{{For|the titular character|Bart Simpson}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Good article}}{{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | caption = | season = 3 | episode = 4 | director = [[Rich Moore]] | writer = [[John Swartzwelder]] | production = 8F03 | airdate = {{Start date|1991|10|10}} | guests = * [[Joe Mantegna]] as [[Fat Tony (The Simpsons)|Fat Tony]] and himself playing Fat Tony * [[Phil Hartman]] as [[Troy McClure]], Mobster and [[Lionel Hutz]] * [[Neil Patrick Harris]] as himself playing [[Bart Simpson]] * [[Marcia Wallace]] as [[Edna Krabappel]] | blackboard = (first) "High explosives and school don't mix"/(second) "I will not bribe Principal Skinner" (during the episode) | couch_gag = The family forms a [[human pyramid]] with [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] on top. | commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br>[[James L. Brooks]]<br>[[Al Jean]]<br>[[Nancy Cartwright]]<br>[[Rich Moore]] | prev = [[When Flanders Failed]] | next = [[Homer Defined]] }} "'''Bart the Murderer'''" is the fourth episode of the [[The Simpsons season 3|third season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in the United States on October 10, 1991. In the episode, [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] stumbles upon a [[American Mafia|Mafia]]-owned [[Bar (establishment)|club]]. The owner of the bar, mobster [[Fat Tony (The Simpsons)|Fat Tony]], hires Bart as a [[bartender]]. When [[Principal Skinner]] goes missing after giving Bart [[School discipline#Detention|detention]], Bart is put on trial, accused of murdering Skinner.
The episode was written by [[John Swartzwelder]] and directed by [[Rich Moore]]. This episode marks the first appearances of recurring characters Fat Tony ([[Joe Mantegna]]) and his [[henchmen]], [[Legs and Louie]]. The episode features cultural references to songs such as "[[Witchcraft (1957 song)|Witchcraft]]" and "[[One Fine Day (song)|One Fine Day]]", the American television series ''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]'' and the movies ''[[The Godfather]]'', ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'' and ''[[Goodfellas]]''.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 13.4 and was the highest-rated show on Fox the week it aired.
==Plot== After forgetting his permission slip at home, [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] misses out on a field trip to the chocolate factory and spends the day licking envelopes with [[Principal Skinner]]. On the way home, he loses control of his skateboard during a downpour and crashes down the stairwell of the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club, owned by the Springfield [[Mafia]].
At the club, mob boss [[Fat Tony (The Simpsons)|Fat Tony]] and his henchmen, [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Legs and Louie|Legs and Louie]], are inhospitable towards Bart at first. They are soon impressed by his ability to pick [[Horse race|winning horses]] and make excellent [[Manhattan (cocktail)|Manhattan]]s. Fat Tony hires him as the club's [[bartender]] and errand boy, and Bart starts wearing [[Rat Pack]] suits and allows the Mob to store a truckload of stolen cigarettes in his bedroom until they can be [[Fence (criminal)|fenced]]. After a news story about a hijacked truck of Laramie cigarettes, followed by Lisa questioning if Bart's boss is a crook, Bart starts to feel uneasy.
Bart is given detention for trying to bribe Principal Skinner, and is unable to attend his new workplace on time to serve Manhattans to a rival gang at a meeting. The mobsters confront Skinner, who is reported missing the next day. As it becomes apparent that Skinner has been murdered, Bart rushes to confront Fat Tony at the club after a nightmare about Skinner's ghost and his own execution. While Bart is there, the police raid the club and arrest the mobsters. Bart is subsequently placed on trial for Principal Skinner's murder.
At the trial, Fat Tony, Legs and Louie say Bart killed Skinner and that he is the kingpin of the Springfield mafia. [[Homer Simpson|Homer]], when called to testify, finds the claims plausible. Bart is found guilty and [[Judge Snyder (The Simpsons)|Judge Snyder]] is about to give Bart a certain death sentence when Skinner, unshaven and disheveled, bursts into the courtroom, and explains to everyone what happened to him. Fat Tony and his henchmen visited Skinner's office and left sheepishly after Skinner scolded them for interfering in student discipline. When he returned home that day, Skinner became trapped beneath stacks of old newspapers in his garage and lay stuck there for a week before finally coming up with his own escape plan.
