History Recap / TheSimpsonsS4E6ItchyAndScratchyTheMovie

* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: Marge tries this on Bart when she finds out that he broke Grandpa's teeth. Bart tries to call her bluff, but she tells him she's being serious. Just as the lesson is about to sink in, Homer sneaks Bart some pizza and tells him not to tell Marge and to try to behave.

** [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, 40 years into the future, Bart is now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and he and Homer go see ''The Itchy and Scratchy Movie''. The movie advertised to play after it is ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''.]]
** [[spoiler:During the final scene, Homer and Bart's silhouettes as they enter the theater are a reference to ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.]]

* WarTimeCartoon: Parodied with Kent Brockman showing an Itchy and Scratchy propaganda cartoon made during WorldWarTwo, where the cat and mouse fight off UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. In the end Itchy kills off Scratchy too for the heck of it, while UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt appears to kick them both in the behind and Scratchy holding up a sign with the text "Save Scrap Iron".

** Disney and [[LooneyTunes Looney Tunes]]/[[MerrieMelodies Merrie Melodies]] cartoons: Much of the backstory of Itchy and Scratchy dates back to the late 1920s, with the introduction of "Steamboat Itchy" (a parody of "Steamboat Willie," the first MickeyMouse cartoon). As the backstory moves to the World War II-era, the anti-UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler cartoons are similar to those pitting the good guys of various Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons produced during that time.
** ''SixtyMinutes'': The TV newsmagazine and specifically, news stories from the early 1990s detailing abuse of elderly residents of nursing homes. (Homer had threatened to send Grampa to the "the crooked home" he had seen on TV after Grampa mumbled incoherently (due to his broken-and-poorly taped-together dentures stuffed in his mouth)).
** ''StarTrek'': The opening gag is a parody of the then-ongoing series of movies. This installment: ''Star Trek XII: So Very Tired'', featuring a very elderly Captain Kirk complaining of health problems.

** [[spoiler:During the final scene, Homer and Bart's silhouettes as they enter the theater are a reference to ''MysteryScienceTheater3000''.]]
* TechnologyMarchesOn: Snake – during his crime spree after breaking out of prison – is disappointed that the [=VCR=] he stole plays only Beta (rather than the then prevalent VHS)); Beta-formatted [=VCR=]s had been retired from the United States' market in 1988.

* WhatTheHellHero: Marge was initially supportive of the punishment of forbidding Bart from seeing the movie. However when the punishment gets to the point where Homer got the ticket holders to ban Bart from the theaters, both Marge and Lisa call Homer out, claiming he's done enough. Unlike most examples, it doesn't unfetter Homer.

* NoodleIncident: "Oh dad, you and your stories: ''Bart broke my teeth. The nurses are stealing my money. This thing on my neck is getting bigger.''" While we did see Bart breaking Grampa's teeth, we don't see the other two events, which just adds more to just how horrible the Springfield Retirement Castle is (unless Grampa suffers from Alzheimer's and thinks nurses are stealing his money and he has a growth on his neck that is getting bigger).

* UpToEleven: Bart is the series' designated "bad boy" but most of his misbehavior is at worst harmless mischief that doesn't result in serious injury...except in this episode, where it is (like when he made a laxative out of peas and carrots, stole Mrs. Krabappel's birth control pills and replaced them with Tic-Tacs, and stuck fireworks down a kid's pants).

** Disney and [[LooneyTunes Looney Tunes]]/[[MerrieMelodies Merrie Melodies]] cartoons: Much of the backstory of Itchy and Scratchy dates back to the late 1920s, with the introduction of "Steamboat Itchy" (a parody of "Steamboat Willie," the first MickeyMouse cartoon). As the backstory moves to the World War II-era, the anti-AdolfHitler cartoons are similar to those pitting the good guys of various Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons produced during that time.

* NoodleIncident: "Oh dad, you and your stories: ''Bart broke my teeth. The nurses are stealing my money. This thing on my neck is getting bigger.''"
* PoliceAreUseless: Especially Chief Wiggum, as he sees Maggie driving the family station wagon and thinks it's cute (along with a dog driving a bus), ignoring or at least not realizing(?) the very real potential danger to the community, other motorists and to Maggie.

Urged to be tougher on Bart when he misbehaves, a usually lenient Homer severely punishes Bart by not allowing him to see the much anticipated ''Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie'', the punishment coming after he neglects to watch Maggie (as asked to) and she takes the car out for a joyride.

* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: When Homer sees Bart smashing mustard with a hammer on the carpet, he tries to assert punishment when the ice cream truck appeared. Later, as they're enjoying their ice cream, Homer asked Bart what he was talking about. Bart lied that Homer was talking about the time he avoided jury duty. Being dumb that he is, he "continued" with the story.

** Also, with the arrival of Internet and the "films on demand" button on many modern TV sets, Bart would nowadays be perfectly able to watch "The Itchy & Scratchy Movie" without having to go to the movie theater.
* UpToEleven: Bart is the series' designated "bad boy" but most of his misbehavior is at worst harmless mischief that doesn't result in serious injury...except in this episode, where it is.

