Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy

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"Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no. 113
Production code 2F07
Original air date December 4, 1994
Showrunner(s) David Mirkin
Written by Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
Directed by Wes Archer
Chalkboard gag "My homework was not stolen by a one-armed man."[1]
Couch gag The family runs past a repeating background shot of the living room.
Guest star(s) Phil Hartman as Troy McClure
David Mirkin
Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Wes Archer

"Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" is the tenth television episode of The Simpsons' sixth season. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on December 4, 1994. In the episode, Marge and Homer's sex life is struggling, but Grampa perks things up with a homemade revitalizing tonic. He and Homer go on the road to sell their elixir, and Grampa reveals that Homer’s conception was not planned. Homer is furious with his father and decides to spend more time with his children, but his over-parenting does not work very well on them. Homer goes back to the old farmhouse he grew up in for inspiration and meets back up with his father, but their loving reunion is soured when the house goes up in flames.



When Homer and Marge's marriage becomes boring due to their fading sex life, Grampa pieces together a tonic that is guaranteed to put the sparks back into their relationship. The effectiveness of the tonic results in Homer and Grampa going into business together, selling "Simpson and Son’s Revitalizing Tonic" to the public utilizing a medicine show. They travel from town to town selling the product, but after visiting the farmhouse where Homer grew up, the two get into an argument. Grampa yells at Homer in the car, saying that if he had not taken the tonic years ago, Homer would not have been born, finally shouting "You were an accident!" Homer, deeply hurt, throws Grampa out of the car, and proceeds to shut his father out of his life. It also causes him to change the way he acts as a father to his own children, whom he vows to show the attention and love he never received from Grampa. Bart and Lisa, however, feel he is overcompensating, and find that they prefer the "old" Homer.

Bart and friends attempt to figure out why all of the adults disappear after they buy the "Simpson and Son's Tonic". They come up with numerous conspiracy theories, none of which have to do with the tonic. Lisa, a skeptic, sarcastically offers up the possibility of all the adults being "reverse vampires" and having to be home before dark, which frightens the rest of the children more than their serious ideas.

Depressed at having failed to be a good father even when he is trying, Homer goes back to the farmhouse to think. He sees old photographs, including one of himself as a child on Christmas morning, where he thinks "my dad was not even there that Christmas when I finally got to meet Santa Claus". Homer then realizes that it was his father in a Santa costume, proving that Grampa did really care for him. Homer quickly reunites with Grampa, who by coincidence has also gone to the farmhouse to reflect. Both of them accidentally set fire to different parts of the building at the same time (Homer accidentally setting fire to the photo and Grampa throwing a bottle of his tonic into a fireplace) and bump into one another on the front porch while fleeing the blaze. The two both admit they are "screw-ups" and reconcile.


A portrait of a man with black hair looking at the viewer
Bill Oakley (2008), one of the writers of the episode

The episode was directed by Wes Archer, and was written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein.[2] It was originally intended to deal with Homer and Marge's problematic sex life, but later developed into a story about the relationship between Homer and father.[3] Dan Castellaneta provides the voices for both Homer and Grampa. Castellaneta therefore had to talk to himself when he recorded the voices of the two characters in their interactions for this episode.[3] Castellaneta says that it is hard for him to do Grampa's voice because it is "wheezy and airy".[4]

Homer and Marge spend the night at an inn, called the Aphrodite Inn, to spice up their sex life.[4] The inn was partly based on the Madonna Inn, which as in the episode features different kinds of sex-oriented rooms with unusual names that are supposed to spice up your love life.[3] The design of the old farmhouse was inspired by the house featured in the 1993 film Flesh and Bone.[3] Bart's obsession with conspiracy theories was inspired by the writers observation that children around his age go through a stage where they become "addicted" to information about UFOs and paranormal phenomena.[4] Bill Oakley himself had gone through the same thing when he was around 10 years old.[4]

Cultural references[edit]

Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States, is shown celebrating Lisa's purchase of his book, Sane Planning, Sensible Tomorrow, by listening to "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang.[2][5] "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" is played during a chase scene, reminiscent of a recurring theme of the 1967 landmark film Bonnie and Clyde.[2] A parody of The X-Files' theme song is played in the background of a scene after Bart purchases a copy of the book Unidentified Flying Outrage.[3] When Professor Frink takes the tonic, he transforms into a suave man with a deep voice, which is a reference to Jerry Lewis transforming into Buddy Love in The Nutty Professor.[4] Grampa, within proper context, successfully pronounces the word pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.[3] Milhouse's conspiratorial revalation and his line about being throught the looking class is quoted from the movie, JFK.







  6. ^ a b "Four-Bagger Puts ABC Over The Top". The Associated Press. December 8, 1994. p. 15E.  Retrieved on October 17, 2008.
  10. ^ "The Simpsons - The Complete Sixth Season". The Simpsons (20th Century Fox). August 16, 2005. 

External links[edit]