Episode 3F16
Written by John Swartzwelder
Directed by Wesley Archer
Also starring: Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille
Special guest voices: Kirk Douglas (as Chester J. Lampwick), Phil Hartman (as Lionel Hutz), Alex Rocco (as Roger Myers), Jack Sheldon (as Amendment 2B), Suzanne Somers (as herself)

Premise: It's the 75th anniversary of Itchy and Scratchy, but one person not celebrating is bum Chester J. Lampwick. He tells Bart he created Itchy in 1919 - so there's the small matter of $800,000,000 in outstanding royalties to be settled.

Features: Kent Brockman, Android's Dungeon Guy, Otto, Milhouse, Grampa, Lionel Hutz, Krusty, Apu.

Couch: The Simpsons rush in - but they're blanked-out silhouettes. Robotic spray-painting restores their colour.

Trivia:

• The other members of the Itchy and Scratchy family are Brown-Nose Bear, Disgruntled Goat, Flatulent Fox, Rich Uncle Skeleton and Dinner Dog.

Homage: The cryogenic fate of Roger Myers Snr refers to the myth that Walt Disney's body was similarly frozen after death. The cartoon replacement for Itchy and Scratchy is a parody of the early seventies educational cartoon series Schoolhouse Rock.

Notes for Brits: Amendment 2B was designed by rightwingers to amend the American Constitution to forbid the burning of the US flag, and was regarded by its opponents as the thin end of a political wedge. The surprise witnesses at the trial include the McCrary twins, famed in the States as the fattest twins on Earth.

Itchy and Scratchy in: The Itchy and Scratchy 48-hour diamond anniversary marathon - 'celebrating 75 years of ribtickling brutality and hilarious atrocities', including Remembrance of Things Slashed. We also see Itchy & Scratchy meet Fritz the Cat, a seventies blaxploitation-style outing. Lampwick provides Itchy's solo premier Manhattan Madness (1919) as proof of his claim, which is refuted by another screening of Steamboat Itchy (as seen in Itchy & Scratchy The Movie). And there's an unnamed cartoon featuring Itchy in a team-up with God (yes, God).

Song: I'm Amendment 2B sung by Amendment 2B.

Notes: A great episode, with some clever observations on ideas and copyright, and a superb - and sinister - twist ending featuring the return of both Bart and Lisa from their days on The Tracey Ullman Show.