Original air date: 4/26/1998 (produced in 1997)

Production code: 5F09

Homer's Jerkass antics gets the family's garbage collection cut off, and Marge writes an apology to the garbagemen on Homer's behalf. Incensed that Marge would do something like this, Homer takes on sanitation commissioner Ray Patterson (voiced by comedian, actor, and one of Saturday Night Live's most frequent and memorable hosts, Steve Martin) in an upcoming election and wins his seat with a campaign that promises more than it can deliver.

This episode contains examples of:

• Abandoned Mine: Homer's solution for solving the Springfield Sanitation Department's budget crisis is to allow other U.S. cities to dump their unwanted garbage in one (located on the outskirts of the city) in exchange for money. The plan backfires when the garbage starts erupting from the ground all over the town.
• Adam Westing: The episode pokes fun at Bono's political activism.
  Bono: Hold on, people. The man's talking about waste management. That affects the whole damn planet!
  The Edge: Aww, here we go...
• All Elections Are Serious Business: The vote for sanitation commissioner is treated like a standard big political election.
• Alliterative Title: "Trash of the Titans".
• Analogy Backfire: When the city resumes collecting the Simpsons' garbage, just before Marge tells Homer it was because she apologized on his behalf, he asserts, "It's just like David and Goliath, only this time, David won!" Rather than correct Homer, Lisa's mind gives her Beethoven's "Für Elise" to bliss out to.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Mayor Quimby looks at garbage that suddenly popped out of the ground at the Springfield golf course.
  Mayor Quimby: What's this? Melon rinds, pantyhose, a term paper from Texas Tech?
• Awesome, but Impractical: Homer's campaign promise to have the garbage men do all of the sanitation work in Springfield is so convenient on paper that it gets him elected, only for it to inevitably drain the department's budget in less than a month. Turns out getting garbage men work beyond garbage is ludicrously expensive to implement. Further expenses such as the uniforms and the purchase of amphibious garbage trucks was just tossing good money after bad.
• Baldness Mockery: When crashing the U2 concert and encountering the baldheaded band producer, Adam Clayton's then girlfriend Susie Smith in charge of the show's graphics, Homer calls her "Kojak" and kicks her away after she protests him touching the switchboard.
• Bowdlerization: In the UK, the following scenes are cut during pre-watershed airings:
  • The many times the word "wanker" is said.
  • Homer being told by a city hall clerk that he's standing in a line for people who have to register as sex offenders (with Moe coming in and complaining that there's always a line to wait in for everything).
  • The scene during "The Garbage Man" song where the garbage men take Krusty's box of used up porno is omitted.
  • Marge, Bart, and Lisa guessing that Homer raised money for the garbage collection budget by dealing drugs (though Lisa's line, "I almost wish it were drugs!" was retained).
  • Ray Patterson's line "You're screwed!" in his resignation speech was cut (though Quimby's responding line, "We are far from screwed!", was retained).
• Brick Joke: Early in the episode, one of the pieces of trash that Homer tries to dispose of is the Sir Loves-a-Lot bear that Marge bought him for Love Day. Near the end of the episode, when other cities pay Homer to let them dump their garbage in Springfield so he can pay his workers, Sir Loves-a-Lot (who now has used syringes in him) is among the garbage being pushed into Springfield's abandoned mine.
  • Adam Clayton calls his bandmates The Edge and Larry Mullen "wankers" after they refuse to let him go with them to Moe's. At the end of the episode, while the band is flying to their next show, Mr. Burns says it to them after Bono accidentally hits him with one of Adam's collectible spoons.
• Briefcase Full of Money: Homer brings one in lieu of the garbagemen's paychecks.
  Garbage Man: (angrily) Where's our paychecks, you bum? My men ain't working another minute till we get paid!
  Homer: (opens briefcase filled with money inside) Will cash be okay?
  Garbage Man: (smiles at this) Will it!
  Mayor Quimby: (opens door and pops head in) Did I hear a, uh, briefcase opening?
• Butt-Monkey:
  • U2's bassist, Adam Clayton, is the Butt Monkey to the rest of the band, with The Edge and Larry refusing to let him go with them to Moe's bar and Bono tossing one of his collectible spoons across the airplane while flying to their next gig.
    The Edge: [To Larry Mullen] What do you say we slip out to Moe's for a pint?
    Adam: Can I come?
    [Beat]
    The Edge: No.
    Adam: Wankers.
