Jazzy and the Pussycats

"Jazzy and the Pussycats"
The Simpsons episode
File:Bart Drums.png
Episode no.	Season 18
Directed by	Steven Dean Moore
Written by	Daniel Chun
Original air dates	September 17, 2006
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	None
Couch gag	Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie sit on the couch. The camera pulls back and we see a window with a King Kong-esque Homer who grabs Marge and climbs the building while fending off airplanes.

"Jazzy and the Pussycats" is the second episode of The Simpsons' eighteenth season

Synopsis

After ruining almost the entire church when his playing with a paddleball goes awry, Bart is forced to see a psychiatrist who suggests Bart get a drum kit, which he does. He instantly becomes a natural at it. He practices 24/7, driving Homer and Marge mad. Later on, Lisa suggests to her parents that she can take Bart to a jazz brunch.

Lisa asks Bart to jazz along with her quintet, which he does. Everyone notices Bart as an icon, and a jazz group asks him to play with them, and Bart's nickname is now "Tick Tock" Simpson.

Bart's drumming is such a success that he's now a town icon, was on the front cover of two magazines, bumped into the White Stripes playing a music parody, and made Lisa very, very jealous. Marge then tells Lisa to adopt a puppy to calm her down.

Lisa then goes to adopt a pet, and somehow manages to get a run-down dog, a bird, and a bulldog after the lady convinced her to get all three of them. She then was walking down the streets, and many other animals joined her, including a horde of circus animals. Having nowhere to put them, Lisa puts them in an attic.

At dinner, Lisa notices Bart was missing, and that Bart and his jazz group were up in the attic with the animals Lisa rescued. A tiger bites Bart's "drumming arm". This broke his arm, and now Bart lost his drumming talent.

In order to raise money for the operation he needs, Bart organizes a benefit concert. However, Lisa is informed that her animals will be taken to a pound and killed if she cannot find a suitable home for them. In the end, Bart gives the money he raises to Lisa for a home for the animals.

Trivia

• The promo picture shown above is inaccurate, due to the fact that Milhouse only appears in the church at the very beginning.
• The members of Lisa's Jazz group (apart from Bart) are Martin Prince playing piano, Üter playing trumpet, Database playing Bass and Ralph Wiggum rolls a toy lawnmower back and forth.
• Simpsons writer George Meyer can briefly be seen in this episode.
• Long time Simpsons producer Richard Sakai is mentioned as one of the Jazz performers at the concert.
• Mr. Mitchell, the blind man from "The Canine Mutiny" makes a cameo appearance when he comes out of a store after Lisa allowed his guide dog to follow her.
• The theme of this episode, namely that Bart is immediately lauded for his work in the very medium in which Lisa is ignored despite her striving for recognition all her life, is remarkably similar to that of "Mom and Pop Art", in which Homer is awarded for his (perceived) artistic talent even though Marge had dedicated much of her young life to painting, only to gain grudging or minimal praise (although in "Brush with Greatness" her idol, Ringo Starr, does compliment her portrait of him, which is arguably in and of itself the highest possible praise).
• The people from Springfield who appeared at the funeral of Homer's Vegas wife are: Sideshow Mel, Ruth Powers, the Flanders and Wiggum families, Lenny, Carl, Groudskeeper Willie, Milhouse and Kirk Van Houten, Moe, Barney, Superintendent Chalmers, Disco Stu, Dr. Nick Riviera, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Kearney, Johnny Tightlips, Otto, Capt. McCallister, Cletus Spuckler (along with Brandine and their children), Miss Hoover, Patty Bouvier, Mr. Largo, and Hans Moleman. Also appearing are Gunter and Ernst and their white tiger, Anastasia.
• The girl who was playing the trumpet at the jazz brunch looks like Milhouse's ex-girlfriend, Samantha Stanky, from "Bart's Friend Falls in Love".

Cultural References

• Rick Allen — Bart's injury mimics a similar maladay by the Def Leppard drummer.
• The Hardest Button to Button — The scene where Bart plays the drums as he travels down the street is a direct parody of The White Stripes song.

The promotional image for the episode.

• King Kong — The couch gag — where King Homer grabs Marge — and scales the [{Empire State Building]] is a parody. The King Homer character is revived from "Treehouse of Horror III."
• Josie and the Pussycats — The episode title is inspired by the Archie Comics/Hanna-Barbera "fictional band."
• Reservoir Dogs — The shot of Lisa walking with the dogs is a reference to the film.
• Wile E. Coyote — Bart's "replacement right hand" communicates the word "good-bye" by holding up a sign with his right arm and disappears behind the curtain, in a similar vein as the Looney Tunes cartoon character.
• Songs in this episode:
  • "The Hardest Button to Button" by The White Stripes
  • "Take Five", originally by by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
  • "Big Noise From Winnetka"
  • "Little Green Bag"
  • "Caravan"

Goofs

• When Üter is seen playing a trumpet, it sounds like he has a Harmon mute in, but the animation shows he does not.

Quotes

• (Sign of hospital): Come for the surgery, stay for the complications.
• Bart: So how did Malt Liquor Mommy die?
  Marge: Bart! Don't call her that!
  Lenny: You know that sign that says "No Standing in the Roller Coaster"?
  Bart: [with trepidation] Yeah...
  Lenny: She overdosed right in front of it.
• Carl: She was Homer's wife for a two-day spurt/Her name was Amber, just like the alert!
• Lisa: What are you doing here?
  Bart: Uh...not smoking reefer!
• Bart: I started out as a great drummer, and now I'm nothing! Just like Phil Collins!
• Child Psychiatrist: Don't worry. Bart's actions are completely normal for a seven-year old.
  Marge: Actually, he's ten.
  Child Psychiatrist: Oh, dear. Oh, dear, dear, dear. This is not good.
• Cletus: [to his cow, on whom Bart drummed a beat] Bossy, the music industry would just chew you up and spit you out. Keep your eye on the prize.
  (Camera pans to the slaughterhouse.)
• Ghost Dog: You suck! You suck!

Broadcasting Information

USA/Canada

• 1st Airdate: Sunday, September 17, 2006