While watching The Simpsons, Homer J. Simpson is many things: husband, father, son, churchgoer, nuclear safety technician – the list goes on. All these things comprise facets of his personality that make him the dynamic character and patriarch of the Simpson household.
That being said, he’s not exactly an ace or expert in any of his roles; in fact, one may argue that he flits through life as a wayward spirit, taking it as it comes, ignorant of how his choices affect those around him within Springfield. A man that has no clear concept of shame, here are ten times Homer Simpson has committed some truly shameless acts.
Ditched His Father on the Operating Table
Altruism is not one of Homer’s strong suits; in the season ten episode “Kidney Trouble”, Homer volunteers to give up his kidney to his ailing father, Abe Simpson, only to run away on two separate occasions.
Seeing no good from the impending sacrifice – in fact, his ability to drink as much would be compromised by becoming a donor – Homer is unable to bring himself to do the one thing to save his father’s life. Only when he’s rendered unconscious at the end of the episode are the doctors able to proceed with extracting the organ from the reluctant Simpson.
Stole and Tried to Sell Highway Sugar
In one of Homer’s more harebrained schemes, he attempts to sell sugar that he stumbles upon when a transport truck crashes. In the bizarre b-plot of the season six episode “Lisa’s Rivals”, Homer believes he’s stumbled upon the lucrative enterprise of the century and confiscates the sugar, protecting it night and day with a baseball bat in hand to keep it away from opportunistic, tea-drinking Englishmen.
Never mind that the sugar has been on the unsanitary ground and that folks aren’t generally receptive to purchasing second-hand sweetener. It leads to one of Homer’s most enjoyable, self-indulgent speeches, but eventually, he abandons the scheme when Mother Nature rains upon his bounty and returns the sweet stuff back to the Earth.
Saved Springfield from Nuclear Disaster with a Game of Chance
The city of Springfield nearly succumbed to a nuclear catastrophe the likes of which hadn’t been seen since Chernobyl. However, the crisis was averted thanks to Homer’s quick-thinking skills…or, at least, that’s what he had the public believe. In truth, he just got extremely lucky while playing “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” not once, but twice.
Once Homer was outed for such an egregious folly, “pulling a Homer” became a phrase synonymous with any time an individual succeeded in something as a result of colossal idiocy. Despite all that, amazingly, Homer was still allowed to keep his job as a nuclear safety inspector.
He "Killed" Maude Flanders
It was actually a series of connected events that led to the untimely demise of Ned Flanders’ wife Maude in the season eleven episode “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily”. Just his mere presence became an obnoxious beacon that attracted a volley of t-shirts that literally launched poor Maude from the bleachers to the ground below.
A testament to shoddy writing, ‘twas a bobby pin that killed the Maude. The unceremonious killing of the character came about as a result of Maude’s original voice actor, Maggie Roswell, leaving the show after a pay dispute. Still, the writers could have chosen a much better exit than having Homer be responsible for manslaughter.
He Valued Fishing More Than His Marriage
Poor Maude became an unwitting victim yet again, this time of the male gaze from the season two episode “The War of the Simpsons”. At the suggestion of Reverend Lovejoy, Marge decides she and Homer should go to a marriage counseling retreat after the embarrassing incident at their own house party; Homer is more interested in catching General Sherman, a massive catfish.
Thankfully, Homer eventually comes to his senses and realizes his relationship with Marge is more important than catching some big game prize, thus tossing General Sherman back into the lake shortly after catching him.
Led a Man to a Mental Breakdown
Through the sheer merit of just being himself, Homer drove a man to a nervous meltdown and eventual (unintentional) suicide in the infamous season eight episode “Homer’s Enemy”. Homer meets Frank Grimes, the “self-made man” who was hired to work at the nuclear power plant only to have his intended position as Executive Vice President be given to a dog. Despite Homer’s best attempts to endear Frank to him, Homer makes a powerful enemy due to them being diametrically polar opposites.
The harder Homer tries, the more Frank hates and resents him, to the point where Frank actively tries to humiliate Homer in front of his peers by tricking him into entering a design contest intended for children. When this backfires, Grimes loses himself and goes on a rampage throughout the plant before grabbing wires of extremely high voltage and dying instantly.
Divorced His Wife Just to Marry Her Again
In another season eight episode, “A Milhouse Divided”, Homer is worried about the status of his relationship with Marge after watching Milhouse’s parents break up at their house party. He then decides to throw another surprise party for Marge asking her to remarry him…after showing her the divorce papers.
While the gesture was well-intentioned, the overkill nature of the solution makes it baffling why Homer would want to go through all the red-tape of getting legally divorced, only to get back together, as if it was literally the piece of paper that held their union together. Equally baffling is how they could get divorced without Marge even having a say in the matter!
Became a Big Brother to Another Kid to Make Bart Jealous
Homer won’t be winning any Father of the Year awards any time soon, as seen in the season four episode “Brother from the Same Planet”. After Homer forgets to pick up Bart from soccer practice, Bart takes revenge by g up for the Bigger Brother program and getting an amazing surrogate brother, voiced by Phil Hartman.
Homer refuses to ask for forgiveness from Bart; rather, he retaliates by g himself up as a Bigger Brother for the adorable ragamuffin Pepi. The episode culminates with Homer getting into a fistfight with Bart’s big brother, which ultimately sends Homer to the hospital.
Became Morbidly Obese to Get on Disability
In one of Homer’s more infamous acts, in the season seven episode “King-Size Homer”, Homer gains 61 pounds in order to get on disability as a morbidly obese man. When Dr. Hibbert is unwilling to Homer’s goal, he is referred to Dr. Nick, a sketchy crackpot physician, and in no time Homer is too fat to go to work.
Marge discourages him from taking the plunge, but her pleas fall on deaf ears. In the end, it is Homer’s excess girth which saves the town from a toxic gas disaster that was of his own doing, and he is reverted back to his original size with no consequences.
Lied to Marge to Get Her to Go to Prom With Him
Even the origins of the Simpson family are dubious! In the season two episode “The Way We Was”, Homer meets Marge for the first time in detention, and in a bid to get close to her, he lies about needing help with French.
But it was not wise to gain her iration through false pretenses; her charity comes at the expense of her promising future, and she immediately rejects Homer when he confesses the truth. Thankfully Artie Ziff, played by Jon Lovitz, is an absolute creep, and it leads Homer back to Marge's car at the end of the episode. And the rest, of course, is history.