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

'''Original air date:''' 11/5/1995

'''Production code:''' 3F05

Homer decides to gain weight in order to avoid going to work.

!Plot Summary
Mr. Burns decides to help get the workers at the Power Plant in shape by implementing a mandatory ten-minute morning calisthenics program. Homer, the most obese and physically unfit worker on the plant, detests the thought of daily exercise, notices that fellow employee Charlie gets to work from home following an injury, and immediately begins [[ZanyScheme scheming]] to gain this "perk" for himself. A bit of research (alongside several failed attempts to get an injury) reveals that anyone who weighs three hundred pounds or more qualifies as disabled, and he quickly realizes that he can use one of his greatest loves--[[BigEater eating]]--to achieve his dream of working from home (which he [[ImagineSpot imagines]] will consist of using his usual terminal while Marge flatters him and Flanders suffers from the rat race). [[BackAlleyDoctor Dr. Nick]] advises Homer to eat from the "neglected food groups"--including "whipped, congealed, and choco-tastic"--to reach his goal weight.

One ShoppingMontage of [[NutritionalNightmare disgustingly fattening foods]] later, Homer has begun packing on the pounds at an alarming rate, worrying Marge and Lisa, but earning Bart's approval. Homer eventually [[TemporaryBulkChange tops out at 315 pounds]], qualifying him as disabled (and requiring him to wear a flowered muumuu and "fat guy hat"). True to his word, Mr. Burns installs a computer terminal in the Simpsons' home, tasking Homer with the duty of repeatedly venting the plant's nuclear gas to prevent a core meltdown. After some [[HopelessWithTech initial confusion]], Homer discovers that all he needs to do is press the "Y" button to complete the assignment. At first, things seem wonderful--especially after Homer rigs up a drinking bird to hit the button for him--but he [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor soon discovers]] that being morbidly obese isn't what he dreamed it would be. Marge admits that she no longer finds him sexually attractive, the general public bullies him, and he cannot enjoy things such as a trip to the movies, as the cinema lacks the ability to accommodate him.

Upon returning home from an unauthorized break, Homer discovers that the drinking bird has tipped over, and the gas build-up has reached a critical point that requires a manual release. With his [[BeyondTheImpossible fingers too fat to dial a telephone]], Homer begins a mad dash to the power plant, eventually commandeering an ice cream truck to reach the site in time. [[TooDumbToLive All of the employees are too excited at the thought of ice cream to listen to Homer's warnings]], and [[FailedASpotCheck somehow miss the leaking gas tank that's ten feet away]], so he's forced to climb the vent to reach the manual shutdown button. Unfortunately, Homer's newfound flab shatters the thin ladder leading to the button, and it looks like all is lost... but thankfully, his massive girth is just big enough to plug the tank and prevent the catastrophe.

Mr. Burns rewards Homer (who's still stuck in the tank while being decontaminated) with a medal and a promise to grant any request he may make. Homer, realizing all of the trouble his excess weight has caused, asks his boss to make him thin again. Mr. Burns vows to do so, and it seems like a TrainingMontage will soon begin--but given that Homer is too fat to do even a single sit-up, the exasperated Burns [[CuttingTheKnot decides to pay for liposuction instead]].
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!!Tropes:
* AcronymsAreEasyAsAybeecee: Homer sees a prompt on his computer monitor that reads "press any key to continue". As he looks for the "any" key, he misreads some of the other keys; Esc as "esk", Ctrl as "kuh-tar-uhl", and [=PgUp=] as "pig-up".
* AnAesop: Appearances ''do'' affect your social life and how everyone sees you.
* AWeightyAesop: A more obvious Aesop than the one stated above would be that being morbidly obese can make doing simple tasks in everyday life very difficult at best and impossible for you at worst such as driving a car, finding a seat at the movies, managing a marriage or even dialing phone numbers.
* ArtisticLicense: Being 315 pounds is more than enough to be considered medically obese but it's hardly enough body weight for an average adult man like Homer to become as fat and physically challenged like he's depicted in this episode. Homer's appearance is more in line with someone who's over 400 to 500 pounds.
* ArtisticLicensePhysics: The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_bird drinking bird toy]] wouldn't have worked in the first place. The upwards motion is triggered by the beak cooling due to evaporation heat escaping, condensing the liquid within and making the tail heavier. Since the keyboard is presumably not wet, his beak would have just kept resting on the Y key. In short, it's not a perpetual motion machine.
