Barting Over

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = Barting Over


image_caption= Promotional artwork for the episode featuring Bart next to Blink-182 members Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker.
episode_no = 302
prod_code = EABF05
airdate = Start date|2003|02|6
show runner = Al Jean
writer = Andrew Kreisberg
director = Matthew Nastuk
blackboard = "I will not" (Bart destroys the chalkboard with an axe)
couch_gag = The living room is made of gingerbread and candy. The Simpsons are gingerbread people who rush to the couch. Homer takes a bite out of Bart’s head.
guest_star = Tony Hawk as himself
Blink-182 as themselves
Jane Kaczmarek as Judge Constance Harm
season = 14

"Barting Over" is an episode of "The Simpsons" advertised by FOX, and indicated on-screen, to be the 300th episode of the show. It aired on February 16, 2003.

The episode is actually episode number 302 of the series. Episode 300 of "The Simpsons" is "Strong Arms of The Ma", which aired February 2, 2003, two weeks earlier. Episodes 100 and 200 are referred to consistently, but this episode appears to be numbered 300 by excluding the pilot and original special from the count. This episode was also held over so it could air on the same day as the Daytona 500, so eventually it went to air being hyped as the 300th. In the episode, Marge wonders how many times Homer did something crazy and Lisa says it is 300. Marge then says she thought it was 302, to which Lisa says 'Sssh!', referencing the fact that this episode was actually the 302nd.

Plot

Looking through old video tapes, Bart and Lisa find a video featuring an episode of the sitcom "Perfect Strangers" and a commercial for a breath-freshening device for toddlers, starring a younger Bart as "Baby Stink-Breath." Bart confronts his parents about the ad and asks where all the money he must have made for it went. Homer tells him that he used it to buy back incriminating photos of Homer dropping Bart from a balcony. Bart is infuriated and claims he is sick of all of Homer's ill-treatments, but Homer taunts him that he can not do anything about them until he is eighteen. The next day, Bart goes to a law-firm named "Luvum and Burnham", Family Law. He meets the Blue-Haired Lawyer there, and tells him that he wants a 'divorce' from his family.

The next day, after dinner, the Blue Haired Lawyer comes to the Simpson residence to serve Homer with a subpoena. When Homer and Marge see that Bart is suing them, they are shocked. Bart declares that he wants to be emancipated. At the trial, the Blue Haired Lawyer makes a strong case for Bart, by proving that Homer swindled Bart and that Homer has anger-management issues. Finally, Judge Constance Harm delivers the verdict: Bart is emancipated, and Homer has to pay him half his salary until he can pay off all the money he took from him. Homer angrily releases his rage and tries to attack Judge Harm, but the bailiff stops him and drags him away. The next day, Bart prepares to leave and says tearful goodbyes to everyone but Homer, who angrily shouts at him to come back as his taxi drives away. Homer finally stops and starts crying in the middle of the street for the loss of his son.

Bart moves into his loft, which seems quite dark and scary, considering it is in downtown. However, he soon finds Tony Hawk living in the same building, who has a massive apartment with a skatepark and Blink-182 performing. He and Hawk become friends, and Bart is content with his new life. Back at the Simpson house, Marge convinces Homer to apologize to Bart, and the family goes to meet him at his loft. Homer apologizes and requests Bart come home. Bart accepts the apology, but tells them that he is going on Tony Hawk's Skewed Tour. At the event, Homer meets up with Hawk and pleads with him to pretend to lose to him so that he can make Bart proud of him again. Tony reluctantly agrees and gives Homer a modified skateboard, which does all the stuntwork. Later, Homer challenges Tony to a skateboard match and does a good job, thanks to the skateboard. Tony, unhappy about being shown up by Homer, decides to "take out the thrash".They duel with their skateboards in mid-air, and Tony falls to the ground. Homer speaks to Bart and finally promises Bart that he will never ill-treat him again. Lindsey Naegle approaches Homer and asks him to star in a commercial. Homer accepts so that he can get Bart fully repaid. Now Homer is embarrassed when he watched the final product, an ad for an impotence drug, but Bart told him that nobody will remember after fifty years. Fifty years later, Homer is dead, and an older Nelson laughs at his grave."

Cultural references

* The song that Blink-182 plays in Tony Hawk's apartment is "All the Small Things".
* Bart's ad was preceded by a fictional excerpt from the 1980s sitcom "Perfect Strangers".
* When Bart is watching his commercial, he comments on the fact he has never been in a commercial before. He then pulls out a Butterfinger bar and eats it. There was a previous episode in which Bart did the same thing.
* Before Bart enters the taxi, Homer disappears like ALF behind the window.
* The way that Homer and Tony Hawk fought with their skateboards is a parody of the fights in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"-type martial arts movies.
* The line "Of all the sites on all the web, I had to click onto his." is a reference to "Casablanca". In addition to the line, the tune of "As Time Goes By" plays and Homer acts like the character Rick.
* In one of the scenes, a group of Furbys in the Simpsons' garage have turned feral and menacingly surround Maggie.
* In the scene where Bart builds a small sculpture of Homer with his food and begins to stab it repeatedly with his fork, a parody of the Psycho theme song can be heard in the background.
* Grandpa Simpson is shown in bed, when a male nurse switches his urine bag with his drip bag, thus avoiding the work of emptying the former and re-filling the latter. This routine was featured in Catch-22.
* On a wall of the loft, which Bart moves to, appears a billboard with the image of a bottle of Absolut with the logo "Absolut Krusty".
* Tony Hawk's "Skewed Tour" is a reference to the Vans Warped Tour, an extreme sports festival.

Reception

Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 (now +44) has stated that being on The Simpsons is "...one of the best things that has happened in my life," [http://himynameismark.com/?p=166#comments] .