D'oh! For this list, we’ll be looking at the most appalling acts committed by one of our favorite cartoon fathers. If you’ve never seen these moments in action, expect spoilers ahead.
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00:00 "Oof, this is hard. Where's my tab? Okay then, yes, vent the stupid gas."
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 worst things
00:10 Homer Simpson ever did. "All right, let's get our story straight for Marge and Maude."
00:14 For this list, we're looking at the most appalling acts committed by one of our favorite cartoon
00:19 fathers. We'll be excluding the stuff he did by accident, like getting Maude Flanders killed,
00:24 since those were unintentional. If you've never seen these moments in action,
00:28 expect spoilers ahead. Where do you think Homer crossed the line? Let us know in the comments.
00:34 Number 20. "Why, you little!" One of the Simpsons' most iconic running gags occurs
00:41 every time Bart gets on Homer's bad side. "Your script sucks." "Why, you little!"
00:45 "Hey, that's funny." Homer angrily shouts, "Why, you little!" and proceeds to strangle his mischievous
00:53 son. "Domer." "Why, you little!" Admittedly, we all laughed at this gag for a while, but looking back,
01:01 it's a lot more disturbing to watch. Even if Bart is a little devil, this is straight-up traumatic
01:06 and is bound to leave lasting damage. You know you've messed up when Peter Griffin,
01:11 objectively an even worse dad, calls you out for it. Just think about that for a minute.
01:17 "Why, you little!" "Boy, must die!" Number 19. "Betting against Lisa." Lisa has become obsessed
01:30 with crossword puzzles and even enters a tournament. Homer has been betting on Lisa's
01:35 wins, but in the final match, he bets against his own daughter. "I want to change my bet. I'm going
01:41 against my daughter." "I'll take your money, but I won't look you in the eye." He knows that Lisa's
01:47 luck will run out and plays it to his advantage. It's even more unfair considering that the only
01:52 reason she loses is that the other contestant cheats. "Well, sweetie, daddy made a little extra
01:58 money betting against you in the crossword tournament." When Lisa finds out her own father
02:02 didn't believe in her, she rightfully disowns him, which is still less than he deserves.
02:08 To be fair, he comes up with a clever way to apologize, but that hardly makes up for
02:12 not being in his own child's corner. "Well, I must admit I'm kind of touched. Dumb dad,
02:18 sorry for his bed. Nice." Number 18. "His deal with Fat Tony." It's staggering how Homer gets
02:25 into these screwy scenarios. In this misadventure, he falls for a gambling scam and ends up in debt
02:31 with Fat Tony. "Don't worry, we can hammer out a payment plan." Fortunately, the mob boss is
02:38 willing to negotiate. Unfortunately, it involves using Homer's house to shoot an adult film.
02:44 If that isn't scummy enough, Homer lies to Marge and tricks her and the kids into getting out of
02:49 the house while the movie's in production. Naturally, he gets found out and Marge is
02:53 furious. He keeps telling himself that it's a normal routine, but nothing about this is normal.
02:59 "Honey, please just listen to what I have to say." "All right." "I owe the mafia money."
03:06 "Where are you going?" Homer should be grateful that Marge is so forgiving,
03:09 as you can only push your luck for so long. "Marge, I'm always amazed you chose me."
03:15 "And I always will." "Woohoo!" Number 17. "Pray for Mojo." Homer learns about helper monkeys and
03:23 naturally wants one for himself. "Helper monkey, eh?" So what does he do? He uses his father,
03:29 someone who needs assistance, to get him Mojo the monkey. Unfortunately, to no one's surprise,
03:35 Homer is a bad influence, and spending so much time with him causes Mojo to become as lazy as he
03:40 is. "The monkey's on my part of the sofa." "Honey, he's clearly marked his territory." With his
03:48 beloved monkey's health deteriorating, Homer gives Mojo away, but it may already be too late for him.
03:54 With how bad an influence Homer is, it's nothing short of a miracle that his kids are still alive.
04:00 Heck, given that Mojo took up his habits, it's a miracle that Homer is still alive.
04:05 "Pray for Mojo." Number 16. "The Tamaco." Right off the bat, Homer's buffoonery forces his family
04:14 to skip town and live on a farm for a while, but that's mild compared to what happens next.