  • Homer, as usual, gets beaten up by garbagemen, again by U2's security (and recorded on the concert's big screen), and is implied to get horse whipped after destroying the town after running through the Sanitation Department's entire yearly budget in less than a month.
  • Ray Patterson is tormented by Homer and the townspeople who fall for Homer's bad ideas. As Laser-Guided Karma they themselves lose their hometown.
• Call-Back: The half-baked development of Love Day goes similarly to the poorly-planned creation of Poochie in "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show".
• Cassandra Truth: Ray Patterson tries to warn the townsfolk that Homer's promises are unworkable, but they just brush him off.
• Celebrity Cameo: Bono, The Edge, and Adam Clayton from U2 voice themselves in the episode. Drummer Larry Mullen is also depicted but not voiced since he was unavailable for the recording session. The episode also features brief cameos from U2's manager at the time, Paul McGuinness and Clayton's then girlfriend Susie Smith.
• Charlie and the Chocolate Parody: Homer leads the town in a musical number, "The Garbage Man", an obvious parody of "The Candy Man".
• Chirping Crickets: Happens during the U2 concert, when Homer explains why the audience should vote for him without giving an actual reason.
• City Shout-Outs: Homer interrupts a U2 concert in Springfield so he can promote his campaign for Springfield's Sanitation Commissioner.
  Bono: Now, Homer, I hear Ray Patterson's a fine public servant. Why should the people of Springfield...
  Audience: (cheering)
  Bono: ...why should they vote for you?
  Homer: That's a good question, Bono. 'Cause I'd be the most whack, tripped-out sanitation commissioner ever! Can you dig it?
  (dead silence, leading Homer to try and dance, prompting boos from the audience)
  Bono: Wow, look at him go. You're the real Lord of the Dance, Homer.
  (Bono gestures to the security guards to take Homer away)
• Corrupt Politician: Quimby is capable of identifying a Briefcase Full of Money by the sound of it opening through a closed door and it is implied that he pocketed some of the cash Homer carried with him.
• Couch Gag: The family find themselves in Mrs. Krabappel's classroom, where Bart is writing "I will not mess with the opening credits" on the blackboard.
• Crossing The Burned Bridge: The entire town buys into Homer's huge promises and believe his slander against Ray Patterson, resulting in them electing Homer as the new sanitation commissioner. When Homer's actions result in the entire town being flooded with trash, the town rehires Patterson to fix the mess. Unsurprisingly, Patterson isn't enthusiastic to help the people who ignored his warnings about Homer and he leaves them to deal with the problem themselves while telling them that they're screwed.
• Crowning the Criminal: Homer Simpson is Springfield's biggest idiot, and has caused a lot of criminal harm to the city and its denizens. He runs for the sanitation commissioner position and wins due to making a lot of lavish promises he ultimately fails to keep.
• Crying Indian: Parodied. The Crying Indian is seen and does cry when he sees a can carelessly thrown at his feet, but another Indian appears next to him and tells him not to turn around and see the true horror that pollution has wrought on the former location of Springfield. Unfortunately, the Crying Indian does turn around and screams, and the second man lectures, "I told you not to turn around."
• Deadpan Snarker: Ray Patterson, being played by Steve Martin and all. His flat, ending declaration that the town of Springfield is screwed before leaving the people to their fate is the crowner.
• Delivery Guy Infiltration: Homer gets backstage at a U2 gig by posing as the "poh-tah-to man". He gets in when their manager, Paul McGuinness, asks him, "Where the hell have you been?"
• Description Cut: Patterson denounces Homer's "crazy promises" and calls him a "sleazy lunatic" at their debate. A Spinning Paper then establishes Homer's election, quoting him saying the said "crazy promises" were key to his win.
• Did Not Do the Bloody Research: When this episode first aired in the UK, it caused controversy because of how it had multiple characters say "wankers" (which is a really offensive thing to call someone in the UK) in a show airing before the 9 PM watershed. Most initial airings (including its premiere there) had it cut.
• Didn't Think This Through: Homer gets it twice over. He becomes sanitation commissioner via Landslide Election and proceeds to implement his crazy promises... which drain his annual budget within a month. Then his sale of underground Springfield to other cities for their trash leads to it being so polluted it has to be moved five miles away, building by building.
• Disaster Dominoes: The episode starts with a department store fake holiday... and through a chain of events ends with an ecological disaster where the entire town is so polluted with garbage, it's forced to abandon its location.^note  The kicker here is that if just one of the events played out even a little differently and more rationally, the disaster in-question would have been completely averted.
