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General

Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish

Naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection is mentioned in the episode.

Journalists have described "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" as a satire on American politics. Joanne Ostrow, a reviewer for The Denver Post, said only a cartoon could get away with "such pointed satire" of American political campaigning and advertising that is featured in the episode. She compared it to the "counter-cultural posture" television shows such as Second City Television and Saturday Night Live took in the mid-1970s: "In those days, this sort of alternative viewpoint was kept out of prime time. [In The Simpsons case], it's still relegated to the (distant) fourth network, but at least the time is prime." Jeremy Kleinman of DVD Talk wrote: "The writers of The Simpsons have often come across as unabashedly liberal and this episode is no exception as political/social commentary takes a step closer to the foreground during this episode." Al Jean, current show runner of The Simpsons, has himself admitted in an interview that the show is of "liberal bent". In the DVD commentaries, creator Matt Groening and the majority of people who work on the show state several times that they are very liberal, but some, such as John Swartzwelder (one of the writers of this and many other The Simpsons episodes), are conservative. The show portrays government and large corporations as callous entities that take advantage of the common worker. Thus, the writers often portray authority figures in an unflattering or negative light. In The Simpsons, politicians are corrupt, ministers such as Reverend Lovejoy are indifferent to churchgoers, and the local police force is incompetent.

The episode also features an environmentalism theme. This theme is present in the nuclear power plant's polluting of Lake Springfield, which causes the fish of the lake to become mutated. University of the Sciences in Philadelphia physics and mathematics professor Paul Halpern discuss the episode in his book What's Science Ever Done for Us?: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe. He comments: "Considering the fact that [Charles Darwin's theory of] natural selection takes generations and that successful varieties must sustain a survival advantage over others, the only way Mr. Burns can prove his assertion [that the fish is the next step in evolution through natural selection] is by tracking Blinky over time to see if the third eye allows the mutant fish to find food more quickly or dodge predators." Mark Meister and Phyllis M. Japp discuss the environmental theme of the episode in their book Enviropop: Studies in Environmental Rhetoric and Popular Culture. The authors think human pollution is characterized in the episode as an improvement on nature, and human progress is viewed as an "integral" part of human evolution. They add: "These references articulate specific criticism of current environmental regulations, specifically the lax enforcement of the regulations concerning the dumping, safe storage, and disposal of nuclear waste. Furthermore, this episode condemns the manipulation of political and economic power to disguise ecological accountability and to shift blame for environmental problems." The authors also say the episode comments on the lack of adherence to safety standards for the plant, and criticizes the "apathetic acceptance" of unforced environmental inspections. In addition, they comment that the episode "explicitly criticizes media spin-doctors who distort the impacts of ecological degradation caused by wealthy corporations such as the nuclear power plant."

On February 13, 1991, a local group in Albany, New York, fought the government's plan to create a nuclear waste dump in their neighborhood. It was staged by Citizens Against Radioactive Dumping (CARD) at the monthly meeting of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Siting Commission in Albany. Here four children dressed up as Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa, and presented a three-eyed fabric fish, which looked like Blinky, to the commission. In addition to that they performed a rap song, which explained the plot of the episode.

Since the episode's initial airing, Blinky has been mentioned several times in news articles regarding nuclear waste and mutation. A reporter for the Lincoln Journal Star compared Blinky to a rainbow trout with two mouths caught in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 2005. The fish was mentioned in an National Review article discussing a legislation which would make it illegal to import, possess or release alive into California any live transgenic fish: "Sounds like someone watched one too many episodes of The Simpsons with Blinky, the three-eyed fish that swims by the nuclear-power plant." Matt Smith of SF Weekly compared Blinky to a type of fish found in San Francisco Bay, which, according to a study by the University of California, Davis, had a shrunken brain and misshapen body that had been caused by the dumping of toxic chemicals into the bay. In an article about the now closed nuclear weapons production facility Rocky Flats Plant, Brian Park of The Rocky Mountain Collegian joked that after its closure, "years of clean up ensued and now the area is a wildlife refuge; no word yet if Blinky has been spotted." Barbara Taormina of the North Shore Sunday wrote in her article about the new liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline in Massachusetts Bay: "Will Blinky, the mutant three-eyed fish from The Simpsons be showing up in Massachusetts Bay? Probably not, but local environmentalists are worried that digging for the new LNG pipeline may stir up radioactive waste dumped decades ago." In his article about the nuclear power plant operator Exelon, Thomas M. Anderson of Kiplinger wrote: "The thought of more nuclear power may conjure up images of the Three Mile Island accident or Blinky [...], but a growing number of policymakers and even environmentalists are coming to appreciate the advantages of atomic energy."

Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington

"Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" has been labeled as a satire on American politics. Michael Bitzer, in an edited book by Joseph Foy and Stanley Schultz entitled Homer Simpson Goes to Washington, said this episode "espouses the virtues, vices, and varieties of American political culture, public opinion, and ultimately the American Dream." Bitzer also wrote that The Simpsons, through "skillful" use of satire, demonstrates with this episode "insights into the underlying political culture and public opinion of the United States' governing system (and, more broadly, society at large)." In his book Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, Paul Arthur Cantor said he was amazed by how far the episode "willing to take its corrosive satire of national politics." He said it "attacks the federal government at its foundation, the patriotic myths upon which its legitimacy lies. It makes fun of the very process by which patriotism is inculcated in the nation's youth, the hokey contests that lead children to outdo each other in progovernment effusions." When the corrupt congressman is arrested, Lisa proclaims "The system works!" Benedict Anderson wrote in the book The Spectre of Comparisons that series creator Matt Groening "assumes that his tickled audience is confident that the system barely works [...] So why does he need to show a patriot at all, especially one who is a deluded little female block-head? Probably because he, too, wishes to be seen as giving America another chance. Mr. Lisa guarantees his good intentions."

Günter Beck, a lecturer for the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at the Haifa Center for German and European Studies at the University of Haifa in Israel, compared Lisa's role in the episode to the nineteenth century American poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau. He writes that Lisa stands up against the public's indifference towards the political system that Thoreau criticized, and comments that the emphasis should be "on the brave moral decision to stand up for principles and against the broad public. By this courageous act, 'to do what is right', an individual could save the well-being of the whole community. And indeed, Lisa’s bravery is the impulse for the state’s representatives to carry out their democratic obligations, so she can gladly notice 'The system works!' — her trust in democracy and its institutions is restored. Thoreau on the other hand, had no lasting trust in the system but only in the people themselves and in the individual’s capacity to realize development and democracy."

Political utopia

They Saved Lisa's Brain

In their book The Simpsons and philosophy: the d'oh! of Homer, William Irwin, Mark T. Conard and Aeon J. Skoble wrote that "They Saved Lisa's Brain" in detail explores "the possibility of a utopian alternative to politics as usual in Springfield." They described "They Saved Lisa's Brain" as an "epitome" of The Simpsons diverse comedic humor, and wrote that it can be "enjoyed in two levels," as both "broad farce" and "intellectual satire." As an example of the episode's farcical humor, they referred to the episode's subplot, which, they wrote, "contains some of the grossest humor in the long history of The Simpsons." At the same time, the episode is "filled" with what they described as "subtle cultural allusions," such as the design of Mensa group's locale, which is based on American architect Frank Lloyd Wright's house. Likewise, Lisa's challenge to Springfield calls attention to the "cultural limitations of small-town America," while the episode also argues that intellectual disdain for the common man can be carried too far and that theory can "all to easily lose touch with common sense." They also argued that the episode, as well as the series as a whole, offers a kind of intellectual defense of the common man against intellectuals, which they opined "helps explain its popularity and broad appeal [...] ["They Saved Lisa's Brain"] defends the common man against the intellectual, in a way that both the common man and the intellectual can understand and enjoy."

Republican party

Sideshow Bob Roberts

Although the episode primarily mocks the Republican Party, the writers included several jokes at the expense of the Democratic Party, liberal and conservative politics, to try to be as neutral as possible. Writers Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein were very interested in the Watergate scandal and based a lot of the second act on that. Mark Kirkland directed the episode.

