Line #17 Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E4BartTheMurderer


1	[[quoteright:274:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bart_the_murderer.gif]]
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3	'''Original air date:''' 10/10/1991
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5	'''Production code:''' 8F03
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7	Bart's bad day at school turns good when he gets a job as a gofer for local mob boss, Fat Tony, but spending time with mafioso may be turning Bart into one of them — especially when news hits that Principal Skinner has gone missing.
8
9	----
10	!!This episode provides examples of:
11
12	* AbusiveParents: Homer threatens to make Bart smoke all the cigarettes in his room to "teach him a lesson," a common (if not always effective) punishment when a child is found with ''a'' pack of cigarettes, not 12,000 of them.
13	* AdaptationalVillainy: In-Universe, with the VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory ShowWithinAShow-movie-of-the-week ''Blood on the Blackboard'', which depicts Bart as a young man so vile that he manages to become a criminal mastermind by bullying Fat Tony and is also the architect of Skinner's murder. The real Bart thinks it's pretty cool, mostly because this also makes him an AdaptationalBadass.
14	* AdaptationalWimp: Fat Tony, as portrayed in ''Blood on the Blackboard'', is a NervousWreck who gets slapped and bossed around by the film's version of [[HistoricalBadassUpgrade Bart]] [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade Simpson]]. [[HistoricalBeautyUpgrade And he's much slimmer too]].
15	* AffablyEvil: While they're still mobsters who are all too willing to scapegoat Bart to evade punishment, Fat Tony and his gang are pretty cordial throughout the episode. For instance, their meeting with Skinner is framed as if they're about to threaten him for mistreating Bart. The outcome of the scene is left ambiguous until Skinner's flashback reveals they ''didn't'' escalate things; they simply came to politely advocate for Bart, though Skinner still angrily orders them to leave.
16	-->'''Legs:''' ''[shaking Skinner's hand]'' We ''really'' think there's promise in the boy!\
17	'''Skinner:''' '''''GET! OUT!!'''''\
18	'''Fat Tony:''' ''[as he and his cronies comply]'' Okay, okay! You don't have to yell...
19	* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: When Mrs. Krabappel announces that Skinner is missing, all the students cheer. Except Bart, who has an OhCrap.
20	* ArtisticLicenseChildLaborLaws: The mafia has Bart, a ''ten-year-old boy'' tend a bar. The minimum bar-tending age ''anywhere'' in the U.S. is 18. Yes, they're the mafia, but you would expect them not to break the law so flagrantly where everyone can see it.
21	* AsHimself: Creator/NeilPatrickHarris (playing "Bart"); Joe Mantegna (playing Fat Tony) [both on the show and in the made-for-TV [[ShowWithinAShow movie within a sitcom]] ''Blood on the Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story''].
22	* AsinineAlternateActivity: Bart leaves his permission slip to visit the chocolate factory at home, so he ends up spending the day in Principal Skinner's office licking envelopes; Skinner suggests that Bart could "make a game out of it", by seeing how many envelopes he could lick in an hour, and then try to beat that record.
23	* BadassTeacher: Minor thing, mostly because it shows Fat Tony being more of a wimp, but still Skinner managed to stop him and his goons cold from doing whatever they were planning to do to him with a simple bellow of GetOut. He also manages to save himself from his entrapment by [[BadassBookworm improvising a rocket]] [[MacGyvering out of baking soda, a lemon and a balloon]], with only one free arm.
24	* BaitAndSwitch: When Bart first stumbles upon the hangout and Fat Tony asks him to pick a horse in the third race.
25	-->'''Bart:''' Eat my shorts.\
26	'''Fat Tony:''' Eat My Shorts? Okay, let's see - wait a minute, you little punk!... Eat My Shorts is in the fifth race! I said the third race!
