Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 19, 2011

"Stark Raving Dad" is the first episode of the third season of American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 19, 1991. In the episode, main character Homer Simpson is sent to a mental institution, where he shares a room with a large white man named Leon Kompowsky who pretends to be Michael Jackson. Al Jean and Mike Reiss wrote the episode while Rich Moore served as director. Michael Jackson guest starred in the episode as the speaking voice of Leon Kompowsky. For contractual reasons, he was credited as John Jay Smith in the closing credits. Jackson pitched several story ideas for the episode and wrote a song that is featured in the plot. He also stipulated that he would provide Kompowsky's speaking voice, but his singing voice would be performed by a sound-alike (Kipp Lennon) because he wanted to play a joke on his brothers. "Stark Raving Dad" received generally positive reviews from critics, particularly for the writing and Jackson's performance. (more...)

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