Yokel Hero
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"Yokel Hero" is the fourteenth episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'', and the 698th episode overall. It aired in the United States on
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
on March 7, 2021. The episode was directed by
Rob Oliver Rob Oliver (born 1977) is a director for ''The Simpsons''. He has also been a character layout artist, storyboard artist, assistant director, second unit director, and technical director over the course of his long career on the show. He graduat ...
and written by Jeff Martin & Samantha Martin. In this episode, Homer manages Cletus as he becomes a country singing star until he gets fired when Cletus becomes successful.
Albert Brooks Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein; July 22, 1947) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1987 comedy-drama film '' Broadcast News' ...
guest-stars as Slick manager. The episode received generally positive reviews and was watched live in the United States by 1.38 million viewers.


Plot

At
Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...
's birthday at Moe's,
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
misses family dinner, greatly disturbing his wife
Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...
. Homer gets drunk and ends up in jail. Marge then bans him from the house for the night to stop his foolish and drunk misconduct. Homer, in a cell, feels saddened and believes he screwed up, but Cletus cheers him up with a nice song on acoustic guitar. Realizing the error of his ways, Homer returns home to
Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...
,
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...
,
Maggie Maggie or Maggy is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret, or Marigold. People Maggie * Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician * Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist * Maggie Alderson (born 1959), ...
, and Marge to tell them that he is sorry and vows to be a better father and husband. Realizing that Cletus could become a famous singer, Homer becomes Cletus' manager. Starting from singing in dive bars, he progressively moves on to better venues and becomes more popular. Cletus becomes so successful that he gets an appearance on Elin Degenerous' show. There, he tells his fans to attack Chief Wiggum because he stopped him from making moonshine. He fires Homer as he is now a great singer and wants to hire a professional manager. Cletus hires a new manager who offers him a moonshine brand with Duff Man as a mascot. He signs a blank contract with him. Without Cletus, Homer reverts to his old ways. Marge forces Homer to bring Cletus back to his family. Homer and Marge are not successful, but when he sees Brandine and their children, he decides to quit and go home.


Production


Development

The episode was written by Jeff Martin and his daughter Samantha Martin. Jeff wrote the fifth season episode " Homer's Barbershop Quartet," and the song featured in that episode, "Baby on Board," was inspired by Samantha. Jeff and Samantha wrote this episode with Samantha's daughter sleeping next to them, and Samantha also recorded three song demos for the episode.


Casting

Albert Brooks Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein; July 22, 1947) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1987 comedy-drama film '' Broadcast News' ...
makes his ninth guest-star appearance in this episode as a Slick manager. Brooks previously portrayed Russ Cargill in ''
The Simpsons Movie ''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' created by Matt Groening. The film was directed by series veteran David Silverman (animator) ...
'' and guest-starred in seven previous episodes: " The Call of the Simpsons," "
Life on the Fast Lane "Life on the Fast Lane", known as "Jacques to Be Wild" in the United Kingdom, is the ninth episode of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 18, 1990.. It was written b ...
," " Bart's Inner Child," " The Heartbroke Kid," " 500 Keys," " Bull-E," and voiced Hank Scorpio in "
You Only Move Twice "You Only Move Twice" is the second episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 3, 1996. The episode, based on a story idea by Gre ...
." As always, he is credited as A. Brooks. Executive producer
Al Jean Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
complimented his performance regarding how it enhanced what was written.


Marketing

In 2021,
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
released eight promotional pictures from the episode.


Release

The episode was originally set to air on February 28, 2021. However, due to weather delays at the 2021 Daytona 500, the broadcast date was pushed back to March 7, 2021.


Reception


Viewing figures

In the United States, the episode earned a 0.45 rating and was watched live by 1.38 million viewers, which was the most watched show on Fox that night.


Critical response

Tony Sokol Tony Sokol (born March 23, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York, United States) is an American playwright, writer and composer, best known for writing the theatrical horror series La Commedia Del Sangue: Vampyr Theatre in New York City. As a musician, So ...
with ''
Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...
'', said "''The Simpsons'' delivers an extremely nuanced take on several well-worn themes. We know “Yokel Hero' will come to a predetermined end, because Cletus is a series regular and forever stuck in his local role." He also gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars. Jesse Bereta of ''Bubbleblabber'' gave the episode a 6.5 out of 10. He thought the episode was a repeat of previous episodes featuring Homer as a manager for a musician. He also thought the plot was predictable.


References


External links

* {{The Simpsons episodes, 32 2021 American television episodes The Simpsons season 32 episodes Television episodes written by Jeff Martin (writer) Television episodes directed by Rob Oliver