Bart is exonerated, despite the prosecution's unsuccessful attempt to have Skinner's speech stricken from the record. Bart quits Fat Tony's gang and tells him that the [[Bromide (language)|bromide]] is true: crime doesn't pay. The incident is the basis for a TV movie, ''Blood on the Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story'' starring [[Richard Chamberlain]] as Skinner, [[Joe Mantegna]] as Fat Tony and [[Neil Patrick Harris]] as Bart. After learning the family won't receive royalties for the movie, Homer says he knows who the real crooks are: the Hollywood producers.
==Production== [[File:JoeMantegnaMay08.jpg|upright|thumb|left|[[Joe Mantegna]] guest starred as Fat Tony.]]
The episode was written by [[John Swartzwelder]] and directed by [[Rich Moore]]. The writers conceived the idea of the episode before the 1990 film ''[[Goodfellas]]'', which has a similar plot, was released. After it was, the writers incorporated references to the film in the episode.<ref name="Jean"/> Fat Tony makes his first appearance on the show in this episode. He was modeled after [[Paul Sorvino]]'s character Paul Cicero in ''GoodFellas''.<ref name="Jean">{{cite video |people=Jean, Al |date=2003 |title=The Simpsons season 3 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Murderer" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>
The writers originally wanted [[Sheldon Leonard]] to voice Fat Tony, but they were unable to get him, so they went with [[Joe Mantegna]] instead.<ref name="Jean"/> Mantegna was offered the role during the show's second season, and since he had seen the show before and thought it was "funny", he decided to give it a shot.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smokemag.com/0904/cover.htm |title=Not Your Average Joe |last=Bernardo |first=Mark |date=September 2004 |work=Smoke |access-date=2009-06-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720142001/http://www.smokemag.com/0904/cover.htm |archive-date=2008-07-20 }}</ref> He felt honored they had asked him.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jacobs |first=Jay S. |title=Joe Mantegna - One Of Us |publisher=PopEntertainment |date=2004-02-10 |url=https://popentertainmentblog.com/2004/02/10/joe-mantegna-one-of-us/ |access-date=2022-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081117192252/http://www.popentertainment.com/mantegna.htm |archive-date=17 November 2008 }}</ref> In an interview with ''[[The A.V. Club]]'', Mantegna said he thinks the reason he got the role was partly due to his performance in the 1990 Mafia film ''[[The Godfather Part III]]'', which had opened just prior to the offer. He thought the script was smart and clever, and he enjoyed recording it. Mantegna has since appeared many times on the show as Fat Tony; it is Mantegna's longest-running role in his acting career.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Liz |title=Catching Up with Joe Mantegna |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=2007-05-25 |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2007/05/catching_up_with_joe_mantegna.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519105302/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2007/05/catching_up_with_joe_mantegna.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 19, 2011 |access-date=2008-12-10}}</ref> Mantegna mused: "Who knew that Fat Tony was gonna resonate in the hearts and minds of the [''Simpsons'' fans] out there? Apparently [the writers] got enough feedback as to how the character was liked that they wrote it in again and again, and I was kind of a recurring guy that they'd tap into at least a couple episodes a season."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.avclub.com/joe-mantegna-1798216310 |title=Joe Mantegna |last=Rabin |first=Nathan |date=April 21, 2009 |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |access-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525021559/http://www.avclub.com/articles/joe-mantegna%2C26934/ |archive-date=25 May 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Mantegna even appeared as Fat Tony in ''[[The Simpsons Movie]]'' (2007).
Legs and Louie, Fat Tony's henchmen, also made their first appearances in this episode. The character of Louie was based on American actor [[Joe Pesci]], who is known for playing violent mobsters.<ref name="Moore">{{cite video |people=Moore, Rich |date=2003 |title=The Simpsons season 3 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Murderer" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> [[Neil Patrick Harris]] guest starred in the episode as himself, portraying Bart in the TV movie ''Blood on the Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story''. As a meta-joke, Mantegna plays Fat Tony in the movie.
==Cultural references== [[File:Frank Sinatra laughing.jpg|thumb|upright|The song "[[Witchcraft (1957 song)|Witchcraft]]" by [[Frank Sinatra]] is heard in the episode.]]
