shooting and angrily says that he will fly instead of drive the next time he needs to travel. Meanwhile, Homer finds his old stash of Playdude magazines while trying to remodel the kitchen, but throws them away after Marge cuts out all the nude pictures. Bart and Milhouse find the magazines in the trash and, after reading them, decide to remodel their treehouse and adopt the lifestyle espoused in the articles. They develop an interest in luxurious living and jazz music and begin speaking in sexual innuendos without understanding their meaning, and the treehouse quickly becomes a popular hangout similar to the Playboy Club. Learning that Bart has read the magazines, Homer has a talk with him about sex. Horrified at what he learns, Bart quickly spreads the word to the other children of Springfield, unsettling them as well and bringing their Playdude fascination to an end. Production The episode was written Matt Selman, his eleventh writing credit for The Simpsons. The episode was the first season sixteen episode that Mark Kirkland directed. Reclusive novelist Thomas Pynchon guest stars as himself in the episode, wearing a paper bag over his head. His role is reprised from the season 15 episode "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife". According to executive producer Al Jean, Pynchon helped write the jokes for his appearances. James Caan also guest stars in the episode, first seen in Bart's treehouse. He is then shown dating Brandine Spuckler, and he is later shot by hillbillies at a toll booth. Thomas Pynchon offers insight on Marge’s cooking. Pynchon contributes his own jokes—including a pun he made on his best-known work, The Frying Of Latke 49. Pynchon refused to call Homer a "fat-ass" as he did not want to speak ill of him. In the original version of this episode, after Homer tells Marge that she is the "best chef in the house", Marge grumbles, "Eh, BFD", which stands for "big, fucking deal". On Sunday night FOX repeats, the "F" in "BFD" is muted out. The original line can be heard in syndicated and UK reruns. The syndicated version also credits Russi Taylor, who was not credited in the original version of the episode. The Godfather parody was cut short in the UK version, and several sexual references from Bart's "playdude" plot were removed. The show in the UK is broadcast at six and needed to be appropriate for children. Cultural