Homer vs. Dignity

Leeza Gibbons as herself

"Homer vs. Dignity" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons’ twelfth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 26, 2000. In the episode, Mr. Burns hires a cash-strapped Homer as his "prank monkey", paying him to play pranks on others and humiliate himself in public.

The episode was written by Rob LaZebnik in his last writing credit for over eight years, until season 20's "Father Knows Worst". The episode features cultural references to The Magic Christian and The Birds. This episode has met with harsh reviews and is often rated high on lists of "Worst Simpsons Episodes Ever" due to its recycling of plotlines, as well as the scene wherein Homer, dressed as a panda, gets sexually assaulted by another panda at the zoo.

The family take Bart to dinner at the Singing Sirloin restaurant (as seen in "Life on the Fast Lane") for getting his first "A" on an astronomy quiz. When asked how he achieved this rarity, Bart explains that he was in Mrs. Krabappel's class trying to force a hamster and a lizard to mate, but was forced to hide in the coat closet when he saw Krabappel and Principal Skinner making out, and needing to get his mind off this, he studied a chart of the Solar System on the closet wall. The family's feeling of pride does not last, though, as a waiter tells Homer that the credit card he has attempted to use for paying the meal has been rejected. The family responds by trying to run away, but are stopped and made to sing and entertain the other customers in the restaurant to work off their debt. At the end of the night, as the family is driving home, Bart and Lisa notice that the back seats and floor of the car are missing, and Homer explains that he had to sell them for gas money (which he spent on a novelty car horn). He and Marge subsequently learn from a visit to financial planner Lindsay Naegle that the Simpsons are having severe money woes.