Episode 8F11
Written by Jon 'Vitti
Directed by Carlos Beaza
Also starring: Pamela Hayden, Russi Taylor, Maggie Roswell
Special guest voices: Sting (as himself), Marcia Wallace (as Ms Krabappel)

Premise: Bart gets a voice-throwing microphone for his birthday. His pranks begin harmlessly enough - but things get serious when he pretends to be Timmy O'Toole, a boy trapped down a well. Serious enough to encourage Sting to lead a host of celebrities in We're Sending Our Love Down the Well.

Features: Krusty, Sideshow Mel, Grampa, Patty and Selma, Martin, Milhouse, Ms Krabappel, the Flanderses, Principal Skinner, Kent Brockman, Dr Frink, Rainier Wolfcastle, Chief Wiggum, Lou and Eddie.

Couch: The Simpsons rush in and sit down - and start to bounce about.

Trivia:

• Video games seen at Chuck E. Cheez include Coffee Fiend and Comic Shop.

Homage: A man called Quint suggests using chocolate attached to a fish-hook to save Timmy - he's straight out of Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1976). Funky-See, Funky-Do with their hit I Do Believe We're Naked resemble late-eighties lip-sync fraudsters Milli Vanilli.

Notes: The Police had a song called Canary Down the Mine, and Sting had made a point of campaigning for good causes, which explains why he was singled out in this sharp critique of celebrity posturing and media panic.