Faith Off

Homer receives a letter from Springfield University inviting him to an upcoming reunion party, but the event proves to be a shakedown intended to raise money for the school's football team. Homer recruits his old nerd friends, Benjamin, Doug, and Gary, to pull a prank on the dean by rigging a bucket full of glue to fall on his head when he opens a door. However, Homer falls victim to an identical prank set up by a fraternity. Unable to remove the bucket, he cuts eyeholes in it so he can see but still cannot drive straight. He inadvertently takes the family to a religious revival, where Bart manages to remove the bucket from Homer's head. Despite Lisa's attempt to provide a reasonable explanation for this event, the revival leader takes it as a sign that Bart possesses the gift of faith healing. Bart organizes a church of his own, overshadowing that of Reverend Lovejoy on its first day of operation, and "heals" various citizens of their ills through mundane means such as hitting a cramped muscle on Professor Frink's back to loosen it. Milhouse, supposedly cured of his myopia and no longer wearing his glasses, is struck and seriously injured by a car he mistakes for a dog. Shaken, Bart ends his career as a faith healer.

Meanwhile, Homer decides to build a float for the homecoming football game at SU. During the game, he gets drunk and forgets about the float until the halftime parade is nearly over. He hurries down from the stands and drives his float onto the field, not realizing that the players are already in position to start the second half. Homer runs over Anton Lubchenko, SU's star kicker, and badly fractures his leg. Fat Tony has made a large bet on SU and threatens to kill Homer if the team loses; at Homer's pleading, Bart reluctantly agrees to try to heal Lubchenko's leg and prays to God for help in doing so. Lubchenko returns to the field and kicks a game-winning field goal for SU, but the lower half of his injured leg snaps off in the process. Dr. Hibbert offers to reattach it with help from Bart; when Bart angrily protests that he does not have healing powers, Hibbert merely comments that he can keep the entire fee for himself.

Joe Mantegna returned as Fat Tony in the episode.

"Faith Off" was written by Frank Mula and directed by Nancy Kruse as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000).[1] The episode features guest appearances from Don Cheadle as Brother Faith and Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony.[1] A major theme in "Faith Off" is the Christian practice of faith healing.[2][3] In his 2008 book The Springfield Reformation: The Simpsons, Christianity, and American Culture, Jamey Heit wrote that "The Simpsons reiterates the vibrancy that defines black Christianity in 'Faith Off.' A faith healer, Brother Faith, inspires Bart to nurture his spirituality. Bart responds to the call and at least for the rest of the episode embraces the spiritual vibrancy that he learns from a black Christian leader."[4]

The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 16, 2000.[5][6] On September 4, 2000 the episode was included on the VHS compilation set The Simpsons: On Your Marks, Get Set, D'oh!. On October 7, 2008, it was released on DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season. Staff members Mike Scully, George Meyer, Matt Selman, and Nancy Kruse participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set.[7] A song Bart sings in the episode, called "Testify", was released on the soundtrack album The Simpsons: Testify in 2007.[8]

Reception from critics has been generally positive. While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented on "Faith Off", noting: "If nothing else, I like this one for the sight of Homer with the bucket stuck on his head; something about seeing him with those little eyeholes entertains me. Otherwise there’s not much powerful at work here. The healing plot is a decent one, and Don Cheadle gives us a good guest performance. The program is fine but not much more than that."[6]

Nancy Basile of About.com, on the other hand, listed the episode as one of the episodes she felt "shined in season eleven".[9] Alison Kerr of The Herald called the episode "brilliant".[10]

In his review of the eleventh season, Den of Geek critic Mark Oakley wrote that "there are some fine episodes to be found", such as "Faith Off", which he described as a "highlight".[11] He added that the "song Testify harks back to the brilliance of the show’s great musical numbers like The Stonecutters Song."[11] In 2003, the Orlando Sentinel's Gregory Hardy named "Faith Off" the fifth best episode of the show with a sports theme.[12]

Jerry Greene, another Orlando Sentinel columnist, listed the episode at number seven on his 2004 list of the show's "Top 10 Sporting Episodes". He particularly liked the inscription on Springfield University's gateway that says: "If you can read this, you're accepted."[13]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: "Faith Off"

• "Faith Off" at The Simpsons.com
• "Faith Off episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
• "Faith Off" at IMDb