Homer vs. Patty and Selma

"Homer vs. Patty and Selma"
The Simpsons episode
Marge finding out about Homer's debt to Patty and Selma
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 17
Directed by	Mark Kirkland
Written by	Brent Forrester
Production code	2F14
Original air date	February 26, 1995 (1995-02-26)
Guest appearances
Mel Brooks as himself Susan Sarandon as Ballet Teacher
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I will remember to take my medication"
Couch gag	The family is beamed onto the couch the same way the characters are in Quantum Leap.[1]
Commentary	Matt Groening David Mirkin Mark Kirkland David Silverman
Episode chronology
← Previous "Bart vs. Australia" Next → "A Star Is Burns"
The Simpsons season 6
List of episodes

"Homer vs. Patty and Selma" is the seventeenth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 26, 1995. In the episode, Homer loses all his money in pumpkin futures and must turn to Patty and Selma for a loan. Meanwhile, Bart takes up ballet lessons, with an instructor voiced by actress Susan Sarandon.

The episode was written by Brent Forrester and directed by Mark Kirkland, with David Mirkin serving as the executive producer. Sarandon had wanted to guest star on The Simpsons because her children were fans of the show; she made a later appearance in the series in the episode "Bart Has Two Mommies" as the voice of a computer. Mel Brooks also makes an appearance in "Homer vs. Patty and Selma", and had previously accompanied his wife Anne Bancroft to the recording studio when she had a role in the episode "Fear of Flying".

Chris Turner cites scenes from the episode in describing Homer's characteristic qualities in his book Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Turner notes that the episode illustrates Homer's impulsiveness, silliness, and "physical stupidity". Contributor Raja Halwani writes in the compilation work The Simpsons and Philosophy that the episode shows Homer's tendency to habitually lie to Marge, and cites Homer's covering for Patty and Selma when they are caught smoking as a positive aspect of his character. The episode also received positive mention from Turner in Planet Simpson, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood in their book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, and Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide.

The episode became particularly popular in Latin America due to the scene in which Bart is nicknamed by Homer and depicted as a "Ratboy": "Niño Rata", the Spanish equivalent of "Ratboy", became a frequently used Internet meme and coloquial way to refer to a broad social group consisting of irate and/or inexperienced underage/prepubescent/early adolescence fans of multiplayer video games,^[2] as well as YouTube users who troll other users in the comments section of videos.^[3]