The Simpsons: 10 Episodes Probably Made Out Of Spite
5. Homer Badman
After spending their day at a candy convention, Homer loses track of his stolen and incredibly rare gummy based on the Venus di Milo statue. When he drops the kids’ babysitter back home, he finds the gummy stuck to her behind and reaches out to take it. The babysitter misunderstands this act as sexual harassment and Homer becomes publicly disgraced.
Homer Badman at large is a criticism of television’s growing need to turn tragedy into entertainment, an issue which has only got bigger over time. In particular the episode satirised Hard Copy, an over-the-top news show that ran from 1989 to 1999 in the US and was guilty of dramatizing its stories.
Hard Copy had a habit of not only presuming their targets as guilty but also cutting footage to support their arguments and even camping outside of their house. The show’s parody version “Rock Bottom” does all of the above, and also contains a memorable made for TV retelling of events starring actor Dennis Franz as Homer.
Homer Badman also parodies the OJ Simpson chase footage, Late Show with David Letterman and television talk shows in general by giving the real life bear Gentle Ben his own show. David Mirkin would say in a DVD commentary that "anyone could host a talk show because all they need is a microphone and an audience".