"Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" is the twenty-fourth and final episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons (and the de facto season four premiere). It originally aired on Fox in the United States on August 27, 1992. It was originally slated to air as the season premiere for the next season, but Fox decided to air it earlier to promote the series premiere of Martin.
In the episode, Homer is awarded US$2,000 in compensation after radiation from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant causes him to become sterile. Homer's half-brother, Herb, now poor and homeless, hatches a plan to regain his wealth. Homer loans him $2,000 to develop a new product that translates baby babbling into speech that parents can understand. Herb's invention is hugely successful, allowing him to regain his fortune.
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Rich Moore. Danny DeVito guest starred as Herb, with Joe Frazier making a cameo as himself. "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" was the second time Herb appeared on the show; he had previously appeared in the season two episode "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", in which Homer designing an overpriced monstrosity as the new car of Herb's company bankrupts Herb. The producers decided to create this episode in part because many fans were unhappy about the sad ending to "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?".
"Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" received positive reviews from critics, and DeVito was praised for his guest performance.
Plot
A routine physical exam at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant reveals that Homer is sterile after being exposed to radiation. Fearing a lawsuit, Mr. Burns gives $2,000 prize in exchange for signing a legal waiver freeing the plant of all liability. Homer is suspicious; Burns hastily explains that he is awarding Homer the inaugural Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, complete with an extravagant ceremony hosted by Joe Frazier.
Homer plans to buy a vibrating chair as a replacement for the living room couch, which Bart and Lisa have broken while goofing off. Homer's half-brother Herb, broke and homeless because of Homer, learns of the prize Homer has won and stows away on a train to Springfield, planning to persuade Homer to lend him the money. Upon seeing Homer in person, Herb punches him in the face out of anger over the loss of Herb's company. After hearing a baby's cries, Herb devises a plan to regain his wealth by designing a device that can translate baby talk into coherent speech so parents can respond to their infants' needs. His invention is an instant success that makes him rich again.
Herb repays Homer's loan and buys several gifts for the Simpsons, including a new washer and dryer for Marge, an NRA membership for Bart, and a monthly book club subscription for Lisa. Herb forgives Homer for ruining him earlier and buys him the vibrating chair to reward his faith and generosity, and the Simpsons use the original $2,000 to replace the broken couch.
Production
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Rich Moore. The reason for the late broadcast on August 27, 1992 (the season usually ends in May), was because the Fox network decided to add an additional episode to the season and show it during the summer to become "the biggest network" on television. As a result, the writers, animators, and producers had to work longer hours than normal to be able to finish the extra episode, which became "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?"
right|thumb|[[Danny DeVito guest starred in the episode as Homer's brother Herb. The producers liked his performance in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" and decided to bring him back for this episode.]] The decision to make another episode with Herb was reached due to many viewers being unhappy about the sad ending to the previous episode "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" (season two, 1991), in which Homer causes Herb to become bankrupt. It was decided that an episode would be created in which he regains his fortune. Cast member Hank Azaria noted that DeVito was less enthusiastic in his second performance as Herb: "Some people come in and you can tell they kind of regretted doing it. The second time, Danny DeVito was like 'Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's get it over with.' He did a great job, but he didn't enjoy the process."
In part because the writers had so many ideas for what Herb would invent, the original script of "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" ended up being too long at fifty-three pages. During the same time as the voices were being recorded, the writers cut some of the material. Showrunner Al Jean has stated that Frazier was hard to record, especially him saying the word "excellence" in the title of Mr. Burns' award. George Meyer, who directed Frazier, commented that he got the pronunciation right after almost 20 takes. Originally, the producers wanted Foreman to appear instead of Frazier, but he was unavailable. While Homer relaxes in the Spinemelter chair at the store he sees images in his head that are a reference to the penultimate scenes of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). In one scene, Homer reminisces about sitting on his old couch while watching Dallas, Hands Across America, the fall of the Berlin Wall and Gomer Pyle – USMC.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Gary Russell and Gareth Roberts, were positive of the episode, particularly praising the scenes involving Homer's fixation for vibrating chairs and Maggie speaking to the family through the baby translator. The episode's reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey was named the 27th greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Nathan Ditum.thumb|upright|[[John Swartzwelder wrote the episode.]]Herb's reappearance was praised by reviewers of the episode. Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed stated that Herb is "a perfect sibling for [...] Homer, with the two characters having a harmonious give-and-take comedic style. Indeed there isn't a great deal of substance in John Swartzwelder's script, but it is a great deal of fun with plenty of laughs to more than make up for this flaw. There is also a humorous cameo by Joe Frazier that puts a nice accent on the show."
Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict gave "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" a near-perfect score of 99/100, praising it for "the jokes about what the money could be spent on (including one of the best bits ever in a Simpsons episode—Homer sitting on a high-tech vibrating chair) and a good impetus to reintroduce Herb." Tom Adair of The Scotsman considers "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" to be a classic episode of the show, in part because of DeVito's performance. Gibron also liked the choice of DeVito as the voice of Herb as he is "almost the antithesis of everything Dan Castellaneta does with Homer vocally." Nate Ditum ranked DeVito's performance as the tenth best guest appearance in the show's history.