The Day the Violence Died

"**The Day the Violence Died**"
"The Day the Violence Died"
The Simpsons episode
	Bart and Chester J. Lampwick stand in front of Springfield Elementary School as Lampwick holds what remains of his animated short Manhattan Madness.
Episode no.	Season 7; Episode 18
Directed by	Wes Archer
Written by	John Swartzwelder
Production code	3F16
Original air date	March 17, 1996
Guest appearances
	Kirk Douglas as Chester J. Lampwick; Phil Hartman as Lionel Hutz; Alex Rocco as Roger Meyers Jr.; Jack Sheldon as the Amendment; Suzanne Somers as herself;
Episode features
Couch gag	The Simpsons are colorless blobs; mechanical arms color and detail the family.
Commentary	Bill Oakley; Josh Weinstein
Episode chronology
← Previous; "Homer the Smithers"	Next →; "A Fish Called Selma"
	The Simpsons season 7
	List of episodes

"The Day the Violence Died" is the eighteenth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 17, 1996. It was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Wes Archer. Kirk Douglas guest stars as Chester J. Lampwick, Alex Rocco as Roger Meyers Jr., Jack Sheldon as an anthropomorphic constitutional amendment, Suzanne Somers as herself, and Phil Hartman as Lionel Hutz. The end of the episode features Lester and Eliza, who resemble Bart and Lisa Simpson as they appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show in the 1980s.

In the episode, Bart meets a homeless man, Chester J. Lampwick, who claims that he is the creator of Itchy from The Itchy & Scratchy Show. Lampwick sues Itchy & Scratchy Studios for stealing his idea. After a Judge awards Lampwick US$800 billion, the studio is forced into bankruptcy and closes. When The Itchy & Scratchy Show is replaced by a parody of Schoolhouse Rock!'s "I'm Just a Bill" segment, Bart and Lisa try to bring back Itchy & Scratchy by studying copyright laws and legal precedents.

The episode finished 47th in ratings for the week of March 11–17, 1996, with a Nielsen rating of 9.2. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. It received a generally positive reception from television critics. DVD Movie Guide and the Los Angeles Daily News enjoyed the episode's focus on The Itchy & