Episode 5F22
Written by David S. Cohen
Directed by Steven Dean Moore
Also starring: Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Russi Taylor
Special guest voices: Marcia Wallace (as Ms Krabappel), Phil Hartman (as Troy McClure)

Premise: When Nelson gets a rifle, Bart thinks it'll be fun to shoot things. Until, that is, he accidentally kills a bird and has to take on the responsibility of rearing its eggs. Of course, nothing is that simple.

Features: Mr Burns, Smithers, Moe, Jasper, Skinner, Milhouse, Nelson, Rev. Lovejoy, Dr Hibbert, Quimby, Apu, Spotty Boy.

Couch: Firemen are using the couch as a net but Homer misses and hits the floor.

Trivia:

• The Bolivian tree-lizard is responsible for the extinction of the dodo, the cuckoo, and the ne-ne goose, and there are fears for the future safety of the titmouse, woodcock and titpecker.
• Marge was in labour with Bart for 53 hours. Ouch!

Hi, I'm Troy McClure, you may remember me from: Such nature films as Earwigs - Ewwww and Man versus Nature - the Road to Victory.

Mmmmm: ...loganberry.

Look out for: Gems such as Bart explaining to the eggs about their dad-mother, the repetitive but always funny basement-light joke, and the fact that the Family Fun Center has been featured on When Disaster Strikes 4. Oh, and Skinner's various methods of eradicating the lizards: a guillotine, a drill and 'the splatter'.

Notes: Bart's conscience gets the better of him and we see the more sensitive side of his nature (can he be growing up at last? Nah!). We particularly like the moral dilemma at the end, as underlined by Lisa, regarding the eventual culling of the lizards that will need to take place. A good romp, this one, with some nice laughs at Homer's expense.