"The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" is the second episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 20, 1998, and was seen in around 7.95 million households during the broadcast. In the episode, Homer, realizing his life is half over and has not accomplished anything, begins to admire Thomas Edison and decides to create inventions to follow in Edison's footsteps and make his life worthwhile. The idea behind "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" came from Dan Greaney, who assigned John Swartzwelder to write the episode. While directing the episode, Mark Kirkland visited the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, New Jersey, to receive inspiration for several scenes in the episode that take place in this museum. The episode's title is a play on Edison's nickname, the Wizard of Menlo Park. William Daniels made a guest appearance in the episode as the character KITT from the television series Knight Rider. In general, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" received positive reviews from television critics, with many singling it out as a strong beginning to a season. Plot Homer becomes depressed after learning he has lived past the halfway point of the average life expectancy for men, without accomplishing anything worthwhile. His family tries to cheer him up by showing him a film of his accomplishments and a special appearance by the character KITT from the Knight Rider television series that Homer is a fan of. When the film projector stops working, Lisa mentions that Thomas Edison invented the projector and many other inventions. Homer decides to learn more about Edison and eventually idolizes him. In an attempt to follow his footsteps, he quits his job at the power plant to become an inventor. The family disapproves of his first few inventions, including a make-up shotgun, electric hammer, alarm that only stops beeping when something is wrong, and reclining chair with a built-in toilet, making Homer more depressed. However, they like one particular invention, a chair with two hinged legs on the back, making it impossible to tip over backwards. Homer is encouraged until he notices his poster of Edison shows him sitting in the same type of chair. Bart points out that the chair is not featured on a list of Edison's inventions, meaning he never told anyone of this invention. Homer and