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Tom Waits, Uh, Waits for the Apocalypse on ‘The Simpsons’

tom waits, the simpsons, homer goes to prep school

Tom Waits lent his gravelly bark to The Simpsons for a January 6 episode titled “Homer Goes to Prep School” and now the entire broadcast is available for streaming on Hulu. Waits, who just finished playing pirates with Keith Richards, now takes on the role of a scruffy survivalist who introduces Homer to an organization known as “The Springfield Preppers.” No, not preppies — “Always partying on deck with your docksiders while us townies are scrubbing the bilge,” as Homer describes. The Preppers are a group of doomsday dreaders getting ready for when that Mayan apocalypse finally rolls around. “We did a lot of research into the ‘prepper’ phenomenon, where people are convinced that some horrible catastrophe — like an electromagnetic pulse — is going to occur, and that people will have to survive without the grid,” executive producer Al Jean told Yahoo! TV when the guest appearance was first announced. “Homer becomes a prepper.” And the Bad As Me singer’s character is, as he introduces himself in the episode, “the guy you want to know when the stuff hits the fan.” Watch the whole thing up above.