Line #8 Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E2TheWizardOfEvergreenTerrace


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/homer_edision.gif]]
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3	'''Original air date:''' 9/20/1998
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5	'''Production code:''' 5F21
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7	Homer becomes an inventor after realizing his life is almost half over and he hasn't done anything that will be considered a legacy.
8	----
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10	!!Tropes:
11	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Homer feels this way towards Edison, especially when he finally invents something genuinely useful, only to discover it was invented by Edison first. His anger dissipates once he discovers that Edison in turn spent ''his'' career unsuccessfully playing catch-up with Leonardo da Vinci.
12	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Lisa claims that UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison invented film and photography. In real life, the former came long after his retirement and the latter before he was even born.
13	* BaitAndSwitch: During the tour of the Edison Museum, the tour guide shows a roped off door to a room housing Edison's preserved brain. He then says that tour groups ordinarily weren't allowed to see the brain while unhooking the rope ... before adding "[[{{Troll}} and today will be no exception]]" and rehooking the rope, much to the tour group's disappointment.
14	* BowelBreakingBricks: Homer implies he's letting out a big load in his toilet chair over losing the royalties for his electric hammer to Edison's (already) wealthy heirs.
15	* BrokenPedestal: When Homer notices that Edison already invented his single ingenious invention, he decides to destroy it at the Edison Museum and take credit for its invention.
16	-->'''Bart:''' But I thought you loved Edison.
17	-->'''Homer:''' Aw, to hell with him.
18	** The pedestal is then {{rebuilt\|Pedestal}} when he see that Edison compared himself to Leonardo da Vinci much like Homer compared himself to Edison.
19	--->'''Homer''': [''About Edison''] We're not rivals: we're just a couple of dreamers who set the bar a little too high.
20	* BunglingInventor: Homer's first inventions are generally terrible ... that is, unless anyone out there feels the need for an everything's-OK alarm, a make-up shotgun, or an armchair toilet.
21	** Subverted with the electric hammer, which is a clever idea, just that Homer made it too powerful to handle. In fact, the patent was said to generate millions for Edison's (already wealthy) heirs.
22	* CallBack: Barney being an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward winner in Homer's ImagineSpot funeral refers back to "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E18AStarIsBurns A Star Is Burns]]", when Barney won the Springfield Film Festival grand prize for his autobiographical movie ''Pukahontas''. It also suggests that he'd sobered up in the future, which he'd originally promised to do after winning before ''immediately'' relapsing.
23	* ChristianityIsCatholic: Also from Homer's ImagineSpot funeral, Ned Flanders, who presides over the service, wears a Cardinal's uniform.
24	* CigarChomper: Homer takes up smoking, justifying it by saying that Edison smoked several cigars a day.
25	-->'''Bart:''' Yeah, he invented stuff too.
26	-->'''Homer:''' Shut up!
27	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Homer's "Everything's Okay Alarm" is the opposite of what alarms are all about.
28	--> '''Homer''': [[SuddenlyShouting It will sound! Every three seconds! Unless something! Is not okay!]]
29	* ContinuityNod: When Homer's suffering his midlife crisis, the family tries to remind that he has done a lot during his life, specifically showing the times he went into outer space in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E15DeepSpaceHomer Deep Space Homer]]" and fought Drederick Tatum in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E3TheHomerTheyFall The Homer They Fall]]".
30	* CouchGag: The living room is a movie theater that's filled with supporting characters that the Simpsons have to shuffle through to find their seats. Afterwards, Homer steals some popcorn from Comic Book Guy.
31	* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Homer’s suggestion for Hamburger Earmuffs is an idea that Professor Frink already devised.
32	* FailureMontage: Homer’s first two attempts at inventing [[MadeOfExplodium result in explosions]]. Then he removes the dynamite from the equation, at which point things go more smoothly.
33	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Homer falling over in his chair while the kids visit him in his invention workshop.
34	* FreezeFrameBonus: The one visible gravestone in Homer's ImagineSpot reads [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E2ThePrincipalAndThePauper Tamzarian]].
35	* HollywoodMidLifeCrisis: The plot kicks off when Homer hears on the radio that the average male life expectancy is 76.2 years, when he himself is 38.1 (although Marge [[FromBadToWorse points out he's actually 39]]). However, the trope is actually downplayed as all Homer does is decide to become an inventor.
36	* HomemadeInventions: After Homer decides to model his life off Thomas Edison's, he dabbles in inventing. Most of the things he invents are terrible.
37	* InventorOfTheMundane: Parodied. Homer, emulating Edison, casts off his pajamas and gets out of bed naked to proclaim himself an inventor. A man walking by outside says, "Invent yourself some underpants."