  • Kicking the episode off, some Department Store executives decide to create a fake holiday called "Love Day" in a shallow ploy to increase their sales. Marge & Homer completely fall for it, buying many gifts.
  • The Simpsons' "Love Day" celebration creates a lot of trash, which Homer tries to avoid taking out until it's too late. When he is finally forced to take out the trash, he misses the garbage men.
  • Homer is enraged at the garbage men missing his house, and in his anger he picks a fight with them. This leads to the workers cutting off all garbage collecting services to the Simpsons' house.
  • Homer refuses to apologize and make amends with the garbage company, even when his lawn is increasingly covered in trash. Eventually, Marge decides to secretly forge his signature to write an official apology letter to the Sanitation Commissioner to have the garbage removed. When Homer gloats at his "victory" all day, Marge has enough and tells him what she did, which infuriates him even further and he goes to city hall to get the apology back.
  • At City Hall, Homer starts an argument with Ray Patterson, the Springfield Sanitation Commissioner, and then decides to run in an election for Patterson's position purely out of spite.
  • Initially, Homer's campaign is a pathetic joke, even embarrassing himself at a U2 concert he tries to hijack; but (with the help of Moe in creating a new slogan), he creates several new campaign promises where the garbage men will do all cleaning and janitorial services in the city round-the-clock, even down to peoples' chores, which win the population over. Patterson points out how ludicrous these promises are, but the residents of Springfield elect Homer regardless.
  • Sure enough as Patterson warned, Homer's campaign promises are expensive to implement. He spends the department's entire annual budget in less than a month. To fix the budget problem, Homer opts to have other cities from across the U.S. pay him to accept their garbage, which he then has stored (or rather shoved) into the abandoned underground mine below Springfield.
  • Soon, the mine is overfilled with all the country's garbage and it finally bursts from beneath the ground, flooding the entirety of Springfield with garbage. The citizens then impeach Homer and try to reinstall Patterson. But Patterson, understandably fed up by the city's stupidity in electing Homer and polluting the town, rejects their offer and leaves for good.
  • Finally out of options, Mayor Quimby finally decides to resort to "Plan B": literally moving the entire town building-by-building five miles down the road to escape the massive, self-inflicted garbage dump that occupies what was Springfield's location.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Two Garbagemen threaten and insult Homer simply for insulting them. In real life, this behavior would instantly get them fired from their jobs and possibly even sued.
• The Dog Bites Back: A non-villainous example. After being mistreated by Homer and being ignored & voted-out by the citizens, who foolishly thought Homer's ridiculous promises were feasible, Paterson understandably wants nothing to do with Springfield. When they try to reinstall him to fix the garbage flooding the town, he rejects their offer, saying it's gratifying to see them wallow in the mess they made, and leaves for good.
• Downer Ending: Played for Laughs. Springfield is so badly trashed that the only solution is to move the whole town five miles down the road. As in: literally taking every building and house in the city, putting them on trucks, and driving them to the new location.
• Et Tu, Brute?: If somewhat justifiably, nobody opposes brutally punishing Homer for ruining the town. To punctuate this most of Homer's close friends and family members can be seen in the front rows glaring stoically as the vote is given.
• The Everyman: Brutally deconstructed, as in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" As in that episode, Homer is given a job for which he is completely unqualified, based on the townspeople's mistaken assumption that as "one of them", he understands their needs and can find a practical way of fulfilling them. As in "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", Homer's "everyman" ideas prove to be ludicrously impractical and so expensive to implement that they bankrupt the department.
• Everyone Has Standards: A strange example: Mayor Quimby, in spite of his slick and opportunistic nature as a sleazy and corrupt politician, berates Homer for his wasteful spending of the sanitation department's yearly budget in a month, and when he learns that Homer has buried huge amounts of trash under Springfield to pay the garbage men of the salaries and solve the budget crisis, he furiously fires Homer (with the unanimous vote from the angry townspeople). And with Patterson refusing to be reinstated, Quimby decides to take action by transporting the town five miles down the road in order to prevent the people from being affected by the polluted land.
• A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted: Homer spends his entire year's budget, $4.6 million, in less than a month.
  Homer: They let me sign checks with a stamp, Marge. A stamp!
