Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition
| "Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition" | |
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| The Simpsons episode | |
 Promotional poster for the episodes | |
| Directed by |
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| Written by |
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| Production codes |
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| Original release date | June 17, 2026 |
| Guest appearances | |
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| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "I will not hit the 'skip intro' button" |
| Couch gag | At the grocery store, Marge grabs an Omega Cola bottle, and is transported via portals to various locations. In the real world, people dressed as Otto build an art installation of the Simpson family, who pour Omega drinks on themselves. |
"Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition" is a two-part episode of the thirty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The 806th and 807th episodes overall, it was released as a special episode exclusively on the streaming service Disney+, on June 17, 2026. The special was written by Michael Price and Nick Dahan, and directed by Matthew Nastuk and Timothy Bailey.
The series follows the dysfunctional Simpson family, consisting of patriarch Homer (Dan Castellaneta), matriarch Marge(Julie Kavner), son Bart (Nancy Cartwright), oldest daughter Lisa (Yeardley Smith), and youngest Maggie, as they live out their misadventures in the town of Springfield. In the episode, after Homer acts irresponsibly with the kids while on a date night with Marge, she imagines him with three different personalities.
The episode's double-length anthology format came from Matt Selman, who had wanted to do such a thing for a while, and incorporated it into the episode. Meow Wolf worked with the series' crew to create the episode's couch gag sequence, after Selman had visited their exhibits and brainstormed a crossover with the company. A reference to deceased co-founder of Meow Wolf, Matt King, was added into the episode to honor him. Upon release, the episode's couch gag received attention by critics, and was noted as both a highlight of the episode and the recent seasons of the series.
Plot
Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta) and his wife Marge (Julie Kavner) prepare for a date night with friends. Marge goes to the restaurant while Homer waits for their kids' babysitter. At the restaurant, Marge is initially nervous, but quickly fits in. When the babysitter arrives injured, Homer turns her away and leaves the kids unattended on the front lawn, watching them through a doorbell camera. He goes to the restaurant, and, seeing what Homer has done, Marge yells at him and sends him home. Feeling regretful, she wishes Homer could be different.
Marge daydreams about Homer as a reckless fighter pilot who repeatedly gets his wingmen killed, and is ordered to undergo psychological evaluation with Marge. While they fall in love with eachother, Homer realizes he has a fear of being afraid. When Homer must lead a dangerous mission, Marge flies with him in another plane to distract him from his fear. Homer is successful, but his wingmen, including Marge, are killed.
In reality, Marge sees on her phone that Homer left his house keys at the restaurant, which leaves him and the kids trapped outside. She again daydreams, this time imagining Homer as a 1950s businessman. After being rejected at an executive meeting, he goes home to his wife, Helen Lovejoy (Maggie Roswell). She encourages him to get a promotion by attending his boss' party. Feeling spiritually unsatisfied, he meets Marge, an artist who works the bar at the party. She shows him new music and art, and they fall in love. Planning to run away with her, he goes home to pack, before hearing he got the promotion. Marge waits at the bus station, but Homer goes on the train to his new job instead.
Not wanting to go home yet, Marge drinks at Moe's Tavern, where she imagines Homer without anger issues. In a rundown city, Homer has a laughing disorder, and his hero is Krusty the Clown (Castellaneta). He gets a job as a clown, but he is constantly abused, and is soon hospitalized. He soon has a breakdown and kills a hospital donor. He is sent to an asylum and meets Margeley Quinn, and they fall in love. After escaping, they lead a clown mob to Krusty's studio and kill him, but the mob kills them, too. Going home, Marge finds the family in the treehouse. Homer apologizes, while she says that he is perfect for her the way he is.