* BaitAndSwitch: The episode starts with Homer hiding from Smithers and Mr. Burns' goons in the bathroom stalls. One would think he was afraid of a beating, but it turns out he was just trying to avoid morning exercises.
-->'''Smithers:''' I've never seen a man so desperate to get out of five minutes of calisthenics.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Homer achieves his goal of gaining enough weight to be considered legally disabled, but he loses a lot more than he gains, finding himself physically uncomfortable and less able than he was before, being mocked and insulted by strangers for his appearance, and learning that Marge no longer finds him physically attractive. Small wonder that, despite his increased girth managing to prevent a meltdown, he asks Mr. Burns to help him get back to his previous weight by the end of the episode.
* BenevolentBoss: Mr. Burns, surprisingly enough. Despite running a nuclear power plant with an iron fist and being a cruel boss to his employees, he personally leads his calisthenics sessions to ensure that the employees stay fit and motivated during their work hours, much to their delight; even Lenny and Carl admitted to finding the program to be quite effective. Burns even rewards Homer for preventing the imminent explosion by helping him lose weight again.
** Earlier, Homer, in an appetite to get injured, slides on an oil slick into Mr. Burns' office. While Burns seems mildly annoyed by the intrusion, he obliges Homer's request for a nudge in the other direction.
* BigBeautifulMan: Invoked and defied. When Homer imagines working from home after reaching 300 pounds, he envisions himself as suave and debonair with Marge commenting on him being a "young, vigorous go-getter." In reality, Marge finds herself repulsed by Homer's obesity and admits she doesn't find him sexually attractive anymore.
* BigEater: Homer. Even more than usual because he was under a BackAlleyDoctor's orders (read: Dr. Nick's orders) to overeat so he can reach his weight goal. However, after finally gaining all the weight he wanted to, Homer isn't seen eating again until he hijacks an ice cream truck to get to the nuclear plant. WordOfGod deliberately avoided showing Homer eating post becoming extremely obese, to avoid making him unsympathetic if he was still shown eating so much. Case in point, Homer is insulted when a movie theater manager tries get him to leave by promising him a garbage bag full of popcorn.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: As noticed by SNPP.com (now simpsonsarchive.com), the Closed-Captioning in the original airing for this episode showed that the farmer originally had a different line when the gas destroyed the corn--instead of "Paul Newman's going to break my legs", it was "Jolly Time's going to break my legs". This was changed presumably out of concern that Jolly Time might potentially threaten them with a lawsuit (the Pier-One incident in "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" likely played a part in the change).
* BystanderSyndrome: Lenny ignores the imminent meltdown as it is Homer's problem to deal with.
* CallingTheOldManOut: Lisa joins Marge in nagging Homer to abort the weight gain strategy.
* TheCakeIsALie: Lisa tells Homer Marge made him a cake to get him to go in the kitchen so Marge could discuss all the flaws with his plan. After the discussion ends, Homer [[ComicallyMissingThePoint asks for the cake]].
* ChairReveal: {{Parodied|Trope}} when after Bart tells Homer he'll help him gain weight, a pillow that was sitting by the fireplace turns around à la a swivel chair, revealing that Lisa was eavesdropping on their conversation (though the fact that she had a book in her hands suggests that she was just reading, and Homer and Bart just didn't notice she was there).
* ChekhovsGag: During the montage of Homer gaining weight, he checks himself on the bathroom scale, only to become dismayed that he somehow ''lost'' weight and was now 225... until Bart points out his stomach was caught on the towel rack.[[note]]Once removed, the scale corrects to 296.[[/note]] Eventually, Homer weighs himself again, only to find out he's one pound off (which quickly is fixed when Maggie gives him a Play-Doh donut)... only for Bart to point out he's ''once again'' caught on the rack, where it's revealed he ''already'' hit 300.[[note]]Once removed, the scale corrects to 315.[[/note]]
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: To start his work, the screen says to press any key. Homer is unable to find the "any" key, but instead finds "Esc", "Ctrl" and "[=PgUp=]" (which he pronounces "esk", "kuh-tar-uhl" and "pig-up" respectively). He then decides to order a Tab [[note]](a now-discontinued diet soda brand which was popular in the 1960s and 1970s before Diet Coke came around)[[/note]] by pressing the "Tab" key.
