‘You Only Move Twice‘ is the second episode of The Simpsons’ eighth season. It first aired in 1996. The original concept for the episode came from a story idea by Greg Daniels involving Homer getting a new job for an employee-friendly, Silicon Valley type, modern boss (Hank Scorpio voiced by Albert Brooks) who would stand in contrast with Mr. Burns, an authoritarian, 19th century style boss.
Homer’s new boss, despite being friendly and personable, would be a supervillain in the mold of Ernst Stavro Blofeld of the James Bond novels and films. This element was meant to be in the background and Homer would be oblivious to it.
The show’s writers did not worry too much about perfecting Scorpio’s lines because they knew Brooks would rewrite or ad lib new ones. Entire parts of Scorpio’s dialogue, such as his hammock speech, are Brooks’s lines and not the writers.’ Dan Castellaneta described how, after he prepared something for Homer to say in response to Brooks’s new Scorpio lines, Brooks would deliver totally different lines in the next take. Josh Weinstein said Homer’s reactions are exactly like someone talking to Albert Brooks.
In his book ‘Planet Simpson,’ author Chris Turner says Brooks is second only to Phil Hartman among Simpsons guest stars and that ‘Brooks brings hilarious satirical seamlessness to Scorpio’s paradoxical nature.’ He also writes that the delivery of Scorpio’s final line seals Brooks’s place in Simpsons history.
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