Pranksta Rap

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = Pranksta Rap
episode_no = 344
prod_code = GABF03
airdate = February 13, 2005
writer = Matt Selman
director = Mike B. Anderson
couch_gag = The living room floor is a chessboard and the family hops to the couch dressed as chess pieces.
guest_star = 50 Cent as himself and Dana Gould as Barney Fife


image_caption = Bart and 50 Cent.
season = 16

"Pranksta Rap" is the ninth episode of the "The Simpsons"' sixteenth season, which originally aired February 13, 2005. It guest stars 50 Cent as himself, and Dana Gould as Barney Fife.

Plot

Bart sees a commercial for the rap show "Murder 4 Life" and wants to go. Homer lets Bart buy the ticket himself, however when Marge sees Bart wearing hip hop fashion, she finds out and forbids him to attend; Bart attends anyway. When the rapper "Alcatraaz" challenges Bart to a rap battle on stage, Bart begins to rap about Homer, thus making him an instant hit. An impressed Alcatraaz gives him a ride home and a free jersey. Bart also meets rapper 50 Cent who gives Bart positive advice while doing community service.

Arriving outside his home, Bart overhears Marge and Homer talking about his escape, saying Bart would be in serious trouble if he was caught. To avoid getting into trouble, he removes his jersey, writes a note, ties it to a rock and throws it through the window. Marge reads it, which says he has been kidnapped and has instructions that they should await further instructions. Everyone is in tragic support of the Simpsons family. Police Chief Clancy Wiggum declares that he will catch the kidnapper. He is mocked, scorned, and belittled by the various citizens and reporters. After Wiggum miserably muses over his failures, a somewhat inspiring vision of Barney Fife inspires him to put forth all his effort to solve the case.

While hiding from the citizens of Springfield, Bart reveals his plan to Milhouse, who says he can stay at his dad's place in the rundown "Bachelor Arms" apartments. As Bart makes popcorn, he calls his family and disguises his voice as the supposed kidnapper. Chief Wiggum is at the Simpson's home, listening to the call. He takes the tape to the police lab, and rewinds and hears popcorn popping. He identifies it as "Chintzy Pop" (a very cheap type of popcorn). After a visit to the Kwik-E-Mart, he discovers that there are only two people who would buy that similar brand - himself, and Kirk van Houten.

At Kirk's apartment, the cops arrive to find Bart there. Kirk is arrested for kidnapping and Bart is returned to his forgiven parents. Wiggum is hailed a hero and is promoted to Police Commissioner (much to the shock of the town) and is thrown a parade. Milhouse confronts Bart, to tell him that his dad went to jail because of him. Bart feels guilty, and confesses his scheme to Wiggum. Despite this, Wiggum tells Bart to keep it a lie, as he is proud he's Police Commissioner. Kirk wants to keep it a lie as well, because while in jail, he gets a cleaner home, three meals a day, and single women cheering for him. Even Homer wants to keep it a lie so as to gain royalties from the publicity Bart is receiving.

When Lisa discovers the jersey Bart received at the concert, she arrives to the conclusion that Bart had sneaked to the concert. Homer however, burns it as he wishes to keep the lie running. Lisa asks Principal Skinner and he agrees to help.

Wiggum, Bart, Homer, and Kirk make an alliance and agree to keep their cover-ups at all costs. After they discover Lisa and Skinner's snooping, they find proof of Bart at the concert after seeing the video footage. While attempting to convince Lisa and Skinner how the lie made everyone happier, things get tense. Alcatraaz however, then throws a house party. Lisa is left questioning that whether this is all right. Homer concludes that even though Bart had lied, the lie made everyone happier, then he cannonballs into the pool.

During the ending sequence, Skinner asks Alcatraaz if there was any place in the rapping world for a "forty-something elementary school administrator." Alcatraaz says he already hired a man for that job, Superintendent Chalmers.

Cultural references

*Chief Wiggum references a case that was actually part of the TV Series Columbo, where they show you the bad guy at the beginning.
*Barney Fife from "The Andy Griffith Show" appears during Wiggum's dream on a television set much like Don Knotts did to Tobey Maguire in "Pleasantville".
*Chief Wiggum calls Bart "Bratty Hearst" after Bart asks Wiggum not to arrest Kirk. This is a reference to Patty Hearst, the newspaper heiress who was kidnapped in 1974 and bonded with her captors, helping them in a robbery.
*"The Salad of the Christ" is a parodic cross-pollination of "The Passion of the Christ" and "VeggieTales".
*The scene which Chief Wiggum analyzes the recording of Bart and Marge's phone conversation is very similar to the Gene Hackman character Harry Caul in "The Conversation" (1974). The setup of Wiggum's "Lab" is also similar to Caul's dingy warehouse workstation.
*Bart mentions that Milhouse wets his pants whenever he watches a "Harry Potter" film.
*This episode features two melodies from Peer Gynt by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

Rap music references

*The title is a pun on the music genre gangsta rap.
*When Principal Skinner, Lisa, and Alcatraaz are analyzing the videotape of the concert to expose the kidnapping hoax, Skinner asks to verify the time and date. When the tape is rewound, there is a clock with the time hanging from a rapper's neck, similar to the one trademarked by Flavor Flav.
*Homer says that N.W.A. stood for "Not Without Ass-welts". N.W.A. (which actually stands for "Niggas with Attitude") was a rap group during the 80's.
*The part where Bart is at the concert rapping on stage, is a reference to "8 Mile", a movie starring Eminem.

External links

*imdb title|id=0701198|title=Pranksta Rap