Much of the episode is based on the Watergate scandal, as well as other real life political events. The two Republicans who follow Bob around were based on H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, two of Richard Nixon's closest advisors during Watergate. Sideshow Bob's campaign advert was based on the famous Willie Horton political advertisement used by George H. W. Bush during the 1988 United States presidential election. Birch Barlow's question to Mayor Quimby about whether his stance on crime would differ if it was his family being attacked is a reference to Bernard Shaw's similar question to Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis during the 1988 presidential debates. Quimby's appearance during the debate parodies Richard Nixon's appearance during his first televised debate with John F. Kennedy during the 1960 presidential election. Nixon had recently recovered from a cold, and sweated considerably throughout, something that was detrimental to the impression he made in the debate.

Many political films are also referenced. The episode features several references to the film All the President's Men, which chronicled Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's investigation of the Watergate scandal. These include the pull-out of Lisa looking over the voting records, the music, and the clandestine meeting with Smithers in a parking garage. The end court scene, as well as Sideshow Bob's speech, echo the 1992 film A Few Good Men, including Jack Nicholson's speech with the line "You can't handle the truth". Bob's sudden confession that he did rig the election was a vague reference to "every episode of Perry Mason". Sideshow Bob gives his acceptance speech underneath a giant poster with a picture of himself on it; this is a reference to the campaign speech scene in Citizen Kane. The title and several plot elements, including Bob entering Burns' meeting draped in an American flag, are references to the 1992 film Bob Roberts.

The character Birch Barlow is a take-off of American talk show host and political commentator Rush Limbaugh. Barlow mentions Colonel Oliver North, Officer Stacey Koon and advertising mascot Joe Camel as being "intelligent conservative[s], railroaded by our liberal justice system". Also, the language spoken at Republican Party headquarters is inspired by Enochian, a language associated with occult and Satanic ceremonies.

David L. G. Arnold comments in the book Leaving Springfield that the episode is a satire on "society's lazy, uninformed attitude about the electoral process," as well as "a comment on the role in society of a cadre of elites (the Republican party) who see themselves as naturally suited to lead." The episode also portrays Republicans as willing to break the law in order to achieve this; in this case, Bob commits electoral fraud. This is most displayed in Bob's line: "Your guilty conscience may force you to vote Democratic, but deep down inside you secretly long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king. That's why I did this: to protect you from yourselves."

Matthew Henry writes in the same book that the episode "well illustrates the battle of [political] ideologies...and its engagement with the politics of sexuality." He refers to the scene where Smithers intimates that Bob rigged the election; his motivation for whistleblowing is Bob's conservative policies, which disagree with his "choice of lifestyle", namely his homosexuality. Henry concludes the scene shows that conservative politics and homosexuality "cannot coexist" and that the scene marks the point where Smithers' sexuality became "public and overtly political."

Bill Clinton

The episode pokes fun at the dwindling popularity of Bill Clinton's presidency at the time. In their list 15 Simpsons Moments That Perfectly Captured Their Eras, Genevieve Koski, Josh Modell, Noel Murray, Sean O'Neal, Kyle Ryan, and Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club wrote "By the time this episode aired [...], the nation had endured more than a year of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. The episode debuted a month after the House impeached Clinton, but less than two weeks before the Senate's impeach/acquit vote, so an air of uncertainty lingered over an otherwise lightweight episode about Homer organizing a Super Bowl trip." In a scene in the episode, Clinton calls to congratulate the [Super Bowl] victors from the Oval Office, but is distracted by Al Gore measuring a window. As Scully recalls, at the time, the Simpsons writers were confident Gore would win the 2000 presidential election, which eventually was won by George W. Bush.

