page_title: The Last Temptation of Homer
section_title: Reception
hierarchical_section_title: The Last Temptation of Homer / Reception
caption_attribution_description: Matt Groening at the 2009 Comic Con in San Diego.
context_page_description: "The Last Temptation of Homer" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' fifth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 9, 1993. In the episode, a female employee named Mindy is hired at the nuclear power plant. Homer and Mindy find themselves attracted to each other after bonding over their shared interests of beer, donuts and television. Although Homer is tempted to sleep with Mindy, he remains faithful to his wife Marge. Meanwhile, Bart becomes an outcast after medical treatments make him look like a nerd.
  The episode was written by Frank Mula and directed by Carlos Baeza. It features cultural references to films such as The Wizard of Oz, It's A Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Carol. It did not get the usual amount of laughs at the test screenings, which made the staff worry the show was not as funny as they expected.
  Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics; guest star Michelle Pfeiffer was especially praised for her performance as Mindy, which was highlighted on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 16 best guest appearances on The Simpsons.
context_section_description: In its original American broadcast, "The Last Temptation of Homer" finished 24th (tied with The Fresh Prince of Bel Air) in the ratings for the week of December 6–12, 1993. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 12.7. The episode was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.
  Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. 
  In 2003, it was placed tenth on Entertainment Weekly's top 25 The Simpsons episode list, and The Daily Telegraph characterized the episode as one of "The 10 Best Simpsons Television Episodes". 
  Nancy Basile of About.com named it one of her top twenty favorite episodes of the show, and said Michelle Pfeiffer "is so elegant and beautiful, that the irony of her playing a burping love interest for Homer Simpson is funny enough." She added "the thorny issue of adultery is tackled in a way only The Simpsons could," and "though Homer is contemplating cheating, he's a sympathetic and almost innocent character." 
  Robert Canning of IGN called the episode "smart, touching and funny", and said "it did a great job showing Homer's struggle to deal with the flirtations of a co-worker."
  The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it a "wonderfully scripted episode". 
  DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said, "Given Homer’s utter devotion to Marge, it may seem off-character for him to fall for Mindy, but the show makes it fit, as his obsession doesn’t come across as inconsistent." He added the plot with Bart becoming a nerd is the "funnier one" of the two. 
  Bill Gibron of DVD Talk called it a "jest fest loaded with insight into the human heart and hilarious over-the-top goofiness." 
  TV DVD Reviews's Kay Daly called it the season's finest episode with the "greatest foray into emotional resonance". Matt Groening thought it was an amazing episode with "a lot of fun" in it. David Mirkin said Frank Mula's script was great.
  In a 2008 article, Entertainment Weekly named Pfeiffer's role as Mindy one of the 16 best guest appearances on The Simpsons. She also appeared on AOL's list of their top favorite guest stars on the show. Brett Buckalew of Metromix Indianapolis wrote that Pfeiffer "gives arguably the best celebrity guest-vocal performance in series history." Total Film's Nathan Ditum ranked her performance as the 15th best guest appearance in the show's history.
  When the inspectors visit the plant, they mention finding an entire Brazilian soccer team working there, and Burns says that they have to because their plane crashed on his property. This scene was mentioned by various media outlets after the 2016 disaster that killed most players on the Brazilian team Chapecoense.
caption: Matt Groening thought the episode was "amazing".
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