351st Follower Episode: The Heartbroke Kid

Simpsons News — Posted 05 May, 2005 by MrBurns

At Springfield Elementary the new vending machine contract is awarded to a company that promises to give half the profits to the school and it is of little consequence whether the snacks are healthy for the children or not. Bart begins taking all of his meals from the vending machine and three weeks later has gained a lot of weight, so much so that he has heart attack symptoms as a result. The X-Ray shows that malted milk balls have blocked his arteries. Despite it all Bart continues to eat junk food. Marge has no choice and holds an intervention, which Bart escapes from, right into the hands of representatives of a maximum security fat camp who take him away.Continue...

Bart finds himself Serenity Ranch with Kent Brockman, Apu and Rainer Wolfcastle. The first bill from the ranch arrives and Marge decides they need to find a way to pay for it. They open their house up as youth hostel to German tourists. Having a hard time getting through to Bart, Tab Spangler (played by Albert Brooks) takes him home and shows the horrors his family is enduring on his behalf. Bart finally gets the message and rages against the vending machines and is cured of his junk food addiction, there are three non-refundable weeks of fat camp available for a family member to use. Homer, the obvious choice, is elected to go.
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Couch: The couch is outdoors but mounted on the end of a catapult. The family members sit in their usual places on the couch, which is then launched by the catapult sending the family off into the distance.

This is Albert Brooks's sixth guest appearance on the show and as with some of his other appearances, he is credited on screen as "A. Brooks." He also actualy does two voices in the episode. For a brief second when "Fat-Bart" is skateboarding, we here the character of Jacques yell.

On a clipboard Scratchy checks off the list of damage done to him in previous cartoons.

Homer's half-brother Herb is referenced to for the first time since "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?"

When they run through the theme song with Fat Bart, he goes through the side walk. After he passes Jaques, Bleeding Gums Murphy is supposed to be there, since he died in the show, he is not.

At the start of the third act, we see two male nurses who just get up and walk out. Either there was a deleted scene there, or that was a bad cue.

The episode's title is a take off of "The Heartbreak Kid," which is the name of several movies, songs and WWE wrestler Shawn Michaels.

Homer is referencing Bart Simpsons' rap song "Do the Bartman" from 1991.

You may have to look hard for this one: During the montage where Bart is eating from the veing machines, one of the candies he eats is called "Copkillaz", a play on Ice-T's infamous song "Cop Killer".

The song that the Germans make Homer dance to for a tip is "99 Luftballons" by the band Nena.

When Bart pulls the Krusty poster off his wall to reveal a hole with a stash of candy, this is a parody of the film The Shawshank Redemption.