The Boy Who Knew Too Much

It is a beautiful day in Springfield, but Bart is not happy about going to school, in part because they have to go on a prison bus. When arriving at school, Bart and the rest of the class have to sit in extremely uncomfortable chairs with their desks. Bart forges a note claiming a dentist appointment so that he can skip school, but Principal Skinner is not convinced.

Skinner goes after Bart, and as he finally corners him, Bart jumps into a passing car. The car is actually driven by Freddy, nephew of Mayor Quimby, going to his birthday party. At lunch, Freddy is served chowder, but he ridicules the waiter for saying it with a French accent. He then follows the waiter into the kitchen, and apparently roughs him up. Bart, hiding under a table, secretly witnesses the true turn of events. Freddy is charged for the crime (presumably battery) and put on trial.

The whole town seems to believe that Freddy is guilty, and only Bart knows otherwise. Eventually, he does confess to Lisa that he is the only one who can prove Freddy's innocence. He does not want to testify, however, because he would have to admit that he skipped school, and face punishment from Principal Skinner. Meanwhile, Bart thinks that the jury will find him innocent but hears Homer after being selected for jury duty says that he will convict Freddy Quimby.

During jury deliberations, Homer discovers that if the jury is deadlocked, they will have to be sequestered and stay at the Springfield Palace Hotel until they decide on a verdict. He votes against the others just to be able to take advantage of this benefit.

Bart reconsiders testifying to Freddy's innocence after watching a show on TV with a similar incident. Soon, in court, Bart tells everyone that the waiter was injured not by Freddy, but by himself in a series of clumsy actions. The waiter attempts to deny that he is clumsy, but in the process, he falls out of the window into an open-roof truck filled with mouse traps. Freddy is cleared of all charges. Skinner gives Bart four months detention, but he praises him for being honest and coming foward.

[edit] Notes

The jury members that can be identified are: Homer, Principal Skinner, Hans Moleman, Ned Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Jasper Beardly, Patty, Apu and Akira.

Apu is shown as a member of the jury during the trial, however in a subsequent continuity error in the season seven episode Much Apu About Nothing, Apu was revealed to be an illegal immigrant and threw out his summons to report to jury duty when he became a legal U.S. citizen.

[edit] Deleted Scenes

A deleted scene showed Freddy Quimby attacking the waiter when the trial ends, trying to get him to say "chowda" when he gets pummeled by a group of policemen back into the courtroom. The waiter is then interviewed on the news.
Another deleted scene shows Principal Skinner having a nightmare about his Vietnam days and acts as he is using a machine gun, shooting at soldiers. Homer is shown watching him, eating popcorn and yelling "C'mon Skinner, get'em! get'em!", suggesting it happens every night.
Another deleted scene shows Homer making a joke in the jury stand that they look like a carton of eggs due to their being twelve of them, he is also quips that some of them are cracked but no one else laughs at this and he says 'Aw, I wanna go home!'. The joke is humouressly rebuffed by Lionel Hutz moments later.

[edit] Cultural references

The mayor's nephew is named after Fred Quimby, a producer who worked at MGM Studios and served as executive producer for the cartoons created there (specifically Tom and Jerry and the cartoons made by Tex Avery after he left Warner Brothers Studios).
12 Angry Men - Homer is the only one voting "innocent" against 11 "guilty" votes, just like in the movie (but Homer's reason for doing so is quite different).
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - The episode plot is similar to the Injun Joe/cemetery subplot. Bart also dreams of being outside on the river, on a raft with a Tom Sawyer type character. During his "break" from school, he is fishing with a line attached to his foot and napping under a tree when he sees a silhouette of Abe Lincoln and Tom Sawyer sailing on a raft just like he imagined in his dream. As the come closer he realizes it's actually two hobo's asking Bart if he wants to see a dead body. Bart immediately runs away with the line still attached to his foot.
Dirty Harry - The character "McGarnigle" bears a striking resemblance to Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry.
The Man Who Knew Too Much - episode title.
The Kennedy family - Quimby's family is similar to this family.
Free Willy - The new 'director's cut' of this movie features Jesse being crushed by Willy.
Westworld - The scene of Principal Skinner chasing Bart borrows heavily from the film.
"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" - Freddy's supposed assault is similar to Zanzinger's actual assault.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Principal Skinner on Bart's trail references Dean Rooney's quest to bust Ferris Bueller for truancy. However, Skinner is much more dogged than Ferris' dean and ultimately wins in punishing Bart for his truancy.
Frasier and seaQuest DSV - Jasper makes reference to Eddie, pet dog of Martin Crane on Frasier, riding Darwin, the talking dolphin character from the science fiction series seaQuest DSV.
Pink Panther - The waiter in his denial of his blundering injury shouts, "This is an outrage! I am not a clumsy, clouseau-esque waiter!" before his bumbling through the window into the truck full of mousetraps.
Last Action Hero - Bart's claim to Rainier Wolfcastle that his "last movie really sucked" and Chief Wiggum's subsequent claim of "magic ticket, my ass, McBain" are in reference to a recent Arnold Schwarzenegger film that was panned by critics. Additionally, Wolfcastle's wife is named Maria; Schwarzenegger's wife is Maria Shriver.
Matt Groening - appears in a cameo as the court illustrator in the Quimby trial; can be seen signing his name on his sketch.
Meow Mix - Homer "sings" the jingle when Bart reads his thoughts in court.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - The waiter's accident in the kitchen is very reminiscent of the cartoon being filmed at the beginning of this film.
The Terminator - Skinner's mechanical stance when following Bart; music played, similar; when coming out of water, similar in appearance to the reforming T-1000. His ability to walk through water and his posture can also be compared to Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, ie. when Bart exclaims, "Oh my God, he is like some sort of (i.e. machine) ...non...giving up...school guy!"
The trial of Claus von Bülow (who allegedly murdered his wife) - Bart's line after Moe takes the bribe money for not testifying against Mayor Quimby's nephew, "The system works. Just ask Claus von Bülow", is a reference to how von Bulow was never convicted for the murder of his wife.
Charlie Brown of the comic strip Peanuts is mentioned when Bart is reading the comics. He says "Heh Charlie Brown said "Good Grief", didn't see that one coming." in a sarcastic tone.

[edit] Reception

MSNBC named the episode their tenth favorite of the series in 2007, praising Bart reading Homer's mind in the courtroom, and when Homer realizes jury duty is an excuse to stay in a luxury hotel.^[1]