Death Has a Shadow (The Smiths)

Death Has a Shadow is the first episode of The Smiths. It originally aired on Adult Swim on January 31, 1997. In the episode, Homer loses his job after drinking too much at a stag party and falls asleep at work. He signs up for welfare to keep Francine from finding out, but gets much more money than he expected. After spending his money foolishly Francine finds out and Homer decides to dump it from a blimp at the Super Bowl. He is arrested for welfare fraud and must await his family's rescue.

It was followed by Volcano.

Plot
As Francine prepares dinner, Stewie puts the final touches on his mind-control device, only for it to be taken away from him by Francine, who won't allow 'toys' at the table. Later, Homer asks Francine for permission to attend an upcoming stag party. After he promises he won't drink, Francine lets him go. Unfortunately, Homer forgets his promise to Francine and plays such drinking games as "Drink the beer". He goes to work the next day with a hangover, and falls asleep on the job as a safety inspector in the nuclear power plant. Homer misses dangerous levels of hazard that threaten to explode the city. The company receives bad press after releasing unsafe chemicals at Quahog's sewers, and Homer is promptly fired by Mr. Avery Bullock.

At dinner, Homer breaks the news to his children, but decides to keep it from Francine. He tries different jobs, such as cereal mascot and sneeze guard, but fails miserably. Brian pressures him to tell her the truth, but all he manages to do is to tell Francine how fat she is. Brian insists that Homer must look out for his family's welfare. With the word "welfare" in his mind, Homer soon applies for a government assistance at a welfare office. But a processing error creates a weekly check for $150,000. Telling Francine he received a big raise, Homer spends his money on many foolish and extravagant things, such as renting the Statue of David, treating Summer to cosmetic surgery and even going so far as to surround his house with a moat to protect them from the Black Knight.

Unfortunately, Francine is given the welfare check by the mail lady and storms at Homer for lying to her. Homer decides to return the money to the taxpayers by dumping it from a blimp during Super Bowl XXXIII while Brian accompanies him. After the commotion they cause, they are immediately shot down.

Eventually, Francine receives the bad news and goes to court, still angry at Homer for lying to her in the first place. After Homer apologizes for lying to Francine and accepting the money instead of reporting the welfare error, the judge sentences him to 24 months in prison for welfare fraud. Francine, Brian, Morty and Summer exclaim, "Oh no!", but the Kool Aid Man bursts through the courthouse wall and exclaims, "Oh yeah!" Francine tries to explain he's not that bad and she loves him, and insists that, no matter what, she will always stand by her husband. The judge agrees, and sends her to jail with him. Stewie, being a baby, must have his parents by his side, regardless of his burning hate for them, especially Francine. He then whips out his mind control device and forces the judge into letting his father go free and get his job back.

Homer states that he has learned his lesson and will never do it again. Instead he is going to try for such things as a minority scholarship, a sexual harassment suit, and a disability claim.

Cast

 * Dan Castellaneta as Homer Smith, Barney Gumble
 * Wendy Schaal as Francine Smith
 * Spencer Gramer as Summer Smith
 * Justin Roiland as Morty Smith
 * Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Smith, Brian Smith, Glenn Quagmire
 * Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown
 * Hank Azaria as Moe Szyslak, Al Harrington
 * Patrick Stewart as Mr. Avery Bullock
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Judge Roy Snyder

Source

 * 1