Take My Wife, Sleaze

After viewing an advertisement on TV, the family visits the 1950s-themed Greasers Cafe where Homer and Marge win a dancing contest. Their prize is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, awarded by "Wolfguy Jack" just 3 days before the restaurant goes out of business. After Homer learns how to ride a motorcycle from Bart and enjoys it, he forms an outlaw motorcycle club named the Hell's Satans with Moe, Lenny, Carl, and even Ned Flanders, even though Ned rides a bicycle, Carl rides a Vespa, Lenny rides a lawnmower, and Moe's motorcycle is old. They get in trouble all across Springfield, until Homer is confronted by a Bakersfield outlaw motorcycle club named the Hell's Satans, and forced to eat all his Hell's Satans apparel for using their name.

The rival group, led by two men named Meathook and Ramrod, start living at the Simpson house, generally being destructive and intimidating the Simpson family. Fortunately, Marge is able to clean up after the gang and take care of them, which they come to appreciate. One day, the Hell's Satans leave and take Marge with them, later assuring her she is safe because none of them find her sexually attractive, much to her own relief and subsequent sadness. Homer tracks them down to a campsite, where he fights with Meathook and wins back Marge. The two of them say goodbye to the gang, who plan to take advice given to them by Marge and find normal jobs. Homer returns with Marge to a biker bar where he had earlier been repeatedly beaten up, and leaves with a Duff keg.

John Goodman voiced the character Meathook in the episode.

"Take My Wife, Sleaze" was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Neil Affleck as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000).[2] Guest starring in the episode were John Goodman as Meathook, Henry Winkler as Ramrod, Jay North as himself, NRBQ as themselves, and Jan Hooks as Manjula.[2][3][4][5] NRBQ drummer Tom Ardolino said in an interview before "Take My Wife, Sleaze" aired that the band's appearance is "real quick. We're in a bar that Homer goes in looking for Marge. We're the band playing in the bar."[6] Bass player Joey Spampinato commented, "We got to sit around the table when they read the script and it was pretty funny stuff."[7] In addition to appearing in the episode, NRBQ performed the Simpsons theme music over the closing credits.[6] Executive producer Mike Scully considers NRBQ to be one of his favorite bands, and their songs had already been used in three episodes of the show that aired not long before this episode was produced.[8][9]

The name of Homer's gang, the Hell's Satans, is a reference to the real-life motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate Hells Angels.[10] Authors Paul Broughton and Linda Walker analyzed the episode in their 2009 book Motorcycling and Leisure: Understanding the Recreational PTW Rider, writing: "This episode feeds on the stereotypical image of riders, for example, Homer says: 'Yeah, that's the life for me, Marge. Cruising and hassling shopkeepers.' The outlaw image is further reinforced within this episode when another group of bikers, also called the Hell's Satans, take offence at Homer using the name. This gang act in a stereotypical gang manner, wrecking Homer's house and kidnapping his wife. The fact that an iconic cartoon series can use such stereotypical images of riders to good effect demonstrates how much the negative rider image is ingrained within society."[11]

Other references to popular culture include to the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood. Homer's motorcycle sword fight with Meathook parodies the ending sword fight between Robin and Guy of Gisbourne in the film.[1] Wolfguy Jack is a parody of radio host Wolfman Jack; his girlfriend resembles Debbie from the film American Graffiti.[1] When Apu shoos Homer from the Kwik-E-Mart with a broom, he and Manjula adopt a stance reminiscent of Grant Wood’s painting, American Gothic.

The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 28, 1999.[5] 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, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Julia Thacker, Dan Castellaneta, and Neil Affleck participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set.[4]

While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented: "Should we blame ['Take My Wife, Sleaze'] for the movie Wild Hogs? Maybe not, but the episode doesn’t do a lot to rise above the level of that John Travolta mediocrity. I like guest stars Henry Winkler and John Goodman, so the episode’s not a loss, but it’s not a winner either."[5]

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• "Take My Wife, Sleaze" at The Simpsons.com
• "Take My Wife, Sleaze episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
• "Take My Wife, Sleaze" at IMDb