* ConstructionZoneCalamity: Homer wanders into a hardhat area in an attempt to deliberately injure himself so he can be put on disability at work. After he tries and fails to get hit with falling construction tools, a worker gets crushed by a wheelbarrow full of cinderblocks.
-->'''Homer:''' Hmmm... Probably better that ''didn't'' hit me.
* ContinuityNod:
** Homer's drinking bird is the one he received from his brother Herb in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E24BrotherCanYouSpareTwoDimes Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?]]"
** Ralph tells Lisa he’s heard that [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E8NewKidOnTheBlock that Homer once went into a restaurant and ate everything in the restaurant and they had to close the restaurant]].
* CoolOldGuy: Burns plays this straighter, happily leading his employees' exercise routine and rewarding Homer for saving the plant from destruction.
* CouchGag: The family are malfunctioning wind-up dolls who waddle their way to the couch (or at least near it).
* DeliberateInjuryGambit: Homer at first tries to hurt himself to get out of work on worker's comp. When that doesn't work, he tries deliberate weight gain.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Ralph apparently heard that Homer "went into a restaurant, then ate everything in the restaurant, then they had to close the restaurant".
* DudeNotFunny: Ralph's jokes about Homer get this response from Lisa, who insists that Homer's not a gluttonous monster because he's obese. Cue Homer driving past in an ice cream van, madly licking an ice cream cone.
* EpicFail:
** To qualify as "disabled" and work at home, Homer becomes so morbidly obese that he can no longer dial a phone number without assistance.
--->The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm... now.
** Before getting obese, Homer tried to get on disability by trying to injure himself. One of his attempts was to slip on some oil he placed on the floor; instead, he glided along the floor like a figure skater. He eventually found himself in Burns' office and had to ask him to give him a push in the opposite direction (which he surprisingly did, without question, via a cane).
** While trying to lose weight at the end of the episode, Homer, despite his and Burns' best efforts, fails to do even a single sit-up. Burns eventually gives up and decides to just pay for liposuction.
--->'''Homer:''' Whoo-hoo!
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** Downplayed. Hibbert is disgusted by Homer's intentions and refuses to be a part of it, but he ''will'' recommend a doctor who will.
** While Homer was overjoyed to reach 300 pounds, he sounds a bit less than pleased to discover he's actually 315. While he deliberately put on weight to get on disability, having gained too much clearly wasn't something he wanted.
** Despite making himself obese, Homer is outraged when the movie theater owner tries to bribe him with a garbage bag full of popcorn to get him to leave.
** Although Marge makes it clear that she still loves Homer (and is concerned about what this means for his health), she admits she no longer finds him sexually attractive.
* FailedASpotCheck: Twice, Homer fails to notice his belly is resting atop the towel rack when he weighs himself. Bart points it out both times, leading to Homer finding out he's heavier than he expected (296 the first time, and 315 - fifteen pounds heavier than he wanted - the second).
* FatAndProud: Homer loves all the perks that come with his obesity, and considers himself a better man for it.
-->'''Homer:''' Marge, this is everything I've ever dreamed of right here, and nobody's gonna take it away from me. You never had faith in me before, but let me tell you [[ThatManIsDead the slim, lazy Homer you knew is dead]]. Now I'm a big fat dynamo!
* FatComicRelief: Homer, more obese than ever before, definitely falls in this trope.
* TheFatEpisode: Although Homer is already pretty fat to begin with, a key plot point has him deliberately gain weight to be considered obese, so his job would consider him disabled and allow him to work from home.
* ForInconveniencePressOne: Homer's fingers have become too fat to use the buttons on his phone properly. "To order a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now."
* FreezeFrameBonus: When the goons kick in the bathroom door to look for Homer, you can see it blocked by a box labeled "Bathroom Tissue Extra Coarse".
* GilliganCut: After Lisa says that any doctor will disapprove of Homer's plan, Homer says "Oh, yeah, we'll see about that!" We immediately turn to Dr. Hibbert, who's so horrified he immediately refuses to help him. [[SubvertedTrope However, by Homer's request, he gives the name of a doctor that would help him, namely Dr. Nick]].
* GluttonyMontage: Of Homer gaining weight.
* HardTruthAesop: Marge at one point admits she's repulsed by Homer's appearance and doesn't find him attractive. The lesson is that what's on the outside does count in a relationship.
