Last summer, I wrote a post demonstrating that the idea that The Simpsons had once been Bart centric and then became Homer centric was nothing more than a myth. I went through Seasons 1 and 2 and tallied the episodes as either Bart centered, Homer centered, or centered around neither or both of them. Obviously such categorizations reflect my opinion, but you’d be hard pressed to tilt more than an episode or two this way or that. Take “Principal Charming” for example. I counted it as Both/Neither because while Homer has to search for a man for Selma, Bart’s the one who takes advantage of the love struck Skinner, and neither of them is the subject of the main plot. Episodes like “Bart the General” and “Homer’s Odyssey” are also easy to classify. The results:

Season 1: 6 Bart – 4 Homer – 3 Both/Neither

Season 2: 6 Bart – 7 Homer – 9 Both/Neither

In total, that’s 12 for Bart, 11 for Homer, and 12 Both/Neither through the first two seasons. As I said above, you could quibble with some of these and produce a few more one way or the other, but it would be very hard to say that the early years of the show were heavily tilted towards Bart. Of course, just because the show was never Bart centric doesn’t mean that it didn’t become Homer centric after those first years. So let’s take a look at the next two seasons, when this transition is supposed to have occurred.

Episodes are labeled either Bart, Homer, or Both/Neither for ones where they’re relatively equally matched or episodes where other characters predominate. Here’s Season 3 (24 episodes):

• Stark Raving Dad – Bart is the reason Homer’s in the institute, but it’s definitely a Homer episode.
• Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington – This is obviously a Both/Neither.
• When Flanders Failed – I’m tempted to call this a Homer one because he’s the one who keeps not telling people about the Leftorium, on the other hand, the rather major subplot (including the reason Homer is in the mall at all) is Bart’s non-karate lessons, so this one goes to Both/Neither.
• Bart the Murderer – Yeah, this one is Bart.
• Homer Defined – Just as this one is Homer.
• Like Father, Like Clown – This one has far more Bart and it’s Bart (and Lisa) who work so hard to get Krusty back with his dad.
• Treehouse of Horror II – Both/Neither, for obvious reasons.
• Lisa’s Pony – This one could be placed under Both/Neither because it’s really more of a Lisa episode, but there’s just more Homer than Bart so Homer gets it.
• Saturdays of Thunder – Both/Neither.
• Flaming Moe’s – Definitely Homer.
• Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk – Ditto. (Homer)
• I Married Marge – Homer’s on a roll.
• Radio Bart – But this one is Bart.
• Lisa the Greek – Same basic deal as “Lisa’s Pony” so it goes to Homer.
• Homer Alone – Despite Homer’s name in the title, this is more of a Marge episode; even once she heads for Rancho Relaxo we follow both Homer alone and the kids with her sisters, so it’s a Both/Neither.
• Bart the Lover – This one is Bart all the way.
• Homer at the Bat – I’m writing this one down just for the sake of completeness but, yeah, it’s Homer.
• Separate Vocations – Bart.
• Dog of Death – Again, Bart, Homer’s got a couple of great scenes, but Santa’s Little Helper is Bart’s dog and this is very much Bart’s episode.
• Colonel Homer – That’s Colonel Homer to you.
• Black Widower – Sideshow Bob = Bart.
• The Otto Show – Otto is Bart’s friend, not Homer’s.
• Bart’s Friend Falls in Love – Speaking of Bart’s friends.
• Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes? – The First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstand Achievement in the Field of Excellence goes to Homer.

The tally for Season 3 is 9 for Bart, 10 for Homer, and 5 for Both/Neither. A little bit more Homer than Bart, but not much. Let’s go to Season 4 (22 episodes):

• Kamp Krusty – This is Bart’s for sure.
• A Streetcar Named Marge – A Both/Neither is tempting here just because this is a Marge episode, but there’s far more Homer than Bart, so Homer gets it.
• Homer the Heretic – Once again only writing for the sake of completeness, Homer.
• Lisa the Beauty Queen – Both/Neither, Homer gets her into the beauty pageant, but Bart helps her win (kinda).
• Treehouse of Horror III – Both/Neither.
• Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie – This is Bart for the simple reason that the whole story revolves around him.
• Marge Gets a Job – More Both/Neither roll.
• New Kid on the Block – This is Bart episode if ever there was one, though Homer’s strong work in the subplot deserves recognition.
• Mr. Plow – Homer.
• Lisa’s First Word – You could almost go Bart here, but it has to go to Both/Neither, it just wouldn’t be the ’84 Olympics without both of them.
• Homer’s Triple Bypass – Homer’s for sure.
• Marge vs. the Monorail – As close as “Lisa’s First Word” is to Bart, this one is to Homer, but in the end it just isn’t one of his episodes so I’m calling it Both/Neither.
• Selma’s Choice – Both/Neither.
• Brother From the Same Planet – This one is Both/Neither if ever there was one.
• I Love Lisa – Both/Neither.
• Duffless – This one is Homer’s all over.
• Last Exit to Springfield – Homer, again.
• So It’s Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show – Both/Neither.
• The Front – Once again we’re confronted with a Bart heavy main plot and a Homer heavy sub plot and on this one I’m gonna call it a draw and say Both/Neither.
• Whacking Day – This is a Bart episode, no question.
• Marge in Chains – Both/Neither.
• Krusty Gets Kancelled – This one goes to Bart for getting his pal back on the air.

The Season 4 tally reads 5 for Bart, 6 for Homer, and a whopping 11 for Both/Neither. Combined, Season 3 and 4 have 14 for Bart, 16 for Homer, and 16 for Both/Neither. Finally, the combined tally for Seasons 1-4 is 26 for Bart, 27 for Homer and 28 for Both/Neither. While the show was never really Bart centric, it did have a slight shift to Homer episodes, but it started happening in Season 2 the emphasis needs to be on the word “slight”. Neither Homer nor Bart was ever the exclusive center of the show.

Like the concept of the show once focusing on Bart, the widespread idea that it later did the same to Homer can probably be blamed on the fads of the time. As the initial mania over Bart t-shirts and the like faded, Homer became the natural face of the show in the public’s mind. After all, he’s the dad on a family comedy, and family comedies have long been defined by their dad characters. The show itself was always remarkably consistent; the only thing that really changed was the way people thought about it.