disappointed to learn spring break is over and the students are returning to their studies. Still wanting to party, Homer rents an airboat and makes his family join him on a joyride through the local swamp. There he accidentally kills the town's most famous resident and reptile – an alligator named Captain Jack. The local sheriff, lenient during spring break and cruel the rest of the year, subsequently arrests the entire family. The family flees in their car but the sheriff gives chase until the family are pushed down the rails by an oncoming train. Lost in the wilderness and on the run, the family come across a diner, where they are given employment. They are eventually tracked down by the sheriff, who kidnaps them while they are asleep. For their crimes (and Homer's foolish attempt at defending himself in court - calling the jury "drunken hicks"), the family is put into forced labor. While assigned to work at a party held by a judge in front of the capitol, the family once again try and fail to escape. When it is then revealed that Captain Jack was never dead, simply knocked out, the family are released but are banned from the state of Florida - leaving them only able to travel to Arizona or North Dakota. (Though Homer rejects the former state because he dislikes its odor.) Production "Kill the Alligator and Run" was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Jen Kamerman as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000). When the animation department finished its work on the episode, it had ended up being about four minutes too long and the staff of the show was forced to make some difficult cuts. One scene that was cut saw Captain Jack lying in state at the capitol in Florida, with Kid Rock being one of the people present to pay their respects to the alligator. The Simpsons showrunner Mike Scully has expressed regret for cutting this scene because it "hurts the logic" later in the episode when Captain Jack crawls out of the capitol and reveals himself to everyone, thus creating a plot hole due to a lack of any explanation as to how he got there. Actor Diedrich Bader guest starred in the episode as the sheriff. The Simpsons producer Ian Maxtone-Graham directed Bader during his recording session, telling the guest star to do a