Episode 4F19
Written by John Swartzwelder
Directed by Jim Reardon
Also starring: Pamela Hayden, Russi Taylor, Frank Welker

Premise: A new worker, Frank Grimes, arrives at the Plant, and despite Homer being... well, Homer, the two fall out. Slowly but surely, Frank goes mad as he tries to convince everyone else that Homer is a menace to society. Bart, meanwhile, buys a run-down factory for a dollar and decides he and Milhouse will run it.

Features: Mr Burns, Smithers, Carl, Lenny, Moe, Barney, Kent Brockman, Chief Wiggum, Mrs Wiggum, Mr Largo, Milhouse, Martin, Ralph, Rev. Lovejoy.

Couch: Bart is flickering like a badly tuned portable TV.

Trivia:

• Carl and Lenny, as well as Frank Grimes, have Masters Degrees in Nuclear Physics.
• Homer doesn't.
• Bart's factory is at 35, Industry Way: dead opposite Moe's bar.
• Lisa has an IQ of 156.
• Homer has photos of himself in space, with the Smashing Pumpkins, and with Gerald Ford.
• Since he became the Plant's safety inspector, accidents have doubled, meltdowns trebled and, according to Lenny, Homer should have died 316 times.

Look out for: Bart's method of jet propulsion with the fire extinguisher and Ralph building his model of the powerplant from a Malibu Stacy Dream House. Lovely.

Notes: A terrific episode that both highlights why Homer is a walking disaster and yet underscores just why we love him so. Frank is right: how can such a walking disaster area have gone into space or dined with Gerald Ford? Poor Frank! This is one of the series' darkest episodes and ends on a real downer but is nevertheless also one of the wittiest and cleverest in ages.