* HopelessWithTech: While its already established that Homer has no idea how to use the console at his work station, he doesn't even know how to use a regular computer in this episode, having problems knowing the keys to the keyboard and even expect the "Tab" key to give him a soda.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** Dr. Hibbert, in a rare display of conscience, refuses to help Homer gain weight, but he has no problem recommending a doctor who ''will'' when Homer asks.
** Ralph pokes fun at Lisa for her dad being overweight, although both Ralph and his dad are on the heavy side.
** After being mocked for his weight, Homer became angry at people for their fat shaming and vows to prove that obese are not undisciplined, lazy and irresponsible. This statement would had carry more weight (no pun intended) if Homer was the opposite of the traits he mentioned. Even his reason for becoming obese is so he could skip the exercise program and his idea of working at home means he can be lazy whenever he wants. Not to mention Homer was, at the time, skiving off work to see a film.
* ImagineSpot:
** Bart imagines himself being morbidly obese, which leads to one of the series's most famous lines:
--->'''Obese Bart:''' I wash myself with a rag on a stick.
** Earlier, Homer imagines what his job would be like once he becomes obese; it consists of his workstation in the backyard, where Marge brings him drinks and he gets to mock Ned for his own struggles at work.
* ImmediateSelfContradiction: Homer complains that because of Mr. Burns' physical fitness tests are aggravating him, he's "sick of being so healthy".
* InadvertentEntranceCue: Lisa is riding the bus with Ralph when she defends Homer, saying that he hasn't become a "food-crazed maniac" just because he's gotten fatter. Homer himself instantly speeds by in an ice cream truck, devouring a cone as he rushes to the plant. [[LampshadeHanging She sighs with exasperation at her bad luck.]]
* InsaneTrollLogic: When Homer decides to gain weight but not tell Marge about it:
-->'''Lisa:''' Have you told Mom about this?
-->'''Homer:''' No, it would only worry her. If you want to add to her worries, go ahead. I guess I'm just a little more grateful for all she's done for us.
* InstantlyProvenWrong: On the bus, Ralph tells Lisa he heard that Homer went into a restaurant and ate so much that the restaurant had to close. Lisa insists that Homer may've gained weight but isn't some food-crazed maniac. Cue Homer driving by in the ice cream truck, stuffing his face with the inventory (though ironically, Homer only took the ice cream truck to race to the plant and avert a meltdown; eating some of the ice cream was just taking the opportunity to have a snack on the way).
* IntentionalWeightGain: Homer willingly makes himself obese so he can qualify for disability and work from home.
* {{Irony}}:
** Discussed by Lisa and Bart. Lisa points out that it was ironic that Homer's weight saved the day, while a slimmer man would have died. Bart then adds that it's ironic that, for once, Homer's butt ''prevented'' [[{{Fartillery}} the release of toxic gas]].
** The [[MadeOfPlasticine humorously old and frail]] Mr. Burns is more enthusiastic about (and apparently quite good at) exercise than the younger and stronger Homer Simpson.
* ItsAllMyFault: Homer laments this when he realizes he just made the nuclear plant start a meltdown.
* IWasToldThereWouldBeCake: The lie Marge used to get Homer to come to the kitchen table and argue with him about his plans of staying over 300 pounds just to work at home. [[TheCakeIsALie Did we mention the cake was a lie?]]
* {{Kevlard}}: Homer successfully stops a nuclear meltdown with his morbid obesity.
-->'''Bart:''' I find it ironic that for once Dad's butt ''prevented'' the release of toxic ga-\\
'''Marge:''' Bart!
* KickTheDog: After Homer is publicly told he's too fat to be allowed in a movie theater:
-->'''Wise Guy:''' Hey, fatty, I got a movie for ya: ''[[Film/ABridgeTooFar A Fridge Too Far]]''.\\
''[Everyone laughs]''
* KindnessBall: Everything Mr. Burns does in this episode, from leading a calisthenics session, to politely pushing Homer back when Homer slides into his office on an oil slick, to honoring Homer's gambit to be considered disabled, to agreeing to do whatever Homer wants in exchange for saving the plant. This is probably the nicest Burns has ever been. Maybe the calisthenics put him in a good mood.
* LaboriousLaziness: Homer's scheme to not have to deal with five minutes of calisthenics a day is a whole lot more dangerous to his health and [[LethallyStupid eventually to the whole town]].
