Trivia / The Simpsons S1 E3 "Homer's Odyssey"

• Blooper:
  • When Sherri or Terri tells Bart what "incompetent" means, her body disappears behind her hair◊.
  • During the newspaper sequence, the "Sign Ahead" is diamond-shaped◊, but in the paper, it appears as a rectangle◊. The speed limit sign behind it also changes from 25 to 55.
• First Appearance: Chief Wiggum, Otto, Jasper Beardley, Blinky, and Sherri and Terri's father. Some other mainstays were meant to be introduced here if not for the Out of Order airing:
  • This episode is intended to be the first appearance of both Mr. Burns (hence his dramatic introduction) and Smithers, though both appear in "Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire" (the eighth episode in production order but the first to air). This does still apply as Smithers' first onscreen appearance, limited to a voice only cameo in the latter episode.
  • Homer's job as safety inspector at the nuclear power plant is established in this episode. And his former position was either supervising technician or technical supervisor, even though "Life in the Fast Lane" showed Homer working on an assembly line, sorting out nuclear waste.^note Which he was seen still doing in "Blood Feud".
• Orphaned Reference: This episode was meant to air before "Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire". Not only is this the intended introduction of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, but Bart asking Otto about his tattoo was meant to foreshadow his own attempt at getting one in the Christmas Special.
• Out of Order: It's the third episode aired as a planned production wise, but the Christmas Special aired prematurely before it. This episode was designed to introduce several mainstays, mostly ones related to the Nuclear Power Plant, though the Christmas Special gave some of them more fleeting first appearances.
• Troubled Production: This was the first episode of the show to be aired without any major changes to the animation. That's not to say the producers were entirely happy with how this one turned out, but it was still the best-animated of the first four episodes to be produced, with the other three requiring more urgent attention.