* HilarityEnsues: Bart is allowed to continue attending school for his atrocities, which range from secretly including laxatives in food to using firecrackers to harm students. These would not only get Bart expelled in the real world, but guarantee a long sentence in juvenile hall.
* PoliceAreUseless: Especially Chief Wiggum, as he sees Maggie driving the family station wagon and thinks its cute, ignoring or at least not realizing(?) the very real potential danger to the community, other motorists and to Maggie.
-->'''Wiggum:''' Aw, isn't that cute? A baby driving a car! ''[looks offscreen]'' Oh and look! A dog driving a bus!
* PushoverParents: Homer and Marge start out as this when they explain to Mrs. Krabappel that they have a hard time disciplining Bart whenever he does something wrong. Following her advice on being firm with him, they gradually get better at discipling him.

* UpToEleven: Bart is the series' designated "bad boy" but most of his misbehavior is at worst harmless mischief that doesn't result in serious injury. But at Springfield Elementary's Parent-Teacher Night – where remember, "Let's share the blame!" – Bart is shown as a deviant, possibly troubled juvenile delinquent, a troublemaker who delights in potentially causing serious health emergencies (he replaces the school's vegetables with laxatives and birth-control pills with Tic-Tacs) to criminal behavior and far worse. In the latter case, he is accused of bringing a knife to school and even is shown as sexually deviant, as it is implied he stuck a lighted firecracker in a classmate's private area.

* HilarityEnsues: Bart is allowed to continue attending school for his atrocities, which range from secretly including laxatives in food to using firecrackers to harm students. These would not only get Bart expelled in the real world, but guarantee a long sentence in juvenile hall in the real world.

* UpToEleven: Bart is the series' designated "bad boy" but most of his misbehavior is at worst harmless mischief that doesn't result in serious injury. But at Springfield Elementary's Parent-Teacher Night – where remember, "Let's share the blame!" – Bart is shown as a deviant, possibly troubled juvenile delinquent, a troublemaker who delights in potentially causing serious health emergencies (he replaces the school's vegetables with laxatives and birth-control pills with Tic-Tacs) to criminal behavior and far worse. In the latter case, he is accused of bringing a knife to school and even is shown as sexually deviant, as it is implied he stuck a lighted firecracker in a classmate's private area. Out of school, he is seen sinisterly stroking a cat after watching a James Bond action figure he placed in the microwave oven melt, clearly implying he has plans to place the cat inside and start cooking.

* UpToEleven: Bart is seen as a troublemaker but most of his misbehavior is at worst harmless mischief that doesn't result in serious injury. At Springfield Elementary's Parent-Teacher Night – where remember, "Let's share the blame!" – Bart is shown as a deviant, potentially causing serious health emergencies (he replaces the school's vegetables with laxatives and birth-control pills with Tic-Tacs) to worse. In the latter case, he is accused of bringing a knife to school and even is shown as sexually deviant, as it is implied he stuck a lighted firecracker in a classmate's private area. Out of school, he is seen sinisterly stroking a cat after watching a James Bond action figure he placed in the microwave oven melt, clearly implying he has plans to place the cat inside and start cooking.

* UpToEleven: Bart is seen as a troublemaker but most of his misbehavior is at worst harmless mischief that doesn't result in serious injury. At Springfield Elementary's Parent-Teacher Night – where remember, "Let's share the blame!" – Bart is shown as a deviant, potentially causing serious health emergencies (he replaces the school's vegetables with laxatives and birth-control pills with Tic-Tacs) to worse. In the latter case, he is accused of bringing a knife to school and even is shown as sexually deviant, as it is implied he stuck a lighted firecracker in a classmate's private area. Out of school, he is seen sinisterly stroking a cat after watching a James Bond action figure he placed in the microwave oven melt, clearly implying he has plans to place the cat inside and turn the machine on.

* UpToEleven: Bart is seen as a troublemaker but most of his misbehavior is at worst harmless mischief that doesn't result in serious injury. At Springfield Elementary's Parent-Teacher Night – where remember, "Let's share the blame!" – Bart is shown as a deviant, potentially causing serious health emergencies (he replaces the school's vegetables with laxatives and birth-control pills with Tic-Tacs) to worse. In the latter case, he is accused of bringing a knife to school and even is shown as sexually deviant, as it is implied he stuck a lighted firecracker in a classmate's private area. Out of school, he is seen

** SixtyMinutes: The TV newsmagazine and specifically, news stories from the early 1990s detailing abuse of elderly residents of nursing homes. (Homer had threatened to send Grampa to the "the crooked home" he had seen on TV after Grampa mumbled incoherently (due to his broken-and-poorly taped-together dentures stuffed in his mouth)).

* TechnologyMarchesOn: Snake – during his crime spree after breaking out of prison – is disappointed that the VCR he stole plays only Beta (rather than the then prevalent VHS)); Beta-formatted VCRs had been retired from the market in 1986.

* UpToEleven: Bart is seen as a troublemaker but most of his misbehavior is at worst harmless mischief that doesn't result in serious injury. At Springfield Elementary's Parent-Teacher Night – where remember, "Let's share the blame!" – Bart is shown as a deviant, potentially causing serious health emergencies (he replaces the school's vegetables with laxatives and birth-control pills with Tic-Tacs) to worse. In the latter case, he is accused of bringing a knife to school and even is shown as sexually deviant, as it is implied he stuck a lighted firecracker in a classmate's private area.

* PoliceAreUseless: Especially Chief Wiggum, as he sees Maggie driving the family station wagon and thinks its cute. (He also ignores a robbery call as he thinks that's cute, too.)

* CopsAreUseless: Especially Chief Wiggum, as he sees Maggie driving the family station wagon and thinks its cute. (He also ignores a robbery call as he thinks that's cute, too.)