to Chief Wiggum, Homer insults his boss, Mr. Burns, and has a last drink at Moe's Tavern, causing him to miss dinner with his family. He hurries home in time to say goodbye to his children and "snuggle" with Marge. At midnight, Homer quietly leaves his bed and bids each family member goodbye while they sleep. He sits glumly in the living room listening to Larry King read the Bible on tape. The next morning, Marge finds Homer collapsed in the armchair, realizes that his drool is still warm, and wakes him to joyfully inform him he is still alive. Homer celebrates and vows to live life to its fullest. He resumes his life, watching a televised bowling tournament while eating pork rinds. Production The episode was written by Nell Scovell and directed by Wes Archer. In the episode, Bart and Lisa sneak into the sushi bar's karaoke room and sing the theme song to the 1971 film Shaft, "Theme from Shaft". The Fox network censors originally did not want the staff to use the song because they thought the lyrics were too obscene for television. In order to prove the censors wrong and show that it could appear on television, the staff dug up footage from an old Academy Awards ceremony at which the song was performed by Isaac Hayes. When the chef at the sushi bar finds out Homer has been poisoned, he yells at his apprentices in Japanese. The staff wanted the language they spoke to be actual Japanese, so they hired a Japanese actor who translated the lines for them. The episode introduced the character Akira, who has appeared many times later on the show. American actor George Takei provided the voice of Akira, although the character was voiced in later episodes by Hank Azaria. The episode featured many other guest appearances; Larry King as himself; Sab Shimono as the sushi bar chef; Joey Miyashima as Toshiro, the apprentice chef who slices up the fugu; and Diane Tanaka as hostess of the bar. King's role was first offered to American singer Bruce Springsteen, but he turned it down. According to showrunner Sam Simon, actor William Shatner also rejected the part. "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 24, 1991. The episode was selected for release in a video collection of selected episodes, titled The