27	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The whole drama Bart suffers in the third act is the result of him wishing something happened to Skinner in retribution for giving him detention and saying it aloud in the middle of a room full of Mafia guys. [[SubvertedTrope Thankfully, Bart didn't get his wish]]; Skinner's disappearance had nothing to do with Fat Tony's threat or visit, and he's able to resolve what ''actually'' happened to himself on his own.
28	* BigNo: Bart screams this when he realized he forgot his permission slip.
29	* BittersweetEnding: Bart is acquitted, but he breaks ties with the mafia for throwing him under the bus, and the media still demonises him for entertainment value, while keeping within limits ''just enough'' to not pay the family a cent for slander (not that Bart minds at all seeing movies portraying him as a hardened gangster, to the point it might be the only unambiguous joy he has the whole episode).
30	* BookDumb: Bart. After his dog eats his homework, it spits a part that has "9 X 9 = 100".
31	* TheBore: Skinner strikes again. Bart being the only student in the building because everybody else is on a trip, he asks him to help lick envelopes closed and when Bart tells him he's getting bored, Skinner tells him to entertain himself by seeing how many envelopes he licks in an hour and then trying to beat that record. He later lets Bart go a minute early (mostly because Bart's tongue is completely dry -- he even needs to write his question for Skinner) and makes it a "we'll make this our little secret" gesture. He later says in the courtroom that he attempted to pass the time while trapped under newspapers by bouncing a basketball, seeing how many times he could bounce it in a day, then trying to beat that record. This prompts an eye-roll from Bart.
32	* BlatantLies: They cannot get more blatant than saying a ten-year-old kid is the leader of the Mafia.
33	* BorrowedCatchphrase: Bart is left behind and it starts raining as he starts walking to school. As soon as he arrives, the rain stops and a rainbow appears, prompting an angry "D'oh!" from Bart.
34	** After the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon (where a line-up of cats gets mowed down by a minigun-wielding Itchy), Fat Tony remarks "It's funny because it's true", a phrase normally attributed to Homer.
35	* BribeBackfire: Bart's attempt to bribe Principal Skinner results in a mid-episode chalkboard gag ("I will not bribe Principal Skinner").
36	* BrokenPedestal: Though he admires and even emulates them at first, Bart becomes disillusioned with the mob after they throw him under the bus to save their own hides.
37	* BulletHoleSpelling: In the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon "The Sound of Silencers", after Itchy guns down several cats, he writes "THE END" in bullets, with the "D" being bloodied due to said blood coming from a cat shot in the chest several times.
38	* ButtMonkey: Bart goes through '''a lot''' of hardships in this episode. His homework is destroyed, he misses the bus and is caught in the rain, he loses out on a school trip to a chocolate factory and has to lick envelopes, he's cornered by the mafia, and is eventually blamed for the death of Skinner and put on trial.
39	* CallBack: Skinner's bouncing of a basketball and seeing if he can beat his own record while trapped under his newspapers refers back to when he made a game out of licking envelopes, seeing how many Bart can do in an hour and trying to beat it. Bart rolls his eyes when Skinner says this.
40	* TheCameo: Sideshow Bob appears in the same jail cell as Bart, lifting weights.
41	* CastingGag: The made-for-TV movie "Blood on the Blackboard" has Fat Tony portrayed by Creator/JoeMantegna, who also voices the ''actual'' Fat Tony.
42	* CatapultNightmare: Bart screams when he wakes up after his nightmare.
43	* ClassTrip: The school goes to a chocolate factory, a trip Bart misses because he forgot his permission slip.
44	* CouchGag: The family forms a human pyramid on the couch.
45	* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: After becoming an associate of the mob, Bart only sees the benefits, as he gets powerful friends and looks cool. When the reality of his actions hit him, [[DeconstructedTrope it hits him]] '''[[DeconstructedTrope hard]]'''.
46	** The mafia has the power to kill and they will do so if someone makes too much trouble for them. Fortunately for Skinner, his actions weren't proportionate enough for death and it would be too hard to explain how a predominant figure like him [[PragmaticVillainy could disappear overnight and have nobody question it]].
