Pranksta Rap
Encyclopedia
"Pranksta Rap" is the ninth episode of the The Simpsons
' sixteenth season
, which originally aired February 13, 2005. It guest stars 50 Cent
as himself, and Dana Gould
as Barney Fife
.
is watching college football
. As he knocks the remote off the couch and into a bag of chips, Santa's Little Helper
swallows it, changing the channel whenever he barks. It eventually shows a commercial for a rap
concert called "Murder 4 Life" coming to Springfield. Homer tells Bart
that he can buy a $50 ticket if he uses his own money. When Marge
sees Bart dressed in baggy clothing, she bars him from going to the concert, even though he bought a ticket. Homer takes sides with Marge on the issue, despite his early encouragement.
Bart goes to the concert after escaping from a window. He sits down in the front row, and eventually a microphone
falls into his hands. He then grabs it, climbs on stage, and raps about how much of a "fat load" Homer is. Bart rides home in the rapper Alcatraaz's limousine
, and Alcatraaz gives Bart a jersey for the concert.
Arriving outside his home, Bart overhears Marge and Homer talking about his escape, saying Bart would be whipped if he was caught. Bart then tries to lie his way out of it. He tosses his jersey onto a tree branch, then sends a note attached to a rock through the living-room window, reading "Your son has been kidnapped
. Follow instructions and Bart will not be harmed."
The next morning, Kent Brockman
interviews Marge about the kidnapping. Chief Wiggum says that he will find Bart, although everyone in Springfield
teases him, because of his past ineptitude. That night, as he walks into his office feeling guilty about it, he cheers himself up by eating a giant stack of pancakes. When he wakes up the next morning, he sees a TV show with Barney Fife
, telling him to quit the pity-party and fight crime.
Bart tries to hide from the townsfolk. Milhouse
finds him, and Bart explains about the hoax. Milhouse lets him hide at his father's apartment complex, complete with cracked walls, rust, and bedbugs. One night, Bart calls home, and with a strange voice, sounds like a kidnapper. He then switches to his regular voice, telling Marge how the kidnapper will kill him if Marge worries too much. Meanwhile, the police record the phone call. Chief Wiggum then listens to it, and notices a crackling sound in the background. He then identifies it as a tub of popcorn
Bart was making during the call, specifically an ultra-cheap brand known as "Chintzy Pop
." He asks Apu
at the Kwik-E-Mart
how many people buy it. He quickly responds how Kirk is the only person who does so, besides Clancy. He then goes to Kirk's house to arrest him and return Bart home. A parade
is then held for Chief Wiggum, although Milhouse complains to Bart about how he put his father in jail
.
Chief Wiggum is then promoted to police commissioner
. He also promotes Lou to chief
, and Eddie to Lou's former position. Bart then explains to Clancy about how he lied. However, he responds by saying that he should still keep it a secret, so that he will not lose his job, and because women like Kirk, now that he is a criminal. Nevertheless, Lisa finds the concert jersey
in the tree, and realizes that Bart was never kidnapped. Homer ignores her, and simply burns the jersey. Instead, she seeks help from Principal Skinner
, who agrees to expose Bart's lies, simply as "a chance to bring down Bart Simpson". Lou then informs Commissioner Wiggum about how Lisa stopped by, trying to put together the puzzle. Clancy gets nervous, and then brings Homer and Bart to Kirk's cell, explaining about how Lisa is going to catch him, while he has already printed out 10,000 business cards as Commissioner. Kirk also explains how he likes jail because of the women and the free food, especially when compared to his downscale apartment.
Lisa and Skinner visit the rappers' mansion, where they show them a video from the concert on their 200" movie screen. The time and date (which appear on a man wearing an oversized clock a la Flava Flav) happen to be on there, as well. Chief Wiggum then bursts through the door, holding up his gun, saying how the rappers must hand over the tape. However, they each have their own guns. Homer accidentally destroys the TV, and possibly the evidence. Alcatraaz sees only one solution to the problem: a party.
In the post-script scene, Skinner asks Alcatraaz if there was any place in the rapping world for a "forty-something elementary school administrator." Alcatraaz says he already hired a man for that job, Superintendent Chalmers.
his eighth favorite musical guest on The Simpsons out of a list of ten.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
The Simpsons (season 16)
The Simpsons 16th season began on Sunday, November 7, 2004 and contained 21 episodes, beginning with Treehouse of Horror XV. The season contains six hold-over episodes from the season 15 production line....
, which originally aired February 13, 2005. It guest stars 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
as himself, and Dana Gould
Dana Gould
Dana John Gould is an American comedian and comedy writer born and raised in Hopedale, Massachusetts. His upbringing and his extended family lent themselves to his stand-up routine, which has been seen on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central, among other places.-Career:After high school, he studied...
as Barney Fife
Barney Fife
Bernard "Barney" Fife is a fictional character in the American television program The Andy Griffith Show, portrayed by comic actor Don Knotts. Barney Fife is a deputy sheriff in the slow paced, sleepy southern community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
.
