Episode 8F21
Written by Jeff Martin
Directed by Wes Archer
Also starring: Pamela Hayden, Russi Taylor
Special guest voices: Michael McKean, Christopher Guest (as Spinal Tap)

Premise: 'Otto - there's one palindrome you won't be hearing for a while.' Otto loses his job, his home and everything else and comes to live with the Simpsons, while Bart, having enjoyed his first rock concert, decides to become a guitarist.

Features: Patty, Selma, Milhouse, Bill and Marty at KBBL, Otto, Snake, Kent Brockman, Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri, Chief Wiggum, Janey, Lou, Eddie, Principal Skinner, Ralph, Apu, Lewis, Richard.

Couch: The Simpsons rush in - to find an aggressive, snarling Santa's Little Helper on the sofa.

Trivia:

• Spinal Tap's world tour has taken in London, Paris, Munich and Springfield. (There's a possible reference in that list to the chorus of M's 1979 hit Pop Muzik.)
• Otto's driving licence gives his details as 'Ht 5'10 wt 150 DOB 01-18-63'.

Homage: Principally This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Remer, 1984). There's also mention of Happy Days. We hear Homer singing a vocal version of Herb Alpert's 1965 hit Spanish Flea, and Otto practises the guitar solo of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird. Otto's father's occupation - an admiral - and their estranged relationship suggest a parallel with Jim Morrison of the Doors.

Look out for: Spinal Tap's doomed laser light show and inept stage effects ('We salute you, our half-inflated Dark Lord!').

Notes: A nice episode for Otto and some great moments for Skinner as he tries to drive the bus, but especially memorable for Homer's moment of forgetfulness after the concert. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer reprise their roles from This Is Spinal Tap perfectly.