• Forged Message: When the Sanitation Company cuts off their service at the Simpsons' house, Marge gets tired of the garbage pile in her front yard, so she sends the Sanitation Company a letter of apology with Homer's name. Homer is outraged when Marge tells him this. Marge points out that Homer has signed her name numerous times, but Homer claims that his dignity isn't like a loan application or a will.
• Forging the Will: During a conversation, Marge calls Homer out for signing her name for numerous papers. By Homer's own admission, at least one of them was a will.
• Funny Background Event: After Homer interrupt's U2's concert, he gets dragged off to the back by security. As the concert resumes, the big screen behind them displays the security guards beating the snot out of Homer.
• Gingerbread House: One of the ways that Homer slanders Ray is by saying that he lures children into one, in a Shout-Out to Hansel and Gretel.
• Godzilla Threshold: Plan B, which Quimby speaks of in an ominous tone. There's so much garbage springing up from the ground in Springfield, that the only option to save the city is to move it five miles away.
• Green Aesop: Word of God said this was unintentional.invoked
• HA HA HA—No: After Moe gives Homer the idea to use "Can't somebody else do it?" as a campaign slogan, they both have fun with it for a few seconds, and then Homer makes the question to try to dodge paying Moe for his beer. Moe laughs for a few seconds and then he pulls out his shotgun and orders Homer to pay up.
• Here We Go Again!: Lisa observes that even though Springfield is being moved five miles down the road, they'll almost certainly just trash it like they did to the old location.
• Hero Antagonist: Ray Patterson is is the incumbent sanitation commissioner as well as the Only Sane Man and Reasonable Authority Figure whom Homer runs against out of spite. The fact that Patterson had served for sanitation commissioner for so long highlights just how competent and reliable he is at his job.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Implied with Bart when riding with Homer to tell the citizens to vote for him, adding "If you don't, he'll beat us."^note Despite the "us", Homer is only physically abusive towards Bart, not so Maggie or Lisa. Homer then lies and says that he won't, then says (into the megaphone) that he will beat Bart as horrified citizens look on.
• Hypocritical Humor: Homer is outraged that Marge would forge his name for an apology to the garbage men, despite her quickly pointing out he has signed her name for numerous papers.
  Homer: But this isn't like a loan application or a will. You signed away my dignity!
  • In spite of his hatred of making apologies, Homer gets upset when Bart tells him that he's starting to crack over his feud with the garbage men.
    Homer: Apologize for that remark!
    Bart: No way!
    Homer: Atta boy!
  • He then vows to stand up for "the little guy" against Ray Patterson's supposed tyranny... while bullying his pet bird.
    Ray: Hey, leave the bird alone!
    Homer: Never! [Continues shaking bird cage]
  • Homer tells Lisa that he never apologizes: "I'm sorry, that's the way I am."
• I Take Offense to That Last One: Upon seeing the garbagemen riding off without collecting the Simpsons' garbage and ignoring his pleas, Homer angrily calls them "trash-eating stinkbags". Unfortunately, this made the garbagemen so furious:
  Garbageman: What did you call us?!
• Ignored Expert: Ray Patterson was smart enough to see that Homer has no clue what being sanitation commissioner is all about.
  • First, during the debate:
  Ray: All right, fine. If you want an experienced public servant, vote for me. But if you want to believe a bunch of crazy promises about garbagemen cleaning your gutters and waxing your car, then by all means, vote for this sleazy lunatic.
  • Second, when he leaves office:
    Ray: Simpson, the American people have never tolerated incompetence in their public officials. You are going to crash and burn, my fat-headed friend.
    Homer: See, we're still friends. Come on, give us a cuddle.
    [Ray storms out.]
• Ink-Suit Actor: Ray Patterson looks just like Steve Martin.
• Irony: Homer gets his ass kicked by U2's security guards as the band performs "Pride (In the Name of Love)".^note A song about the life and works of Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated after addressing striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Albeit it was deserved in this case, as Homer interrupted their concert to endorse himself for trash commissioner without any prior authorization from them, kicked a band producer Susie Smith just because she called him out on trespassing backstage and messed with expensive equipment that he could have easily broken (and which ultimately allowed his beating to be broadcast).
• It's the Principle of the Thing: All the chaos Homer ends up causing is simply because he refuses to say he is sorry or even will accept someone else (that being Marge) apologizing on his behalf. Homer makes clear to Lisa that he takes the idea of apologizing (even if it's insincere, and especially if someone else does it for him) to the garbagemen as an insult to his pride and he rides this all the way to an apocalyptic resolution.
