Over its many years on the air, The Simpsons has tackled some serious issues. In Season 19, Episode 1, "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs," a simple statement made by Homer Simpson became one of his most controversial. Yes, Homer declared Chicago deep dish his favorite type of pizza.
Considering the mayhem Homer has caused throughout the series, his stance on pizza hardly seems like a big deal. However, the heated feud between Chicago deep dish lovers versus New York-style pizza fans has been going on for decades. Those that are highly opinionated on the topic even go as far as declaring Chicago Deep Dish isn't even pizza at all.
In the episode "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs," Homer saves Mr. Burns' life after the millionaire falls into a water fountain. As a reward, Burns offers to take Homer to dinner. It's here Homer makes the declaration that he likes Chicago deep dish pizza, prompting Burns to fly him to Chicago on his private plane. After experiencing the luxuries of a private jet, Homer returns to Springfield, depressed about his "ordinary" life and vows never to fly commercial again. He becomes obsessed with finding a job that involves flying jets and hires the life coach Colby Krause to help him reach his goal.
Although this particular episode of The Simpsons was met with mediocre reviews, Homer's pizza opinion was surprisingly controversial. His love for Chicago deep dish was confirmed again almost a decade later. In Season 27, the episode "Simprovised" contained a three-minute live-animated segment where viewers could ask Homer Simpson questions. One such question inquired about Homer's pizza preference, to which he responded, "I prefer Chicago deep dish because I like Italian better than Chinese."
Despite the Chicago Tribune counting Homer's statement as a win for the Windy City, others weren't so pleased with his response. Although separate from both Simpsons episodes, Jon Stewart famously went on a rant about Chicago deep dish back in 2013 on The Daily Show. As reported by Eater, Stewart expressed his hatred for Chicago deep dish by saying, "This is not pizza. This is tomato soup in a bread bowl. This is an above-ground marinara swimming pool for rats." Stewart's opinion sparked a response from the Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel who defended his hometown dish. It wasn't long before chefs across the U.S. took to Twitter to pick sides in the epic New York-Chicago pizza debate.
Homer Simpson's opinion on the matter likely stems from his voice actor Dan Castellaneta, a proud Chicago native. As one of television's biggest gluttons, Homer does carry some expertise when it comes to food. Nonetheless, even this beloved character's opinion failed to put the Chicago deep dish controversy to rest.