18 The Day the Violence Died

During a parade honoring The Itchy & Scratchy Show, Bart meets an elderly homeless person, Chester J. Lampwick, who claims to be the creator of Itchy. He insists Roger Meyers, the supposed creator of the characters Itchy and Scratchy, stole the idea from him and proves this claim to Bart with his animated short Manhattan Madness from 1919. The film, however, is suddenly destroyed by the projector. To shelter Lampwick, Bart lets him live at his house. However, the Simpson family want Lampwick to leave, but Bart does not want him to live on the streets. Suddenly coming up with an idea to properly compensate Lampwick for creating Itchy, Bart and Chester go to Roger Meyers Jr., CEO of Itchy & Scratchy Studios, and ask him for $800 billion. They are quickly thrown out.

Lampwick then decides, with the help of Bart and lawyer Lionel Hutz, to sue Itchy and Scratchy Studios. His case is not solid, until Bart remembers that he saw an original animation cel created by Lampwick for sale by Comic Book Guy. Buying the cel, Bart shows its inscription, proving that Lampwick is the creator of Itchy. Roger Meyers Jr. then admits that his father stole Itchy from Lampwick, but still rebuffs him by saying that animation is based on plagiarism. The judge rules in favor of Lampwick and orders Meyers to pay Lampwick the $800 billion, which was apparently the entire corporation’s welfare. While Bart is happy that Lampwick is no longer poor, he is sad when he realizes that by helping Lampwick, he has helped take The Itchy & Scratchy Show off of television because the studio is bankrupt and forced to close down.

When Bart and Lisa discover that The Itchy & Scratchy Show has been replaced by a parody of Schoolhouse Rock!'s "I'm Just a Bill" segment, they search for a way to resurrect the cartoon. They find a legal precedent that could help, but discover that two other kids, Lester and Eliza, have beaten them to it. Discovering that the post office mascot Mr. Zip had been ripped off from Itchy & Scratchy Studios, Lester and Eliza helped secure a large cash settlement from the government for Itchy & Scratchy Studios. Despite being happy that Itchy & Scratchy are back on the air, Bart and Lisa leave, disturbed that their spotlight has been stolen. Later that day as Marge tries to comfort her kids, Lester skateboards by the Simpson household and glares at Bart through the window.

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