Original air date: 1/23/2000 (produced in 1999)
Production code: BABF-08
Mr. Burns has The Simpsons house-sit for him while he goes to the Mayo Clinic, and Homer uses Mr. Burns' mansion and wealth to hold a booze cruise for his buddies.
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Marge does this when she stops Bart from smoking a cigar:Marge: ”Bart, stop that! Cigars are for rich people and legendary comedians like Bill Crosby and David Letterson.”
- The Alcoholic: Lenny tries to drink rubbing alcohol after he gets fed up of waiting until he can legally drink.
- Artistic License – Law: Burns' Social Security Number is 000-00-0002, which he then gives an angry nod to "Damn, Roosevelt." for getting the first one. In reality, no Social Security number prefix ever starts with 000 and that number was formerly given based on region and not order of assignment, and the first Social Security Number in history was actually assigned to a Mr. John D. Sweeney, Jr. of New Rochelle, New York which carried an regional 055 prefix.
- As Herself: Britney Spears.
- Beyond the Impossible: Mr. Burns has every disease known to mankind (including ones that a male senior citizen shouldn't even be able to contract such as juvenile diabetes and hysterical pregnancy), plus a few brand-new ones that the Mayo Clinic doctors discovered by examining him.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: Homer calling out everyone in the credits over being richer than he is (including the voice actors, who aren't as rich as they should be, but still are richer than he'll ever be), except for Richard K. Chung ("Oh, he's poor.").
- Canines Gambling in a Card Game: Mr. Burns has a painting like this where he is shown playing poker with the dogs.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Burns is informed of his "Three Stooges Syndrome", Burns concludes that it must mean he's indestructible. The doctor tries to clarify that even a slight breeze could kill him, but Burns walks away satisfied.
- Concealing Canvas: Bart finds a safe behind a painting at the mansion.
- Conspicuous Consumption: Mr. Burns' bed incinerator.
- Couch Gag: Marge and Homer are depicted as children while Bart and Lisa are depicted as adults (and Maggie is Homer’s baby doll). Homer grabs the remote, but Lisa takes it back.
- Credits Gag: Homer crying about how he will never be rich, while envying the rich people in the credits.
- Enemy Civil War: Mr. Burns suffers from a biological version of this. A doctor tells him he has every disease known to man, as well as new ones found inside him. However, they all get in each others' way, thereby preventing Burns from actually dying of anything.
- Exact Words: Cornelius Chapman is said to have taken a bullet for Huey Long, which he did only after Long had already been shot several times.
- Formal Full Array of Cutlery: While house-sitting for Mr. Burns, the family sits down to have sloppy-joes for dinner, and they end up using a bunch of different pieces of silverware—Marge notes that it's probably overly elaborate for something as simple as sloppy-joes and admits that she knows what all but one of the forks are for. The only fork that Marge doesn't know is very long, but according to Homer, it's apparently a good butt-scratcher.
- Hypocritical Humor: When the ship is hijacked by pirates:Lenny: Some party, Homer.
Homer: Shut up, net-face.
Lenny: Hey, you're in the net, too.
Homer: I said, shut UP, net-face! - Knife Fight: With monkeys.Homer: Look at those poor saps back on land with their "laws" and "ethics". They'll never know the simple joys of a monkey knife fight. [Sure enough, two monkeys are fighting with knives while a cheering crowd watches]Moe: Thrust! Parry! Stab, stab, stab! [one of the monkeys screams] Ha-ha! He ain't pretty no more!
- Logo Joke: Homer spends the credits crying about never being rich. When it finally gets to the Gracie Films logo...Homer: Don't shush me, you rich bastard!note
- Loophole Abuse: Homer would take Mr. Burns' yacht to international waters just so Moe would be able to sell beer on a weekend before 2:00 pm. Barney points out that, legally, Moe could just give them the beer for free. Moe doesn't budge.
- Misspelling Out Loud:Homer: Operator, get me Thailand. T, I... and so on.
- No Indoor Voice: As a result of how long the table is, Homer gladly indulges in this.Homer: LOOK HOW LOUD I HAVE TO YELL!
- Noodle Incident:Burns: Smithers, old chum, there's nothing like returning home with a clean bill of health. Oh and... sorry about your news.
Smithers: Thank you, sir.
Burns: Do they know how many eggs it laid in your brain?
Smithers: I prefer not to know. Frankly, one is too many. - Older Than They Look: The search for Springfield's oldest resident reminded us of Ned Flanders' real age.
- Pet the Dog: Mr. Burns isn't upset about losing his yacht, but he seems genuinely worried when he finds out about the injuries sustained by his ape.Mr. Burns: [horrified] Furious George! What have they done to your beautiful face?! [hugs the ape] There, there...Smithers, this monkey's going to need most of your skin.
- Pirate Parrot: The pirate captain has four of them, two on each shoulder.
- Properly Paranoid: Mr. Burns tells the doctor to "test [him] for everything" at the start of his checkup. It's a good thing they did, because at the end of the checkup, the doctor informs Mr. Burns that he has everything.
- Riddle for the Ages: Exactly what laid God knows how many eggs in Smithers' brain.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates: The international waters outside of Springfield are teeming with Hong Kong-based cutthroats.
- Self-Made Orphan: When Mr. Burns filled a form, he had to inform his parents' cause of death. He wrote "Got in my way".
- Shout-Out: The ape Mr. Burns is concerned over is named "Furious George," a reference to the Curious George book series.
- Sophisticated as Hell: Traditional family meal meets fancy dining room.Marge: This all seems a little elaborate for Sloppy Joe's. Hmm, I know what the other eleven forks are for, but what do you do with this one?
Homer: [upper crust voice] Why, Marge, I believe you're supposed to scratch your ass with it. - Table Space: The Simpsons sit at an extremely long table for dinner. They can hardly hear or each other over the distance.
- Take That!: When Homer moaned that he never got any award, Lisa reminded him of his Grammy, prompting him to say he meant an award worth winning. Then we're shown a disclaimer stating Homer's opinions don't necessarily reflect those of the producers, who don't consider the Grammy an award at all.
- Tempting Fate: Needing a housesitter, Burns asks Smithers about that guy who always screws things up and creates havoc. When told that's Homer, Burns selects him on the grounds that Homer is due for a good performance. Smithers is well-aware of how badly this will go.
- Vague Age: Kent Brockman attempts to find the second-oldest resident of Springfield by having everyone over 60 stand up and sit down as he counts up. Abe Simpson sits down once Kent counts 70... and stands back up when he gets to 80.
- Undiscriminating Addict: Moe's barflies are so desperate for booze, he fends them off with a whip until the ship they're on crosses into international waters. Lenny asks for some rubbing alcohol for a cut, and Moe obliges. Lenny immediately starts drinking it, and Moe whips it right out of his hand.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: While Marge is cleaning Mr. Burns mansion, one of the rooms she tidies is his secret laboratory. She nonchalantly wipes dust away while ignoring the bizarre and horrific experiments around, including several jars containing clones of Burns and Smithers.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mr. Burns chose Homer to house-sit for him while he is away, who then proceeds to take his private yacht for a spin to International Waters ("the land that law forgot", as Homer calls it). Just as the party really takes off, a group of Chinese pirates take the ship hostage; everyone gets robbed and tied up in a net which is thrown overboard, but fortunately Homer, Bart, and a few others who happen to be floating above the ocean surface eventually made it out, but the people who were beneath the net drowned.
