"Whacking Day" is the twentieth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 29, 1993. The subject matter of "beating snakes" worried the staff who thought that many would deem it cruel, even though the episode's message is against the mistreatment of snakes. Barry White wanted to guest star on the show, so he was written into the plot. He sang "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" especially for the episode, rather than using a recorded version.
The episode marks the first appearance of Superintendent Chalmers. The staff wanted to introduce a boss for Skinner, and Wallace Wolodarsky pitched his name. Much of the dialogue and interactions between Skinner and Chalmers were ad-libbed by Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria, respectively.
For "consciousness-raising on behalf of animal issues", the episode was awarded the Genesis Award for "Best Television Prime Time Animated Series" in 1994.
Jeffrey Lee Puckett of The Courier-Journal cited "Whacking Day" as "the series' richest episode". He wrote: "In 22 remarkable minutes, 'Whacking Day' skewers the quality of America's educational system, self-aggrandizing politicians, greed, the mob mentality, sexuality in the age of political correctness and the whole notion of political correctness, and makes a hero of Barry White." Chris Vognar of The Dallas Morning News noted the episode was one of the fourth season's best episodes in his review of the DVD. Andrew Martin of Prefix Mag named White his fifth favorite musical guest on The Simpsons out of a list of ten.
Matt Groening considers Homer's "I am evil Homer" fantasy to be one of the "all-time great moments" in the show's history.
A 2003 article in The Journal News reported that records show genuine "Whacking Days" having taken place in Eastchester, New York from 1665 onwards: "That one day every spring be chosen for the destroying of rattle snakes." The article quoted show runner Al Jean as saying: "I agree with the premise of the episode: leave the snakes alone. They didn't hurt anybody." Since 2009, citizens in North Queensland, Australia, have held an annual "Toad Day Out" every March 29 in which thousands of cane toads (an invasive and highly destructive species not native to Australia) are captured and humanely destroyed. The event was inspired by the episode.
In The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin writes “'Whacking Day' is arguably the purest and most scathing attack on mob mentality in The Simpsons’ oeuvre, purer and more trenchant even than 'Marge Vs. The Monorail'...By the time Mayor Quimby shows up at the Simpson home—where the snakes have found shelter from the mob after being attracted by the bass in Barry White's voice—to bask in Springfield’s hatred of snakes, he’s surprised and a little disgusted to discover that the angry mob has turned unexpectedly into an aggregation of snake-fanciers. 'You’re nothing but a pack of fickle mush-heads!' he yells in disgust, to which the mob can only add, 'He’s right!' and 'Give us hell, Quimby!'
In 'Whacking Day' and The Simpsons, the mob can be a force for good, a force for bad, or, in this case, a force for evil that morphs into a force for good. That’s the duality of mob mentality in The Simpsons: What the mob gives it can also take away and no show has ever spoofed the madness of crowds as adroitly or consistently as The Simpsons, especially in its radiant, God-like prime."