Season

15

Production Code

FABF04

Episode Number

0

Airdate

11 January 2004

Writer

Dan Greany Allen Glazier

Director

Lauren MacMullan

Executive Producer

Al Jean

Editor

Jimmy Heenan

Plot Bart plans to destroy his bike intentionally (by throwing it in front of a passing car) so that Homer will buy him a new bike. Dr. Hibbert falls victim to Bart's plan, and promises to pay for the damages. When he leaves, he ends up running over Snowball II. Lisa is devastated and recites a poem tearfully at her funeral, where she is buried next to Snowball I.

Bart and Homer get a new bike, and Homer assembles it. The next morning, Bart is ecstatic to see the bike all prepared. When he takes his bike for a ride, it starts falling apart and he falls on the road. Later, Bart watches "Robot Rumble", where a father-son team uses their robot to destroy the other father-son team's robot. After Homer attempts to build a robot, he fails, and decides that he should become the robot. Bart wakes up the next morning, and finds a robot in his room. He tries out the robot, and is impressed by it. They move to compete on "Robot Rumble", with the robot, named "Chief Knock-A-Homer". Bart can't find Homer, but finds another note, saying that Homer can't be there. Homer, inside the "robot", competes in his first match. He is victorious, and Homer and Bart win their way to the finals, but become worried with their final opponent the world Robot rumble champion, Professor Frink and his son, with a deadly looking robot. The next day is the match, the "Chief" is being heavily beaten by the Frink robot. Bart becomes suspicious and opens it up, to find Homer. Homer admits to his trick and apologises, but Bart likes the idea. The Frink robot goes to squeeze the Chief, and Homer pops out. Homer and Bart find out that the Frink robot cannot fight humans because Frink programmed it to obey the Three Laws of Robotics, and so Homer and Bart are declared the winners and the champions, despite rule #1 that forbids man himself to compete. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa look for a new cat and go to the animal shelter. Lisa sees a cat which she likes and takes him home, naming him Snowball III. Unfortunately Snowball III drowns while trying to grab the fish in the fish tank. They hold a funeral for him, burying him next to Snowball II. Marge and Lisa go to the animal shelter again and Lisa sees another cat, Coltrane (who shares its name with John Coltrane, the jazz saxophonist) and decides to adopt it. However, when she tries to play some jazz for the cat, it jumps out of the window. Yet another funeral follows, where Coltrane is buried next to Snowball III. Marge and Lisa go back to the animal shelter, but this time, the caretaker shows them the way out, because cats are safer there than at their place. One day, as Lisa sits outside brooding over the recently deceased Snowballs and Coltrane, the Crazy Cat Lady shows up, and throws a cat at Lisa that looks just like Snowball II. Lisa decides to keep it after being convinced that this one is lucky. She decides to forget about the other four cats, and call it Snowball II.