47	** When the authorities finally catch up with the mafia, Bart is thrown under the bus since he's considered disposable for just being a bartender. The only way he escapes is by Skinner reappearing in trial and explaining what happened. Afterwards, Bart burns bridges with the mob and quits.
48	* DefiantCaptive: Skinner in ''Blood on the Blackboard'', at gunpoint, gives Bart a SpitefulSpit in his face.
49	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Bart's NightmareSequence is in black-and-white, along with shades of blue.
50	* DirtyCoward: Despite not even murdering Skinner in the first place, the mafia see it easier to scapegoat Bart than take their chances of being proven innocent.
51	* DisproportionateRetribution: The visiting Don gives Fat Tony the KissOfDeath because his Manhattan wasn't good.
52	* DisregardThatStatement: After Skinner shows up alive and completely destroys the murder case against Bart, the prosecution [[RefugeInAudacity moves to have his testimony stricken from the record anyway]]. The judge immediately shouts an exasperated [[NoJustNoReaction "DENIED!"]] and dismisses the case.
53	* ADogAteMyHomework: Santa's Little Helper eats Bart's homework. [[OhCrap After a moment of horror]], Bart is surprised that dogs really do that kind of thing.
54	* DudeNotFunny: Bart has this reaction towards his classmates mocking Skinner's disappearance. Justified because he thinks the mafia has killed Skinner when Bart wished something would happen to Skinner for giving him detention. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Boy, did that one come back to bite him.]]
55	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
56	** Principal Skinner is shown living by himself, instead of with his [[MyBelovedSmother Beloved Smother]]. His house is also shown to be a bungalow instead of two-story building.
57	** Wiggum is drawn with black hair, rather than the blue hair that he has later in the series.
58	** Fat Tony's real name is given as William Williams rather than Marion Anthony D'Amico.
59	** Sideshow Bob's cameo has him lifting weights, a practice that made his arms incredibly muscular, and he smirks at Bart. Given how he was later portrayed as a LeanAndMean homicidal maniac obsessed with murdering Bart and by extent his family, it is rather strange to see a muscular Bob keeping to himself.
60	* EasilyCondemned: Bart is very quickly set up for murdering Skinner with next to no evidence of him committing it--or that Skinner was dead in the first place. The judge justifies this with the track record given by everyone who's put up with him, including his father.
61	-->'''Homer (breaking down in tears on the witness stand, after the prosecutor asks him if Bart would be so vile)''': Aw, it's true, IT'S TRUE! ALL THE PIECES FIT!! ''bawls''
62	* EmpathicEnvironment: PlayedForLaughs. The school bus drives off without Bart, and it immediately starts pouring rain. The rain immediately stops when Bart arrives at school, [[BorrowedCatchphrase much to his anger]]. Later, the second he leaves school, it starts raining again.
63	* EpicFail:
64	** Legs makes a Manhattan so crappy that another crime lord thinks it justifies ''giving Fat Tony a Kiss of Death''.
65	** This is the only way to describe the police's attempts at finding Skinner... only ''polite'' way of describing it, anyway. They were close enough that Skinner could hear them and they never heard him shouting back.
66	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Bart has made Skinner's life a living hell both before and after this episode, but the idea of someone actually killing the man (let alone on Bart's account) shocks him.
67	* FallGuy: Exaggerated. Fat Tony and his goons [[ImplausibleDeniability blatantly cause perjury in court]] by not only framing Bart for the alleged death of Skinner but also by labeling him as the ''capo di tutti capi'' of the Springfield Mafia ([[https://64.media.tumblr.com/7fd769df6529d043f2f16b3d50207958/tumblr_inline_opve0woRrA1tg5wat_640.jpg as can be seen in a diagram the prosecutor shows in court]]), dumping every crime the Mafia has ever done on his lap.