Elitism

In the book The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer, Aeon J. Skoble cited the episode "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" as an example in his piece titled: "Do We Admire or Laugh at Lisa?". He wrote: "The fact that the less intellectual doll is vastly preferred over Lisa's doll, even though Lisa's objections are reasonable, demonstrates the ways in which reasonable ideas can be made to take a back seat to having fun and going with the flow. This debate is often played out in the real world, of course: Barbie is the subject of perennial criticism along the lines of Lisa's critique of Malibu Stacy, yet remains immensely popular, and in general, we often see intellectual critiques of toys dismissed as 'out of touch' or elitist."

Globalization

In the book Leaving Springfield, Duncan Beard said the episode "Homer and Apu" served as a parody of the peculiarities of the American convenience store. Beard particularly cited the Muzak and the dinging bell as Homer and Apu entered the Kwik-E-Mart in India, and the sign that read, "The Master Knows All (except combination to safe)". Beard said, "Here the show presents its own instance of the global culture of consumer capitalism, transplanted intact and indistinguishably unaltered from the suburbs of America to a mountain top in some indefinable region of the post-partitioned Commonwealth nation of India, purely for the purpose of parodically criticizing the banality of quick-stop stores."

Paul Cantor, who analyzed the episode in his book Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, said, "The Simpsons could offer no better image of the bizarre logic of contemporary globalization than a worldwide convenience store empire run by an enlightened guru from the sacred mountains of India." Cantor also specifically cited the "Master Knows" sign, which he said combined the perceived wisdom of the East with the business acumen of the West.

Tasleem Shakur and Karen D'Souza write in their book Picturing South Asian culture in English that "Homer and Apu" typifies the key articulation of the character of Apu juxtaposed to Homer, "something like his alter-ego", where Homer is the all American, Duff drinking, rather lazy nuclear plant worker, and Apu is the immigrant, clean living, hard working, small businessman. Their friendship, the authors added, is typically of a strong degree of mutual respect and a kind of admiration for what the other represents.

MoneyBART

Approximately the first half minute of the opening sequence remains the same, with a few oddities: the word "BANKSY" is sprayed onto a number of walls and other public spaces; Krusty's billboard advertises that he now performs at funerals (first seen on "Take My Life, Please", but this had "Banksy" on it). The chalkboard gag ("I must not write all over the walls") is written all over the classroom walls, clock, door, and floor.

After the Simpsons arrive at home, the camera cuts to a shot of them on the couch, then zooms out to show this as a picture hanging on the wall of a fictional overseas Asian animation and merchandise sweatshop. The animation color quickly becomes drab and gray, and the music turns dramatic à la Schindler's List. A large group of tired and sickly artists draw animation cels for The Simpsons among piles of human bones and toxic waste, and a female artist hands a barefoot child employee an animation cel, which he washes in a vat of biohazardous fluid.

The camera tracks down to a lower floor on the building, where small kittens are thrown into a woodchipper-type machine to provide the filling for Bart Simpson plush dolls. The toys are then placed into a cart pulled by a sad panda which is driven by a man with a whip. A man shipping boxes with The Simpsons logo on the side uses the tongue from a decapitated dolphin head to fasten shut the packages. Another employee uses the horn of a sickly unicorn to smash the holes in the center of The Simpsons DVDs. The shot zooms out to reveal that sweatshop is contained within a grim version of the 20th Century Fox logo, surrounded by barbed wire, searchlights, and a watchtower.

British graffiti artist and political activist Banksy is credited with creating the opening titles and couch gag for this episode, in what amounted to the first time that an artist has been invited to storyboard the show. Executive producer Al Jean first took note of Banksy after seeing his 2010 film Exit Through the Gift Shop. According to Jean, "The concept in my mind was, 'What if this graffiti artist came in and tagged our main titles?'" Simpsons casting director Bonnie Pietila was able to contact the artist through the film's producers, and asked if he would be interested in writing a main title for the show. Jean said Banksy "sent back boards for pretty much what you saw." Series creator Matt Groening gave the idea his blessing, and helped try to make the sequence as close to Banksy's original storyboards as possible. Fox's standards and practices department demanded a handful of changes, but, according to Jean, "95 percent of it is just the way he wanted."