• I Warned You:
  • When Springfield begs Ray Patterson to resume his position as Sanitation Commissioner and clean up the apocalyptic mess Homer has created in his absence, Ray makes a brief speech about how good it feels... to be right about having warned the townspeople what a disaster Homer would be if they gave him Patterson's job, and it will feel even better watching them struggle with it - from a distance, since he has no intention of sticking around.
  • A Native American chief's aide gently tells him not to turn around and see the endless vista of trash where Springfield used to be. Then the audience hears a horrified scream, and the aide says, "I told you not to turn around."
• Jerkass:
  • Homer holds a grudge against garbage commissioner Ray Patterson rather than the two Garbagemen whom actually assaulted him and runs for sanitation commissioner rather than apologizing. Once he gets elected, he renders the entire town uninhabitable in a matter of weeks. It's implied that he has been forging Marge's name on loan applications and wills, and sees no problem with doing so, yet balks at the idea of Marge signing his name. It's also implied that he tampered with the brakes in Ray Patterson's car, putting him in serious danger. He also continuously makes Ray's life a living hell by tossing lies (bringing children to his gingerbread house) and belittling him at every opportunity. When Homer wins, he laughs it all off to a fuming Ray that they were all lies and that they can keep being friends.
  • Two Garbagemen refuse to stop when Homer begs them to take his job, but reverse their truck and stop so they can threaten Homer and assault him offscreen; realistically the two would be fired for this.
• The Killjoy: Otto, rather inexplicably given the context of being at a rock concert (or not, considering he's a Metalhead). The other concert-goers at U2 are on their feet cheering, while he sits sedately in his chair yelling at everyone else to sit down.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Later during the U2 concert, Homer hijacks it to promote his campaign for sanitation commissioner, projecting himself on the concert's large monitor. After security seizes him, they take him backstage and beat him up... which is promptly displayed on the monitor he activated earlier.
  • The citizens of Springfield were foolish enough to trust Homer as their new sanitation commissioner and buy his ludicrous campaign promises, all while voting out Patterson despite him proving to be excellent at the job. Because of their stupidity, they enable Homer to unwittingly flood the town with garbage. And Patterson leaves them in the mess they and Homer made.
• Lead In: The episode opens with the creation and celebration of Love Day before moving on to Homer's conflict with the garbage department that drives the episode.
• Lethally Stupid: Homer causes an ecological apocalypse because he is too stupid to think his campaign promises would be affordable, and the people of Springfield are just as dumb for choosing Homer and his wishy-washy promises over someone they know was perfectly reliable.
• Let's See YOU Do Better!: Homer is quite convinced he can completely surpass Ray Patterson's management of sanitation in Springfield. Rather surprisingly, he provides exceptional service. Less surprisingly, it doesn't last very long, and things get worse from there.
• Literal Metaphor:
  Homer: I came to fight City Hall. I want to shake things up, Patterson. Stir up some controversy. Rattle a few cages. [Shakes a nearby bird cage]
  Patterson: Hey, stop that!
  Homer: You'll never silence me! I'm the last angry man, Patterson, a crusader for the little guy! [Shakes it again]
  Patterson: Leave the bird alone!
  Homer: Never! [Shakes it again]
• Little "No": After being fired as Sanitation Commissioner, Quimby asks if anyone is against horsewhipping Homer. When no one objects, all a sheepish Homer can do is raise his hand and say a little 'nay'.
• Logic Bomb: Costington's slogan is "Over a century without a slogan." Word of God said it took "a lot of wasted man-hours" to think it up.invoked
• Long Speech Tea Time: Apparently, Bono's speech is long enough for the other U2 members to go to Moe's and back again.
• Malicious Slander:
  Ray: You told people I lured children into my gingerbread house.
  Homer: Heheheheh. Yeah, that was just a lie.
• Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: Homer's stupidity and shortsightedness turns Springfield into such a polluted mess that there's no choice left but to move the whole town five miles away.
• Misplaced Retribution: Homer goes on the warpath and ruins a man's career (and tries to kill him — Patterson also accuses Homer of cutting his brake lines at one point) and ruins an entire town (although in Homer's defense that one was due to incompetence) because two trash men assaulted him and then didn't like that Marge wrote a letter of apology in his name when they decided to stop picking up his trash.
• Muppet Cameo: Oscar the Grouch makes a cameo during the "Garbage Man" musical number.