Plot
HomerHomer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
is watching college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
. As he knocks the remote off the couch and into a bag of chips, Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
swallows it, changing the channel whenever he barks. It eventually shows a commercial for a rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
concert called "Murder 4 Life" coming to Springfield. Homer tells Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
that he can buy a $50 ticket if he uses his own money. When Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
sees Bart dressed in baggy clothing, she bars him from going to the concert, even though he bought a ticket. Homer takes sides with Marge on the issue, despite his early encouragement.
Bart goes to the concert after escaping from a window. He sits down in the front row, and eventually a microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
falls into his hands. He then grabs it, climbs on stage, and raps about how much of a "fat load" Homer is. Bart rides home in the rapper Alcatraaz's limousine
Limousine
A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....
, and Alcatraaz gives Bart a jersey for the concert.
Arriving outside his home, Bart overhears Marge and Homer talking about his escape, saying Bart would be whipped if he was caught. Bart then tries to lie his way out of it. He tosses his jersey onto a tree branch, then sends a note attached to a rock through the living-room window, reading "Your son has been kidnapped
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
. Follow instructions and Bart will not be harmed."
The next morning, Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode "Krusty Gets Busted"...
interviews Marge about the kidnapping. Chief Wiggum says that he will find Bart, although everyone in Springfield
Springfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...
teases him, because of his past ineptitude. That night, as he walks into his office feeling guilty about it, he cheers himself up by eating a giant stack of pancakes. When he wakes up the next morning, he sees a TV show with Barney Fife
Barney Fife
Bernard "Barney" Fife is a fictional character in the American television program The Andy Griffith Show, portrayed by comic actor Don Knotts. Barney Fife is a deputy sheriff in the slow paced, sleepy southern community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, telling him to quit the pity-party and fight crime.
Bart tries to hide from the townsfolk. Milhouse
Milhouse Van Houten
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....
finds him, and Bart explains about the hoax. Milhouse lets him hide at his father's apartment complex, complete with cracked walls, rust, and bedbugs. One night, Bart calls home, and with a strange voice, sounds like a kidnapper. He then switches to his regular voice, telling Marge how the kidnapper will kill him if Marge worries too much. Meanwhile, the police record the phone call. Chief Wiggum then listens to it, and notices a crackling sound in the background. He then identifies it as a tub of popcorn
Popcorn
Popcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
Bart was making during the call, specifically an ultra-cheap brand known as "Chintzy Pop
Jiffy Pop
Jiffy Pop is a popcorn brand of ConAgra Foods. The product combines unpopped popcorn kernels and oil with an aluminum pan and folded aluminum foil lid. As the pan is heated, the popping corn causes the foil to unfold and puff up. Jiffy in the name references the short cooking...
." He asks Apu
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also...
at the Kwik-E-Mart
Kwik-E-Mart
The Kwik-E-Mart is a fictional chain of convenience stores in the animated television series The Simpsons. It is a parody of American convenience store chains, such as 7-Eleven and Circle K, and represents many myths and stereotypes of them. It is notorious for its high prices and the poor quality...
how many people buy it. He quickly responds how Kirk is the only person who does so, besides Clancy. He then goes to Kirk's house to arrest him and return Bart home. A parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
is then held for Chief Wiggum, although Milhouse complains to Bart about how he put his father in jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
.
Chief Wiggum is then promoted to police commissioner
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
. He also promotes Lou to chief
Chief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
, and Eddie to Lou's former position. Bart then explains to Clancy about how he lied. However, he responds by saying that he should still keep it a secret, so that he will not lose his job, and because women like Kirk, now that he is a criminal. Nevertheless, Lisa finds the concert jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
in the tree, and realizes that Bart was never kidnapped. Homer ignores her, and simply burns the jersey. Instead, she seeks help from Principal Skinner
Seymour Skinner
Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...
, who agrees to expose Bart's lies, simply as "a chance to bring down Bart Simpson". Lou then informs Commissioner Wiggum about how Lisa stopped by, trying to put together the puzzle. Clancy gets nervous, and then brings Homer and Bart to Kirk's cell, explaining about how Lisa is going to catch him, while he has already printed out 10,000 business cards as Commissioner. Kirk also explains how he likes jail because of the women and the free food, especially when compared to his downscale apartment.
Lisa and Skinner visit the rappers' mansion, where they show them a video from the concert on their 200" movie screen. The time and date (which appear on a man wearing an oversized clock a la Flava Flav) happen to be on there, as well. Chief Wiggum then bursts through the door, holding up his gun, saying how the rappers must hand over the tape. However, they each have their own guns. Homer accidentally destroys the TV, and possibly the evidence. Alcatraaz sees only one solution to the problem: a party.
In the post-script scene, Skinner asks Alcatraaz if there was any place in the rapping world for a "forty-something elementary school administrator." Alcatraaz says he already hired a man for that job, Superintendent Chalmers.
Reception
Andrew Martin of Prefix Mag named 50 Cent50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
his eighth favorite musical guest on The Simpsons out of a list of ten.