History Recap / TheSimpsonsS5E15DeepSpaceHomer

* EpicFail: After winning the chance to go up to space, Barney kills it after drinking champagne and getting drunk and trying to fly off with a jetpack. The kicker was that it was non-alcoholic champagne.

** ''Franchise/StarTrek'': The background music during Itchy and Scratchy's space trip mimics the theme song. The short is called [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration "Scar Trek: The Next Laceration"]].

* BewareTheNiceOnes: PlayedForLaughs. When James Taylor is brought in to provide the astronauts some uplifting music, Aldrin politely declines, assuming Taylor will understand. Taylor however firmly states he is ''not'' as laid back as media makes him and insists on performing through their difficult situation whether they want it or not.

After discovering that the American people are more interested in sitcoms like ''Series/HomeImprovement'' and ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' (read: sitcoms that have [[BumblingDad incompetent]] or [[ButtMonkey hapless]] fathers) than telecasts of space launches, NASA decides to recruit an average man to go into space -- and Homer (who has been passed up for an "Employee of the Month" award to an inanimate carbon rod) volunteers after they approach Barney Gumble.

* CaligulasHorse: An inanimate carbon rod from the nuclear reactor is honored as Employee of the Month (much to Homer's chagrin), and after Homer accidentally "uses" a different Inanimate Carbon Rod to lock the door on the spacecraft after he broke it it's given its own ticker-tape parade.

* CrackDefeat: Homer loses Employee of the Week award to [[EpicFail an inanimate carbon rod]], then, after damaging and accidentally repairing the door on the space shuttle using a rod - and being credited as such by Buzz Aldrin - the crowd again focuses only on the carbon rod.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Inverted: Homer sounds increasingly more like Groundskeeper Willie during his {{Film/Planet of the Apes}} meltdown (Dan Castellaneta voices both).

* ChekhovsGun: Right at the beginning, it's mentioned NASA's spending money on sending rockets up solely to see what weightlessness does for tiny screws. When the shuttle is prepped for launch, Buzz and Brace note an ant farm. The two come together when Buzz reveals the ants were there to see if ants could sort tiny screws in space.

* CaligulasHorse: An inanimate carbon rod from the nuclear reactor was honored as Employee of the Month (much to Homer's chagrin), and [[spoiler: after Homer accidentally "used" a different Inanimate Carbon Rod to lock the door on the spacecraft after he broke it]] it was given its own ticker-tape parade.

* FauxHorrific: Homer and Bart find a space launch so boring that they scramble to turn it off and sigh in relief once they cut power to the TV entirely.

* MoodSwinger: Kent Brockman. At first he freaked out at the ants he mistook for hostile aliens, [[TheQuisling and then he was happy about it]].

* SkewedPriorities: After Homer breaks the handle off the hatch, he grabs a support rod to hit one of the other astronauts. The rod catches in the door and when it is pointed out that could allow them to return safely, he tries to remove the rod so he can continue the attack.

* LastSecondWordSwap / SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: A variation occurs when Music/JamesTaylor is singing "Fire and Rain" to the astronauts over the communication system...

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Homer constantly.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Marge admonishes Bart for writing "Insert brain here" on the back of Homer's head...and then starts to laugh at it.

'''Suit-wearing chimp:''' ''(British accent)'' No...I don't think we'll be telling them ''that.'' ''(grins and rollerskates away)''

-->''(stops playing guitar)'' Uh.... ''(resumes playing)''

** ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'': Homer floating in weightless condition to the tune of Strauss' ''The Blue Danube''. Later Bart throws a marker up in the air, which transitions to a scene in space, in reference to the famous scene where a prehistoric human throws his bone in the air, cutting to a spaceship 2,000 years later. Homer appearing as a fetus in space, while Music/AlsoSprachZarathustra plays in the background is a reference to the final scene of the film.

* BigNo: In slow motion, no less.

