Wild Barts Can't Be Broken

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The Simpsons episode
"Wild Barts Can't Be Broken"

Episode no.	214
Prod. code	AABF07
Orig. Airdate	January 17, 1999
Show Runner(s)	Mike Scully
Written by	Larry Doyle
Directed by	Mark Ervin
Chalkboard	"Sherri does not 'got back'"
Couch gag	In a Dr. Strangelove parody, the family rides a couch, a la "riding the bomb" in the movie.
Guest star	Cyndi Lauper as herself
Season 10 August 23, 1998 – May 16, 1999
Lard of the Dance The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace Bart the Mother Treehouse of Horror IX When You Dish upon a Star D'oh-in in the Wind Lisa Gets an "A" Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble" Mayored to the Mob Viva Ned Flanders Wild Barts Can't Be Broken Sunday, Cruddy Sunday Homer to the Max I'm with Cupid Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers" Make Room for Lisa Maximum Homerdrive Simpsons Bible Stories Mom and Pop Art The Old Man and the "C" Student Monty Can't Buy Me Love They Saved Lisa's Brain Thirty Minutes over Tokyo
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" is the eleventh episode of the tenth season of The Simpsons. It aired on January 17, 1999.

1 Synopsis
2 Cultural references
3 The adults' secrets
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Homer is mad that the Springfield Isotopes are losing all of their baseball games, constantly deriding them verbally. Later on in the season, he walks into Moe's to hear from Lenny and Carl that the Isotopes are in the playoffs. Homer quickly joins in with the fans to support the Isotopes, who end up winning the championship. Celebrating the win, Homer, Lenny, Carl, and Barney drive drunk, which results in them vandalizing the elementary school. Chief Wiggum, who does not find any suspects, announces that a curfew will be in effect, which means no children in Springfield will be allowed to go outside after sunset.

As the curfew is in effect, Bart and Lisa are bored. They rally the children to sneak into a horror movie, The Bloodening (a parody of Village of the Damned) at the local drive-in. Wiggum sees the kids and catches them, making them clean a billboard as their punishment. When they are sick of doing the job, they plan to do a radio show called "We Know All Your Secrets", in which they expose Springfield adults' most well-hidden and embarrassing secrets. The adults expose the children's headquarters thanks to Professor Frink. Argument ensues, and after each side does a musical number (in a spoof of "Kids" from Bye Bye Birdie), the seniors step in to complain as well as to suggest a curfew for anyone under 70. This curfew is approved by one vote, thanks to the general apathy of non-seniors in Springfield concerning voting.

[edit] Cultural references

The title refers to the movie Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.
While waiting in the car, Homer can be heard singing "Hitler is a jerk. Mussolini..." This is a reference to World War II-era parodies of "Whistle While You Work" which have various endings such as "...is a meany, but the Japs are worse." However, the version Homer was singing, due to it's ending which Homer sings later on, seems to be "bit his weenie, now it doesn't work."
In the scene where Chief Wiggum skids in front of the ice cream van, he exclaims on his megaphone "Achtung Babies". This is a reference to the classic U2 album Achtung Baby and may also be a reference to "Achtung Juden" (attention Jews), a Nazi phrase warning them of rules/regulations (such as, in this episode, a curfew).
"Go back to that infamy guy" refers to Franklin D. Roosevelt's December 8, 1941 speech to Congress following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor the day before, the third selection that plays while Lisa is finding the right radio channel.
Homer, Lenny, Carl, and Barney sing the Queen song "We Are the Champions" in the locker room shower of Springfield Elementary while they are drunk. Before Barney slips and falls, they mistakenly sing a line from "We Will Rock You", a reference to the fact that this song is traditionally sung right before "We Are The Champions", corresponding to the order in which the two songs appear on Queen's 1978 album, News of the World.
Homer's recollection of the night before with the "Scene Missing" title spoofs the video for the song "Closer" by the band Nine Inch Nails.
A scene parodies the stylings of countless 1990s American television sitcoms looking to copy the success of Friends, noted by their blatant attempts to appeal to young adults. The Simpson family is seen channel surfing, and instead of a show Homer is watching called Don't Go There, Marge expresses her preference for a show entitled Talk to the Hand starring David Faustino. The fictional show's theme song is heard, with the lyrics being sung by a studio chorus: "Talk to the hand!/The face ain't listenin'!" Both shows appear to be built around the ubiquitous slang phrases with little else in terms of content. Like Friends, Don't Go There features young slackers who lounge around a coffeehouse.

[edit] The adults' secrets

Nelson's father: Has car accidents on purpose.
Martin Prince's mother: Shoplifts things she doesn't even need.
Chief Clancy Wiggum: Walks the beat in control-top pantyhose. (Which is actually illegal in Springfield).
Mrs. Edna Krappabel: Steals supplies from the school cafeteria, including mustard and lunch trays.
Homer Simpson: Eats out of the Flanders' garbage bin, has a two-hair combover and practices medicine illegally.
Luann van Houten (Milhouse's mother): Cheated on her boyfriend, Pyro, with his best friend, Gyro.
Dr. Julius Hibbert: Practices medicine illegally, but is not revealed.