[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/when_you_dish_upon_a_star_promo_picture.jpg]]

'''Original air date:''' 11/8/1998

'''Production code:''' 5F19

On a day trip at the lake, Homer winds up at the vacation home of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin, and they let him be their assistant if he keeps their location a secret.
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!! This episode provides examples of...
* AbnormalLimbRotationRange: Homer is glaring at Bart and Lisa in the backseat; Lenny says something in the car next to him. Rather than turn his head back around to face Lenny, [[https://frinkiac.com/video/S10E05/sSnPyeaaXyY3OD2NcvqlyF5RSIk=.gif he just keeps twisting his neck.]]
--> '''Marge''': Homer! Your spine!\\
''(Homer twists back to his normal position)''
* AccidentalMisnaming: Homer called Alec Baldwin "''Alex'' Baldwin"[[note]]even though Baldwin's real name is "Alexander"[[/note]] (and initially confused him for his brother, Billy, who does look like Alec in RealLife).
** He also mispronounced Kim Basinger's last name the first time as "Bass-singer"[[note]]with "Bass" pronounced like the fish, not like "base"[[/note]] (which, believe it or not, is TruthInTelevision).
** As noted below, Homer confuses Ron Howard with both Anson Williams and Ron Palillo.
* ActorAllusion: After Creator/RonHoward sells Homer's idea for a movie, the episode ends with the musical sting from ''Series/HappyDays''.
* ActorRoleConfusion: Homer hands his script to Ron Howard and tells him, "You're on your own, Potsie." Ron played Richie on ''Happy Days'', not Potsie (who was played by Anson Williams). He later calls him Horshack, who was played by Ron Palillo on [[Series/WelcomeBackKotter a different show entirely.]]
* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Homer finds parasailing to be ''so'' much fun, it makes him rather cocky. Apparently, [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E15DeepSpaceHomer becoming an astronaut and flying into outer space]] just wasn't good enough for him. [[NegativeContinuity Then again]], [[JustifiedTrope this is Homer]] we're talking about, [[IdiotHero who doesn't have the best memory]].
%%* TheAlcoholic: Ron Howard.
* BearsAreBadNews: Homi the Bear's plan for Ranger Ned is to viciously maul him.
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The celebrities Homer meets in this episode are Creator/KimBasinger (blonde), Creator/AlecBaldwin (brunet), and Creator/RonHoward (redhead).
* {{Bowdlerization}}: The chalkboard gag "Butt.com is not my e-mail address" was changed to "Butt.butt" after it was discovered that there was a real porn site called "Butt.com".
* CannotKeepASecret: Homer. He tries to keep the celebrities' location a secret, but ends up revealing it to impress his bar buddies.
* CouchGag: Marge enters with a laundry basket, humming as she hangs the wet Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie on a clothesline.
* TheDayTheMusicLied: With Baldwin and Basinger barely hanging on the RV Museum, Howard attempts to make a jump on there with dramatic music. He didn't make it and suffered severe injuries.
* TheDeadRiseToAdvertise: Homer provides the page quote while ranting during the trial. He references a real-life vacuum commercial that used the late Creator/FredAstaire.
-->"You celebrities need to realize that the public owns you for life! And after you're dead, you'll all be in commercials dancing with vacuum cleaners."
* DriverFacesPassenger: Homer, when Bart and Lisa sass him from the backseat.
* DynamicEntry: Homer meets Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin by crashing through their skylight and landing on the latter.
* FloatingAdviceReminder: While at Moe's, Homer's thoughts turn to Basinger, Baldwin, and Howard reminding him not to tell the people of Springfield about their secret getaway (well, Howard actually reminds Homer about the lack of vodka, but still...). However, these thoughts give way for a ''fourth'' person: the late New York Tribune founder Horace Greeley.
-->'''Greeley:''' Tell the people, Homer. They have the right to know about the celebrities' summer house.\\
'''Homer:''' Who the hell are you?\\
'''Greeley:''' What do you care? I'm telling you what you want to hear.
* TheHeart: According to Howard, the talking pie is this in Homer's movie pitch.
* HypocriticalHumor: Homer says he can't read, and then in the very next scene is reading off a grocery list. Perhaps he couldn't read because he lacked his reading glasses.
* ItsPersonal: "It ''is'' personal. He's got our underwear!"
* {{Jerkass}}: Homer becomes this to the three celebrities after he breaks their trust. He has his "revenge" by criticizing them to their legions of fans, culminating in him getting an order to stay away from them.
* LeadIn: The episode opens with a scene featuring Homer as WesternAnimation/YogiBear, Bart as Boo-Boo, and Ned Flanders as Ranger Smith, who Homer ends up mauling. Just as "Homi" is about to maul "Bart-Bart", this is revealed to be a dream of Homer's. Homer's kids wake him up to remind him of his promise to take them to a lake. Homer goes back to sleep afterwards and dreams that he's WesternAnimation/MagillaGorilla mauling Mr. Peebles.
* LetsGetDangerous: Subverted. Once Baldwin and Basinger are unable to stop Homer, Howard mutters "I guess it's up to me...", and dramatically leaps towards Homer's RV... only to miss it and tumble down the road.
* LogoJoke: The Gracie Films logo has the music replaced with Ron Howard reminding Homer that they're out of vodka.
* NotWearingPantsDream: Homer describes his ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear'' dream as this.
-->'''Homer:''' I was having the most wonderful dream. I had a hat and a tie with no pants on.
* OddFriendship: Homer's movie idea is built on this. A killer robot driving instructor is friends with a talking pie.
* PlagiarismInFiction: Parodied in the end. Howard takes Homer's movie idea for his own and gets all the money.
* PopCulturePunEpisodeTitle: The title of this episode parodies the song "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}''.
* SecretKeeper: Homer for the celebrities, but he eventually cracks.
* ShoutOut:
** Homer's rendering of the time machine includes a doodle of the [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture flux capacitor]].
** Ron notices waves in the lemonade that indicate a large crowd of people is approaching, in a direct homage to a scene from ''Film/JurassicPark'' whereby a glass of water [[BadVibrations vibrates]] in the same way to indicate the approaching dinosaurs.
* StockMoneyBag: Ron Howard gets two money bags after selling Homer's script to a Hollywood producer.
* TwoDecadesBehind: Homer's comment about "Ray Bolger is looking out for Ray Bolger!" is this, since Ray Bolger died in 1987, 11 years prior to this episode's first airing.
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