The Day the Violence Died

It was such a terrific Simpsons episode because it is a great one. That old man Chester got his 800 million dollars after Bart Simpson showed proof that Chester invented Itchy and Scratchy for his first film in 1919. Even if I had 800 million dollars,I would get myself cash-able anytime savings bonds and live on the interest from the Toronto Dominion Bank. Three percent or higher from 800 million is over 24 million dollars interest. Why would Chester have someone build a solid gold house and buy a rocket car? Chester would put a million dollars in a Springfield bank and put the rest in savings bonds so he can live on the interest. He should be in a luxury air-conditioned apartment as a suggestion. He should hire a limo chauffeur, a maid, a chef and nurse. That is what I would do with 800 million dollars.

This episode focuses on the birth of Itchy and Scratchy. We are treated to the first primitive cartoons and the guy who created them. He sues and the franchise goes bankrupt. There are some fun moments here as Lisa and Bart dopelgangers become the heroes.

Bart and Lisa meet the creator of the first ever Itchy cartoon.

This is a solid satire of the legal and creative process within show business.

The is a very different episode that is quite self-referential as well as sharply satirical on the subject of copyright law. The writers poke fun of their own product nicely with the references to Bart and Lisa's arc, plus it is a great parody of the Disney empire.

Kirk Douglas has a great cameo as a down and out who has been exploited by the Hollywood system and takes revenge.

How funny is it? It depends on how much you appreciate the inside jokes, but it's sharply written. For me the Schoolhouse Rock parody goes on for too long. My favourite moments all involve Homer, particularly the opening few scenes.

For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.

When I re-watched season 7 on DVD, I found a few episodes were exceptional, but a lot of others- maybe most others- were disappointing, often not quite what I remembered them to be. The Day the Violence Died is one of the lackluster episodes. It's about Bart discovering that Itchy of the Itchy and Scratchy cartoons is a stolen character, and the real creator of the cartoon mouse is a homeless, impoverished old man. Bart helps him get the credit and money he deserves- and then some. The problem is that this bankrupts the company that makes the cartoons.

I think the main problem with this episode is that it has no purpose to exist. We didn't need an episode about Itchy's origins. He's such a minor character that it just wasn't worth expanding on the (funny and brief) origin story we already had from season 4's Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie. Moreover, the creator/bum isn't an interesting enough character to make the episode worthwhile. Compared to the last colourful Itchy and Scratchy episode, about the amusement park, copyright concerns seem dull. We also have the bum living with the Simpsons for a while- haven't they already taken enough people in? Think Otto and Apu. The ending with Lester and Eliza also doesn't work for me, maybe because it was a bit unsubtle.

But there is some good in this episode. The Itchy and Scratchy cartoon at the beginning is fine, and the joke about taking the gun is good. But above all else, the song about a constitutional amendment on flag burning is great. Even if the real life educational cartoons that inspired this joke are one day forgotten, the joke still captures the flag burning debate in a clever and humorous way. But it probably could have been done in another episode.

'The Day the Violence Died' is, in my opinion, an excellent episode of The Simpsons, and contains loads and loads of Itchy and Scratchy. Bart and Lisa find a bum on the street who claims to be the true creator of Itchy and Scratchy, and they help him gain ownership of the Itchy and Scratchy corporation. To see how it goes, you'll have to watch it yourself. This is a great episode of The Simpsons, and has laughs galore. 'The Day the Violence Died' is probably in my top 15 favorite episodes of The Simpsons, and if you like humor and a satirical take on how America is entertained by violence, then I'd recommend this episode to you.

Rating: TV-PG