"Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" is the eighteenth episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 16, 1997. In the episode, Springfield enacts prohibition after a raucous Saint Patrick's Day celebration. To supply Moe's speakeasy, Homer becomes a bootlegger. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Bob Anderson. As The Simpsons has many episodes that have stories and jokes related to alcohol, the writers thought it was strange that they had never done an episode related to Prohibition, and that the idea seemed "perfect." Originally Chief Wiggum's first line was "They're either drunk or on the cocaine", but it was deemed too old-fashioned. The discovery of "more lines on the parchment" was a simple deus ex machina to get Homer freed and to end the episode. The line "To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems," was originally the act break line at the end of act two, but was moved to the very end of the episode.
Cultural references
thumb|The shot of the diner, a reference to [[Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.]]
The episode parodies the series The Untouchables, with the character of Rex Banner based on Robert Stack's portrayal of Eliot Ness, and the voice of the narrator being based on that of Walter Winchell. The shot of the diner references Edward Hopper's Nighthawks painting.
The authors of the book, I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Gary Russell and Gareth Roberts, called it "A nice episode in which Homer actually devises a clever plan to keep the beer flowing." The Daily Telegraph also characterized the episode as one of "The 10 Best Simpsons TV Episodes". Robert Canning gave the episode 9.8/10 calling it his favorite episode of the series.
Homer's line "To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems," was described by Josh Weinstein as "one of the best, most truthful Simpsons statements ever".
A scene in which a British chip shop named "John Bull's Fish & Chips" blows up was censored in Britain and Ireland but it is no longer. This scene is shown uncensored on the Disney+ streaming service.
Erik Adams writes of the episode of Second City TV on the episode: "There’s a hum to the jokes of 'Homer Vs. The Eighteenth Amendment,' showing off an ear for heightened genre dialogue. This is another place where the episode shows its SCTV heritage: That show and this episode thrive on what their writers absorbed from TV, movies, records, and radio—the good stuff as well as the bad—repurposing it in ways that celebrate its conventions (tommy guns, hot jazz, car chases through cemeteries!) and satirize its clichés. Banner’s chatter is all G-man jargon, but Thomas holds his own with mouthfuls of colorful language like 'Listen, rummy, I’m gonna say it plain and simple: Where’d you pinch the hooch? Is some blind tiger jerking suds on the side?'”