Half-Decent Proposal

"Half-Decent Proposal" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons' thirteenth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 10, 2002. In the episode, to earn money for her husband Homer's snoring problem, Marge agrees to stay with her old prom date, Artie Ziff, for one weekend, but when Homer thinks Marge broke her promise, he runs away with Lenny to work on an oil rig. Although the episode was written by Tim Long, the idea for the episode was pitched by series' co-creator and executive producer James L. Brooks. The episode was directed by Lauren MacMullan, who ordered several complicated sequences from the animators, leading to some tensions among The Simpsons staff. The episode's plot and title is based on the 1993 film Indecent Proposal, and the episode also features references to M*A*S*H, Midnight Cowboy and Five Easy Pieces. The episode features John Lovitz as Artie Ziff, the first time he portrayed Ziff since the season 2 episode "The Way We Was". In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 7.5 million viewers and finished in 36th place in the ratings the week it aired.