The scene where [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] waves to Bart as he tries to get on the bus is a reference to [[The French Connection (film)|''The French Connection'']] (1971). The Native American in the film at the chocolate factory is a parody of [[Chief Wahoo]]. The sequence of Bart crashing down the stairwell to the Mafia bar is similar to a scene in the film ''[[Goodfellas]]'' (1990), in which a young boy is employed by a Mafia as their messenger.<ref name="BBC"/> All the horses in the race that Bart bets on are named after a famous animated character's [[catchphrase]]: "Sufferin' Succotash" ([[Sylvester the Cat]]), "Yabba Dabba Doo" ([[Fred Flintstone]]), "Ain't I a Stinker?" ([[Bugs Bunny]]), "That's All Folks" ([[Porky Pig]]), "I Yam What I Yam" ([[Popeye]]), and Bart's own "Eat my shorts" and "Don't have a cow".<ref name="book"/><ref name="Cartwright">{{cite video |people=Cartwright, Nancy |date=2003 |title=The Simpsons season 3 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Murderer" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>
[[The Chiffons]]'s song "[[One Fine Day (song)|One Fine Day]]" is heard when Bart serves drinks to the mobsters during a game of poker. The writers originally wanted to use [[The Ronettes]]'s "[[Be My Baby]]" for the scene, but they could not clear the copyrights for it.<ref name="Jean"/> In his room, Bart stores the Springfield Mafia's [[Looting|loot]]—a truckload of cartons of [[Laramie (cigarette)|Laramie]] cigarettes.<ref name="book">{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |editor1-first=Ray |editor1-last=Richmond |editor1-link=Ray Richmond |editor2-first=Antonia |editor2-last=Coffman |title=[[The Simpsons episode guides#The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family|The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family]] |edition=1st |year=1997 |location=New York |publisher=[[HarperPerennial]] |lccn=98141857 |ol=433519M |oclc=37796735 |isbn=978-0-06-095252-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomplete00groe/page/65 65] |ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}} }}.</ref> While strutting around the kitchen, he sings [[Frank Sinatra]]'s song "[[Witchcraft (1957 song)|Witchcraft]]".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937935/springfield_rock_city/print |title=Springfield, Rock City |last=Nawrocki |first=Tom |date=November 28, 2002 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=2008-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220224951/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937935/springfield_rock_city/print |archive-date=20 December 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The scene where Bart wakes up screaming after having a nightmare about Skinner is a reference to the scene in ''[[The Godfather]]'' (1972) where Jack Woltz screams after waking up with his horse's head by his side.<ref name="book"/>
Fat Tony receiving "the Kiss of Death" from a mobster for serving a substandard Manhattan is a parody of [[Michael Corleone]] kissing his brother [[Fredo Corleone|Fredo]] after discovering his betrayal in ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'' (1974). When Legs testifies against Bart in court, a chart of photographs displays Bart as the head of a crime family, reminiscent of the chart displaying "The Michael Corleone Family" during the Senate Hearing Committee sequences in ''The Godfather Part II''. Skinner frees himself from being trapped under the newspapers in a way similar to [[Angus MacGyver]]'s escapes in the American TV series ''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]''.<ref name="Groening">{{cite video |people=Groening, Matt |date=2003 |title=The Simpsons season 3 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Murderer" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>
==Reception== In its original American broadcast, "Bart the Murderer" finished 31st in the ratings for the week of October 7–13, 1991, with a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 13.4, equivalent to approximately 12.5 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on Fox that week.<ref name=Rating>{{cite news |title=Thomas Vs. Hill Earns Smash Ratings |newspaper=[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]] |author=Wilson, Jeff |page=4E |date=October 17, 1991}}</ref>
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. John Orvted of ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' named it the eighth best episode of ''The Simpsons'' because of the "inspired" Mafia satire and because it "goes deeper into Bart's ongoing conflict with authority figures."<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Orvted, John |title=Springfield's Best |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=July 5, 2007 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/08/top10simpsons200708 |access-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530090021/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/08/top10simpsons200708 |archive-date=30 May 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Gary Russell]] and [[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv51/garyrussell.html|title=Gary Russell: From Peladon to Placebos|author=Preddle, Jon|date=June 1997|magazine=Time Space Visualiser|issue=51|access-date=20 August 2020|publisher=The New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club|quote=I've just done my first non-fiction book, Oh No It's A Completely Unofficial Simpsons Guide for Virgin, co-authored with Gareth Roberts which has, to be frank, been more of a nightmare than it needed to be [the book was published as I Can't Believe It's An Unofficial Simpsons Guide, with Gary and Gareth writing under the pseudonyms Warren Martyn & Adrian Wood].