History Recap / TheSimpsonsS9E23KingOfTheHill

** While Homer is telling his family through walkie-talkie that this is the most difficult ordeal he's ever faced, Bart replies that he's ''only'' got four more vertical miles. Homer responds with "[[CatchPhrase D'oh]]!"

** Homer decides to start running at night, [[https://frinkiac.com/gif/S09E23/381180/382014/ the scene cross-fades just as he passes by the fence next door]], and he's reduced to crawling in exhaustion and stops in front of a mailbox... for the Flanders family.

* DietEpisode: Homer attempts to [[WellDoneDadGuy redeem himself before Bart]] by getting in shape through visits to the gym and eating a bunch of energy bars. He makes significant improvement from the exercise (it's implied the bars were a MagicFeather and/or outright detriment), but overestimates himself, nearly dies climbing a mountain, and presumably gives up his new regimen.

* IdiotBall: Bart volunteers Homer to climb the Murderhorn after hearing Rainier Wolfcastle describe it as "suicide".

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Homer starts working out at night. After several weeks, he's stronger and in much better shape, and gained some muscle mass and definition in his chest and arms. However, he still has a lot of flab around his midsection, as losing subcutaneous fat is pretty hard, and Homer's exercise regime is mostly based around weight training rather than cardio, so he lacks the stamina or experience to climb a mountain despite no longer being grossly unfit, and makes slow progress once his guides abandon him.

* WellDoneDadGuy: Homer spends the whole episode trying to impress Bart.

* FatFlex: Homer tries to impress Bart by being able to crush a beer can underneath his rolls of belly fat. Bart is understandably distubred.

* {{Hallucinations}}: Exhaustion and thin air makes Homer briefly hallucinate that he's dancing with the abominable snowman and that magic lifts and bubbles are carrying him to the top of the mountain. In reality, he's sliding ''down'' the mountain, which he wakes up to upon hitting his head on a rock.

** Taking shelter in a cave, Homer remarks that he at least won't freeze to death. He then lights a lantern, illuminating the corpse of [=McAllister=], who had long since frozen to death.

* LaserGuidedKarma: The Springfield Police Department and Fat Tony's mafia are having a picnic next to each other. One of Fat Tony's goons shoots a mustard jar at the policeman's table drenching Chief Wiggum in mustard. Wiggum takes it in stride since they borrowed the mustard from the mafia.

* NeverMyFault: After Homer feels ashamed of how out of shape he has become, the first thing he does is complaining to Marge on how SHE allowed him to get like that.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Homer starts working out at night. After several weeks, he's stronger and in much better shape, and gained some muscle mass and definition in his chest and arms. However, he still has a lot of flab around his midsection, as losing subcutaneous fat is pretty hard, and Homer's exercise regime is mostly based around weight training rather than cardio, so he lacks the stamina or experience to climb a mountain despite no longer being grossly unfit and makes slow progress once his guides abandon him.

* TemptingFate: After working out for weeks, Homer coaxes the family to try and find some flab on his body. Bart and Lisa immediately grab some, causing Homer to tell them to feel his biceps, which is the only part that isn't flabby anymore.

* UnimpressiveProgressReveal: Thrice
** Homer decides to start running at night, [[https://frinkiac.com/gif/S09E23/381180/382014/ the scene cross-fades just as he passes by the fence next door]], and he's reduced to crawling in exhaustion and stops in front of a mailbox...the Flanders family's one.
** Homer starts climbing the Murderhorn and one TimeSkip later, the camera follows a trail of spent oxygen tanks and a Homer that is greedily sucking down on a new one... and then we find out that he just ascended about 20 feet (it's still close enough to the ground that Bart can easily tell him to stop using up his oxygen).

* DietEpisode: Homer attempts to [[WellDoneDadGuy redeem himself before Bart]] by getting in shape through visits to the gym and eating a bunch of energy bars. He makes significant improvement from the exercise (it's implied the bar were a MagicFeather if not a detriment), but overestimates himself, nearly dies climbing a mountain, and presumably gives up his new regiment.

'''Homer:''' You? Did?\\

* UnexplainedRecovery: When Grandpa tells a story about his mountain-climbing days; "I fell 8,000 feet onto a pile of jagged rocks. Of course, people were a lot tougher in those days. I was jitterbuggin' that very night!" Note that his story begins with him warning Homer not to try climbing a particular mountain: "You'll die up there, just like I did!" Of course, this could just be Grandpa being senile.

