Don't Fear the Roofer

"Don't Fear the Roofer"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 16
Directed by	Mark Kirkland
Written by	Kevin Curran
Original air dates	May 1, 2005
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	None
Couch gag	A five-fingered hand completes a jigsaw puzzle of the living room and a voice, presumably that of Matt Groening, exclaims "Woohoo!"

"Don't Fear the Roofer" is the sixteenth episode of the sixteenth season of The Simpsons. The episode aired on May 1, 2005 in the U.S. Although it was advertised as the 350th episode, it is actually the 351st episode ("Future-Drama" is the 350th and "The Heartbroke Kid" is the 352nd). Ray Romano guest stars as Ray Magini, a new friend that Homer meets at a bar.

Plot

There's a very bad thunderstorm in Springfield, and Marge rebukes Homer when their roof starts profusely leaking. Homer, angrily, leaves for Moe's. There, he finds a surprise party being set up for Lenny. However, he accidentally ruins the surprise and then sits on the cake (shaped like Lenny's favorite bar-stool) and gets kicked out. Homer feels lonely until he sees an even seedier bar located on Route 98. The one-eyed bartender is too busy to talk to him, but he meets another guy, Ray Magini, who offers to share his nachos and beer with him. Ray just happens to be a roofer, so Homer asks him to fix his roof, to which Ray readily agrees.

The next day, Homer assures Marge that his new friend will be taking care of the roof. Just as she and the kids leave on some errands, Ray shows up. The two of them get up on the roof and use nail-guns to nail the boards onto the roof, but they start shooting nails at each other (the nail gun fight was referenced in an episode of The King of Queens), some hitting Flanders next door. Ray leaves later and, as Homer runs on the roof, he crashes through the small part of the roof that they fixed. When Marge returns, she is surprised to see the hole even bigger. She tells Homer to buy some shingles and fix the roof himself. Later, Bart and Homer go to the Builder's Barn, and Homer meets Ray there. Ray apologizes to Homer for not having finished the job and promises that he will stop by soon to work on the roof. At home, Homer sits on the roof waiting for Ray. Finally, late at night, Marge tells him that Ray is not real, only a figment of his imagination. Homer refuses to believe it.

Marge then takes him to the Calmwood Mental Hospital (as seen in "Hurricane Neddy"). Dr. Hibbert tells Homer that Ray doesn't exist; he was created by Homer's mind as Homer was feeling lonely and unappreciated. All the people that Homer thinks saw Ray (Bart, Flanders, and the "Knockers" bartender) claim they didn't, and Lisa reveals that "Ray Magini" is an anagram for "imaginary" (this scene is a parody of A Beautiful Mind). Hibbert administers electroshock therapy (parody of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Six weeks and several hours of shock therapy later, Homer is now sure that Ray does not exist. As he is being discharged, he sees Ray again in the room, and everyone can see him. He did really exist the whole time: the bartender did not see Ray as he had an eye patch on and that Ray was on the view of it and Ray could not be seen by Flanders as he was behind the chimney. Bart still became skeptical for seeing Homer talking to thin air, but Stephen Hawking says that Bart could not see Ray, at the hardware store, because of a miniature black hole caused directly behind Ray which absorbed the light from Ray and made it look like as if Homer was talking to himself. Hibbert apologizes to Homer and asks how he can make it up to him. So, Homer makes him fix his roof for him, while he and Ray lounge on the roof, talking about Everybody Loves Raymond.

Cultural references

• The bar Homer meets Ray Magini at (Knockers) is a reference to the Hooters restaurant chain.
• The episode title is a reference to the popular Blue Öyster Cult song "Don't Fear the Reaper." The song was played over the end credits to the episode "The Parent Rap."
• The song that plays from the jukebox is "Do That To Me One More Time" by Captain & Tennille.