I am looking for the exact date of a specific episode of The Simpsons,
the long playing Fox animated series, featuring an animation of the
author Tom Wolfe in which he is wearing a white suit that gets soiled.

vassar88 --

The episode you have in mind is called "Insane Clown Poppy," and it
was initially broadcast by Fox on November 12, 2000.

Here is my authoritative source for that information:

"At Timothy Lovejoy's stand, he's promoting his book "Someone's in the
Kitchen with Jesus".  Marge tries a stigmuffin, and Homer tries Mary
Magdalene's chocolate orgasm, an eclair.  When Homer bites it, the
chocolate
filling squirts out of it and hits Tom Wolfe's white suit.  He tears off
the suit revealing an identical suit underneath."

The Simpson's Archive: Insane Clown Poppy (November 12, 2000)
http://www.snpp.com/episodes/BABF17

The above is a text file that is not reader-friendly, but you will
find the plot summary excerpt in question about two-thirds of the way
down the page.

Here is a link to a more readable summary of the episode's plot
(although it doesn't include the small detail involving the Tom Wolfe
moment):

TV Tome: The Simpsons: Insane Clown Poppy: Episode 251: November 12, 2000
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-146/epid-3806



Search Strategy:

I used the following Google search to find the information:

"the simpsons" "episode guide"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-01,GGLD:en&q=%22the+simpsons%22+%22episode+guide%22

There are several online episode guides for the show.  Luckily, the
one appearing at the top of the "hit" list for the search was the one
that described this particular detail.  I found it at the Simpson's
Archive site by searching its contents for references to "tom wolfe,"
and this was the only one there.

I then double-checked the information by conducting another Google
search armed with the more specific search terms "insane clown poppy"
and "tom wolfe" and found a corroborating reference on French website:

Simpsons Park: Retranscription des Episodes
http://www.simpsonspark.com/scripts/s12/babf17.php 


I am confident that this is the information you are looking for, and I
am happy to be able to get it to you promptly.  If anything is
unclear, please ask for clarification before rating the answer.


markj-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by vassar88-ga on 21 Feb 2005 07:18 PST

Did you happen to unearth where I could buy a DVD that includes this
episode?  Thanks, Vassar88

---

Clarification of Answer by markj-ga on 21 Feb 2005 11:22 PST

vassar88--

Thanks for the kind words, the five stars and the nice tip.

As for your question about DVDs of this 2000 episode. so far Fox has
seen fit to release only the first five seasons of the show on DVD. 
The fifth season episodes were released only last December and are
available, as are the first four seasons, from online retailers,
including Amazon.com:

Amazon.com: The Simpsons - The Complete Fifth Season (1993)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00020SLO0/ref=ase_thesimpsonsarc0f/002-8200597-0032811

Episodes from the 2000 season are probably still being rerun on local
television stations. so keep your eye on the TV schedule, and you
might be able to "TiVo" or tape "Insane Clown Poppy."

markj-ga

Mark J, Thanks for an excellent answer and for your prompt response. 
Terrific!  Because of you, I plan to use this service more.  Vassar88