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Though of course you know that the cable party is over once Lisa and Bart learn about Hell and the "Ten Commandments" I don't blame Lisa for being really scared, the concept of Hell, as a Christian myself I don't doubt nor deny its existence. Whether any of you believe it or not one thing is always certain, everyone that violates Ethics in one fashion, or another eventually suffers the consequences. The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" .
When he wakes up he sees Ned Flanders angrily reject an offer from a dim-witted man to get an illegal cable hook-up for $50, Homer chases after the cable man, who agrees to hook up the Simpsons' television for free. Homer likes the new channels and spends a lot of time watching the television along with his family. Following a Sunday School lesson regarding the existence and nature of Hell, Lisa becomes terrified of violations of the Ten Commandments, the adherence to which she is assured will keep one's soul safe from Hell. She fears that because Homer violated the Eighth Commandment, he will go to Hell when he dies.
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In addition to McClure, Hartman also provided the voice of the cable guy. The character Drederick Tatum, one of the boxers in the boxing match Homer and his friends watch, also makes his first appearance on the show in this episode. His physical appearance was based on the American boxer Mike Tyson, and he was named after a real boxer Simpsons writer George Meyer had seen. Homer invites his co-workers and bar buddies to watch Drederick Tatum fight for the World Heavyweight Championship during a cable-TV boxing match. Unfortunately for Homer Mr Burns also finds out and decides to attend the gathering to watch the match. When Lisa announces she will boycott the screening, Homer banishes her to the lawn, where she is joined by Marge and Maggie.
The episode was written by freelance writer Steve Pepoon and directed by Rich Moore. It is based on the Eighth Commandment ("Thou shalt not steal"). The episode marks the debut of Troy McClure, who was voiced by Phil Hartman and based on the typical "washed up" Hollywood actor. "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment"The Simpsons episodeLisa hallucinates what Hell is like because she fears her family is violating the Eighth Commandment ("thou shalt not steal") by watching stolen cable television. "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" was written by freelance writer Steve Pepoon and directed by Rich Moore.
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Seeking advice from Reverend Lovejoy, Lisa is told to not support Homer's irreverent cable stealing and abstain from watching it. Fearing that cable is a negative influence on the family, Marge suggests they get rid of it, too. But with the big fight coming up, Homer is determined to keep his cable.
The films that are watched by the family on the new cable are Jaws, Die Hard, and Wall Street. One of the X-rated films Bart and his friends watch on cable is called Broadcast Nudes. The title parodies Broadcast News, which was written by Simpsons executive producer James L. Brooks. Towards the end of the episode, Bart mentions Atlanta Braves Baseball in reference to their frequent appearances on TBS in the 1980s. In its original broadcast, "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" finished 25th in ratings for the week of February 4–10, 1991 with a Nielsen rating of 15.2, and was viewed in approximately 14 million homes. It did better than the show's season average rank of 32nd, and was the highest rated program on Fox that week.
Homer vs Lisa and the 8th Commandment Helped Solidify The Shows identity #shorts
Homer sits the match out and when it is over, he hesitantly cuts his cable hookup, despite Bart's objection. He accidentally cuts the electricity to all of Springfield in his random wire-cutting, before finally cutting the cable wire, abruptly ending the episode with static showing onscreen. The first scene is Homer dreaming on the hammock that he is a Hebrew in the time of Moses, breaking one of the Ten Commandments by stealing.
In a joke about Mr. Burns' age, Burns recalls watching a bare-knuckle match between Gentleman Jim Corbett and "an Eskimo fellow." The films that are watched by the family on the new cable are Jaws, Die Hard, and Wall Street. There are a lot of funny moments, from the beginning of the episode seeing "The Ten Commandments" read off, it was cool seeing Phil Hartman doing his Charlton Heston impersonation. But what really made that scene funny was seeing each of the specific sinners night completely ruined from each commandment read, all I can say to that is serves them right.
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It shows that there are some consequences when it comes to stealing cable. In this episode, "Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment," Lisa is shocked that Homer stole cable and in order to protest, she refuses to watch the cable and even protests a big boxing match that Homer and all his friends were going to watch. In its original broadcast, "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" received a Nielsen rating of 15.2, finishing 25th the week it aired.
However, after the cable man offers to sell him a stolen car stereo and attempts to break into Ned's house, Homer barricades his windows in fear. Bart one evening discovers a porn channel called "Top Hat Entertainment" and despite fear of punishment from Homer who unfortunately spots him watching it, Homer lets Bart off with a warning telling him not to watch the channel again. Bart pretends to agree to this and behind Homer's back charges the neighborhood children 50 cents to watch the cable porn channel, but just as it begins Homer catches him and sends him to his room as punishment.
It was originally going to be named "Homer vs. the 8th Commandment", but the writers decided to include Lisa in the title because they wanted the cast to feel as if all their characters were equally represented on the show. The episode is based on the Eighth Commandment ("thou shall not steal"), which is one of the Ten Commandments. The episode marks the debut of Troy McClure who was voiced by Phil Hartman and based on the typical "washed up" Hollywood actor. What I also like about the Simpsons is their values about needing faith and believing in God and attending church sometimes. Homer may've had some moments where he didn't want to get all into church (such as episode "Homer the heretic"), but he wasn't trying to completely go athiest. Even in "Homer the heretic", he doesn't stop believing in God, he just doesn't want to go to church.
Despite the satire, I found this episode to be pretty comical and surely I was laughing a lot. This episode provides the perfect opportunity for The Simpsons to satirize cable programming. This episode also helped establish the moral code existing within the show for years to come. This episode makes us question our every day actions and how we justify them. As its title suggests, “Homer Vs. Lisa And The 8th Commandment” is a morality play and not a particularly subtle one. In a dynamic that would play out countless times over the course of the show’s endless run, Homer does the wrong thing, Lisa calls him on it, and Homer ultimately decides to do the right thing even at his own detriment.
Despite the family's enjoyment of the new channels, Lisa becomes suspicious that they are stealing cable. Meanwhile, Bart manages to tune into a sexually explicit adult movie channel, and Homer invites his friends over to watch a boxing match, but Lisa's protest gets to him. After observing Ned Flanders reject an offer to get an illegal cable hookup, Homer chases after the cable man and wants to be hooked up for free. He likes the new channels he gets, which the family watches with him. At home, Lisa imagines her house melting, and the devil sits at their couch with them.
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