Production
The special was written by Michael Price and Nick Dahan, and directed by Matthew Nastuk and Timothy Bailey.[1] Betty Gilpin and Jon Hamm guest starred in the episode as Amy and himself, respectively.[2][3] Musicians Laufey and Tegan and Sara also appear, singing music in the episode.[4] Hamm previously guest starred in the twenty-second season episode "Donnie Fatso", as a different character, an FBI agent.[5] The idea for a double-length anthology episode was one that executive producer Matt Selman had long wanted to do. Instead of taking the time to do six segments, Selman opted to make each of the three segments longer—where they are around eight minutes long instead of the usual four to six minutes—and spent more time working on the story for the wraparounds, which he considered to be "a full episode" almost separate from the three segments.[6]
The episode's couch gag was created in partnership with the entertainment company Meow Wolf, known for creating surreal art. Emily Montoya, co-founder of Meow Wolf, called working on the scene to be an "honor", with the couch gag directly paying homage to Omega Mart, an art exhibit created by the company. According to Montoya, Selman was entirely supportive of their vision for the couch gag, as was the rest of the series' crew. She was particularly grateful for them letting her honor Matt King, the deceased co-founder of Meow Wolf, who is given a cameo designed to "encapsulat[e] Matt King's rainbow wizard essence", depicting him sharing a drink with Barney Gumble. Selman was already a fan of Omega Mart, claiming to have spent hours walking through the exhibit when he visited it in Las Vegas. After visiting some of their other exhibits in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Denver, Selman got the idea to have the company do work for The Simpsons. He was not part of the majority of production, minus giving the team directions in Zoom calls, and found the final product to be "superbly joyful".[7] According to Price, the art style of the second segment of the episode, titled "The Company Man", was based on 1950s advertising artwork, such as pieces by Bob Peak, and the animation of the "beatnik" segments took inspiration from Jules Feiffer' style.[8]
Release and reception
"Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition" was officially unveiled in May 2026, along with two other special episodes of The Simpsons, all of which were set to premiere exclusively on the American streaming service Disney+ over the summer.[9] The episode was released onto the service on June 17, as a double-length special. It was the first of the three streaming-exclusive episodes of the season to be released, also being the fourth official Disney+ exclusive episode for the series, following "O C'mon All Ye Faithful", "The Past and the Furious", and "Yellow Planet".[10]
Zach Moser of ScreenRant praised the couch gag as one of the series' best in years, noting it for having sight gags meant for Meow Wolf fans to spot, along with ones that viewers unfamiliar with their work can appreciate. Moser considered it to be one of the best works to come out of the series' decision to allow guest animators to work on episode couch gags, a tradition that had started years prior, finishing off his review by asserting that it "demands repeat viewings […] and it pays to go frame by frame to find motifs, references to the series, and tiny gags stuck in every corner."[11] ComicBook.com's Evan Valentine considered the crossover between Meow Wolf and The Simpsons to be "unbelievable", also highlighting the segment of Homer as a parody of the Joker for "re-imagining [him] in some surprising ways".[12]
References
- ↑ Writer: Michael Price, Nick Dahan. Director: Matthew Nastuk, Timothy Bailey. (June 17, 2026). "Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition". The Simpsons. Season 37. Fox Network.
- ↑ Maxwell, Erin (June 15, 2026). "The Simpsons Sneak Peek: Betty Gilpin Crashes Marge's Date Night in Disney+ Bonus Episode". TV Insider. Archived from the original on June 18, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ↑ Welch, Alex (June 19, 2026). "The 8 Best New Movies and Shows to Stream This Weekend on Netflix, HBO and More". TheWrap. Archived from the original on August 14, 2026. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
- ↑ Roush, Matt (June 17, 2026). "Widow's Bay Finale, A 'Maximum' Shocker, A New Simpsons',' More 'Minds' Games". TV Insider. Archived from the original on August 15, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ↑ Snierson, Dan (July 20, 2010). "Simpsons Exclusive: Jon Hamm To Guest". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 21, 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
- ↑ Roffman, Marisa (March 30, 2026). "The Simpsons: Matt Selman Reflects on the New Shorter Seasons and Teases the Upcoming Disney+ Exclusive Episodes". Give Me My Remote. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (June 15, 2026). "The Simpsons Couch Gag Gets Meow Wolf-ified in Disney+ Special Ep". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on June 16, 2026. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- ↑ Price, Michael (June 22, 2026). "Hey there! That was a combination of the stories of John Cheever (notably "The Swimmer"), "The Man In The Grey Flannel Suit" and "Mad Men". The art style was based on 50s advertising art by artists like Bob Peak, and the beatnik animation was based on the style of the great Jules Feiffer". Bluesky. Archived from the original on August 19, 2026. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ Otterson, Joe (May 28, 2026). "The Simpsons Sets Release Date for Three New Disney+ Exclusive Episodes". Variety. Archived from the original on May 29, 2026. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
- ↑ Sarto, Dan (June 1, 2026). "Disney+ Sets 3 Exclusive 'The Simpsons' Episodes for Summer Fun". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on June 2, 2026. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
- ↑ Moser, Zach (June 18, 2026). "The Simpsons Just Had One Of The Show's Best Couch Gags In Years". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on June 19, 2026. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
- ↑ Valentine, Evan (June 17, 2026). "The Simpsons Unveils Real World Crossover With Latest Episode". ComicBook.com. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
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