Season

12

Production Code

CABF17

Episode Number

0

Airdate

20 May 2001

Writer

John Frink
Don Payne
Bob Bendetson

Matt Selman

Director

Bob Anderson

Executive Producer

Mike Scully

Editor

Jimmy Heenan

Plot After the Simpsons win a trip to Delaware, Homer is asked to pay a $5 airport tax for his flight, but he does not want to pay the tax. The family jumps onto a freight train and meets a singing, although clearly weird, hobo who tells them three tall tales. They are as follows:

Paul Bunyan:
Homer plays Paul Bunyan in this story (he also fights Rodan in a godzilla-like fashion). Paul is a great burden on local townspeople, as he crushes their houses and consumes all their food. Eventually, the townspeople drug him and drag him out of their town. Out of loneliness, he carves a block of stone from the mountains into a blue ox that he calls Babe, who is rendered alive by an electric shock, similar to lightning, which apparently originated from the northern lights. However when a meteor is soon to hit the town, the townspeople call Paul back to help them. Paul obliges and throws the meteor towards Chicago, starting the Great Fire there.

After the hobo has told this story, he asks them for a sponge bath as compensation. Disgusted, Homer is forced to oblige, as nobody else will do so, but the hobo does not mind anyone seeing his nakedness.

Connie Appleseed:
The hobo's second tall tale is loosely based on the legend of Johnny Appleseed, except Lisa portrays him, and her name is adapted to "Connie Appleseed." Connie is part of a wagon train, and all of the travellers shoot and eat buffalo. Connie is against the practice because "If you aren't careful, you'll wipe the species off the face of the earth." She is worried that no one is eating a renewable source of food and finds some apples for the pioneers to eat, but they reject them. Eventually, she changes her last name to "Appleseed", and leaves her family to journey across America and plant apple seeds wherever she goes. Meanwhile, the Simpsons change their surname to "Bufflekill" and they succeed in killing all the buffalo. Just as they are about to cannibalize Homer, Connie returns and offers them apples. They like them, and Homer is spared.

Huckleberry Finn
Though it is not actually a tall tale (Lisa points this out before the story begins), the hobo tells this tale based on Mark Twain's story about Tom Sawyer, whom Bart portrays, and Huckleberry Finn, which Nelson has the role of. Huck is caught holding hands with Becky (Lisa) and is forced to marry her. He dodges this marriage and goes on the run with Tom, leaving Missouri for Missoura. However, there are chased by townspeople (led by Becky's father (Homer)) and their families. Tom and Huck are later caught and unceremoniously hung.

The family arrives in Delaware and disembarks the train, but the hobo reminds them that they owe him two more sponge baths as compensation. Homer promises to catch up with them in an hour and volunteers to stay behind to do the dirty work.