page_title: Simpson and Delilah
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Simpson and Delilah / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: Harvey Fierstein at the 2009 premiere of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Photographer's blog post about event and photograph.
context_page_description: "Simpson and Delilah" is the second episode of The Simpsons' second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 18, 1990. In the episode, Homer uses the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's medical insurance plan to buy Dimoxinil, a miracle hair growth formula. When Homer's bald head sprouts a full mane of hair, he is promoted at work and hires a secretary named Karl. The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Rich Moore, and guest starred Harvey Fierstein as Karl.
context_section_description: Homer's hair product Dimoxinil is a spoof on a similar product, Minoxidil, which fascinated the writers. The production staff tried to give Homer a new hairstyle in each scene after he grows hair. The character Karl was played by openly gay actor Harvey Fierstein. Groening had originally intended to design Karl to look like Fierstein, who objected to the idea because he felt he did not "look like gay people, how they're supposed to look." Fierstein suggested that the character be made "blond, and tall, and gorgeous, and skinny, and [given] a beautiful place to live."
  In contrast to Albert Brooks, Dustin Hoffman, and Michael Jackson, who did not allow their real names to be used (Brooks later did), Fierstein was one of the very few early guest stars who was not embarrassed or reluctant to be associated with the show and welcomed his name in the credits.
  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.
  Karl was originally supposed to return for a cameo appearance in the season 14 episode "Three Gays of the Condo". In the script, Homer was thrown out of the house by Marge, and encountered Karl. The purpose of the appearance was to introduce a gay couple that Homer would live with. Fierstein however felt that "the script was a lot of very clever gay jokes, and there just wasn't that Simpsons twist" and turned the role down.
caption: Harvey Fierstein voiced Karl, and gave suggestions on the character's appearance.
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