735. From Beer to Paternity

Original airdate: November 13, 2022

The premise: When Duffman is in danger of being replaced as Duff’s mascot, Homer springs into action to help. But secretly, Duffman yearns to reconnect with his estranged daughter, and believing Homer to be a good father to Lisa, he convinces the two to accompany him on a long-overdue visit to his child.

The reaction: Duffman is probably a few notches below Sarah Wiggum on the list of side characters I’d be interested in seeing a full story about. He’s not only a one-joke corporate mascot, but it’s been directly implied that it’s not even the same guy each time (“Duffman can never die! Only the actors who play him!”) But hey, why not, let’s do a Duffman episode. We learn he has a daughter, and his ex-wife gained custody after he became Duffman. So what else? What was his life like before he worked for Duff? What was his wife like? Hell, what is his real name? We’re never told any of this. Duffman is not a real character, even in an episode ostensibly about him. His house is filled with Duffman paraphernalia, and he continues to refer to himself as “Duffman” in the third person, even in plainclothes. All of this just makes me think this guy has a serious mental problem, like he literally thinks he is Duffman. Hell, exploring that would be a more interesting story, a man brainwashed by a soulless corporation to being an empty, walking shill for their product, and Homer and Lisa have to help him actually regain his humanity. Instead, we get this boring, by-the-numbers story that is trying its hardest to have some sort of emotional resonance. I guess it figures that just the idea of a father-daughter reunion is enough to carry it, even though we know nothing about these characters and have no reason to care. Through a set-up I don’t really care to go over, Duffman thinks Homer is a great father to a little girl, so he’s the perfect candidate to help mend his relationship with his own daughter. He urges that he take Lisa with them on the trip too, which she is only receptive to thinking they’ll stop at the Agatha Christie museum on the way. Can you guess that they get there too late, Lisa gets mad at Homer, and we get to see them make amends with each other? Boy, oh boy. Anyway, Duffman finds the urge for partying too much to resist in lieu of seeing his daughter, but he gives up his job for her sake anyway. Then he becomes “Puffman,” spokesman for his daughter’s cannabis store. Couldn’t Duff sue them for blatantly ripping off their copyrighted character? Oh, who cares. I wonder if they’ll actually stick with this re-characterization, by which I mean a Duffman reskin who’s green and with a “P” instead of a “D.” Who knows what new adventures Puffman will have in the future? Maybe we’ll find out in season 67. Until then, this episode sucked eggs.

Three items of note:
– In the opening, we see that the Duffman character has been around since the 50s, as we see old Duff commercials from the 50s and 70s. It really doesn’t make much sense, given his macho man, party down with bikini girls persona feels like such a product of the 90s. I guess the Duffman we’re familiar with is a modern-era rebranding of an old character? One that’s lasted multiple decades at this point? Although I guess that does check out, given the kick-off of the story is all about Duff wanted to start fresh with a new mascot. The Duffmans (Duffmen?) we see in the two commercials of look and sound exactly like present day Duffman, which lends more evidence to these just being an army of clones Duff has been pumping out for decades.
– When Duffman first asks Homer for daddy-daugher help, Homer gathers together a crack team of fathers with daughters to help, consisting of the likes of Dr. Hibbert, Krusty, Superintendent Chalmers, Kent Brockman, Rainier Wolfcastle, and Mayor Quimby. All these characters check out as having daughters, except for Quimby, but I imagine he must have at least one illegitimate daughter (or more. Definitely more.) And I know they’ve been doing this shit for decades now, but I still don’t like how Homer apparently has the mayor and famous celebrities on speed dial and can just get them to come hang out with him on a moment’s notice. Kent Brockman and Krusty are cranky, rich assholes, why would they want to help some nobody help out another nobody?
– Duffman arrives at his daughter’s apartment, whose name placard reads, “Amber Duffman,” which I guess is supposed to be a joke, but it just raises further questions. How could he actually be named Duffman? Did he legally change his last name after he got the gig, but before his wife divorced him and left with their daughter? I have no fucking clue. Amber is played by Aubrey Plaza, who barely gets any lines, and no jokes to speak of, making her yet another gifted comic actor wasted in a nothing part on this show.