}}</ref> the authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', praised the scene in which Skinner explains his disappearance to the courtroom, calling it Skinner's "finest hour" on the show.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season3/page4.shtml |title=Bart the Murderer |access-date=2009-06-08 |last1=Martyn |first1=Warren |author-link1=Gary Russell |last2 = Wood |first2=Adrian |author-link2=Gareth Roberts (writer) |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed named the episode the best in the third season, and commented that there are "many priceless moments" in it, such as Homer's meeting with the Springfield Mafia. Meyers also praised Swartzwelder's script.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/displaylegacy.php?ID=6129 |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season |last=Meyers |first=Nate |date=June 23, 2004 |publisher=Digitally Obsessed |access-date=2009-06-06 |archive-date=2016-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313103432/http://digitallyobsessed.com/displaylegacy.php?id=6129 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In his only interview to date, Swartzwelder himself listed "Bart the Murderer" as among his favorite ''Simpsons'' episodes that he had written.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sacks |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Sacks |date=2021-05-02 |title=John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons” |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/john-swartzwelder-sage-of-the-simpsons |access-date=2024-07-21 |work=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>
Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict noted how an episode that starts with Bart's having a bad day can lead to his being tried for murder as the head of the local Mafia "is just one of the amazing monuments to this show's superiority."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason3.php |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season |last=Gibron |first=Bill |date=December 15, 2003 |publisher=DVD Verdict |access-date=2009-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629194944/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason3.php |archive-date=29 June 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson thought "Bart the Murderer" was season three's first "truly great" episode because it "starts off strong and gets even better as it moves." Even though he thinks Mafia parodies have been overused, Jacobson thought this one brought "a fresh approach and remains consistently amusing. A great guest spot from Mantegna helps. It also feels like the first episode of this season that really moves the series ahead; it seems like something a little more incisive than most of what came before it."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonthree.shtml |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season (1991) |last=Jacobson |first=Colin |date=August 21, 2003 |publisher=DVD Movie Guide |access-date=2009-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629194253/http://dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonthree.shtml |archive-date=29 June 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> Andy Patrizio of [[IGN]] called "Bart the Murderer" his favorite of the season, and praised the episode for its references to ''The Godfather'' and ''MacGyver''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/08/29/the-simpsons-the-complete-third-season |title=The Simpsons : The Complete Third Season |last=Patrizio |first=Andy |date=August 29, 2003 |website=[[IGN]] |access-date=January 15, 2022}}</ref> The episode's reference to ''Goodfellas'' was named the 28th greatest film reference in the history of the show by ''[[Total Film]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Nathan Ditum.<ref name="totalfilm">{{cite news|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/the-50-greatest-simpsons-movie-references/ |title=The 50 Greatest Simpsons Movie References |last=Ditum |first=Nathan |date=June 6, 2009 |work=[[Total Film]]|publisher=GamesRadar|access-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090622154132/http://www.totalfilm.com/features/the-50-greatest-simpsons-movie-references/page%3A18 |archive-date=22 June 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite book|last=Knight|first=Deborah|year=2001|chapter=Popular parody: ''The Simpsons'' meets the crime film|editor1-last=Irwin|editor1-first=William|editor1-link=William Irwin (philosopher)|editor2-last=Conard|editor2-first=Mark T.|editor3-last=Skoble|editor3-first=Aeon J.|title=[[The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer]]|location=Chicago|publisher=Open Court Publishing}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_3#Bart_the_Murderer|Bart the Murderer}} {{Portal|The Simpsons}} * {{Snpp capsule|8F03}} * {{IMDb episode |id=0701060}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|3}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bart The Murderer}} [[Category:The Simpsons season 3 episodes]] [[Category:1991 American television episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes written by John Swartzwelder]] [[Category:Works about the American Mafia]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Rich Moore]]