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| Typical media reaction, more at 11. |
Homer is eager for the next "employee of the week" award at the plant because A) union laws state that every employee is required to win the award, and B) Homer is the only person left that hasn't won the award. However, Homer is angered when the award is given to an inanimate carbon rod, noting the lack of respect he gets when compared to said rod. He tries to turn to TV to forget his worries, but upon seeing NASA coverage neither he nor Bart can deal with it.
Indeed, the decreased lack of interest is hurting NASA hard. Worried about losing funding, the higher ups agree that Americans are no longer interested in the clean-cut men that make up most astronauts, turning their interests instead on the "blue-collar" slob as seen on Home Improvement and Married With Children. Noting that such a person should be their next astronaut. Homer somehow gets a hold of NASA's number and starts to tell them off (also to note his displeasure over the lack of Tang), and its decided that Homer will be their man. Going to Moe's to find him, Homer quickly blames Barney for the call, but upon learning that they wanted to make him an astronaut, complete with respect, Homer tries to tell them he was the one who called. NASA takes both men instead.
As Homer and Barney begin training for the one astronaut spot, Barney is shocked to learn that alcohol is not allowed. However, by the next morning Barney has quickly recovered his balance and cognitive ability, and in short time he becomes as fit and able as most astronauts. However, upon celebration of his victory, Barney takes a sip of champagne. Despite the fact that it was non-alcoholic champagne, Barney's alcoholic mannerisms take hold anyway, and steals a jetpack to fly away. Homer becomes NASA's astronaut by default.
Though Homer is initially thrilled, fear and anxiety quickly set in. He bails on the mission and calls Marge for support. Marge convinces him to not pass this opportunity up, and as Homer reflects on a past missed opportunity (missing Mr. T at the mall), he regains his confidence and undergoes the mission. He's accompanied by real astronaut Buzz Aldrin and fictional astronaut Race Banyon. The mission starts off well enough, but Homer somehow snuggled aboard a bag of rippled potato chips. With no gravity, the chips fly everywhere, so Homer floats around trying to gobble up the stray chips. This, however, leads Homer to crash into an ant farm in the back, setting the ants free and causing media panic.
With James Taylor in mission control, a story of his gives the idea to just flush out the ants and chips into space. The astronauts blast open the door, but Homer prematurely leaves his seat, requiring a rescue and breaking the handle on the door. Homer accidentally lodges a carbon rod into the door and the side, keeping it closed, allowing the shuttle to survive re-entry, landing in a media convention. Though Buzz tries to give Homer credit for their survival, the media focuses on the carbon rod, and once again the carbon rod gets the nod over Homer, but at least Homer has gained the respect of his family.
Quick Review
Deep Space Homer is a fun episode, though with a bit of an odd premise it still turns out very well. The ever present plight of NASA's relevance holds true even today, and its used to comedic effect very well here. James Taylor's appearance didn't do anything for me, but I did enjoy Buzz Aldrin's guest work. The bit with the ants is a classic, both Homer breaking them out and Kent Brockman overreacting to them:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we've just lost the picture, but, uh, what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair Spacecraft has been taken over, "conquered" if you will, by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men, or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them, the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves."That was the best part of what ends up being a good, if not great, episode.
Final Score: 8.4
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