The Simpsons is storyboarded at Film Roman, a company based in California. The storyboards, voice tracks and coloring instructions are then sent to AKOM, a company in Seoul, South Korea. According to Nelson Shin, the founder of AKOM, they received the storyboard for the sequence in August 2010. Believing the sequence to be "excessive and offending" he pushed for some of the darker jokes to be removed. He was successful, though "not nearly as much as he had pushed for." For example, in the storyboards, the workers were wearing conical Asian hats, but these were removed.

Banksy told The Guardian that his opening sequence was influenced by The Simpsons long-running use of animation studios in Seoul, South Korea. The newspaper also reported that the creation of the sequence "is said to have been one of the most closely guarded secrets in US television – comparable to the concealment of Banksy's own identity."

BBC News reported that "According to [Banksy], his storyboard led to delays, disputes over broadcast standards and a threatened walk out by the animation department." However, Al Jean disputed this, saying " [The animation department] didn't walk out. Obviously they didn't. We've depicted the conditions in a fanciful light before." Commenting on hiring Banksy to create the titles, Jean joked, "This is what you get when you outsource." Although conceding to the fact that The Simpsons is largely animated in South Korea, Jean went on to state that the scenes shown in titles are "very fanciful, far-fetched. None of the things he depicts are true. That statement should be self-evident, but I will emphatically state it."

Homosexuality

Simpson and Delilah

The episode features a kiss between Homer and Karl, which occurred a decade prior to US television's first real man-on-man kiss on Dawson's Creek. In the episode, Karl is implied to be homosexual; creator Matt Groening says that when people began asking "Was he gay?" the day after the episode aired, his response was "He's whatever you want him to be." However, Groening points out, "He does kiss Homer: He does give him a nice pat on the butt" which is "beyond [what] any other cartoon" had done at the time.

Secrets of a Successful Marriage

It was revealed in a flashback in the episode that Smithers was briefly married to a woman, but the two split up when he devoted too much time to his boss Mr. Burns. Smithers's relationship with Mr. Burns has long been a running joke on The Simpsons. His sexual orientation has often come into question, with some fans claiming he is a "Burns-sexual" and only attracted to his boss, while others maintain that he is, without a doubt, gay. Matthew Henry wrote in the book Leaving Springfield that this episode is "perhaps the best" example of an attempt to portray an actual gay lifestyle on the show. Henry added that the flashback is a "wonderfully rendered parody of scenes from two of Tennessee Williams's most famous plays, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire. To fully appreciate it, one must know something of not only the two plays cited but also of Williams himself, of his own struggles with both heterosexual and homosexual desires and the way in which these struggles were incorporated into his art. The creators of The Simpsons offer what I think is a perfect parallel for the relationship between Smithers and Mr. Burns by combining Williams's two most notable male characters and their defining characteristics: the suppressed homosexual desire of Brick and desperate dependence of Stanley."

Homer's Phobia

The original concept for the episode came from a few lines of show ideas written by George Meyer. One of them read "Bart the homo", and Ron Hauge was selected to write the episode, with the story stemming from that line. The idea of using John Waters as a guest star had been around for a while. Many of the staff were fans of his work, and showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein had planned to use him in an episode called "Lisa and Camp", which revolved around Lisa "discovering the joys of campy things". Their idea was combined with Meyer's and it became this episode. The episode was originally titled "Bart Goes to Camp", but was renamed because the joke was too oblique. Mike B. Anderson directed the episode, telling The Gold Coast Bulletin: "When I read the script I was enthralled, not only because of the visual possibilities, but also because the story felt very solid. It was engaging and surprising and I really put heart into that episode."

