The Day the Violence Died

"The Day the Violence Died" is the eighteenth episode of Season 7. It first aired on March 17, 1996. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Wes Archer. Kirk Douglas, Alex Rocco, Jack Sheldon, Suzanne Somers guest star.

Plot
It's the 75th Anniversary of Itchy and Scratchy and Bart, Lisa and Homer go to the Itchy and Scratchy Parade. Bart follows it to "Bum Town", where he meets a homeless man named Chester, who claims that he created Itchy of the Itchy & Scratchy cartoons, and indeed cartoon violence itself. As proof, Chester shows Bart and Milhouse an animated short he made in the 1920s, in which Itchy is the star and goes about his usual violent tendencies. Bart now believes Chester, but the nitrate print of the film catches fire, eliminating their only proof.

Even so, Bart decides to help Chester. Chester moves in but things turn bad when Chester and Grampa get into a fist-fight. When Bart and Chester try to prove that Chester created the cartoon to the C.E.O of Itchy and Scratchy, Roger Meyers Jr., they are thrown out by security. They decide to take it to court. During the trial, Krusty and Chester get into a fist-fight. The Itchy and Scratchy company have much better lawyers (obviously) than the children and Chester. Chester claims he created all the good Itchy and Scratchy characters, and asserts that Meyers was an untalented man who could only draw "pathetic stick figures." Yet Chester presents no hard evidence supporting his claims, and the case seems to be over.

However, thinking quickly, Bart borrows $750 from Homer and runs to the local comic shop and returns with a framed image of Itchy, which he recognized from Lampwick's cartoon. When Bart removes the image from the frame, an autograph is evident in which Lampwick dedicated the image to Roger Meyers Sr., and encourages keep drawing, as he clearly suffers from a "lack of talent". The date on the signature also predates Itchy's first appearance in 'Steamboat Itchy'.

With the revelation that his father stole Itchy, along with any every other cartoon the studio owned, Meyers Jr. makes a last-ditch effort to claim all successful cartoons borrow from other sources. Chester wins the case, and the Itchy and Scratchy company pays him his requested sum of $800 million. Bart is happy for Chester, but becomes saddened when he realizes that by helping Chester, he has bankrupted and shut down the production company for Itchy & Scratchy. He and Lisa try to solve the problem, but are shocked when they find out the problem has already been solved by two other (similar-looking) kids; Lester and Eliza. It turns out that one of Meyers Sr.'s lame stick-figure characters, "Manic Mailman", was actually plagiarized by the US Postal Service, which results in a huge cash settlement for the Itchy & Scratchy studio. At the same press conference, Lester and Eliza announce that they have rescued Apu and Krusty from various scandals as well.

The episode ends with Bart and Lisa declaring themselves unsatisfied with someone else saving the day.

Production
The Day the Violence Died