Homer to the Max

Ed Begley, Jr. as himself

"Homer to the Max" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons' tenth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 7, 1999. In the episode, Homer discovers that a new television show, Police Cops, has a hero also named Homer Simpson. He is delighted with the positive attention he receives because of his name, but when the television character is rewritten from a hero to a bumbling idiot, he is mocked and taunted, so he changes his name to "Max Power" to rid himself of the negative attention. Max gains new friends, and is forced into a protest to prevent a forest from being knocked down. In the end, he changes his name back to Homer Simpson.

The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Pete Michels. Since airing, it has received mixed reviews from television critics. Overall, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 8.5.

The Simpson family watches the pilot of Police Cops, a show which follows a suave and dashing detective named Homer Simpson and his partner Lance Kaufman. Homer is delighted with the positive attention and congratulatory phone calls he receives because he shares the lead character's name, despite the family telling him it is just a coincidence.

Following the pilot, however, the Homer Simpson character is rewritten into a unwise, fat, and lazy detective, resulting in Homer being mocked by the people of Springfield. Humiliated, he appeals to the producers to change the character back, but they refuse. Then, after unsuccessfully attempting to sue the company for improper usage of his old name, Homer legally changes his name to "Max Power".

Though the negative attention had faded away and Mr. Burns is impressed by the new name, Marge is unhappy that Max changed his name without consulting her. While shopping at Costington's, Max meets a successful businessman named Trent Steel.

Trent invites Max and the family to a garden party, despite Marge's reservations, where they meet lots of famous people, but Max finds out the party is an excuse to save a redwood forest from destruction, something he does not like. After traveling with the party guests to the forest, Max, Marge, and the rest of the guests chain themselves to the trees to prevent the bulldozers from knocking them down. The Springfield police arrive and Eddie and Lou chase Max around his tree, trying to "swab" him with mace. As Max rounds the tree, the chain cuts into it. The redwood falls and knocks down all other redwoods, angering their newfound friends. Max later changes his name back to "Homer Simpson."