* LazyBum: Homer hides in the bathroom from Smithers and puts on a dangerous amount of weight just to get out of five minutes of calisthenics. Even when he gets a job where all he has to do is push ''one'' key on the keyboard, he still is so lazy he lets a toy bird do that job for him.
* LethalNegligence: Homer leaving his post leads to gas building up to critical mass, risking a meltdown of the plant and requiring a manual shutdown. And he's only in this situation because he didn't want to do calisthenics at work.
* LiteralMinded: When Homer turns on the workstation computer and is prompted to press any key, he starts looking for the "any" key ("There doesn't seem to be any ''any'' key!"). Feeling thirsty, he presses the Tab key, thinking the computer will somehow give him some Tab brand cola.
* LoopholeAbuse: Homer when he finds he can chicken out of doing calisthenics by weighing over 300 pounds so that he can work at home. Lisa points out Homer's also exploiting government welfare while doing this.
* MagicCountdown: "FIVE-hy-ay-ay, FOUR-hy-ay-ay...
* MistakenForInsane: Homer, realising the Nuclear Power Plant is about to explode, tries to get an ice cream truck to give him a lift to the plant. Unfortunately, due to the fear-stricken Homer babbling incoherently, the driver thinks Homer is a madman after his ice cream, and runs away.
* MotorMouth: Homer is unable to get a lift to the nuclear plant to stop the explosion due to rambling about poisonous gas, thus scaring people off. When he tries to get an ice cream truck to give him a lift, his rambling and obesity scares the driver out of the truck.
* NeverMyFault: When Homer first learns of the impending explosion, he starts blaming his toy bird but he [[SubvertedTrope quickly gives in and realized it was his own fault]].
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Creator/HankAzaria imitates the late Creator/CaryGrant when voicing the pig encouraging Homer to gain 61 pounds. This was the idea of the writers, who wanted the real Cary Grant to voice the pig, before realizing that he died years before this episode was made.
* NonsenseClassification: Dr. Nick shows Homer a ''weird'' weight-gain-focused food pyramid, dividing food into the groups of "empty calories", "chocotastic", "whipped", "congealed", and "fats & sweets". These are essentially slightly different ways of saying "NutritionalNightmare", and it's unclear how this constitutes a pyramid.
* NoodleIncident:
** Marge mentions a time Homer tried opening a detective agency, only to shut it down when Marge mocked his hat.
** Also, what, exactly, happened to the drinking bird that caused it to fall over?
* NoOSHACompliance: The nuclear power plant tank can get shut down manually, but there's no guide rails for the narrow catwalk.
* NotSoDire: The episode begins with Homer cowering in a men's room stall before Smithers and a couple of goons drag him out kicking and screaming. Turns out Homer was hiding to avoid doing ''five minutes'' of calisthenics.
* ANuclearError: The nuclear power plant nearly explodes, but Homer's fat ass saves the day.
* NutritionalNightmare: The stuff Homer eats during the Montage clearly count, products like Uncle Jim's County Fillin', [[ShoutOutToShakespeare Much Ado About Stuffing]], Ham Ahoy, and Tubbb. (A commentary explained that the last one was the cream in Oreo cookies, sold as chip dip.)
* OhCrap:
** Homer, when he sees the plant is about to explode.
--->'''Homer:''' ''(nervously)'' Marge...? Lisa...? ...Flanders?
** Also, the farmer whose crops are destroyed by his crop's scarecrow dispensing the plant's radioactive gas. "Paul Newman's gonna have my legs broke!"
* ParodyAssistance: The producers hired Joan Kenley, the actual voice actor behind countless automated phone messages, to provide the prerecorded response we hear when Homer tries to call the plant ("The fingers you have used to dial are too fat").
* PetTheDog:
** Burns initiating a calisthenics program at the nuclear power to keep the employees fit and motivated. He even agreed to do whatever Homer wants in exchange for saving the plant: getting rid of Homer's extra weight through liposuction since Homer can't even do a single sit-up.
** Homer thinks he's come up short and has no food to eat, so Maggie offers him a Play Doh donut.
* PlotDemandedManualMode: When the gas buildup becomes too great to vent remotely, Homer has to rush to the plant to do it manually.