68	* TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily: Fat Tony showcases many things in this episode that appear in later appearances, such as the fact that acting more forceful than him can make him go away (or at least start to do so before going all "wait a minute, ''I'm'' the Mafia guy here!").
69	* FiveAcesCheater: As the gangsters play poker, Bart looks at their hands. The first one has four aces and a king. The second has five aces. The third has six aces. And then it pans over to the discard pile, which is nothing but aces. Most of them aren't even standard card suits.
70	* {{Foreshadowing}}: At the start of the episode, Bart wakes up happy, only to step on a toy when he gets out of bed, affirming his ButtMonkey status throughout the episode. Also, if you look carefully, his permission slip for the chocolate factory can be seen under his pillow before he gets out of bed. Unfortunately for him, he leaves it at home by accident.
71	* TheFreelanceShameSquad:
72	** After seeing him gloat over his good day, Lisa is quite smug towards the horrible turn of events Bart suffers. Perhaps she herself isn't immune to the sour grapes-invoked schadenfreude she chastised Homer about.
73	** Bart gets a visit from the squad while playing around on the monkey bars:
74	--->'''Bart:''' Hey girls, look at me!\
75	''(Bart splits his pants attempting a gymnastics trick; girls point and laugh)''\
76	'''Bart:''' ...You can stop looking at me now.\
77	''(Bart is hit in face with football; girls continue to point and laugh)''
78	* FreezeFrameBonus: Bart's permission slip can be seen under his pillow when he first wakes up.
79	* FunWithAcronyms: '''F'''lowers '''B'''y '''I'''rene.
80	* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Willie slaps Ms. Krabappel when she breaks down over the inauguration of a fire hose dedicated to Skinner's memory.
81	* GetOut: Principal Skinner orders Fat Tony and his associates out of his office when he was confronted.
82	-->'''Principal Skinner''': [[PunctuatedForEmphasis GET! OUT!]]\
83	'''Fat Tony''': Okay, okay, you don't have to yell!
84	* GoryDiscretionShot: The Bart Simpson of ''Blood on the Blackboard'' murdering his version of Seymour Skinner [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKlAlz4KAWw is portrayed as]] him [[MultipleGunshotDeath emptying his gun at Skinner]] (presumably at his face), who is off-camera.
85	* GuiltByAssociation: "If my plant pollutes the water and poisons the town, by your logic, that would make me a criminal!"
86	* GuiltInducedNightmare: Fat Tony and his gang confront Principal Skinner for giving Bart detention. When Skinner goes missing the next day and it's assumed the mafia killed him, Bart has a nightmare of himself being haunted by Skinner and sent to the electric chair.
87	* GutFeeling: Marge suspects correctly that Bart is hanging out with criminals, and also suspicious with the pizza truck that's been parked across the street for two weeks (see VanInBlack below). Homer mostly ignores her concerns ("a job is a job"). Annoyed at his indifference, Marge demands that Homer go check Bart's workplace to see if she's right. After the mob lets him win at poker so he would approve of Bart's job, a convinced Homer tells Marge it's okay, only for her to be proven right when Bart gets arrested.
88	-->'''Marge:''' Oh Bart, why couldn't you have gotten a paper route like other boys?
89	* HeadDesk: Bart miserably does this after the second OhCrap example below (he screams when he realizes he left his permission slip at home).
90	-->"What a day."
91	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: In-Universe, ''Blood on the Blackboard'' depicts Bart as the one who actually killed Skinner. Not that the real Bart seemed to care, as he liked how [[HistoricalBadassUpgrade it showed him as a hardened criminal]].
92	* HollywoodLaw:
93	** While there have been cases of children vile enough to commit murder, there is no way that the Mafia would be able to get away with alleging that Bart, a ten-year-old child, is the leader of their entire organization (and thus that he is solely to blame for every single crime that they have been doing for Heaven only knows how long).
94	** Once Skinner proves that he is alive, the mafia is allowed to go free, ignoring that they had been giving false testimony and committing perjury when they were setting Bart up to take the fall.
