Episode 7F24
Written by Al Jean and Mike Reiss
Directed by Rich Moore
Additional cast: Pamela Hayden, Kipp Lennon
Special guest voice: John Jay Smith (pseudonym for Michael Jackson - as Leon Kompowsky)

Premise: A mixed wash accident leads to Homer's incarceration in a mental institution - where he encounters Michael Jackson. Sort of. Back home, it's Lisa's birthday - and Bart's forgotten to buy her a present.

Features: Mr Burns, Smithers, Lenny, Carl, Dr Marvin Monroe, Milhouse, Kearney, Otto, Krusty, Snake, Grampa, Barney, Dr Hibbert, Selma, Mrs Winfield, Moe, Bill and Marty from KBBL, Apu, Quimby, Kent Brockman. There are so many cameos outside the Simpsons' house at the end we could be here all day - but notables include Princess Kashmir and the twins dated by Mr Burns and Smithers, both from Homer's Night Out.

Couch: The Simpsons hit the sofa with such force that it topples backwards and smashes through the wall.

Homage: Many scenes and lines are taken from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman, 1975). Floyd, the idiot savant at the rest home, comes from Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988).

Notes for Brits: The guy in the crowd with the rainbow Afro wig and the John 3:16 placard is the Rainbow Man, a born-again Christian who in the late seventies and early eighties attempted to appear on television as often as possible, often showing up at big televised events.

Itchy and Scratchy in: Bang the Cat Slowly.

That's Homer Simpson, sir: 'One of your boobs from sector 7G.'

Notes: This episode was held over to start the third season with a real kick. It's startling in its audacity towards Michael Jackson, whose agreement to provide the voice of Leon in this episode proves either that he's got a more developed sense of his own ridiculousness than you might expect, or that he just didn't understand what the writers were saying about him.