04:19 "Something will thrive in this harsh, merciless soil, and for those who face nature unafraid,
04:25 it is they who reach the-" "I'm down!" Trying his hand at farming, Homer decides to use plutonium
04:31 to try and grow crops. It works, but he ends up growing the Tamaco, a mutant tomato-tobacco hybrid.
04:38 "But the inside is brown." "Maybe the tomato seeds cross-spread with the tobacco seeds." "Oh great,
04:43 I get a field full of mutants." The abominable fruit is incredibly addictive, so Homer, of course,
04:49 starts selling it. "Holy Moses, it does taste like grandma." "I want more." "Yeah, me too. We'll take
04:55 a bushel or a packer. Just give it to me." Unfortunately for Homer, his newest scam
04:59 backfires in a major way when the local animals get a taste of the Tamaco, forcing Homer to shut
05:05 down his operation. Serves him right for tampering with nature and trying to profit.
05:09 Number 15. Pitting Bart and Lisa against each other. It sure can be hard to love your kids
05:15 equally. What's a father to do when put in this situation other than have his offspring compete
05:20 against each other and love the winner best? After all, if your kid really wanted your love,
05:25 they wouldn't lose, right? "Why is Bart getting a present and I'm getting chewed out?" "Ah,
05:30 the mysteries of life." In case you couldn't tell, everything up to now has been sarcastic,
05:36 though Homer likely would have agreed with it all. "I want to see you both fighting for your
05:41 parents' love. Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight,
05:47 fight." To avoid failing gym class, Lisa joins the hockey team, which sparks an intense rivalry
05:52 with Bart. Instead of assuring them that he loves them both, as a normal father would do,
05:56 Homer eggs them on into a competitive fury. "They're both losers, losers!"
06:03 Number 14. Exploiting Bart getting hit by a car. There are certain opportunities that only come up
06:10 once in a lifetime. These are the sort of moments you must recognize and make the most of. One such
06:15 moment for Homer Simpson was when Bart got hit by Mr. Burns' car. In Homer's defense, he doesn't
06:21 immediately jump to legal action, but only does so after his boss offers him a pitiful 100 bucks
06:27 as compensation. "I'll tell you what I think. I think he thinks I'm an idiot! The only reason
06:33 he's offering us this is because he knows he's gonna lose the trial and have to pay us a cool
06:39 million." Homer's wounded pride prompts him to ride Bart's injury as far as it'll take him,
06:44 with little regard for the well-being or wishes of his family. Number 13. His Las Vegas marriage.
06:52 One of the few times Homer does something nice for Ned Flanders, it completely backfires.
06:56 For context, Ned joins Homer on a getaway in Las Vegas, and the two get stupid drunk,
07:07 and end up marrying two women. You could blame Homer's actions on the alcohol,
07:17 but did he have to drag his neighbor into this? They ditch the two ladies, but this blunder comes
07:23 back to haunt Homer in a future episode when their Vegas wives track them down. And how does
07:28 Homer fix everything? By tricking his Vegas wife into marrying his father. The moral of the story?
07:34 Never let Homer go to Vegas ever again, especially when drunk. "Give it to me, baby!"
07:42 "Homer!" "It's okay, we're married!" Number 12. Intolerant to new neighbors.
07:48 Bart's made friends with a Muslim boy named Bashir. At first, Homer welcomes Bashir with
07:53 open arms, but his friends convince him that Bashir and his family might be terrorists.
07:58 "Oh my God, what can I do?" Naturally, Homer's paranoia gets the better of him,
08:02 and he treats them terribly. He insults them, he sneaks into their personal lives,
08:07 and ends up blowing up a bridge causing a truck driver to drown. "The Duff Brewery is on that
08:12 island." "I'll save you!" You could argue that his friends are to blame for their intolerance
08:21 and for giving him the idea in the first place, but Homer is the one who takes it too far. But
08:26 of course, they just laugh it off in the end, and everyone forgives him for his hurtful stereotyping.
08:32 "That banner has really paid for itself over the years." "We accept your apology." Number 11.
08:38 Poor Barney. Honestly, watching Barney Gumbel struggle with his alcohol use disorder is
08:44 pretty tragic. But would you believe he wasn't always like this? As a teenager, Barney was a
08:49 clean, intelligent man who was well on his way to Harvard. "Lacrimosus to dyspeptic as ebullient is
08:56 to effervescent. All right, Harvard, here I come." However, on the night before the SATs,
09:03 Homer offered Barney a beer, and that one ill-fated drink was all it took to change him
09:08 for the worse. While Homer wasn't trying to ruin Barney's life, he still pressured him to drink
09:14 the beer, and since that day, Barney has been on a downward spiral. "It begins! Give me that!
