its root in Yiddish , is expressly spelled out in
1560-448: The episode: The word had been used on several previous occasions on the show, the first such usage being in the season six episode " Sideshow Bob Roberts " in 1994. In that episode, Lisa is given the town's voting record for the mayoral election; in response to her question that she "thought this was a secret ballot," the official responds "meh". John Swartzwelder , the writer of "Hungry, Hungry Homer" has stated that he "originally heard
1612-508: The field. Homer earns a round of cheers from the crowd and ends his hunger strike, eagerly devouring the food they throw to him. Watching the scenes on television, the mayor of Albuquerque abandons his plan to steal the Isotopes from Springfield and decides to turn his attention to purchasing the Dallas Cowboys , with the intent of forcing them to play baseball instead of football, declaring, "They'll play what I tell 'em to play, for I am
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1664-588: The film Return of the Jedi (1983). After being drugged, Homer wakes up lying on top of a dog house, similar to the way Snoopy lies on his dog house in the Peanuts comic strip. (Bart even says "Good Grief!" in another reference to the strip.) Later, when Homer returns to the Duff Stadium and finds the private room empty, a man plays "wah-wah" on a muted trumpet, again a reference to Peanuts . When tied to
1716-509: The flagpole, Lisa gives Homer a book to read called My Core Beliefs by Mike Farrell . Homer flips through it and says "Man, he really hates Wayne Rogers ." This is in reference to the named actors' characters on the TV show M*A*S*H , in which Farrell's character BJ Hunnicutt replaced Rogers' character Trapper John McIntyre. In its original American broadcast, "Hungry, Hungry Homer" was viewed by an estimated 10.0156 million households and received
1768-560: The former. " HOMR " was nominated for various awards. Al Jean received a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) the eleventh win for the series. Another Primetime Emmy Award nomination is for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series . Another win for "HOMR" is an Annie Award for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Television Production. Other Primetime Emmy Awards nominations include Hank Azaria for " Worst Episode Ever ". Lisa Simpson also won
1820-514: The greatest comedy minds of all time. He is the comedy writer whose words makes [sic] the best comedy writers in the world laugh out loud." George Meyer said: "Even among comedy weirdos, he stands out. He's irreplaceable." Fellow writer Dan Greaney described Swartzwelder as "the best writer in the world today in any medium". Mike Sacks writes "It’s been nearly twenty years since the reclusive, mysterious, almost mythical comedy writer John Swartzwelder left The Simpsons , and yet, to this day, one of
1872-577: The mayor announcing his plans to take over the Dallas Cowboys has been edited from all U.S. syndicated reruns, but has been seen on overseas syndicated reruns and the season 12 DVD set. The scene is also featured on Disney Plus. The title of the episode is a reference to the Hasbro tabletop game Hungry Hungry Hippos . Duffman turning against Howard K. Duff and throwing him over a fence is a reference to Darth Vader turning on Emperor Palpatine in
1924-431: The mid-1980s as a writer. He later contributed to fellow writer George Meyer 's short-lived Army Man magazine, which led him to join the original writing team of The Simpsons , beginning in 1989. He worked on The Simpsons as a writer and producer until 2003, and later contributed to The Simpsons Movie . He wrote the largest number of Simpsons episodes (59 full episodes, with contributions to several others) by
1976-558: The most spectacularly awful in history"; it consisted of him entering David Letterman 's office without permission, and discussing the state of television (that it was "all shit") while smoking and drinking. He was not hired for Letterman , but Downey hired him for Saturday Night Live ( SNL ) beginning in 1985. At SNL , Swartzwelder shared an office with Robert Smigel , and met George Meyer , who later proved instrumental in hiring him for The Simpsons . During his time on SNL , Swartzwelder became known for writing odder material. He
2028-551: The pilot. It eventually surfaced online in 2014. Swartzwelder left The Simpsons after the fifteenth season (2003–04). His last airing episode (" The Regina Monologues ") was a "holdover" written for the fourteenth (2002–03) season. At 59 episodes, Swartzwelder has written more episodes of the show than any other crew member by a significant margin. Swartzwelder returned to contribute to The Simpsons Movie , released in 2007. Since leaving The Simpsons , Swartzwelder has taken up writing absurdist novels , beginning in 2004 with
2080-545: The publication of science fiction detective story The Time Machine Did It starring private investigator Frank Burly. The next year he published Double Wonderful , a Western, before returning to the Burly character for How I Conquered Your Planet in 2006, The Exploding Detective in 2007, Dead Men Scare Me Stupid in 2008, Earth vs. Everybody in 2009, The Last Detective Alive in 2010, The Fifty Foot Detective in 2011, and The Million Dollar Policeman in 2012. In 2014,