95	* HumiliationConga: Bart throughout the entire first act. First, his father steals his cereal prize, his dog eats his math homework, then he ends up missing the bus, forcing him to walk to school in the rain and arrive forty minutes late, he ends up with ripped pants, gets a black eye after getting hit by football in the face, he realizes he had accidentally left home the permission slip for the trip to the chocolate factory and is forced to spend the afternoon in detention because of the permission slip.
96	* IgnoredEpiphany: Homer believes all the cigarettes in Bart's room are his and orders him to smoke them all. When the transport guy by Fat Tony shows up, Homer realizes he was wrong and says he will never doubt Bart again. Come the trial, guess what happens.
97	* ImplausibleDeniability:
98	** Fat Tony is asked by Wiggum about a truckload of cigarettes being hijacked, and Fat Tony asks him, “What’s a truck?” Wiggum tells him not to play dumb. Later Wiggum bursts into the Mafia's hideout to arrest them for Skinner's murder, Fat Tony asks, "What's a murder?" Again, Wiggum doesn't buy it. Fat Tony probably does that to annoy Wiggum.
99	** Fat Tony and his goons frame Bart, a ''ten-year-old boy'', as the "capo di tutti capi" of the Springfield Mafia on top of his alleged role as the mastermind of Skinner's (supposed) murder. The people of Springfield [[CommonNonsenseJury are absurdly gullible]] to buy that.
100	* IncrediblyLameFun: Only Seymour Skinner would find fun to spend hours licking envelopes.
101	* InsaneTrollLogic: Fat Tony "explains" to Bart how hijacking a truckload of cigarettes isn't wrong.
102	-->'''Bart''': Uh, say, are you guys crooks?\
103	'''Fat Tony''': Bart, is it wrong to steal a loaf of bread to feed your starving family?\
104	'''Bart''': No.\
105	'''Fat Tony''': Well, suppose you got a large starving family. Is it wrong to steal a truckload of bread to feed them?\
106	'''Bart''': Uh uh.\
107	'''Fat Tony''': And, what if your family don't like bread? They like... cigarettes?\
108	'''Bart''': I guess that's okay.\
109	'''Fat Tony''': Now, what if instead of giving them away, you sold them at a price that was ''practically'' giving them away. Would that be a crime, Bart?\
110	'''Bart''': Hell, ''no''.
111	* InstantlyProvenWrong: Early on, Lisa claims that no one is interested in Bart's stupid police badge. In comes Homer proudly showing off his new toy police badge.
112	* InvisibleCelebrityGuest: Creator/RichardChamberlain portrays Principal Skinner in the ShowWithinAShow TV movie ''Blood on the Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story'', but his only "appearance" is [[SpitefulSpit his spit landing on]] Bart's cheek (who's played by Creator/NeilPatrickHarris).
113	* {{Jerkass}}: The prosecutor, who actually tries to get Bart convicted by asking the judge to disregard the fact that Principal Skinner's alive and Bart had nothing to do with his disappearance, by Skinner's own admission.
114	* JerkassBall: Lisa in the first act. She says that the HumiliationConga Bart suffers is something he deserves... for apparently no reason. She also gives him a smug little wave as the bus leaves without him.
115	** Also Otto. Bart ran up to the bus shouting "Wait! Wait!" Otto did wait, only to slam the doors in Bart's face and drive off without him, leaving him to walk to school and get there forty minutes late. He then splashes Bart with a RoadsideWave when Bart miserably leaves school.
116	* KarmaHoudini: The mobsters setting up Bart as a fall guy weren't punished for what they've done to him. Once their testimony is proven false, no cares that they'd repeatedly perjured themselves. They agree with Bart's theory that crime doesn't pay... [[IgnoredEpiphany before each driving off in their large limos]].
117	* KidsAreCruel:
118	** Lisa gloats about Bart not being part of the tour and saying that he deserves it.
