New Kids on the Blecch

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The Simpsons episode
"New Kids On The Blecch"

Episode no.	263
Prod. code	CABF12
Orig. Airdate	February 25, 2001
Show Runner(s)	Mike Scully
Written by	Tim Long
Directed by	Steven Dean Moore
Chalkboard	"I will not buy a presidential pardon"
Couch gag	The family tunnels to the couch dressed in prison garb.
Guest star	'N Sync as themselves
SNPP capsule
Season 12 November 1, 2000 – May 20, 2001
Treehouse of Horror XI A Tale of Two Springfields Insane Clown Poppy Lisa the Tree Hugger Homer vs. Dignity The Computer Wore Menace Shoes The Great Money Caper Skinner's Sense of Snow HOMR Pokey Mom Worst Episode Ever Tennis the Menace Day of the Jackanapes New Kids on the Blecch Hungry, Hungry Homer Bye Bye Nerdie Simpson Safari Trilogy of Error I'm Goin' to Praiseland Children of a Lesser Clod Simpsons Tall Tales
List of all Simpsons episodes...

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 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Cultural references
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

By paralleling Rosie Ruiz's cheating in the 1980 Boston Marathon, Bart wins the Springfield's equivalent. When it is discovered Bart cheated, he finds himself in hot water with fellow competitors & spectators, so he accepts a stranger's offer to help him escape. The stranger reveals that his identity is L.T. Smash. L.T. offers Bart a job in a boy band known as Party Posse. Bart accepts, and becomes Party Posse's 4th member, joining Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, and Milhouse Van Houten. 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 the voice enhancer.

The band releases a single titled Drop da Bomb!, which contains a suspicious lyric; Yvan Eht Nioj. Lisa's growing suspicion around 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 Smash ("LT" being the abbreviation for the Navy rank of Lieutenant), who 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 Party Posse perform a concert on an aircraft carrier, which only increases Lisa's suspicion towards the band. During the first song (which also contains subliminal messages), L.T. learns from his superior officer that MAD Magazine's next issue will reveal Party Posse's secrets, which, until then, had been kept secret from the public. Concerned the magazine will end Project Boy Band, L.T.'s superior officer shuts off the band's voice enhancer, exposing the groups's mediocre voices. LT. becomes increasingly aggravated about his Superior Officers's actions, and threatens to send the carrier out to sea. When L.T.'s completes his threat, a terrified audience evacuate the carrier. With only Party Posse, L.T., and Homer on the ship (Homer was unfortunately in the toilet at the time), L.T. sends the ship to New York City in an attempt to attack MAD. Despite 'N Sync's attempt to stop L.T., he destroys the MAD building with the ship's missiles, but L.T.'s actions appear to only reinvigorate the MAD workers. After L.T.'s criminal actions, he is arrested, and the potential of the fraudulent Party Posse remains unfulfilled.

[edit] Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, 'N Sync did not provide the voices for Party Posse. Two members of another Lou Pearlman boy band Natural provided some of the voices -- Marc Terenzi for Nelson and Michael 'J' Horn for Milhouse.

This episode aired seven months before 9/11. During the scene in New York, the World Trade Center is briefly visible.

In the episode "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", Bart visits the office of MAD magazine and Alfred E. Neuman leans out of an office door and demands a progress report on an article named "New Kids on the Blecch," which is the title of this episode. Both episodes involve New York City, MAD magazine, and the phrase "New Kids on the Blecch".

A few seconds after L.T. Smash flips the switch on the aircraft carrier from "DE-COMMISSION" to "COMMISSION", the switch is again visible, but instead reads "MUSEUM" instead of "DE-COMMISSION" and "SHIP" instead of "COMMISSION". The ship still has active warheads on board. In actuality, decommissioned US Navy vessels have all missiles removed and their weapon systems deactivated.

A similar plot line happened in an issue of the Simpsons comic book. Three major differences are Homer is making the Boy Band, Todd Flanders and Roy are part of the band (Milhouse is absent, even though he " decorated homers hubcaps with his toothbrush") and they are called "Five from 'Field." Note: Additional nanes considered were "The Buttkick Boys"(Nelson), "Bart and The others" (Bart), "AAAAYYYYYYYY"(Roy), "The Shelbyville Rockers"(Ralph), and "The 5 Wise Men"(Todd). also mentioned is the existence of a book called "Talent, Schmalent: How to Build your own Boy Band."

This marks the second appearance of Otto's father, who is also the superior officer of L.T. Smash and responsible for "Project Boyband". In "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Marge", he berates Otto for not amounting to much. This remains to be seen, now that Otto had enlisted in the US Navy (although by way of the subliminal messaging) and this would probably better relations now that father and son are in the same line of work.

In the Springfield Marathon, Homer wears number 74. This may be how Lisa recognized "Grampa" as a dehydrated Homer.

L.T. Smash tells Lisa that subliminal messages have been in popular music for a long time, showing "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Clubs Band" (presumably a recruiting message for the British armed forces); the "KISS Army", showing the members of KISS wearing olive drab uniforms cleaning a latrine, (although the US Army would probably not allow the members to wear their face paint and hairstyles), and the "GI Blues", showing Elvis Presley in a barber's chair about to receive a military haircut. In reality, Elvis Presley was indeed in the Army, and had his famous ducktail hairstyle shaved into a crewcut. Elvis earned an honorable discharge.

[edit] Cultural references

While reporting on the marathon, the "6" on Kent Brockman's microphone appears to be the logo of the 6 line of the New York City Subway.
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.
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 Loves Ray-Mud". MAD is known for overt spoofing in a childish name calling way; which Nelson laughs when he learns he would be lampooned as "Smellson".