38	** It's also parodied with the hamburger earmuffs being deceptively complex (according to Frink) and played roughly straight with the makeup gun.
39	* ItsBeenDone: After several disasters, the one invention that works as planned turns out to have been invented by Edison himself but apparently unnoticed, prompting Homer and Bart to travel to Edison's workshop to destroy his model. Homer decides not to once he sees that Edison himself also had a "rivalry" something like his with Creator/LeonardoDaVinci. Homer decides to split the difference and take both his and Edison's frustrations out on the Eli Whitney Museum.
40	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Marge says that Homer's inventions -- the electric hammer, the "everything's okay" alarm, the make-up gun, and the toilet chair -- are terrible and no one would want them. As bad as the others are, Homer's electric hammer proves to be a stunning innovation, even more impressive than the six-legged chair.
41	* LonelyFuneral: Homer imagines himself dying with no accomplishments to his name. The only attendees at his funeral are President Lenny, Oscar winner Barney, the robot from ''Series/LostInSpace'', and WesternAnimation/HeckleAndJeckle. A dump truck deposits Homer's corpse in his grave and several dogs start to chew on his exposed feet.
42	-->'''Homer:''' Marge, no matter what happens in the future, promise me you won't vote for Lenny.
43	-->'''Marge:''' ...Okay.
44	* MisplacedRetribution: After Homer decides not to smash Edison's six-legged chair, he decides to take his rage out on the Da Vinci Museum. When Bart says it's in Italy, he settles for the Eli Whitney Museum.
45	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Due to Homer leaving his electric hammer at the Edison Museum, its ''invention'' is erroneously attributed to Edison, and winds up making his heirs even richer.
46	* NoodleIncident: Homer says he was banned from Springfield's public library because of some "unpleasantness". He also quit his job at the power plant off-screen, and when Marge says he could always ask for his job back if his inventions don't pan out, Homer just mentions he can't [[TakeThisJobAndShoveIt due to the way he quit]].
47	* OhCrap: Homer, when he realizes that he put his files in the dryer rather than a desk drawer.
48	* PeopleFallOffChairs: Homer falls victim to this so much in the episode, he opts to add extra legs to his chair. And it is soon revealed that Edison had the same idea.
49	* RidiculouslySuccessfulFutureSelf: Spoofed when an insecure Homer imagines his funeral being attended by President Lenny and Barney with armfuls of Oscars, and presided over by Flanders, now a cardinal.
50	-->'''Homer:''' Marge, no matter what happens in the future, promise me you won't vote for Lenny.
51	* RoyaltiesHeir: One of Homer's inventions (an electric hammer) is making millions. Unfortunately for the Simpsons, the invention was credited to UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison and the royalties went to his "already wealthy" heirs.
52	* ShamelessSelfPromoter: Homer name-drops the trope in regards to Edison himself (which is TruthInTelevision). He does so in response to Marge's attempt to make him shut up about Edison by saying the latter accomplished so much "because he didn't spend every moment talking about ''Thomas Edison''."
53	* SmartBall: At least one of Homer's inventions, the automatic hammer, is clever enough to be successful. Unfortunately, he doesn't benefit from the invention as it's falsely attributed to Thomas Edison. There are also several scenes of Homer studying math and physics in his basement and actually grasping the concepts enough to write equations on the board.
54	* StatusQuoIsGod: As in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E19SimpsonTide Simpson Tide]]", Homer quits his job at the plant and hasn't got it back by the end of the episode, but in subsequent episodes he is back working there.
55	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike:
56	** Professor Frink actually had the same idea for "hamburger earmuffs" as Homer. He's confident he can get his prototype patented while Homer is still struggling with the "pickle matrix".
57	** The discovery that kickstarts the climax: As Homer is reveling in his successful invention (legs that swing out when one leans back in one's chair, preventing it from falling over), a closer inspection of his Thomas Edison poster causes him to discover that Edison had the same idea.
58	* TimTaylorTechnology: When Homer first shows off his electric hammer, it goes haywire and starts dragging him across the floor. He turns it off and [[ComicallyMissingThePoint concludes, "Probably needs to be more powerful."]]
59	* TranquilFury: Homer concludes the episode with this: "Let's just say [[BowelBreakingBricks I'm sitting in the right chair.]]"
60	* TheUnreveal: One room at the Edison Museum holds Edison's preserved brain.
61	-->'''Tour Guide''': [''Unlatches the velvet rope''] Ordinarily, folks, tour groups are not allowed to see it. [''Relatches the velvet rope''] And, of course, today will be no exception.
62	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: In the beginning of the episode, Homer feels like crap for "wasting half his life". The rest of the family try to cheer him up by pointing out all his accomplishments, including fathering three children.

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS10E2TheWizardOfEvergreenTerrace