119	** At the chocolate factory, a couple of kids [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kick Cocoa Beanie when he falls over]].
120	** When Krabappel announces that Skinner is missing, everyone starts cheering... [[OhCrap except Bart]].
121	* KissOfDeath: One is given to Fat Tony when he serves the Mafia boss a "flat, flavorless Manhattan" (due to Legs making it instead of the usual bartender, Bart).
122	* LameComeback: Chief Wiggum and Fat Tony's first meeting in the episode starts with Tony sarcastically welcoming Wiggum to his club. Wiggum's retort accidentally implies ''he'' could end up in jail instead of Tony, something he realizes and corrects only after a few seconds have passed.
123	--> '''Fat Tony:''' Chief Wiggum! You honor us with your presence...\
124	'''Chief Wiggum:''' Baloney! I won't rest until one of us is behind bars...''[He briefly frowns.]''... [[VerbalBackspace You]]!
125	* LoopholeAbuse: The media still portrays Bart as a villain even after he is vindicated (largely because it makes for better entertainment). Much to Homer's annoyance however, they apparently tamper with facts ''just'' enough that they don't have to pay the family a dime for slander, not that Bart minds [[AdaptationalBadass being depicted in a movie as a hardened mafia kingpin]].
126	* MacGyvering: Skinner escaped from his garage trap by building a rocket with baking soda and lemon juice.
127	* MadeOfIron: Bart falls down the concrete stairs to the Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club and suffers no injuries at all. This is after a football strikes Bart in the face and gives him a black eye, then he flies off his skateboard.
128	* MistakenForMurderer: Technically, even ''Bart'' believes himself to be guilty, although of a totally accidental and indirect role in the alleged killing. After running late for his job, he innocently complained to his Mafia employers about Seymour keeping him at school late, after which Seymour abruptly disappeared. However, Fat Tony and co. warp this into Bart not only ordering Seymour's murder but being the ManBehindTheMan in ''all'' their deadly activities, and the whole town buys it.
129	* NervesOfSteel: Bart has no problem mouthing off to the Mafia when he first encounters them, even after they'd pointed their guns at him.
130	* NeverFoundTheBody: And yet, [[EasilyCondemned everyone was willing to believe a ten-year-old would kill Principal Skinner]]. And as it turns out, the police didn't even look too hard.
131	-->'''Skinner:''' ''(in the basement)'' I'M IN HEREEEEEE!\
132	'''Wiggum:''' Well, let's go.\
133	'''Eddie:''' Okay, Chief.
134	* NightmareSequence: Bart suffers a particularly frightening one, where after Skinner is reported missing, Bart sees Skinner's body everywhere he goes, moaning "YOU KILLED ME, BART!", much to Bart's horror. He then ends up on death row and is sentenced to the electric chair, whereupon [[CatapultNightmare Bart wakes up screaming, louder and harder than he ever had before or ever will again]].
135	* NoHonorAmongThieves: The mob find it more efficient to frame Bart (who had been a highly loyal member of the gang up until then) for Skinner's murder (and every other crime of theirs) than simply deny a crime they didn't commit.
136	* NoOSHACompliance: The class is allowed to run around the Oh, Fudge factory unrestrained. They can even eat handfuls of chocolate straight from the vats, with the stuff in their shirt pockets falling into the vats.
137	* NoodleIncident:
138	-->'''Bart:''' Did you kill my principal?\
139	'''Tony:''' Uh, Chinese guy with a mustache?\
140	'''Bart:''' No, my ''principal!''
141	* NotMyLuckyDay: Bart suffers a hefty HumiliationConga before coming face to face with the mafia.
142	* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: Some of Bart's classmates dole this to Bart after Skinner's disappearance, such as Lewis pretending to be Skinner's corpse.
143	* OhCrap: Bart has several:
144	** Bart when he sees Santa's Little Helper eating his homework. He then remarks that he didn't know dogs really did that.