According to Oakley, the Fox censor objected to "Homer's Phobia" being aired. The normal procedure is for an episode's script to be sent to the censor and then faxed back with a list of lines and words that should be substituted. However this episode came back with two pages of notes about almost every single line in the show. The censors stated that they did not like the use of the word "gay", or the discussion of homosexuality at all, and closed with a paragraph which stated that "the topic and substance of this episode are unacceptable for broadcast". Usually the censor notes are ignored as the offending lines and problems are dealt with after the episode has been animated. In this case the entire episode was deemed a problem, so it could not be solved in this way. The staff asked Waters if he thought the gay community would find the episode offensive. Homer's use of the word "fag" to insult John was his only problem, so the writers changed it to "queer". The censor problems ultimately came to nothing as when the episode came back from animation in South Korea, the then-Fox president had just been fired and replaced, with the censors being replaced as well. The new censors sent back merely one line: "acceptable for broadcast".

The episode won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) in 1997. Mike Anderson won the Annie Award for Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a TV Production, and the WAC Award for Best Director for Primetime Series at the 1998 World Animation Celebration. Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called it "a shining example of how to bring intelligent, fair and funny representations of our community onto television" and awarded it the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV - Individual Episode. Several of the episode's animation cels were selected for display at the Silver K Gallery in Melbourne, Australia in 2001.

"Homer's Phobia" has been cited as a significant part of The Simpsons' exploration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) themes. The series made several references to homosexuality before the episode aired. In the 1990 episode "Simpson and Delilah", the character Karl (voiced by Harvey Fierstein) kisses Homer, while the recurring character Waylon Smithers is often shown to be in love with his boss, Montgomery Burns, initially suggestively and since then more overtly. However, "Homer's Phobia" was the first episode to revolve entirely around homosexual themes. Two later episodes that explored LGBT issues were "Three Gays of the Condo" and "There's Something About Marrying".

When the episode aired, the production team received "very few" complaints about its content, with most of the response being positive. Alan Frutkin gave the episode a positive write-up in the LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate, calling it "vintage Simpsons." Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood stated in their book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, that: "Only The Simpsons could do this so tongue-in-cheek that nobody could get in a tizzy about it. Very good indeed." Matthew Henry praised the episode's critiquing of "the most common misconception about homosexuality: namely that gayness is somehow contagious", as well as its other themes. In his review of The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season DVD, Todd Gilchrist said that "Homer's Phobia" "certainly qualifies as one of the all-time greatest episodes." Catharine Lumby of the University of Sydney cited the episode as an example of good satire as it "managed to explore a lot of [homosexual] issues in quite a deep way [...] without being overtly political" which she claimed, along with the episode's humor, made its anti-homophobia message more successful than that of other gay-themed shows like Queer as Folk.

There's Something About Marrying

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Nuclearism

A recurring theme is the exploration of nuclear issues. Nuclear energy is present in almost every episode in one of the first frames of the opening sequence. Homer's default job is that of nuclear safety inspector at Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Matt Groening has stated that he decided to have Homer work at the power plant because of the potential for Homer to create havoc. Even when the show is outside of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant nuclear energy is present in the world of Springfield. Bart and the other kids of Springfield are fans of the fictional comic book character within the show Radioactive Man. A parody of Cold War comics, Radioactive Man gets his powers from nuclear radiation. In "Treehouse of Horror X" (season 11, 1999) Bart and Lisa gets super powers by being bombarded with a defect x-ray machine. In "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)" (season 11, 1999) homer succeeds in growing giant crops on a farm by adding plutonium to the fields and thus creating the new product tomacco.

On February 13, 1991 a local group fought the states plan to create a nuclear waste dump in their neightbourhood. It was staged by Citizens Against Radioactive Dumping (CARD) at the montly meeting of the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Siting Commission in Albany, New York. Here four kids dressed up as Homer Simpson, Marge Simpson, Bart Simpson and Lisa Simpson presented a three-eyed fabric fish, which looked like Blinky from the second season episode "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish", to the commission. In addition to that they performed a rap song, which explained the plot of the episode.

