Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment

Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment
Episode Number	26
Production Code	7F13
Original Airdate	February 7, 1991
Blackboard Text	"I will not make flatulant noises in class."
Couch Gag	The family performs fancy dance moves before jumping on to the couch. And when they do, they still have their arms stretched out.
Special Guest Voices	Phil Hartman as Troy McClure, Moses, and cable guy.
Written By	Steve Pepoon
Directed By	Rich Moore

"Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" is the 13th episode of the second season of The Simpsons. This episode tells the story of Homer buying stolen cable and the resulting situation with Lisa feeling moral conflict, as well as Bart watching an adult movie channel. It is one of the few Simpsons episodes that have won an Emmy.

[edit] Synopsis

After seeing Ned Flanders reject an offer to get an illegal cable hook-up, 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. Lisa, however, feels suspicious. 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 (thus "Thou Shalt Not Steal" according to the division by the Anglican and Reformed Churches), he will go to Hell when he dies. She additionally opposes other examples of common and harmless thievery, including her mother's tasting of grapes in a grocery store which she has not paid for. Lisa pays a visit to Reverend Lovejoy at church, where he suggests that Lisa cannot turn her father into the police (as she must Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother), and instead encourages Lisa to not watch anything on Homer's cable hook-up, setting a good example.

Homer invites his friends from the power plant, as well as Apu, Moe, and Barney to watch "The Bout to Knock the Other Guy Out!", on pay-per-view. (Mr. Burns and Waylon Smithers show up as well). Meanwhile, Bart has set up posters on the back door for his showing of an adult channel for 50 cents (although his age requirement is 8), but is caught a few seconds later by Homer. Homer's conscience eventually bothers him, moreso in the form of his daughter's distress than a moral objection to stealing cable, and he gives in to Lisa's protests, begrudgingly choosing not to watch the fight. Marge and Maggie joins them as well. Bart, on the other hand, decided to go back to see the fight, but Homer stops him for good. He sits the fight out and when it is over, he hesitantly (and unprofessionally) cuts his cable hook-up, despite Bart's objection. He accidentally (somehow) cuts the electricity to all of Springfield in his random wire-cutting, before finally cutting the cable wire.