Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder

Plot

Homer is extremely late for work after sleeping for more than a whole day. As punishment for his lateness, Mr. Burns makes Homer eat toxic waste in a dark room. Lenny and Carl come in and invite Homer to go bowling. Homer lies to Marge on the phone, telling her that he was not able to attend a tea party date with Maggie because there was a breakdown at the plant and Lenny was hospitalized. Homer then goes bowling with Lenny and Carl, this scene is noted for the classic line "Spare me your guttermouth." Homer bowls a 300 game, and makes the evening news, earning the attention of the entire town. With this accomplishment, Homer becomes a celebrity, appearing on "The Springfield Squares". The appearance ends disastrously, with Homer getting into a fight with fellow guest Ron Howard, leading Kent Brockman to lament inviting a 'flavor of the week' like Homer onto the show. Determined to prolong his moment in the limelight, Homer attempts a walk-on during a Penn & Teller special. This also backfires on him as Penn chases him off the stage with a crossbow (and leaves Teller slowly descending into a tub of shark-filled water).

Homer's 15 minutes of fame wanes, and he becomes "yesterday's news" according to an entertainment news show. Worrying that his life has peaked, he attempts to commit suicide by jumping from a tall building, but Otto, who is bungee jumping, saves him. Thankful for being alive, Homer searches for a more noble lease on life, and dedicates his life to his children after seeing Ron Howard take his children to a zoo. He tries but fails to connect with Bart (who already has a father figure in construction workers, the Internet, and Nelson Muntz) and Lisa (who is too intellectual for him) so he decides to spend more time with Maggie. He tries to teach her how to swim, but she does not trust him and will not go in the water. When Homer takes Maggie to the beach, he gets caught in a rip current and nearly drowns. Maggie swims out and pulls him to shore. For saving him, Homer treats Maggie to a game of bowling—and she bowls a perfect game, but Homer penalizes her for going over the line.

Production

The episode was written by Al Jean and directed Mike B. Anderson as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000). Penn & Teller, Ron Howard, Pat O'Brien, Nancy O'Dell guest starred in the episode as themselves. Howard had previously guest starred on The Simpsons as himself in the season ten episode "When You Dish Upon a Star" (1998). Howard was set to appear in "Children of a Lesser Clod" (2001), but dropped out for unknown reasons.

The author of the 2003 book Ron Howard: From Mayberry to the Moon… and Beyond, Beverly Gray, noted that by playing himself in these episodes, "Howard showed once again that he could laugh at his own public persona. His appearances on The Simpsons also suggest how much he remains an American icon, long after the end of his acting career. It's rare indeed for a director or producer to be as instantly recognizable as most Hollywood stars."

Release

"Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 14, 1999. On October 7, 2008, it was released on DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season. Staff members Mike Scully, Al Jean, George Meyer, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman, and Mike B. Anderson participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set.

While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented that "this episode refers to Maggie as 'the forgotten Simpson', and they ain’t kidding. She rarely gets much attention, and for good reason: she doesn’t bring much to the series. ['Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder'] has some laughs – particularly during a fun bit that spoofs The Natural - but its story feels like it’s all over the place. Maggie episodes are rare – and rarely very good. That holds true for this one as well." In his review of the eleventh season of The Simpsons, Den of Geek critic Mark Oakley wrote that "there are some fine episodes to be found", such as "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder", which he described as a "highlight".