Misdiagnosis

Brother's Little Helper

According to Genevieve Koski, Josh Modell, Noel Murray, Sean O'Neal, Kyle Ryan, and Scott Tobias of The A.V Club, the '90s saw a "dramatic increase" in diagnoses of behavioral disorders, such as ADHD, in children, and debates over whether or not to medicate children with concentration difficulties were heated. Meyer, inspired by the debates, decided to write the episode to be about the subject. The episode criticizes how children with school issues are being misdiagnosed as having ADHD, as well as the prescription of psychostimulants to children in general. This in particular is shown in a scene in the Springfield Elementary schoolyard. In the scene, it is revealed that the general populace of the school is medicated for various misdiagnosed behavior disorders. Meyer himself was not entirely sure about his stance on the issue, however. He stated that "for all I know, the drugs help [the children] and help the world." However, he went on to say that "I just have a feeling they're gonna be a disaster. Down the line." Focusyn, the fictional psychoactive drug that is prominently featured throughout the episode, is based on the real-life medicine Ritalin, which is used to treat disorders such as ADHD.

Alcohol

The main plot of the episode "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" is based on the Prohibition laws of the 1920s, in which alcohol was banned in America. As The Simpsons has many episodes that have stories and jokes related to alcohol, the writers thought it was strange that they had never done an episode related to Prohibition, and that the idea seemed "perfect." The episode features a vast amount of Irish stereotyping at the St. Patrick's Day celebration. This was a reference to when Conan O'Brien was a writer for the show, and his use of Irish stereotypes. Various writers were very concerned about Bart getting drunk. This was why he drank the beer through a horn, to show that it was only accidental. This was a toned down version of what was in John Swartzwelder's original script. Originally Chief Wiggum's first line was "They're either drunk or on the cocaine", but it was deemed too old-fashioned. The discovery of "more lines on the parchment" was simple way to get Homer freed and to end the episode.

When Homer first enters Moe's "Pet Shop" the man that tips his hat to him outside was a background character used in the early seasons. The riot at the beginning of the episode was taken from footage from the end of the season 6 episode "Lisa on Ice" and updated. The line "To alcohol! The cause of... and solution to... all of life's problems," was originally the act break line at the end of act two, but was moved to the very end of the episode.

Homer's line "To alcohol! The cause of... and solution to... all of life's problems" was described by Josh Weinstein as "one of the best, most truthful Simpsons statements ever." In 2008, Entertainment Weekly included it in their list of "24 Endlessly Quotable TV Quips".

Environmentalism

The Old Man and the Lisa

The episode was based on a story idea pitched by David X. Cohen, although it was written by John Swartzwelder, who had written many of the Simpsons episodes that have environmental themes. This habit led to him being called the "conscience of the staff" despite being a "self declared anti-environmentalist." It was because of this that he was given such episodes, because the staff felt that he would give them just the right amount of sarcasm. In the original script for the episode, he described the recycling center as "a couple of hippies surrounded by garbage". Two alternate original titles for the episode were Cohen's "Lisa and Burns" and Swartzwelder's "Burns Goes Broke".

The writers had wanted an episode where Burns becomes bankrupt and shows what Burns would be like as a person in the real world. The idea with the recycling plant was that Burns didn't have any sort of evil plan, he just couldn't help being himself. Burns really was trying to change and this was reflected in the end when he tried to give Lisa her share of the profits, with Lisa refusing.

"The Old Man and the Lisa" received the 1997 Environmental Media Award in the "TV Episodic Comedy" category.

The Frying Game

Jean has himself admitted in an interview that The Simpsons is of "liberal bent". In the DVD commentaries, creator Matt Groening and the majority of people who work on the show state several times that they are very liberal, but some, such as John Swartzwelder (the writer of this and many other The Simpsons episodes), are conservative. In his book The Really Inconvenient Truths: Seven Environmental Catastrophes Liberals Don't Want You to Know About- Because They Helped Cause Them, Iain Murray described "The Frying Game" as "subversively conservative," and wrote that it shows "The best popular explanation of the liberal environmentalist model for endangered species." In the episode, Homer buys a koi pond for Marge, only to find a screamapillar has taken residence in their garden. When Homer tries to squash it, an EPA official tells him that allowing an endangered species to die is a federal offense, under the "Reversal of Freedoms Act of 1994." Homer is forced to coddle the screamapillar, and when he accidentally squashes it, Homer is found guilty of "attempted insecticide and aggravated buggery." The "Reversal of Freedoms Act" is a reference to the Endangered Species Act, an environmental law that Murray opined had "indeed become the Reversal of Freedoms Act." He continued, "Landowners who happened to have threatened or endangered species on their lands or who simply have habitat that might be used by endangered species are routinely prevented from using their lands or property. They are stopped from undertaking such activities as harvesting their trees, grazing their cattle, irrigating their fields, clearing brush along fence lines, disking firebreaks around their homes and barns, or building new homes.

