Season

13

Production Code

CABF22

Episode Number

0

Airdate

11 November 2001

Writer

Mike Scully
George Meyer

Director

Mark Kirkland

Executive Producer

Mike Scully

Editor

Jimmy Heenan

Plot En route to school, after Bart and Milhouse apparently miss the morning school bus, Homer hears KBBL's announcement of the "Prize Posse" radio contest. The prize is US$40 to the first person spotted by the KBBL van, the "Wampum Wagon", with a "KBBL Party Penguin" hanging from their car antenna. Immediately after hearing the announcement Milhouse fortuitously spots the KBBL van cross traffic perpendicularly. Homer, having such a "KBBL Party Penguin" on his car as required, immediately stops the car and forces Bart and Milhouse get out, presumably left to their own devices to get to school. After walking around they spot and then get into Chief Wiggum's police car. After being threatened by a canine sitting in the back seat, they unintentionally put the car into neutral. After crashing the vehicle, Chief Wiggum presumes they have stolen his car in a joyride. They are then taken into police custody.

After a trial, Milhouse is declared innocent by Judge Snyder. Bart's hearing proceeds and as Judge Snyder prepares to let Bart off the hook, he abruptly leaves for vacation. Without recess, a new judge, Constance Harm, played by Jane Kaczmarek, a Judge Judy parody, enters to preside over Bart's hearing. In lieu of sending Bart to juvie, she opts for a creative sentence. She orders that Bart and Homer be tethered together because of Homer's incompetence of taking care of Bart and that Homer should never abandon Bart and Milhouse in the first place.

Surprisingly, Homer and Bart develop a bond as they are tethered, showing up at school, work, and even at Moe's. When Bart can't stand being tethered, he get into a fight with Homer. Marge can't help it, and she cuts the tether to stop the fighting. Unfortunately, Judge Harm comes in (through fiber optics) to warn Homer that he violated her order after Marge cut it. She punishes Homer and Marge by declaring them both to be bad parents, and puts them in wooden stocks. Chief Wiggum makes them stand on a sidewalk and wants drivers to spank the parents. Later on, they use Ned Flanders table saw to remove their stocks. Marge got free of the stocks using Flanders' table saw and Homer gets free as the candle Ned was using burns through the stocks. They sneak into Harm's houseboat and put up a "Big Meanie" banner. As they are about to leave, Judge Harm's pet seal Poncho alerts Harm of their precense. Homer and Marge throw a cinder block through her boat, which sinks.

After the houseboat incident, she declares that enough is enough, and attempts to give them a big punishment on them until Bart gives a testimony, and asks to be punished instead of his parents. Judge Snyder returns from his vacation and dismisses the case before Harm can punish Bart. Lisa moves for a motion that boys will be boys, and Judge Snyder grants the motion, dismissing the case. The family returns back to normal.