Bart Gets Famous

Plot

On a boring school field trip to a box factory, Bart slips away and sneaks into Channel 6 studios, where the Krusty the Clown show is filmed. He lands himself a job as Krusty's assistant, but it is not as glamorous as he had first hoped. Just as he is about the quit, Krusty asks him to stand in for Sideshow Mel who is sick.

When Bart appears on stage, he trips over and wrecks the entire set. He utters his catchphrase, "I didn't do it!" and the audience goes wild. Bart becomes an instant celebrity, with his name on every piece of merchandise under the sun.

Fearing that it is just a fad, he tries to act intelligent, but it does not work. Eventually, he decides that he should just accept that he is a one-dimensional act, and goes out to give the best performance of his life. However, it is not funny anymore and his fame is over.

Memorable quotes

Bart: Damn TV, you've ruined my imagination, just like you've ruined my ability to... uh...

Tour guide: That's just a TV studio where they film Krusty the Clown and other non-box-related programs.

Homer: You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel.

Homer: Whaddaya mean, you lost him? He might have fallen into one of these machines! (sees Bart's hat on a box) Oh, my God, that's his lucky red hat. He's a box! My boy's a box! Damn you, a box!

Lisa: I've got a weekend job helping the poor and I'm only eight.
Homer: That's not a job, it's a waste of time. What can poor people pay you? Nothing! What satisfaction you get from helping them? None! Who wants to help poor people anyway? Nobody!

Krusty: Don't listen to him, kid. This is a dream factory, the birthplace of magic, an enchantment! Now I need you to go clean out my toilet.

Lisa: If I ever become famous, I want it to be for something worthwhile, not because of some obnoxious fad.
Bart: Obnoxious fad?
Homer: Aw, don't worry, son. You know, they said the same thing about Urkel -- that little snot! Boy, I'd like to smash that kid!

Lisa: If anyone wants me, I'll be in my room.
Homer: What kind of catchphrase is that?

Krusty: Bart, I need your fingerprints on a candlestick. Meet me in the conservatory, chop-chop.

Bart: I know! I'll just do like Lisa and escape into fantasy.
Skinner: Class instead of going to the Box Factory today we'll be going to the.... Box Factory!

Suggest a quotation

Notes

• The tune Bart whistles, which Marge finds annoying, is The Simpsons' theme tune.
• Lisa's dream house has a saxophone shaped fountain outside.
• A box calendar hangs on the wall of the tour guide's office.
• Bart opens the door to Channel Six studios the wrong way - it looks like a fire escape and so should open outwards, not inwards.
• A Bleeding Gums Murphy album can be seen in the recording studio (where Bart records his rap).
• ''I didn't do it'' was originally Krusty's catchphrase (see 7G12 Krusty Gets Busted).
• The taxi that Bart passes at the end of the episode charges $4.50 a mile.

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References

• Krusty phones Bart in the middle of school to get his fingerprints on a candlestick in the conservatory, referencing the popular board game, Cluedo.
• Bart raps to Rick James/ Hammer's "You Can't Touch This".

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