Episode 7F10
Written by John Swartzwelder
Directed by Mark Kirkland
Also starring: Doris Grau
Special guest voice: Phil Hartman (as Lionel Hutz)

Premise: Bart is knocked off his skateboard by Mr Burns in his car. After a brief trip to Heaven, and a slightly less brief visit to Hell, he falls to Earth. With the help of dodgy lawyer Lionel Hutz, Homer tries to sue Burns for a million dollars. And Marge and Lisa discover there are many ways that you can arrive at the truth.

Features: Smithers, Mr Burns, Ned Flanders, Todd Flanders, Dr Hibbert, Lany, Carl, Charlie, Hennan, Moe, Barney.

Couch: Homer wriggles until he forces the others on to the floor.

And introducing: Springfield DA, Lionel Hutz, Dr Nick Riviera.

Trivia:

• This episode has an on-screen title - 'Preceded by Episode 23' - which, indeed, it is.
• Hutz's card reads, 'Lionel Hutz Attorney at Law as seen on TV KLondike 5-LAWW. Clogging up our courts since 1976.'
• Satan (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ned Flanders) realises Bart is ahead of schedule during his brief trip to Hell, telling Bart he's not, in fact, due to go to hell until the Yankees next win the Pennant - in about a century.
• Dr Nick Riviera's credentials are Mayo Clinic Correspondence School; Female Body Inspector; Club Med School and I Went to Medical School for Four Years and all I got was this Lousy Diploma.

Homage: Bart's revival mirrors the return of Dorothy to Earth in The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939). The Devil's first line is, appropriately enough, the first line of the Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil.

Notes for the Uneducated: Hell as seen in this episode is taken from Hieronymous Bosch's painting The Garden of Earthly Delights.

Look out for: The differing flashbacks to the car accident given by Bart and Mr Burns.

Notes: An interesting episode in that we begin to see the very dark side of Burns that will develop later, although Smithers is still just a toady. A good introduction for Lionel Hutz and a nice look at Hell, Heaven and the original Snowball.