• New Job Episode: This episode has Homer getting a new job as sanitation commissioner.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Homer gets two: one offscreen by garbage collectors and one onscreen by U2's security detail.
• No Sympathy: Marge and Lisa are annoyed over the fact that Homer won't apologize for insulting the garbagemen even though they threatened and attacked him for insulting them; justified on the fact that Homer didn't take out the trash to the curb in time for the garbage truck to arrive, and that Homer neglected to tell his family about what happened before the fight.
• Not Helping Your Case: Homer's vendetta with the professionalism of the local garbagemen is rather valid (they ignore his house, only coming back after he insults them to beat him up and cut off his service). However, his moronic self righteous tirades never once put this event in proper context, leading both Marge and Ray Patterson to just think he's being a stupid jerk who owes them an apology. And then he vows to overthrow Patterson, and things devolve from there...
• Not-So-Innocent Whistle: When Adam Clayton gets turned down on joining the Edge and Larry Mullen at Moe's, he calls them wankers before quickly turning away to adjust his bass guitar and whistle.
• Oh, Crap!: Homer realizes he's in big trouble when the garbage collectors hear him call them "trash-eating stinkbags".
• Oireland: Homer gets in backstage to the U2 concert by pretending to be the "Potato man", who had apparently been expected.
• Only Sane Man: Ray Patterson is one of the few competent people in Springfield. So naturally, he loses his job. When the citizens try to reinstate him to solve the garbage crisis, Paterson rejects their offer and leaves town for good.
• Overturned Outhouse: Cletus's outhouse is knocked over by the force of compacted garbage erupting out from under it.
  Cletus: Hey Brandine, I think I done busted mah stink-bone!
• Pedophilia Is a Special Kind of Evil: An implicit example. One of the ways that Homer weaponizes Malicious Slander against Ray is by accusing him of luring children into his gingerbread house. Though it's a reference to Hansel and Gretel, since Ray isn't a Wicked Witch (unlike the Big Bad of the aforementioned book), the implication of what Homer is accusing Ray of^note Luring unsuspecting children in with candy is one of the most well-known tactics that child predators use is apparent.
• Permanent Placeholder: Played for laughs In-Universe. As the Costington executives are pondering making a new holiday, Mr. Costington suggests "Something warm and fuzzy, something like, um, 'Love Day', but not so lame." We immediately go to Marge saying "Happy Love Day, everyone!".
• Pig Latin: When Marge tells Homer that he's turned Springfield into "America's Trash Hole", his response is "Ixnay on the ash-hole-tray!"
• Polluted Wasteland: The town of Springfield is trashed so badly that Mayor Quimby's "Plan B" is to relocate every building in town to a new location. One of the final shots of the episode is the land where Springfield was being totally covered in nothing but garbage as far as the eye can see.
• Poor Communication Kills: Homer really should have told Marge that he fought the garbage men because of how unprofessionally they acted. Otherwise she'd probably have written a letter complaining about that instead of forging Homer's apology. This is repeated with Ray Patterson, who is initially depicted as a Reasonable Authority Figure that Homer assumes is a bullying corporate. Rather than make any direct referral to the mistreatment he suffered from some of his staff, Homer starts childishly antagonising the bewildered and angry Patterson, who insults him back, starting the disastrous war.
• Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: This episode's title is an obvious reference to Clash of the Titans.
• Pride: Homer's pride in this episode ruins the whole town. Homer refuses to apologize and doesn't tell Marge what really happened. When Marge forges the apology letter, Homer gets angry about it. When Ray Patterson gives the letter back, Homer's stupid pride causes him to run for sanitation commissioner.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Homer gets elected sanitation commissioner, but messes up so badly that Springfield tries to bring back Homer's predecessor, Ray Patterson, who Homer defeated. Ray, however, has some choice words for the people who ignored his warnings of Homer being ignorant about the position.
  Ray: Oh, gosh, you know, I'm not much on speeches, but it is so gratifying to... leave you wallowing in the mess you've made. You're screwed, thank you, bye.
• Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: Ray understandably refuses to retake his position as sanitation commissioner and rescue the Springfieldians from a mess they caused (after ignoring his warnings, no less), instead leaving them to wallow in it.
• Rule of Three: Homer vs. Ray's birdcage. See Literal Metaphor above.
