Bart Gets Famous

"Bart Gets Famous" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons fifth season, which originally aired on February 3, 1994.^[1] The episode was written by John Swartzwelder, and directed by Susie Dietter.^[1] Bart becomes a one-line comedian with the catch-phrase "I didn't do it". Guest starring is Conan O'Brien as himself.^[1]

1 Plot
2 Production and broadcast notes
3 Cultural References
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Plot

The episode's promotional image. Bart with Conan O'Brien

Bart goes on an exaggeratedly dull class field trip to the box factory. However, Bart gets bored with the tour and sneakily escapes from the class to go to the Channel 6 TV studio nearby, where he wanders by a beach scene and Bumblebee Man. With his absence, Skinner calls Homer who arrives, thinking that Bart was killed in one of the giant box-making machines.

Meanwhile, Bart meets up with Krusty, who is angry that he does not have his Danish. Because of this, Bart steals a Danish from Kent Brockman and gives it to Krusty who becomes grateful and asks him to become his assistant. (Krusty has forgotten all the other times Bart has helped him out, from saving his career with the Krusty Comeback Special to saving him from being framed for armed robbery to reuniting Krusty with his estranged rabbi father.) When Bart returns home, Homer is relieved that he does not have to tell Marge that Bart was killed in a box factory accident. Afterwards, Bart continues his work as Krusty's assistant, though soon he gets tired, in that the cast members do not treat him well, and he does not get credited for his work helping the show. However, before Bart decides to quit, Krusty offers to let him say one line in a sketch. Bart messes up his lines and destroys all of the props on the stage. When the crowd's focus comes on him, he tries to get out of it, saying, "I didn't do it", which causes the audience to laugh and applaud. Seeing this, Krusty immediately uses Bart and his "I didn't do it" catch phrase in later sketches, and eventually creates a franchise out of it.

As Bart continues with being famous for his catchphrase, he begins to fear that the fad will wear off, so he tries to act intelligent (as during his interview on Conan O'Brien's late-night talk show). Eventually Bart's catch phrase loses its humor and Bart loses his fame.

Marge gives Bart a box of items she kept during his stint as, to quote Marge, "the world's special little guy", and gives it to him to help him remember this event. Lisa is glad that Bart is back to being a normal person instead of a one-dimensional character known for spouting a silly line, but when Homer accidentally breaks the Simpsons' lamp, it sets off a number of memorable catchphrases:

Homer: D'oh!
Bart: Ay caramba!
Marge: Hrrrmm...
Maggie: [sucks pacifier]
Ned Flanders: Hi-diddly hey!
Barney Gumble: [burps]
Nelson Muntz: Ha ha!
Mr Burns: Excellent!

However, Lisa isn't amused and says "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room." As she goes upstairs, Homer asks, "What kind of catchphrase is that?!"

[edit] Production and broadcast notes

Bart's catchphrase in this episode is an intentional call back to an episode in the first season of The Simpsons where it was the catchphrase of Krusty the Klown.^[2]
During the production of this episode, Late Night with Conan O'Brien had not begun filming and Conan O'Brien had only auditioned for the job, but a scene involving a version of The Conan O'Brien Show was written into the episode anyway. At the point of recording the dialog, O'Brien had got the part as presenter of the talk show, but believed it would have been cancelled by the time that the Simpsons episode would air.^[3]
The design of the insides of the box factory featured in this episode was discussed at great lengths by director Susie Dietter and Executive Creative Consultant Brad Bird. Bird wanted the design to be more lively but Dietter wanted it to be more boring to go with the story. Dietter's design was used in the finished episode.^[4]
An intentional reference to a list published by TV Guide of worst theme songs is made near the start of the show. Bart is whistling the Simpsons theme tune and Marge tells him not to whistle "that annoying tune". The Simpsons theme was named by the readers of TV Guide as the most annoying theme ever.^[5]
A dream sequence has Bart playing Match Game 2034, where Bart sits next to "the vivacious head of Kitty Carlisle" in a jar. Celebrity heads in jars would later become prominent in Matt Groening's next series Futurama.

[edit] Cultural References

Krusty alludes to the popular board game Cluedo (a.k.a. Clue) when he calls Bart and tells him that he needs his fingerprints on a candlestick and to meet him in the conservatory.
One of Lisa's imagined future achievements, in addition to curing all disease and ending war, is a reunion of the entire cast of long-running sitcom The Facts of Life, "including long-time holdout, Tootie." There was such a reunion as a TV-movie in 2001; Kim Fields returned as Tootie, but Nancy McKeon did not reprise her character of Jo.
Bart records an I Didn't Do It rap with the backing track from MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This. The backwards jeans on the album cover reference the then-popular hip-hop group Kris Kross, who famously wore their clothes backwards.