Episode 9F16
Written by Adam I. Lapidus
Directed by Rich Moore
Also starring: Doris Grau, Maggie Roswell
Special guest voice: Brooke Shields (as herself)

Premise: After a really dull Itchy and Scratchy cartoon, Bart and Lisa try to sell a script for a better one but aren't taken seriously as they're just kids. So they use Grampa's name and as a result, he gets hired as a writer.

Features: Krusty, Grampa, Principal Skinner, Barney, Sideshow Mel.

Couch: The Simpsons rush in - to form part of a circus showbiz extravaganza.

Trivia:

• Grampa claims to have spent forty years as a night watchman at a cranberry silo.
• The Itchy and Scratchy writers are caricatures of some Simpsons writers, notably Al Jean, Jeff Martin, George Meyer, Mike Reiss, Sam Simon, John Swartzwelder and Jon Vitti.
• Artie Ziff and Principal Dondelinger previously appeared in The Way We Was.
• The other nominees for Best Writing in a Cartoon Series are: Strondaar - The Wedding episode; Action Figure Man -The How to Buy Action Figure Man episode; and Ren & Stimpy - The Season Premiere (Clip Not Done Yet).

Homage: Artie Ziff's suggestion to Homer about Marge recalls the central plot of Indecent Proposal (Adrian Lyne, 1993).

Itchy and Scratchy in: Little Barbershop of Horrors, Dazed and Confused and Screams from a Mall.

Look out for: Lisa walking down the corridors of the animation studio. Itchy and Scratchy's anti-drugs message.

Notes: An ironic look at the animation industry, with a higher than average Itchy and Scratchy count. The episode proper is followed by The Adventures of Ned Flanders in Love That God, starring Ned, Rod and Todd, with its own, rather wonderful, theme tune.