• Scream Discretion Shot: Mr. Bunny died and Ned, Rod and Todd buried him in their backyard. After the burial was complete, the three of them stood at the foot of the grave and Ned prayed, "Dear Lord, please take Mr. Bunny up to Heaven." At that point, the ground rumbled from the pressure of the garbage underground, and Mr. Bunny's corpse burst out of the grave, to the horror of all three Flanderses.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • After Homer has created apocalyptic chaos with the trash accumulation, the city of Springfield welcomes Ray Patterson back with open arms in the hope that he can solve the crisis. Patterson stands in front of the whole auditorium long enough to savor the people's desperation and tell them they're screwed, then promptly leaves. Considering how they helped cause the crisis and refused to listen to his prior warnings, it's hard to blame him.
  • It turns out that Springfield's protocol for an emergency as bad as the trash crisis that is affecting them at the climax is to move the whole town, buildings and all, several miles away rather than do something (and that is anything) else about it.
• See You in Hell: As Homer and Bart clear the table and throw trash out the window, Bart grabs a brussels sprout from Lisa's plate and throws it out the window, saying, "See you in Hell, brussels sprout!"
• Shout-Out:
  • Homer's appearance on the big screen at the U2 concert spoofs Bill Gates' appearance at the 1997 Macworld Expo, in which Gates announced that Microsoft would be investing in the (then-)struggling Apple Inc.
  • Ray Patterson's end speech was inspired by an incident in which Redd Foxx was to perform in Las Vegas, but noticed that there were very few people present, prompting him to leave immediately; the band which played him on with the theme from Sanford & Son, after a moment's confusion, played him off with the theme again. This incident was also spoofed in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" when Moe walks onstage at a bachelor auction, and without stopping, walks straight to the "rejects" section.
  • In the opening scene, a saleswoman suggests that the proposed new holiday should be something religious, saying, "We had great penetration last spring with Christmas 2!" Christmas 2 was a holiday (falling on March 25) created by B.Z. to cash in on the success of Patch's Puce Pops in Santa Claus: The Movie.
  • During their debate, Homer accuses Patterson of having his "finger on the button". Patterson confusedly asks what button he's talking about, in turn causing Homer to mock Patterson as a senile old man who doesn't know what he's doing. This is a reference to the 1992 vice-presidential debate, where Ross Perot's running mate, James Stockdale rhetorically asked "Who am I? Why am I here?" in his opening statement, which rival candidates Al Gore and Dan Quayle (and, subsequently, most of the press) immediately twisted to portray Stockdale as being so senile that he literally didn't know where he was.
  • Oscar the Grouch is the last figure to pop out of the four garbage cans during "The Garbage Man Can" musical number following Apu, Sideshow Mel and Flanders.
• Simple Solution Won't Work: Subverted. When Mayor Quimby angrily confronts Homer about squandering the Sanitation Commission's annual budget in less than a month, Homer nervously tells him not to panic, Homer has a perfect solution. Quimby says he'd better, because garbagemen don't work for free! Apparently this was Homer's solution, because he immediately curses, "d'oh!"
• Skewed Priorities: The garbagemen ignore Homer's pleas to stop for his trash, though quickly reverse when he begins to insult them in response.
• Somebody Else's Problem: When Moe and Homer are discussing what to do to make Homer's campaign attractive, they fall on the slogan "Can't someone else do it?" and Homer rides it all the way to victory. His promise: the garbagemen will do everything regarding taking out the garbage, even getting it out of the homes, and the townsfolk will be free to laze around. Eventually, the additional payment Homer gives the garbagemen so they will follow this order (as well as the extra-flashy uniforms and new equipment) uses up the annual budget within a single month.
• Song Parody: The song "The Garbage Man" spoofs "The Candy Man" from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and its end parade spoofs that of The Music Man (as does Homer snapping his fingers to change into a uniform). Also, Oscar the Grouch appears in one of the trash cans in said parade.
• Speaking Like Totally Teen: Used by Homer at the U2 concert:
  Bono: Why should they vote for you?
  Homer: That's a good question, Bono. 'Cause I'd be the most whack, tripped-out sanitation commissioner ever! Can you dig it?
  [Dead silence]
• Special Guest: Steve Martin as Ray Patterson and U2 as themselves.
• Stating the Simple Solution:
  Lisa: Dad, is this [Homer's dispute with the garbage department] another one of those things that could be solved with a simple apology?
  Homer: I never apologize, Lisa. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I am.
