The Simpsons have always been small town people. Living in a small town like Springfield has its benefits and its disadvantages, and for better or for worse, the Simpsons are stuck here for all eternity. In "Dancin' Homer", we see what happens when small town folks like the Simpsons move into the big Capital City.
When the Simpsons go to a company outing for a baseball game and after Bleeding Gum Murphy's hour long anthem, Homer's rambunctious dancing nets the Isotopes their first win in 29 games. As a result, the team owner gives Homer a job as a mascot. While later years Simpsons will put Homer in random crazy jobs, here the job at least suits Homer with his impulsive happy-go-lucky personality.With this new job, Homer finally finds something he loves and is successful at. As more and more Springfieldians come to not watch the Isotopes but watch Homer, the owner offers a great opportunity to be a mascot in the capital city.
Here we see Marge being strangely supportive of moving to Capital City. Marge has always been a more cautious, an almost foil to Homer type of character. Her decision to support Homer in, more or less, impulsively moving to Capital City is somewhat strange to me. Nevertheless, the Simpsons go to Capital City and see all the great sites that they have missed over the years. From 4th road and D street, to a bum wiping their windshield, the Simpsons indulge themselves in all that a big city can offer. However, when it comes time for Homer to shine on the ballpark, he is horrified to find that big city people don't find his dancing entertaining, and sees it as a means to make a fool of himself.
With Homer's failure as a mascot for the big city, he is fired and moves back to Springfield. Even though Homer is disappointed that he humiliated himself in front of the big city crowd, he finds comfort among his family and his friends.
This episode definitely has it shares of bloopers. For one thing, while Homer and the Simpsons don't belong in Capital City, Homer was successful at entertaining Springfield and could have easily continued his mascot career back at home. Secondly, it seems as though Homer sold all their house possessions already before they left, so what are they going to live in if they sold all their furniture and such?
This episode certainly isn't the best the classic era has to offer. However, much like all other episodes, it grounds itself in reality. While its execution in both characterisation and plot maybe a little off, it generally has a theme that abides by the values the Simpsons portray. In the end, the episode still gave a more or less realistic portrayal of the Simpsons' trip to Capital City and its effects on them. The ending may seem a little forced and the characterisation may seem a little off and there are tiny plot holes, but the episode still is mostly portrays a workable Simpsons story.
Characterisation: 4.5/5
Plot: 2.5/3
Subjective: 1/2
Overall: 8/10
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