09:23 Stop it, Barney! No!" He can try to stop drinking, but he'll just start again in no time all thanks
09:29 to his so-called best friend. "Don't cry for me. I'm already dead." Number 10. Nearly causing a
09:37 nuclear meltdown. It's no secret that Homer hates his job at the nuclear power plant, but just how
09:43 far is he willing to go to get out of it? Apparently enough to jeopardize his own health.
09:49 "If you weigh more than 300 pounds, you qualify as disabled." Homer learns that people who weigh
09:55 over 300 pounds can work from home, so he gets his weight up into the appropriate range.
10:00 Unfortunately, Homer deals with some stigma when it comes to his weight gain. Not only that,
10:05 he also becomes so bored with his job he nearly causes a nuclear meltdown. To his credit,
10:11 he does take responsibility in the end and puts everything right. Too bad it takes nearly
10:16 destroying his workplace for him to get his act together. He's lazy enough at his job.
10:21 Why go the extra destructive mile? "One, one, one, but I'll just pay for the blasted liposuction."
10:30 Number 9. Being reckless with firearms. We can't really fault Homer for this one.
10:37 It's just a fact of life that TV remotes often get lost. "Watch me turn on the TV."
10:46 And it's another fact of life that sometimes you want to change the channel.
10:49 When these two eventualities collide, what's a body to do other than reach for a firearm
10:54 and proceed to shoot at the dial until you find the channel you're looking for?
10:57 "Sorry, the law requires a five-day waiting period. We've got to run a background check."
11:03 "Five days? But I'm mad now." The mere fact that a person as irresponsible as Homer Simpson could
11:09 get a firearm is horrifying to consider, but the ways in which he wields his gun
11:14 are downright dumbfounding. "You want me to get the cat down?" "No thanks." Say what you will
11:19 about the NRA, but at least their fictional on-screen counterparts kicked out this gun nut.
11:23 Number 8. Forcing Flanders to leave his own bomb shelter. When a comet is discovered heading
11:30 straight for Springfield, the town naturally panics. As it turns out, Flanders owns the only
11:35 bomb shelter in town, and so when doomsday draws near, the entire town goes to old Netarino for
11:41 help. "Well, howdy doodly neighbors. Shouldn't you be in your shelterinis by now?" "We haven't
11:49 got shelterinis." Being the stand-up guy he is, he lets them all in, only to find that the door
11:55 won't close. Realizing there's one person too many, Homer, being the jerk that he is, convinces
12:01 the town to kick Ned out of his own shelter. "If anyone dies, it should be him." "I'm sorry,
12:08 please forgive me." Sure, he feels guilty later and goes out to join Flanders, but he wouldn't
12:13 have had cause for remorse had he not behaved like a monster in the first place. Number 7.
12:19 Captain Tennille. After losing his job, again, Homer ends up joining the Navy. The submarine's
12:25 captain takes a liking to Homer, and even wants to promote him. Boy, will he learn to regret it.
12:32 "I like the cut of your jib." "What's a jib?" "Promote that man." Later, Homer is put in charge
12:40 when the captain gets stuck in a torpedo tube, and one of the first things he does is fire the
12:45 torpedoes, launching his commanding officer at the enemy ship. Even if Homer doesn't know what
12:51 he's doing, which is usually the case, this captain is probably the nicest boss he'll ever
12:56 have. "Tell me, young man, what do you want out of life?" "I want peace." "We all want peace,
13:04 but it's always just out of reach." He respects Homer and says he's like a son to him,
13:09 but Homer pays him no mind and ends up getting him killed. Talk about gratitude. "It's my first day!"
