![Gay steel workers greet Homer and Bart as they tour the local factory.](https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/b6433d985f5f8ef4906189b5080264a8.jpg)
Wanna really feel previous? One of many biggest gags in Simpsons historical past simply turned older than a number of members of the Kotaku workers. That’s proper, the instant-classic Season 8 episode “Homer’s Phobia” debuted on this present day in 1997. In it, Bart befriends John, the proprietor of an antiques retailer (performed by the long-lasting filmmaker, author, and tiny mustache proprietor John Waters). Homer turns into involved that John’s affect will “make” Bart homosexual, so he obsessively seeks out hypermasculine actions for the 2 of them to do collectively with a view to protect his son’s heterosexuality.
Probably the most memorable of those manly actions sees father and son go to the Ajax Metal Mill, to see “all-American Joes doin’ what they do greatest.” Homer assures Bart, “you’ll thank me in your wedding ceremony night time.” However oopsie! Seems the boys of the mill weren’t fairly what Homer hoped for.
After a shirtless beefcake in booty shorts shimmies previous Homer with a vat of molten metal, foreman Roscoe declares: “We work exhausting, we play exhausting.” As C+C Music Manufacturing unit’s “Gonna Make You Sweat” blasts from each course, Homer shields Barts eyes from the boogie-oogie hardbodies.
You’ll be shocked to study that whereas I’m a little bit of a Simpsons superfan, I didn’t even have this auspicious day circled on my Troy McClure calendar. The anniversary was dropped at my consideration by a tweet from Josh Weinstein, author, producer, and showrunner on the animated basic from 1992 to 1998.
In response to the DVD commentary for season 8, recorded again in 2006, Waters accepted his invitation to be a visitor star instantly, stating that if it was “ok for Elizabeth Taylor” (who had appeared in two season 4 episodes) it was ok for him. In early drafts, the burly metal employees have been initially imagined to be longshoremen, however animating the shipyard was too pricey, in order that they modified the placement to the mill. And truthfully, imagining Moe telling Homer “the entire transport business is homosexual” simply doesn’t have the identical ring to it.
If all this discuss of homosexual metal mills has you hankering for some basic Simpsons antics, Disney+ has a whopping 34 seasons of the present accessible to stream at a second’s discover. (“Homer’s Phobia” is season 8, episode 15.) That’s your lengthy weekend sorted.