Homer Loves Flanders

"Homer Loves Flanders" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons' fifth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 17, 1994. In the episode, Ned Flanders invites Homer to a football game and the two become good friends. However, Ned soon grows weary of Homer's overbearing friendship and stupid antics, and begins to hate him.

The episode was written by David Richardson and directed by Wesley Archer. It was the last episode to be pitched by writer Conan O'Brien before he left The Simpsons. The episode features cultural references to films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Deadly Tower, and The Ten Commandments, and songs such as "Two Tickets to Paradise", "Macho Man", and "Helter Skelter". Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 10.9, and was the third highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.

Homer unsuccessfully attempts to win tickets for a football game on a radio contest. Flanders win the tickets instead, and invites Homer as his guest at the game. Desperate to attend the game, Homer accepts. Ned pays for all the food and even gets the winning quarterback to give the game ball to Homer. Overwhelmed by Ned's generosity and no longer ashamed to be associated with him, Homer becomes friends with Ned and his family. Homer begins acting overly grateful and annoys Ned and his family to no end by interrupting their family time together. The Flanders family and the Simpson family go on a camping trip, but the families do not get along. When the Simpsons initiate a food fight, Ned tells his wife that he has grown to hate Homer.