New Kids on the Blecch

The couch is outside a prison wall. A siren wails and a searchlight moves as The Simpsons (dressed in striped prison jumpsuits) tunnel their way to the couch.

Guest star(s)

'N Sync as themselves

Season 12
November 1, 2000 – May 20, 2001

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"New Kids on the Blecch" is an episode from the twelfth season of The Simpsons. It features the members of the pop music group 'N Sync.

1 Plot
2 Production notes
3 Cultural references
4 Songs by the Party Posse
5 External links

[edit] Plot

By paralleling Rosie Ruiz's cheating in the 1980 Boston Marathon, Bart cheats in the Springfield's equivalent. When Bart's dishonesty is quickly discovered, he finds himself in hot water with fellow competitors and spectators, so he accepts a stranger's offer to help him escape. The stranger introduces himself as L.T. Smash. Smash offers Bart a career as a member of a boy band known as "The Party Posse". Bart accepts, and becomes Party Posse's 4th member, joining Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum and Milhouse Van Houten. The Party Posse quickly ascend to stardom, albeit using complex voice enhancers built by NASA. No one is aware of the voice enhancer's use, and as such Party Posse's success depends on it.

The band releases a single titled "Drop da Bomb!", which contains the suspicious lyric "YVAN EHT NIOJ". Lisa's growing suspicion around The Party Posse eventually results in her discovering the line is a subliminal recruiting message to join the Navy, as Yvan Eht Nioj is Join the Navy written backwards. Lisa also discovers that L.T. Smash is, in reality, Lieutenant L.T. Smash ("LT" being the abbreviation for the Navy rank of Lieutenant). He says he is working to recruit people for the United States Navy.

Lisa points out her discoveries to Homer and Marge, but they dismiss her accusations as jealousy to Bart. The events come to a head when The Party Posse perform at a concert on an aircraft carrier, which only increases Lisa's suspicion towards the band. During the first song (which also contains subliminal messages), Smash learns from his superior officer that MAD Magazine's next issue will lampoon The Party Posse, calling them The Potty Posse and thus the band will not have any recruiting power. Smash's superior officer terminates "Project Boy Band" by shutting off the band's voice enhancer, exposing the group's mediocre voices. Smash becomes increasingly aggravated about his Superior Officers' actions, and threatens to send the carrier out to sea. When Smash completes his threat, a terrified audience evacuate the carrier. The only people left on the ship are The Party Posse and Homer (Homer was unfortunately in the toilet at the time). Smash sends the ship to New York City in an attempt to destroy the MAD skyscraper. Despite 'N Sync's attempt to stop Smash, he destroys the MAD building with the ship's missiles, but Smash's actions appear to only reinvigorate the MAD workers. After Smash's criminal actions, he is arrested and the potential of the fraudulent Party Posse remains unfulfilled.

[edit] Production notes

Contrary to popular belief, 'N Sync did not provide the singing voices for Party Posse. They only provided their own speaking voices. Two members of another Lou Pearlman boy band Natural provided some of the voices — Marc Terenzi for Nelson and Michael 'J' Horn for Milhouse.
In the original airing of the episode, Mr. Burns yells, "Faster, rickshaw driver, faster! You call yourself a Chinaman?" at Smithers while Smithers is driving Mr. Burns during the charity marathon. In all reruns (including syndication), the last line is changed to, "You call yourself Chinese?" since "Chinaman" was seen as a derogatory term.

[edit] Cultural references

The subliminal message of "Join the Navy" may be a reference to the song "In the Navy" by The Village People, which was commissioned by the United States Navy as a recruitment aid.
The scene of a video-clip in which boys are raising a tetherball pole is a parody of a very famous war photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal.
The title is a pun on "New Kids on the Block" and "blecch", a word of disgust often used in MAD Magazine, which is featured in the episode. This was also heard on "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" when Bart visits the MAD Magazine office in New York.
While going over his checklist for the Party Posse, Lt. Smash has three things listed. The third thing says "Boogaloo... Electric". This is a reference to the 1984 film Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, which featured the electric boogaloo dancing style, or the band of the same name that made it famous in 1977.
The video for "Drop Da Bomb" is apparently directed by Ang Lee.
The jets used in the video are similar to the color of jets used by the Blue Angels.
In Mad Magazine, one man says, "Why don't we call it, Everybody Hates Raymond?" This is a reference to the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Mad did indeed parody the sitcom in an issue, but the spoof name was "Everybody Loathes Raymud". Mad is known for overt spoofing in a childish name-calling way; at which Nelson laughs when he learns he would be lampooned as "Smellson".
The song "Ralph Wiggum" by The Bloodhound Gang contains lines from this episode. The song itself is composed entirely of quotes from Ralph Wiggum (almost, or related, like "Yvan Eht Nioj").
When Bart says 'Hello Springfield', he speaks in a British accent, like in "The Otto Show"
L.T. Smash tells Lisa that subliminal messages have been in popular music for a long time, showing a series of spoof images. The first is "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" using bayonettes (implying that this famously anti-war band had done a recruiting message for the British armed forces); the "KISS Army", showing the members of KISS wearing olive drab uniforms cleaning a latrine with their full make-up (to recruit for the US Army); and finally "GI Blues", showing ex-army man Elvis Presley in a barber's chair about to receive a military haircut.

[edit] Songs by the Party Posse

[edit] "Special Girl"

The first song recorded by the Party Posse.

[edit] "I've Gotta Spell Out What You Mean to Me"

Performed at Springfield Elementary.

[edit] "Drop Da Bomb"

The Party Posse's first hit single; a hit music video. Lisa later discovers the video to contain subliminal messages from the US Navy.

[edit] "Let's Re-Up Tonight"

Performed on the USS Sea Spanker, an aircraft carrier. The band's voice enhancer is turned off while they perform this song, revealing their naturally horrible voices to a dismayed audience.