TV Recap / Review: Homer Is the Only One Not Taking a Weight Loss Drug in "The Simpsons" - "Last Man Expanding"

This evening saw the debut of the 13th episode of The Simpsons season 36, entitled “The Last Man Expanding" (a play on the concept of “the last man standing," which also happens to be the title of several different films and television series over the decades). Below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment of the long-running animated sitcom.

20+ years ago it was “Simpsons Already Did It" on South Park, and now it’s “South Park beat them to it" on The Simpsons. After a really fun pinball-themed couch gag,  “Last Man Expanding" begins at Moe’s Tavern, where the usual barflies– including Homer Simpson (voiced, as always, by Dan Castellaneta)-- notice that something’s amiss. No, it’s not the missing letter grades above the bar– Moe has transformed these into a sign that reads “Drink DuFF" (hope he gets a “U")-- it’s Barney Gumble (also Castellaneta), who shows up late to this weekday morning drink-along because he’s been taking a trendy weight loss drug called Othinquic (basically Ozempic, you get it) that has also drastically reduced his reliance on alcohol, much to Moe’s (Hank Azaria) chagrin. And thanks to that blabbermouth Chief Wiggum (Azaria too), soon pretty much everyone in Springfield has lost weight due to… “diet and exercise," as they claim.

And when the Simpson family sees a news report about Othinquic delivered by a now-skinny Kent Brockman (Harry Shearer), Bart (Nancy Cartwright) asks his father Homer why he doesn’t go on the drug, and Homer insists that his wife Marge (Julie Kavner) loves him just the way he is. But Marge hesitates, saying that she wants Homer to “see Lisa graduate from college, and see Bart get a good deal on a used car." Soon Marge finds herself talking to an anthropomorphic Othinquic injector– this is never really explained, and I kept expecting her to wake up from a dream– and trying to convince Homer to go on the drug. There’s a clip from The Opal Show, a Simpsons-universe parody of The Oprah Winfrey Show, in which the host extolls the virtue of Othinquic and even gives it out to her audience, and then Marge meets with her now-thin sisters Patty and Selma (both also voiced by Kavner), who claim to have lost their weight naturally, though that’s clearly not true because they ask Marge if they can each borrow $900 a month. Coincidentally, Dr. Hibbert (Kevin Michael Richardson) is prepared to charge Homer $900 per month for his own prescription to Othinquic, considering most doses are going to those who need it the most: A-list Hollywood stars during awards season.

So Homer resorts to getting his Othinquic from mobster Fat Tony (recurring guest star Joe Mantegna), but after bringing the drug home and preparing to inject it into his leg, Marge returns just in time to stop him, having learned the truth about the drug being largely untested from the talking needle. Here’s where the episode devolves into being borderline indecipherable, as Fat Tony (now called Thin Tony, naturally) and his goons show up at the Simpson home to kidnap Homer, because everyone in town on Othinquic needs Homer’s fat to fill in the sagging skin on their faces. Then Luigi (Azaria) shows up to argue with his Italiano paisan, Homer’s butt has been extracted, and everyone decides to reset back to normal because of course they do, otherwise you wouldn’t have a show next week. I dunno, I don’t really know what to say about this episode. There were a few funny gags near the top but it all went downhill for me after that, and mostly it just feels pretty lazy, not to mention about a year late from when it would have been considered timely– the South Park: The End of Obesity Paramount+ special was released in May of 2024. After this episode ended my wife asked me why The Simpsons would tackle topical subject matter when the turnaround for the show is so long from writing to airdate, and the only response I could come up with was, “because they’ve already done everything else."

New episodes of The Simpsons air Sunday evenings on FOX.