* HypocriticalHumor: Right after Marge says that Homer's family respects him, Bart writes "Insert Brain Here" on the back of his father's head, causing the entire family to burst out laughing then laugh even more when he goes crazy attempting to read the back of his own head, spinning endlessly on the floor. After a few seconds, they slowly stop laughing and just stare at him with worried expressions when he was ''still'' trying to loo at the back of his own head.

* HypocriticalHumor: Right after Marge says that Homer's family respects him, Bart writes "Insert Brain Here" on the back of his father's head, causing the entire family to burst out laughing.

* JerkassBall: When Bart writes "Insert Brain Here" on the back of Homer's head, he goes crazy try to read what's on the back of his head and Marge (and the rest of the family) [[HypocriticalHumor laughs at him for it, despite having just told Homer they respected him]].

* IntellectualAnimal:
-->'''Scientist''': People, we're in danger of losing our funding. America isn't interested in space exploration anymore.
-->'''Assistant''': Maybe we should finally tell them the big secret: that [[ApesInSpace all the chimps we sent into space]] came back super-intelligent.
-->'''Chimp''': ''(British accent)'' No, I don't think we'll be telling them ''that''.

* TooDumbToLive: According to Marge, Homer had trouble using a touch-tone phone when they first met -- and he still does.

After discovering that people are more interested in sitcoms like ''Series/HomeImprovement'' and ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' (read: sitcoms that have [[BumblingDad incompetent]] or [[ButtMonkey hapless]] fathers) than telecasts of space launches, NASA decides to recruit an average man to go into space -- and Homer (who has been passed up for an "Employee of the Month" award to an inanimate carbon rod) volunteers after they approach Barney Gumble.

* AnimationBump: The sequence of Homer eating potato chips in zero gravity, which was guest directed by (an [[UncreditedRole uncredited]]) David Silverman. The scene also utilized some early [[TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects CGI]] for the rotation of the chips in a few shots.

* AnimationBump: The sequence of Homer eating potato chips in zero gravity, which was guest directed by an ([[UncreditedRole uncredited]]) David Silverman. The scene also utilized some early [[TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects CGI]] for the rotation of the chips in a few shots.

* BillBillJunkBill: Man monitoring the x-ray machine at the power plant: "Clean. Clean. Pistol. Uzi. [[TotemPoleTrench Two kids posing as an adult]]...''(a ape skeleton appears)'' [[AcquaintedWithEmergencyServices Hey, Homer]]"

* CaligulasHorse: An inanimate carbon rod from the nuclear reactor was honored as Employee of the Month (much to Homer's chagrin), and [[spoiler: after Homer accidentally "used" a different Inanimate Carbon Rod to lock the door on the spacecraft after he broke it]], it was given its own ticker-tape parade.

* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: The chimp that [[IntellectualAnimal got super-intelligent]] from [[ApesInSpace his space mission]] has one, in addition to his suit and speaking in a British accent.

* EpicFail: After winning the chance to go up to space, Barney kills it after drinking champagne and getting drunk and trying to fly off with a jetpack. The kicker was it was non-alcoholic champagne.

-->'''Scientist''': People, we're in danger of losing our funding. America isn't interested in space exploration any more.

** ''Franchise/StarTrek'': The background music during Itchy and Scratchy's space trip mimicks the theme song. The short is called [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration "Scar Trek: The Next Laceration"]].

** NASA watches ''Series/HomeImprovement'' (which has Tim Allen run over his neighbor Wilson after charging up his riding mower) and ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' (where Peg once again begs Al for sex, Al says no, and flushes a toilet right next to him) to show the committee what people like to watch these days;

* SkewedPriorities: After Homer broke the handle off the hatch, he grabs a support rod to hit one of the other astronauts. The rod catches in the door and when it is pointed out that could allow them to return safely, he tries to remove the rod so he can continue the attack.

* TakingYouWithMe. After Homer breaks the handle on the shuttle. Banyon proclaims that if he dies, he's taking Homer to Hell with him.