Dad Behavior

Matt Leinart as himself

"Dad Behavior" is the eighth episode of the twenty-eighth season of the animated television series The Simpsons, and the 604th episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on November 20, 2016.

When Homer has to do carpentry work, Barney recommends him a new app called "Chore Monkey" that makes his life easier by calling people to do his various chores. He begins to use it for all his unwanted tasks. Homer even uses it call a substitute father Matt Leinart for Bart. But when they start to get close, Homer begins to feel jealous and left out.

He goes to Grampa Abraham Simpson who learns he's going to be a father again and is terrified, as Simpsons men don't make good fathers. Milhouse Van Houten isn't getting along with his father and starts to bond with Homer. Bart discovers that Matt is following his company's script to make Bart feel like a winner and isn't really treating them like a normal father and son. When he sees Milhouse and Homer bond, he also becomes jealous and meets up with Milhouse's dad Kirk. Grampa confides his fears in Marge. Upon seeing Homer and Milhouse (whom he mistakes as Bart), he believes that he could possibly be a good father.

Homer, Milhouse, Bart and Kirk all go to Itchy and Scratchy Land, where Bart flies off of a ride and hits a sign. Homer rushes to help him, and Bart calls him dad, which pleases Homer greatly, rekindling their relationship. Kirk, confesses that being with Bart, was the best time in his life, but Milhouse is still his son and they all ride out of the park. Grampa discovers that his girlfriend got pregnant by Jasper Beardley instead of him and is immensely relieved.

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave "Dad Behavior" a B- stating, "In short, there’s nothing especially wrong with 'Dad Behavior,' the first credited Simpsons script from series producer and New Girl writer Ryan Koh. It sails along without violating the characters or the show’s world in any objectionable way, it has a handful of decent, low key jokes...and there’s a serviceable symmetry to the overall narrative. That the episode doesn’t turn out more memorably for all that is one of those elusive near-misses that’s maddeningly tough to pin down. In the end, the lack of stakes is what undermines the story. Bart and Homer’s estrangement just doesn’t feel weighty or immediate enough...It’s sweet in theory, perfunctory in practice, the episode’s all-around easygoing vibe sanding down their dilemma to a smoothly forgettable sameness."