2132-440: The recording of the 2006 commentary for the ninth-season episode " The Cartridge Family ", show runner Mike Scully called Swartzwelder's home. After presumably speaking with him for a minute, the man on the other end of the phone said, "It's too bad this really isn't John Swartzwelder." Scully and the others laughed, replied "Bye, John". After he had hung up, Scully said, "I know he's gonna sue us." In 2016, Swartzwelder created
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2184-408: The series this season (for the 250th episode " A Tale of Two Springfields "), while Neil Affleck received his final directorial credit (also for "Homer vs. Dignity"). Tom Gammill and Max Pross have been promoted to produce this season. As of 2009, Gammill & Pross are still credited as such, along with David Mirkin . Mike Reiss (Al Jean's former writing partner) returned to the writing staff as
2236-482: The team to Albuquerque, New Mexico . The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Nancy Kruse , and guest starred Stacy Keach as Howard K. Duff VIII. Since airing, it has received generally mixed reviews from television critics. The episode inspired the naming of the Albuquerque Isotopes minor-league baseball team, which began play in 2003. The Simpson family visits Blockoland,
2288-440: The twelfth season of The Simpsons has an 80% approval rating based on 5 critical reviews. Matt Haigh of Den of Geek said that "The bad episodes are never really terrible, it's more that they're a bit boring and will most likely have you yawning 10 minutes in. With this in mind, season 12 ends up being very much a 50/50 affair". Nancy Basile gave a list of "Must See TV" episodes and "Not So Must See TV" episodes — with more of
2340-467: The word 'hungy', which I used for many years. I forgot I stole it from this episode!" Judge Mac McEntire of DVD Verdict said of the episode that the best moment was pretty much any scene with Duffman . This episode inspired the name of the real-life Albuquerque Isotopes minor-league baseball team, which came to Albuquerque in 2003 after being known as the Calgary Cannons . A few days after
2392-418: The word from an advertising writer named Howie Krakow back in 1970 or 1971 who insisted it was the funniest word in the world." Homer's line "...I gave the guy directions, even though I didn't know the way. Because that's the kind of guy I am this week." is paraphrased by Patrick Stump in his band Fall Out Boy 's 2005 single " Sugar, We're Goin' Down ". The Simpsons season 12 The twelfth season of
2444-471: The wrong door and discovers a room filled with merchandise for the " Albuquerque Isotopes " and realizes that Howard is planning to move the team. Howard denies the idea, then has Duffman drug Homer and dump him at the Simpsons' house to cover up the truth. Homer attempts to warn the media of Howard's plan, but by the time he can lead reporters to the ballpark, Howard has removed all evidence of it. Homer
2496-496: Was conjuring dark characters from a strange, old America: banjo-playing hobos, cigarette-smoking ventriloquist dummies, nineteenth-century baseball players, rat-tailed carnival children, and pantsless, singing old-timers." Swartzwelder was born in Seattle, Washington , on February 8, 1949, the son of Gloria Mae (Matthews) and John Joseph Swartzwelder, Sr. He attended high school in Renton, Washington . In 1983, Swartzwelder sent
2548-416: Was fired in mid-1986, which Smigel attributed to the network's pressure on show creator Lorne Michaels to make personnel changes. Meyer quit SNL and created the magazine Army Man , recruiting Swartzwelder to help write it. Meyer said of Army Man : The only rule was that the stuff had to be funny and pretty short. To me, the quintessential Army Man joke was one of John Swartzwelder's: "They can kill
2600-422: Was humbled by the praise he has received from colleagues and Simpsons fans, and that he was proud that The Simpsons encouraged fans to keep track of the writers of their favorite television shows. Swartzwelder is revered among comedy fans. Fellow Simpsons writers have spoken highly of his writing and impact on the show. Matt Selman wrote an article for Time about Swartzwelder, extolling him as "one of
2652-604: Was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 18, 2009, Region 2 on September 28, 2009, and Region 4 on September 2, 2009. The season's executive producer was once again Mike Scully , in his last season as executive producer, while it was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television . He later returned to the series in season fourteen as a writer and executive producer for the episode " How I Spent My Strummer Vacation ". Mike Scully has stated his goal during his tenure
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#17327762837602704-491: Was to "not wreck the show". Don Payne , John Frink and Bob Bendetson began writing for the series, while Larry Doyle , Julie Thacker and Tom Martin left following the completion of this season. Rob LaZebnik received his first sole writing credit for the episode " Homer vs. Dignity ". LaZebnik would not get a writing credit for another episode until the 20th season, where he was credited for writing " Father Knows Worst ". Shaun Cashman received his sole directing credit on
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