145	** Bart lets out a horrified scream when he realizes he left his permission slip for the field trip at home.
146	** Bart on the way home from school when the wheel comes off his skateboard. He then has another one seconds later when he finds himself with several gun barrels in his face held by the Mafia. "Uh-oh", indeed.
147	** Bart again when Mrs. Krabappel announces that Skinner is missing. "Uh-oh", again.
148	** Bart ''again'' in his nightmare when he suddenly finds himself in the death house.
149	** In the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon, the line-up of cats all have one when they see Itchy about to mow them down with a minigun.
150	* TheOldestProfession: Supposedly, one of the rackets Bart was involved in as head of the Mafia.
151	* OnceMoreWithClarity: When Skinner arrives at the court to explain what became of him, we are re-shown the scene of the mobsters entering his office to confront him... where we learn they weren't ''exactly'' there maliciously:
152	-->'''Louie''': (friendly; shakes Skinner's hand) We think there's promise in the boy-
153	-->'''Skinner''': (fed up; stands up) ''Get out!''
154	-->'''Fat Tony''': (as he and the other mobsters leave sheepishly) Okay, okay, you don't have to yell!
155	* PersecutingProsecutor: Bart is nearly convicted for Principal Skinner's murder, but it turns out this crime never even happened. The prosecutor tries to get Bart convicted anyway, moving for Skinner's testimony about how he is ''not dead'' [[DisregardThatStatement to be removed from record]]. The judge instantly rejects the motion with prejudice ("''DENIED!''").
156	* PokeThePoodle: It's at first implied Fat Tony and his henchmen arrived at Skinner's office to do something awful to him because he gave Bart detention... only for it to turn out they tried talking nicely to him to change his mind. Skinner managed to stop them by just bellowing them to GetOut.
157	* PoliceAreUseless: They searched Skinner's home, but all they did was dig around his bedroom. They never checked the basement where Skinner was trapped and somehow never heard his loud cries for help.
158	* PolicePsychic: Chief Wiggum consults a psychic to find Skinner's body, but the psychic can only channel celebrity gossip.
159	* PrisonsAreGymnasiums: Bart imagines himself working out on death row in his NightmareSequence. Later, when Bart gets enjailed for his trial, his cell mate Sideshow Bob is seen lifting weights.
160	* RadishCure: When Homer finds out that Bart's room is full of cigarette cartons he's holding for Fat Tony, Homer believes that they're his and was about to make him start to smoke all of them (as in ''several thousand'') in order to give him this regarding smoking. It's a good thing the transport guy Fat Tony sent to take out the cartons arrived at that moment.
161	* RoadsideWave: Bart suffers two of them. After the school bus leaves without him, a car drives through a puddle and splashes him. Then, after he leaves school, the bus drives through a puddle on the way back to school and soaks him again.
162	* PaperworkPunishment: An unintentional example in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E4BartTheMurderer Bart the Murderer]]." After Bart accidentally leaves his permission slip to go on a field trip at home, he has to stay at school while everyone else goes on the trip. Instead, Principal Skinner has him lick envelopes all day. [[TheBore Skinner]] does not see this as a punishment, though Bart, looking quite miserable, seems to disagree.
163	* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Bart, while emulating Fat Tony, tries to bribe Principal Skinner into looking the other way at his mischief. Cue Bart in detention being forced to write "I will not bribe the principal" on the blackboard.
164	* {{Seers}}: The police employ a psychic to locate Skinner. It doesn't work.
165	* SelfDeprecation: When Marge mentions that the ''Blood on the Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story'' changed just enough of the events to avoid paying the family royalties, Homer bemoans: "You know who the ''real'' crooks are? Those sleazy Hollywood producers!" This is immediately followed by the credits of the executive producers Creator/MattGroening, Creator/JamesLBrooks, and Sam Simon.
166	* ShipTease: Long before they became an item, Mrs. Krabappel is the most distraught over the disappearance of Principal Skinner.