* QuackDoctor: Dr. Nick Riviera is the doctor to go to if you are OK with having an unskilled practitioner in exchange for nominally lower costs. In this episode, Doctor Hibbert (who is competent most of the time) recommends him to Homer, on the grounds that he will help [[ItMakesSenseInContext someone become morbidly obese]] while Hibbert can't in good conscience do it.
* RageQuit: Burns, after failing to get Homer [[EpicFail to do a single situp]] finally gives up on using exercise on Homer and opts for a simpler option.
-->'''Mr. Burns:''' ''[getting more and more annoyed]'' One... one. One! ''ONE!'' Bah! ''[throws away his megaphone]'' I'll just pay for the blasted liposuction!
* RiddleForTheAges:
** Homer's trying to stop the tank from exploding, as the catwalk breaks under him. As he's dangling, he says "Wait a minute, there's probably a-", but is thrown into the air by some vented gas, before landing on top of the tank's release tube. How was Homer thinking of stopping the explosion?
** Just who or what knocked over Homer's drinking bird?
* SearchingTheStalls: The episode opens with Smithers and some goons looking for Homer in the men's bathroom. Homer was smart enough to raise his legs (albeit by standing the toilet bowl), but this only delays Smithers a moment.
* SeriousBusiness: After finding Homer hiding:
-->'''Smithers:''' Boy, I've never seen a man so desperate to get out of five minutes of calisthenics!
* ShoutOut: Bart's ImagineSpot of himself getting obese spoofs ''Film/WhatsEatingGilbertGrape''.
* SimpleSolutionWontWork: When Homer discovers that the drinking bird has fallen over, he tries typing in a command to vent the gas in the tank at the power plant. Unfortunately, the tank's pressure has become too high to be automatically vented, and must be overridden manually. Homer then tries calling the plant to warn the employees, but his fingers have become too fat to dial a keypad, so he's forced to go on a mad dash to prevent a meltdown.
* SnarkyInanimateObject: Homer gets angry at the drinking bird for falling over, but realizes that the situation is really his own fault and puts down the bird, at which point it [[https://frinkiac.com/video/S07E07/ARJqK9iZGdpypiBuVzUSTAKEbhw=.gif appears to nod in agreement.]]
* SpannerInTheWorks: Homer decided to use his drinking bird to do his job for him while he heads out to see a movie, but failed to account for the possibility of it falling over.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Parodied. At the end of the episode, Homer asks Mr. Burns to help him back to his old weight. However, hours later, Homer can't even do one sit-up, so Burns offers to pay for the liposuction.
-->'''Homer:''' WOO-HOO!
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** After reaching 315 pounds (gaining 76 pounds from his original weight), Homer starts sweating mad, keeps the air conditioner on non-stop, has difficulty finding clothes that match him and is denied access to the movie theater. Tasks that used to be simple, like dialing the phone and driving the car, have become difficult or impossible. Homer and Marge's marriage hit the rocks as Marge is uncomfortable having such an obese husband. Members of the community openly ridicule him, when all he wanted was to watch a movie and live his life in peace. He finds walking short distances at his newfound weight to be just as hard as doing the active exercise program at his original weight.
** Homer abandons his work station, leaving a drinking bird in charge. Naturally something goes wrong and he wasn't at his work station to prevent it. Had he been, there likely would have been no need to journey to the plant to fix the problem manually.
* TakeThat:
** The film Homer tried to see at the theater is a film called ''Honk If You're Horny!'' starring Creator/FayeDunaway and Creator/PaulyShore. This was apparently a jab at Dunaway, who had previously refused a guest role on the show, so in revenge, the writers stuck her in a goofy film that would be considered underneath her caliber of work.
** When the fat-clothes salesman asks Homer what he does for a living he first guesses that Homer works in the computer industry.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Charlie, who got disabled time off at home because he suffered an accident. Homer noticing that he's not amongst the rest of the employees doing (on in Homer's case, suffering) calisthenics is what starts the whole plot.
* WashyWatchy: While working from home, Homer picked up the mail and found that one of the packages contained '''FREE FABRIC SOFTENER!''' Immediately Homer used it to clean his hat (and only his hat), and one scene had him sitting in a lawn chair entertained watching the sole piece of attire spin round and round in the dryer.
* WeightWoe: Inverted. But then played straight when Homer's girth makes it increasingly difficult to prevent the meltdown from occurring.
* WhamLine: "What happened to my bird?"
* WhamShot: The drinking bird fallen over and computer saying a meltdown will occur.
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