[S5E2] Cape Feare

Bart sees Sideshow Bob in the street, where he unstraps himself from the underside of an old lady's car and is trampled by a parade that included several large elephants. Bart tries telling his parents of Bob's presence, but Homer lazily dismisses his claims. During the night, Sideshow Bob reaches the houseboat and unmoors it from the dock. He ties up Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie and Santa's Little Helper, so they cannot stop him. Sideshow Bob enters Bart's room and almost kills him right when Bart flees out the window. He tries to escape, but he cannot jump off the boat since the river is filled with alligators and electric eels. Sideshow Bob catches up to Bart and corners him at the edge of the boat, offering him a last request before his supposed death. Having noticed a sign saying Springfield is fifteen miles away, Bart quickly has an idea: to stall for time, he compliments Sideshow Bob on his beautiful voice and asks him to sing the entire score of H.M.S. Pinafore. Bob delivers a performance that includes several props, costumes, and backdrops.

[S5E2] Cape Feare

• Banned in China: Airing of the episode in Germany was delayed for six years, because the "Up Late with McBain" sequence featured the show announcer (Obergruppenfuhrernote which is the equivalent to a "lieutenant general" Wolfcastle) dressed in S.S. gear, complete with a swastika armband (display of Nazi symbols is illegal in Germany, unless it's for educational reasons, but even that's iffy). It was finally broadcast in 1999 in a dubbed and edited version.

• The Cast Showoff: Both Bart and the real-life audience get to enjoy Kelsey Grammer performing The H.M.S. Pinafore.

• Creator's Favorite Episode: Hank Azaria named this as his favorite episode.

• Deleted Scene: Itchy sews Scratchy back together, then gives Scratchy the medical bill. After Scratchy sees the bill, he shoots himself.

• A flashback that shows that Abe has reasons to show grudge against Bart. When the flashback ends, Abe tries scolding Bart, saying as his elder he should be treated with respect. Bart tells him he's thinking of Japanese elderly people, and Abe meekly accepts this. Footage from this scene was used in the episode, but with the dialogue altered.

• Homer wakes up in the middle of the night and goes to the kitchen where he is served a sandwich by Sideshow Bob, who is "pretending" to be Consuela the Maid (for added insanity, Bob's also serving Chief Wiggum). He goes back to his bed before he realizes that they don't have a maid.

• The episode originally ended with Grandpa (in a dress) and Jasper in a rowboat singing "A Bicycle Built for Two".

• Looping Lines: One line of dialogue was changed by Mirkin's writing staff: "Uh, yeah. It's a good thing you drifted by this brothel."

• Magnum Opus Dissonance: This was an episode none of the creators felt very confident about (at best. At worst, they figured, "Hey, this is our last episodenote it was the last episode for the original writers, not the last episode of the entire series, though, for some viewers (particularly those who loved the more down-to-earth episodes from seasons 1 to 4), the episode was so insane that they felt this is where they can stop watching and not feel guilty about missing out, so why don't we just stop trying."). They couldn't come up with enough material for it and had to pad it out (including giving it a long Couch Gag and making "Sideshow Bob steps on rakes" gag longer than necessary). It's regarded as one of the funniest episodes of the series, and particular acclaim is lavished on the "Sideshow Bob steps on rakes" sequence, which was originally added solely to pad the runtime.

• Referenced by...: In the Chicken Little episode of Escape from Vault Disney!, in a call-back to the "Raiders of the Lost Bark" joke, Luke says "Rakes, why did it have to be rakes?" in a Scooby-Doo voice. Tony then says that movie would be "The Sideshow Bob Story".

Bob sneaks onboard the family's houseboat and cuts the line with a machete and the boat floats off into the swamp. After tying up the rest of the family, he goes to murder Bart in his room. Bart escapes and looks for a way to get off the boat, but he is blocked by alligators and electric eels. Bob catches up with Bart and offers him a last request. Bart notices a sign saying Springfield is 15 miles away, and asks Bob to sing the entire score of the H.M.S Pinafore. Bob gives an excellent performance, even changing his outfits to the opera's costumes, and Bart applauds him. Bob raises his machete but before he can finish Bart off, the boat hits a rock and the jolt knocks them away from each other. The police are fortunately nearby and arrest Bob. After Bob is sent back to jail again, the Simpsons return to Evergreen Terrace and everything is back to normal, aside from Grampa transforming into Grandma as a result of not being able to take his pills, which he had left with them for some reason.

Bob sneaks on board the family's houseboat and cuts the line with a machete and the boat floats off into the swamp. After tying up the rest of the family to prevent them from interfering with his plan, he goes to murder Bart in his room. Bart escapes and looks for a way to get off the boat, but alligators and electric eels block him. Bob catches up with Bart and offers him a last request. Bart notices a sign that says that Springfield is fifteen miles away and asks Bob to sing the entire score of the H.M.S. Pinafore.

Despite the longevity of the series, none of the citizens of the Simpsons world have aged a day. But their comedy has grown up around us and become an indelible part of the American cultural landscape. 041b061a72