13:17 Number 6. Signing the family up for shock therapy. Impressing the boss is important,
13:23 especially when that boss is the richest man in Springfield. At a company picnic,
13:28 the Simpsons fail to live up to Homer's hopes, leaving him feeling embarrassed. Noticing how
13:33 much Mr. Burns likes the more normal families, he decides to fix his family. In his infinite wisdom,
13:40 he takes them to a therapist who's been advertising on TV with the sales pitch,
13:44 "Family Bliss" or "Double Your Money Back." "This is not the way to get healthy!" Of course,
13:51 none of it works and they end up resorting to shock therapy, which they all happily inflict
13:56 on each other until the town's power nearly goes out. "Dr. Monroe, your other patients have
14:01 fled the building!" "Stop! You're damaging the equipment!" Number 5. Urging Bart to kill a
14:10 reindeer. Lots of things can be cured by shooting a reindeer in the face. Queerness isn't one of
14:16 them. Homer got along great with his new friend John until he found out he was gay and then
14:21 became paranoid that Bart had been turned gay. Never mind the fact that that is not how that
14:25 works. "I resent you people using that word. That's our word for making fun of you!" So,
14:32 Homer being Homer, tries to cure Bart of his supposed budding queerness. First, he takes him
14:37 to a steel mill, only to discover that all the employees there are also gay. "Hot stuff coming
14:43 through!" Logically, he then takes him on the second most stereotypical straight pastime he
14:49 can imagine, hunting. This is Homer at his most offensive, ignorant, and disappointing. Number 4.
14:56 Sabotaging Flanders' business. Some people work hard at life, go to church, raise a great family,
15:02 and treat their wife well. And apparently, by Homer's estimation, those people don't deserve
15:06 nice things. Homer hates the insufferable but well-intentioned Ned Flanders. So, when Ned opens
15:12 a new business for left-handed people, Homer makes it his personal mission to sabotage it.
15:17 To achieve this, he wishes on a wishbone. "Just read it and weep! In your face, I've got more
15:23 chicken boot!" And sure enough, the business begins to fail, with Homer relishing every moment of it,
15:30 until things finally take too dark a turn even for him. "Even the good book can't help me now."
15:36 "Why not?" "I sold it to you for seven cents." "Oh." In this particular example of bad behavior,
15:42 Homer's ill-placed malice nearly cost Flanders his home. Number 3. Ruining his father's kidney.
15:49 Take a lesson from Homer. Old people are an inconvenience. Who cares that your dad raised you?
15:55 Stopping the car to let him use the bathroom is poor time management, right? "We gotta get home.
16:00 I don't wanna miss inside the actor's studio." In this episode, Abe's kidney explodes because
16:05 Homer refuses to pull over. That's pretty messed up. "Oh, I blame myself for this." "We all blame you."
16:14 Luckily, Homer agrees to help his dad out and donate his own organ. In true Homer fashion,
16:19 however, he gets cold feet and tries to get out of the surgery. Abe survives, but not because
16:25 Homer does the honorable thing. In his cowardice, he gets into an accident and they simply take the
16:30 kidney while he's on the operating table. Oh well. One bad turn deserves another. "You dance out that
16:37 door, you... Oh, get my kidney back, old man." Number 2. Framed Marge for DUI. From the very
16:43 first season, it was clear that Homer Simpson had a drinking problem. For Homer, alcohol has
16:49 seemingly always been the cause of and solution to all of life's problems. Heck, he even created
16:55 his own drink, the Flaming Homer. In this episode, however, things go too far. Everything initially
17:01 seems great as he and Marge bond over drinks at a wine tasting, but things soon go downhill quickly
17:07 when they continue to drink for several days and he ultimately crashes the car. "You're free to go."
17:12 "I can't believe I drove drunk." "But you do believe it, right?" Being the great guy he is,
17:18 he frames Marge because it would have been his last strike. Really? This is a truly despicable
17:25 move that really makes you question why Marge has stuck with him for so long. "Ah, shut up,
17:31 Captain Bringdown." Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell
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17:46 Number 1. Getting Springfield trapped in a dome. In the family's first theatrical film,
17:54 Homer carelessly dumps a silo of pig feces into the lake, causing an environmental disaster. Four
18:01 free donuts. The government uses this as an excuse to trap Springfield under a dome that they later
18:07 plan to destroy. "What are you telling us we're trapped like rats?" "No, rats can't be trapped
18:12 this easily. You're trapped like carrots." And Homer's only concern is running away from his
18:18 problems. This is arguably the most reckless thing he's ever done. He puts his town in mortal
18:24 danger and paints a huge target on his family's back. Even Marge, the only person in the world who
18:30 can overlook Homer's flaws, can't forgive this one. "It's huge. We're homeless. Our friends want
18:36 to kill us." To his credit, he makes amends in the end. But it could have been avoided if Homer took
18:42 responsibility even once. Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo.
18:49 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
18:54 [Music]