Brother from the Same Planet

Phil Hartman as Tom and Mr. Muntz

"Brother from the Same Planet" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons' fourth season. After Homer is late to pick up Bart from soccer practice, Bart turns to the program The Bigger Brothers, and is assigned a man named Tom. Homer gets himself a little brother named Pepi. Homer and Tom fight, and Homer reconciles with Bart, and Tom becomes Pepi's bigger brother. Meanwhile, Lisa becomes addicted to the Corey hotline—a phone service where television fans can listen to the voice of a fictional actor based on popular actors Corey Feldman and Corey Haim.

Originally airing on the Fox network in the United States on February 4, 1993, the episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Jeffrey Lynch. The producers tried to cast Tom Cruise for the role of Tom, but Cruise refused, and they used Phil Hartman instead. "Brother from the Same Planet" received favorable reception in books and in the media, and was highlighted among the five best episodes of the series by the writers of the Fox program King of the Hill.

After soccer practice, Bart waits for Homer to pick him up, though his father has forgotten. When Homer finally remembers, he reasons to an angered Bart that they should just both admit they are wrong and try to put the issue behind them. Later, Bart views a commercial for a mentor program called The Bigger Brothers, which pairs up fatherless boys with positive male role models. Still angry at Homer, Bart goes to the agency pretending to be a young boy whose father was a drunken gambler who abandoned him. Barts story is so sad that the receptionist pairs him up with their best Bigger Brother, a military test pilot named Tom. The two spend time together doing a variety of activities, though Bart begins to feel guilty over taking up Tom's time despite not actually being fatherless. Eventually, Homer finds out about Bart's Bigger Brother and confronts Bart for it. Homer then decides to go to the Bigger Brothers Agency to get revenge by being assigned with a replacement son; a young poor boy named Pepi. Just like Tom and Bart, Homer and Pepi spend time together doing activities.