The Great Money Caper

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The Simpsons episode
"The Great Money Caper"

Episode no.	255
Prod. code	CABF03
Orig. Airdate	December 10, 2000
Show Runner(s)	Mike Scully
Writer(s)	Carolyn Omine
Director(s)	Michael Polcino
Chalkboard	"The nurse is not dealing"
Couch gag	The couch is underwater, and the family (in scuba gear) swims to the couch. The camera, pulling back, reveals the family is in a fishbowl.
Guest star(s)	Edward Norton as Devon Bradley
SNPP capsule
Season 12 November 1, 2000 – May 20, 2001
Treehouse of Horror XI A Tale of Two Springfields Insane Clown Poppy Lisa the Tree Hugger Homer vs. Dignity The Computer Wore Menace Shoes The Great Money Caper Skinner's Sense of Snow HOMR Pokey Mom Worst Episode Ever Tennis the Menace Day of the Jackanapes New Kids on the Blecch Hungry, Hungry Homer Bye Bye Nerdie Simpson Safari Trilogy of Error I'm Goin' to Praiseland Children of a Lesser Clod Simpsons Tall Tales
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"The Great Money Caper" is the seventh episode of the twelfth season of The Simpsons. It aired on December 10, 2000.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Cultural references
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The family goes to a magic themed restaurant. Once there, Bart becomes so fascinated with magic that he wants a magic set. Unfortunately, a sturgeon falls from the sky onto the family car's hood, which is severely damaged. Homer and Bart start their magic show as a way to make money, but the act becomes a failure, and he leaves Bart to do the rest of the act on his own. Later, Bart finds a gift for grifting, and he and Homer start their grifting business, with help from Grampa. The grifting business is destroyed when Homer and Bart are arrested, and scam their way out of the problem by using Groundskeeper Willie as the scapegoat. It isn't long, however, before the citizens of Springfield reveal themselves to have actually staged this trial to teach Homer and Bart a lesson, and before Lisa can say why, Otto says that the citizens should go surfing, and they do.

[edit] Trivia

Some scenes which have been removed from the original broadcast of the episode:
- When the Simpsons are watching a live broadcast of the arrest of Groundskeeper Willie, the scene originally ended with Homer suggesting to his family that "we all go to sleep with some Chloroform", at which point he pours some onto a rag and sniffs it.
- When Homer attempted to do the very same thing inside the courtroom, instead of Chloroform he finds a bottle of Mountain Dew in his hand. He screamed "Mountain Dew?! Awwww...".
This is the third episode where Homer has been mistaken for a bum, the other two being Homer Loves Flanders (at the homeless shelter), and Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder (by Ron Howard's son). He was also thrown spare change on the streets of New York in an earlier episode.
In a freeze frame moment, it's possible to see that the FBI card the grifter flashes is a fake.

[edit] Cultural references

The title is a spoof on the movie The Great Muppet Caper.
The plot is similar to the 1973 film Paper Moon. This reference is indicated when Homer and Bart attempt to fool Ned Flanders with a presumably false Bible from the recently deceased Maude Flanders, Flanders begins to realize it's a scam and says "Wait a minute, this is awfully like that movie Paper Moon!"
Grandpa explains that the con they attempt at the old folks' home was from The Sting II "so nobody knows about it!"