Brother's Little Helper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Simpsons episode
"Brother's Little Helper"

Episode no.	228
Prod. code	AABF22
Orig. Airdate	October 3, 1999
Show Runner(s)	Mike Scully
Writer(s)	George Meyer
Director(s)	Mark Kirkland
Chalkboard	"Pork is not a verb"
Couch gag	Animators use a paint-by-numbers canvas and color in to reveal the family members.
Guest star(s)	Mark McGwire as himself
SNPP capsule
Season 11 September 26, 1999 – May 21, 2000
Beyond Blunderdome Brother's Little Helper Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner? Treehouse of Horror X E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder Eight Misbehavin' Take My Wife, Sleaze Grift of the Magi Little Big Mom Faith Off The Mansion Family Saddlesore Galactica Alone Again, Natura-Diddily Missionary: Impossible Pygmoelian Bart to the Future Days of Wine and D'oh'ses Kill the Alligator and Run Last Tap Dance in Springfield It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge Behind the Laughter
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"Brother's Little Helper" is the second episode of the eleventh season of The Simpsons. It aired on October 3, 1999. The title refers to an early Rolling Stones song, titled "Mother's Little Helper"; the song is about pill abuse.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Cultural references
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Bart wreaks havoc at a fire safety lesson at school, resulting in extensive property damage to the gym. Principal Skinner calls a meeting with Homer and Marge, where he recommends that Bart be put on medication. Homer and Marge go to a pharmaceutical center, where the doctors precribe a drug called Focusyn to help Bart.

Bart (reluctantly) agrees to try the medication, and his behavior immediately improves. He begins paying attention in school and being respectful to his parents. However, side effects soon occur as Bart becomes paranoid that Major League Baseball is spying on the town using satellites. The doctors recommend that Bart go off of Focusyn, but he angrily refuses. Before anyone can stop him, he swallows several handfulls of Focusyn and runs away.

Bart wanders onto an army base and manages to steal a tank. He cuts a swath of destruction through the town, until he eventually stops at the school. There, he points the tank gun into the sky and shoots down a Major League Baseball satellite, proving his theory right. Mark McGwire appears, but instead of explaining the bizarre situation, he distracts the townspeople by hitting some baseballs and then runs off with the evidence. Bart is taken off of Focusyn and put back on "good old Ritalin."

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

The people seen at the movies at Showgirls are: Superintendent Chalmers, Apu, Grampa, Dr. Hibbert, Snake, Kirk Van Houten, Moe, Captain McCallister, Dr. Nick Riviera, Nelson, Lenny, and Krusty.
The clowns seen jumping out of Krusty's car are Noodles, Seesaw, Oopsie, Flopsweat, Hoohaw, Jitters, and Sir Widebottom.
The description Marge gives the police character artist looks like Dennis the Menace. Wiggum, upon seeing the sketch, comments "Looks like the kid who roughed up the Wilson widow," referencing Dennis' next door neighbors.
When Bart points the tank cannon at the townspeople, Ralph Wiggum is the only person who doesn't flinch.

[edit] Cultural references

Marge standing in front of the tank is a reference to Tank Man.
The Fire Safety Day slogan, "Learn, Baby, Learn", is a spoof of "Burn, Baby, Burn"
The title "Brother's Little Helper" is a reference to the song "Mother's Little Helper" by the Rolling Stones.
Homer remarks that Bart has gone from Goofus to Gallant
When on his rampage, in a tank, Bart sings Don't Stop by Fleetwood Mac