• The Stinger: Has an extra scene towards the end of the credits run rather than the beginning with U2 and Mr. Burns riding on an airline.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Turns out, all of the ideas Homer had from the flashy uniforms to the musicals and the upgraded garbage trucks cost a LOT of money. So much, that he winds up blowing the whole budget set for a year in a month.
• Surrounded by Idiots: During the election, Paterson is flabbergasted that the Springfield Citizens actually believe in Homer's ludicrous campaign promises. Later, he refuses to be reinstated as Sanitation Commissioner, pointing out that they largely created the mess in the first place.
• Take That!: To the gift/greeting card industry for creating new holidays purely to boost revenue. Love Day bears a marked resemblance to Sweetest Day, a Valentine's Day-like manufactured holiday created in Cleveland in 1922.
• Time for Plan B: Springfield's all-purpose contingency plan to move five miles away is enacted when Homer's methods to dispose of the garbage had Gone Horribly Wrong.
• Trash of the Titans: This episode is the Trope Namer. The plot revolves around Homer's bid for sanitation commissioner of Springfield. He succeeds but as usual, his incompetence takes charge, leading him to fill the town with so much garbage that it must be uprooted and moved five miles away.
• Turn the Other Cheek: Played with. All the people of Springfield agree to horse-whip Homer for messing up the town (at least, only Homer votes against it), but strangely, as Springfield is being moved five miles down the road, Homer gets amicably welcomed by Moe when he heads into his tavern.
• Unaccustomed as I Am to Public Speaking...:
  (Ray enters to a band playing the theme to Sanford & Son.)
  Ray: [Happy sigh] Oh gosh. You know, I'm not much on speeches, but it's so gratifying to — [Deadpan] leave you wallowing in the mess you've made. You're screwed, thank you, bye.
  (Ray leaves. The band shrugs, and plays the Sanford & Son theme again as he leaves.)
  Moe: He's right. He ain't much on speeches.
• Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Once Homer believes he beat The Man and forced them to clean up his immense mess, he gloats about it to the point that Marge (who secretly sent an apology letter in his name and probably knows what will happen if she confesses to it) can't take it anymore and tells him she sent the letter just to make him shut up.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
  • Costington's sets the stage for Homer's disastrous reign when they create "Love Day" and end up drastically increasing the amount of trash Springfield produces.
  • The general population of Springfield are this when they brush off Ray Patterson's warnings about Homer being completely unsuited for the job and voting him in as sanitation commissioner anyway.
• Villain Protagonist: Jerkass Homer is in full force this episode, as he beefs with the sanitation commissioner, Ray Patterson, when it was his employees that antagonized Homer, runs for sanitation commissioner, and literally trashes the town all through petty egotism, selfishness, and incompetence. Homer also spreads Malicious Slander against Patterson and even sabotages the brakes on Patterson's car, which could have very well killed him.
• The Voiceless: Larry Mullen, Jr. is the only U2 member who isn't seen speaking onscreen because he was unavailable when the episode was produced.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The two garbagemen who threaten and assault Homer in the first place are not seen again, due to Homer becoming obsessed with taking down The Man that is supposedly Patterson. One can only assume they were replaced by Homer's re-innovated services, at least until he blows everything.
• Whispered Threat: When campaigning for Homer's run as Trash Commissioner, Bart says on a loudspeaker to vote for him or "he'll beat us". Homer gets angry, tells him that he's only joking... then whispers to him (into the loudspeaker) "You're gonna get such a beating!" to the looks of horrified citizens.
• Why We Need Garbagemen:
  • The episode's main conflict is kicked off with the local garbagemen cutting the Simpson house out of their route after Homer picks a fight with them, causing garbage to start piling up.
  • Later, the local sanitation union threatens to strike after Homer is left with no money to pay them. It's only by getting other cities to pay him to take their garbage that he prevents the strike.
• Worse with Context: This and Not Hyperbole. When Homer wants to show the rest of his family the illegal thing he did to get the money to fund his department, they all think that it's drugs until Homer shows that it's allowing other cities to dump trash in an abandoned mine. A distraught Lisa then points how much of an ecological disaster that is and says "I almost wish it were drugs!" and Bart then says a deadpan "some of it is," pointing out a truck from New York City that is dumping guns and used dope syringes.
• X Must Not Win: Shown to quite a detrimental level, since Homer's campaign is based largely on a spite war towards Patterson, he proves completely incompetent when he finally gets the job.
• The X of Y: "Trash of the Titans."

"Wankers."