The Fat and the Furriest

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = The Fat and the Furriest
episode_no = 318
prod_code = EABF19
airdate = November 30, 2003
writer = Joel H. Cohen
chalkboard = I do not have a cereal named after me
director = Matthew Nastuk
couch_gag = In a parody of the opening of the 1960s sitcom, "Get Smart!", Homer goes through many futuristic doors and passageways until he reaches the phone booth, falls through the floor, and lands on the couch (with the rest of the family already seated) .
guest_star = Charles Napier as Grant Conor


image_caption = Homer develops a fear of bears.
season = 15

"The Fat and the Furriest" is the fifth episode of "The Simpsons"' fifteenth season, which originally aired November 30, 2003. The episode is about Homer fighting a bear.

Plot

Having bought Marge the same thing as Bart for Mother's Day Homer goes to Sprawl-Mart, and he buys her a "Kitchen Carnival" on the advice of Patty and Selma, a machine that produces cotton candy, caramel and deep fried things. Eventually Homer uses it to make a giant ball of deep-fried, caramel-covered, cotton candy. The ball is much too big for the family to eat, and it gets dirty. Finally Marge insists Homer get rid of it. He takes it to the dump, and is confronted by a large, angry grizzly bear, from which he cowers. The bear eventually wanders off without attacking, apparently bored by Homer's crying.

Homer becomes a nervous wreck, hallucinating and seeing bears everywhere. To make things worse, a tape was made of him cowering from the bear, and his coworkers and Bart's friends make fun of him incessantly. Grampa tells him to confront the bear, and Homer eventually does so, contacting a hunter named Grant. He then makes a suit of armor out of household junk. Ignoring Marge's requests that he not fight the bear, he sneaks out of the house, is joined by Bart, Lenny and Carl, and goes to fight the bear.

The four of them make camp in the woods. As his homemade armor is hot, Homer eventually takes it off and bathes in a stream, where he is again attacked by the bear. With Bart, Lenny and Carl dancing to the radio and paying no attention, the bear drags Homer to his cave. Homer discovers that the bear is only angry because of a painful electrical prod attached to his ear. In the mean time, Marge and Lisa have discovered Homer, Bart, and the suit of armor missing, and Lisa hires Grant to help track Homer down.

Freed of the electrical prod, the bear and Homer become friends. Homer decides to take the bear to a nearby wildlife refuge, but on the way, they are attacked by Grant and some other hunters. Homer dresses the bear up in the homemade armor, which resists the gunfire and allows the bear to reach the wildlife refuge - where he is promptly attacked by Stampy, but then fights back against him.

Oldcoot.com

In one scene, Grandpa shows Homer his own website; Oldcoot.com. The domain name is a real-life website owned by Samuel L. Bowman. Some fans of oldcoot.com suggested that Bowman sue The Simpsons, though Bowman ultimately decided not to sue The Simpsons, as it wasn't the "character of the company". [cite web|url=http://www.oldcoot.com/simpsons.htm |title=Old Coot.Com |publisher=Oldcoot.com |date= |accessdate=2008-10-06]

Inspiration

The creation of bear-proof armor after surviving a bear attack (but not Homer's public cowardice) was inspired by Troy Hurtubise whose story was told in the documentary "Project Grizzly" [cite web|url=http://www.baytoday.ca/content/news/details.asp?c=662 |title=North Bay News and Weather on BayToday.ca |publisher=Baytoday.ca |date= |accessdate=2008-10-06] .

Cultural references

*The name Fat and the Furriest is a parody of the movie Fast and the Furious

References