Father Knows Worst

"Father Knows Worst" is the eighteenth episode of the twentieth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 26, 2009. In the episode, Bart and Lisa start struggling in their academic and social lives at school and Homer starts monitoring them and forcing them to do better, becoming a helicopter parent. Meanwhile, Marge discovers a sauna in the basement. This was the first episode in over eight years written by Rob LaZebnik.

Homer, Bart and Lisa go to the carnival on the South-Side Sea Port, and Homer indulges in various varieties of kabobs. While devouring them indiscriminately, he accidentally swallows a flaming stick. He tries to douse it out with water, but gets tricked by Bart into drinking lighter fluid (prompting Homer to strangle and breathe fire at him). Following a brief stint in a tongue cast, Homer's taste buds become hypersensitive, making eating ordinary food an ordeal. Lisa remedies the problem by giving Homer cafeteria food from Springfield Elementary, which is so bland that a supertaster like Homer can tolerate it. Homer decides to dine at the elementary school (and even goes so far as to be a cafeteria server), much to the embarrassment of Bart.

While dining at the school, Homer meets a "helicopter mom", who pressures her son Noah into succeeding by being near him at all times. She makes snide remarks about Homer's children, pointing out how dumb Bart is and how much of a social outcast Lisa is. Homer decides to become a "helicopter parent", fearing that his children's only ambition in life will be to serve children like Noah. Bart must build a balsa wood model to compete in a sculpture assignment, and Homer insists on helping. While shopping for balsa wood, Homer reveals that Bart will build the Washington Monument, but Principal Skinner criticizes this as overly easy. In response, Homer purchases a model kit of Westminster Abbey. He buys a book for Lisa entitled "Chicks with Cliques", and persuades her to try joining a clique, first by declaring that dolphins swim in "cliques" and that the United States was founded by a clique, and then by hosting a cellphone-decorating party for the popular girls.