-->'''Homer:''' ''(squinting at bar)'' Hey, Deng Xiaoping died.

* NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: Homer finds the frozen corpse of Abe's mountaineer partner [McAllister=], whom Abe had tried to eat when they were snowed in back when he tried to climb the mountain.

* NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: Grandpa tried eating [=McAllister=].

* SpecialGuest: Creator/BrendanFraser and Steven Weber as Brad & Neil.

--> '''Ralph:''' Aaah! You're not it!

* LampshadeHanging: Apparently, a number of people (including Marge) objected to the promotion, pointing out that

Homer doesn't know anything about mountain climbing and that the whole thing is crazy.

--> '''Homer:''' ''(squinting at bar)'' Hey, Deng Xiaoping died.

* LaserGuidedKarma: The Springfield Police Department and Fat Tony's mafia are having a picnic next to each other. One of Fat Tony's goons shoots a mustard jar at the policeman's table drenching Chief Wiggum in mustard. Wiggum takes it in stride since they borrowed the mustard from the mafia.

* RealityEnsues: Apparently, a number of people (including Marge) objected to the promotion, pointing out that Homer doesn't know anything about mountain climbing and that the whole thing is crazy.

* HonorBeforeReason: When Homer discovers the Sherpas had been pulling him up the mountain while he's asleep, he realizes that unlike Bart, nobody believes that he'll make it to the top. Homer insists he'll carry on alone, because he'd promised Bart he'd do it. [[SubvertedTrope When one of the Sherpas says Homer should go back down and start it all over for the promise's sake, Homer ignores the comment and sends them home.]]

* AllForNothing: Homer conquers Murderhorn, but the flag he plants falls off before he has a chance to show Bart. It's subverted because he is proud his dad accomplishmed the task regardless.

* FormerlyFat: Homer is still a bit pudgy, but is in much better shape starting in the second act, and is noticably more muscular. Naturally, [[StatusQuoIsGod he's gained it back by the next episode]].

* DudeNotFunny: InUniverse, while watching the [=McBain=] movie, in response to seeing [=McBain=] snapping the CommieNazis leader's neck while on top of a fighter jet, Marge says [[BondOneLiner "Now that's what I call breakneck speed!"]] and laughs, but Bart stares at her and flatly says "Mom, a man just died", to which Marge groans in annoyance.

!!Tropes:
* ArtisticLicenseGeography: A mountain more than five vertical miles high would be higher than Mt. Everest.

** The two Powersauce guys lie frequently. First of all, everything they say about their product is a sham, as the supposedly healthy energy bars are made of apple cores and old Chinese newspapers. Second, when Homer sends the Sherpas home and goes alone, they tell the viewers that he has switched to their competitor, Vita-Peach Health Log, in an attempt to absolve themselves of responsibility when he doesn't survive.

---> '''Grandpa''': I fell 8,000 feet onto a pile of jagged rocks. Of course, folks were tougher in those days. I was jitterbugging that very night!

--> '''Ralph''': Aaah! You're not it!
* DoomedPredecessor: As Homer prepares to climb Springfield's Murderhorn , Grampa tells him of how he once tried to climb the mountain until he was betrayed and left for dead by his partner. Later, during his climb, Homer finds the frozen corpse of said partner in a cavity near the top, and he finds out from his diary that ''Grampa'' actually betrayed ''him''.

--> '''Homer''' [''squinting at bar'']: Hey, Deng Xiaoping died.

** Homer decides to start running at night, next scene has him already crawling due to exhaustion and stops in front of a mailbox...Flanders' one.
** Homer starts climbing Mount Murderhorn and one TimeSkip later, the camera follows a trail of spent oxygen tanks and a Homer that is greedily sucking down on a new one... and then we find out that he just ascended about 20 feet (it's still close enough to the ground that Bart can easily tell him to stop using up his oxygen).
** [[RuleOfThree A third]] is while Homer is telling his family through walkie-talkie that this is the most difficult ordeal he's ever faced, Bart replies that he's "only" got four more vertical miles. Homer responds with "[[CatchPhrase D'oh]]!

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