Reception
In its original broadcast, "Homer the Vigilante" finished forty-first in the ratings for the week of January 3–9, 1994, with a Nielsen rating of 12.2, equivalent to approximately 11.5 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, thought it was "a bit lacking in focus", but it contained "a number of satisfying set-pieces — we like Professor Frink's walking house security system — and displays Wiggum at his all-time most useless." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote: "After the many plots of the prior show, 'Vigilante' maintains a much tighter focus. It’s not quite as wonderful an episode as its immediate predecessor, but it’s strong nonetheless. Much of the humor comes from Homer’s newfound power and abuse of it. If nothing else, it’s a great program due to Homer’s reaction to Lisa’s jug playing." A reviewer for Currentfilm.com wrote: "While the episode seems to be a fan favorite, I think there's only a handful of funny bits scattered throughout the episode." Les Winan of Box Office Prophets named "Homer the Vigilante", "Cape Feare", "Homer Goes to College", "$pringfield", and "Deep Space Homer" his favorite episodes of season five. It was also the Liverpool Daily Post's Mike Chapple's favorite episode of the season together with "Bart Gets an Elephant" and "Burns' Heir". Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict gave the episode a grade of B, and Bill Gibron of DVD Talk gave it a score of 4 out of 5.
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Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
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