Guns

Sam Simon pitched an episode for one of the first seasons which saw Homer getting a gun and nobody wanting him to have it. The episode concluded with Homer foiling a robbery and stating that although guns bring destruction, it worked for him. However, this episode "The Cartridge Family " was pitched by Scully for either season seven or eight, before being used for season nine. This provided the basic outline, and John Swartzwelder wrote the script. A lot of lines in the episode put guns in a positive light, as the staff felt that they could not just make an episode about how bad they were. Several of the staff, including Swartzwelder, are "pro gun" although others, such as Matt Groening, are completely against them. The episode was designed to be non-biased and to portray each side of the argument equally. Scully noted that if there is any message in the episode it is that a man like Homer should not own a gun. The censors were nervous about some of the episode's subject matter, such as Homer pointing the gun in Marge's face, and Bart aiming the gun at Milhouse with the apple in his mouth, but ultimately let it go.

Medicinal marijuana

Weekend at Burnsie's

On May 17, 2002, Robert S. Stephens and Roger A. Roffman of The Seattle Times wrote an analysis of "Weekend at Burnsie's" in a guest column for the newspaper. The two argued that drugs are almost always shown as having only negative effects, even though 10 million people in the United States use marijuana for recreational purposes. "We believe there are good reasons for a more honest dialogue about the positive and negative effects of marijuana use. A recent episode of the popular TV show The Simpsons highlighted the pros and cons of marijuana use, and Homer Simpson's experiences with marijuana provide an example of what we mean", they wrote. For example, when under the influence of marijuana, Homer is relieved from the pain in his eye, and he also finds himself having a variety of sensory experiences and an enhanced appreciation of music and food. "These are real effects reported by many marijuana users, and we would be hard pressed to call them anything other than benefits", Stephens and Roffman wrote. However, Homer is also depicted spending more time with other drug users than with his family, and his friends find that his personality has changed. Eventually, Homer is shown having problems with memory and attention, losing track of the date on which a pro-marijuana rally takes place. Stephens and Roffman wrote that the side effects shown in the episode are "Perhaps a bit exaggerated, but clearly there are costs of marijuana use similar to these that are experienced by real-life users."

Jean has stated that he "does not know enough" to say whether he approves of the legislation of medicinal marijuana, but none of The Simpsons' writers use the drug. "It's one of the most sober writing staffs I've ever encountered", staff writer Max Pross said in the episode's DVD commentary. When asked about what stance the episode holds regarding the legislation medicinal of marijuana, Jean said that series' staff wanted to explore both sides of the issue, rather than making an absolute statement. He added that the episode is rather a critique of legislations that are immediately criminalized after they are legitimized. "The stance is that it seems ridiculous to legalize something and then criminalize it, which I have seen happen in various states", Jean said. He continued, "It's just weird to take away a right or to grant people a liberty and then abandon it. I would say that's the strongest statement [the episode] makes." The episode also criticizes the use of genetically modified foods. At the beginning of the episode, Marge announces that the family's dinner includes genetically modified vegetables, to which Lisa replies "American corporations should stop playing god with nature." She then notices that her potato starts eating her carrot. Even though the episode portrays genetic modifications in a negative light, none of The Simspons' writers were actually against the technique. After the scene was written, Reiss asked all the writers if they were against genetic modifications of food, and none of them were. "Very often we take these stands on the show that we do not believe in at all", Reiss explained in the DVD commentary for the episode. The scene was originally three times longer, and was conceived during a rewrite session with the staff writers.