Burns decides to buy it back. Hans and Fritz discover that the plant is in need of repairs and decide to sell before they sink too much money into it. Burns, noting their desperation to sell, offers them $50 million for the plant; they reluctantly accept half what they had paid him. Now back in charge, Burns re-hires Homer, though he secretly vows revenge for the humiliation he suffered at the bar. Production The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Mark Kirkland. It features several German elements, including a reference to John F. Kennedy's "ich bin ein Berliner" speech. The title "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk" is an inaccurate German translation of "Burns sells the power plant", the correct version being Burns verkauft das Kraftwerk. Originally, the writers decided to have Burns sell the plant to the Japanese, but they decided that it would have been too clichéd; the plot, however, remained the same with the Germans. The writers and animators based one of the two German buyers on the German character Sergeant Schultz from the American television show Hogan's Heroes. By coincidence, frequent Simpsons guest star Phil Hartman happened to know a little German, so he helped out with the conversations. Hartman also guest-starred in the episode as Horst and the stockbroker. In the dubbed German version of the episode, the two Germans whom Homer meets in Moe's Tavern each speak a different dialect to distinguish them from the American characters who speak Standard German. The writers had a tough time coming up with Bart's prank call to Moe's Tavern and Moe's reply, in which they could not include any foul language. The writer also wanted to include a longer portion of Burns's sworn vengeance, but had to trim it in the end. In this episode, the producers decided to start stressing the relationship between Smithers and Burns. Originally, there was a two-minute scene involving the two, but the writers cut it down considerably. The producers also noted the constant flux of the Simpsons' economic state; one moment Homer appears to have his wallet full of cash, and the next, they do not even have a savings account. The animators also included a character other than Lenny or Homer with a beardline, something the producers did not like. Originally, when The Simpsons shorts aired on The Tracy Ullman Show, all the male characters had beardlines similar to