167	* ShoutOut: The horses Fat Tony and Bart bet on are named after cartoon catchphrases, both from the show itself ("Eat my Shorts" and "Don't have a Cow" are Bart catchphrases) and from various franchises: "Yabba-Dabba-Doo" is from ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', "I Yam What I Yam" is from ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'', and "That's all Folks!", "Ooh Ain't I a Stinker" and "Sufferin' Succotash" are from ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''.
168	* ShowWithinAShow: ''Blood on the Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story'' starring Neil Patrick Harris qualifies as this.
169	* SmokingGun: Skinner suddenly enters the courtroom when the judge is about to declare Bart guilty of his murder.
170	* SpecialGuest: Creator/PhilHartman as Lionel Hutz and Troy [=McClure=]; Neil Patrick Harris as himself as Bart Simpson; and Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony ''and'' himself as Fat Tony.
171	* SpiesInAVan: Marge comments about it taking two weeks to deliver a pizza, which is overheard and causes the van to flee. A minute later, another causal van arrives, '''F'''lowers '''B'''y '''I'''rene.
172	* SpoofAesop:
173	** After almost being convicted for a crime that didn't even happen, Bart said he learned crime didn't pay. Fat Tony says he agrees... only to leave the courthouse in a limousine, which is followed by limousines belonging to Legs and Louie.
174	** Skinner was trapped in his basement because a large pile of newspapers fell on top of him and kept him trapped. He later says, "Let this be a lesson to recycle frequently."
175	** After Homer finds hundreds of cigarette cartons in Bart's room, he orders Bart to smoke them all to teach him a lesson. However, once Fat Tony's delivery guy comes to pick them up, Homer apologizes for doubting Bart's explanation.
176	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
177	-->'''Nelson:''' I heard Bart had Skinner killed by gangsters.\
178	'''Bart:''' That's not true! It's just a rumor. You're engaged in speculation. I know the law, you can't prove anything.
179	* TemptingFate:
180	** Bart remarks early on that [[OutOfCharacterMoment he has done his homework for once]]. [[ADogAteMyHomework It doesn't end well]].
181	** Bart's line to Lisa about why he's so happy that morning. It's a lovely day, his homework is done and he's going on a field trip. Santa's Little Helper eats Bart's homework, he has to walk to school in the rain and realizes too late that he left his permission slip at home, under his pillow.
182	** When Bart's skateboard loses a wheel, he falls down the steps to the Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club and sarcastically asks, "What next?" [[OhCrap Cue several gun barrels pointed at him]].
183	* TheyCallMeMISTERTibbs:
184	-->'''Fat Tony''': You Skinner?\
185	'''Skinner''': ''(angrily)'' I'm ''Principal'' Skinner, yes!
186	* VanInBlack: Marge notices a pizza van that had been parked outside the Simpsons's house for days, which a government agency surveillance team was hiding out in. After Marge asks "How long does it take to deliver a pizza?", the agents inside remark that their cover's blown and pull away, only to be immediately replaced by a "florist" van reading "'''F'''lowers '''B'''y '''I'''rene".
187	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: In-universe, ''Blood on the Blackboard: The Bart Simpson Story'' portrays Bart as a hardened mobster who genuinely attempts to murder Skinner, despite the movie being made after he was proven innocent. According to Marge, the film being inaccurate means they ''[[FictionIsntFair didn't have to pay Bart royalties]]''.
188	* VillainsNeverLie: Legs tells Bart that they did not kill Skinner. As it turns out, they were right. They still tried to frame Bart for doing it, however.
189	* VillainsOutShopping: The mobsters watch an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon with Bart.
190	* WouldHurtAChild: The Springfield Mafia point several guns at Bart when he first falls down the steps to their club. They then do it again to threaten him when he protests he doesn't know how to make the Manhattan cocktail for Legs. Presumably they plan to do so ''if'' the cocktail isn't any good.

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS3E4BartTheMurderer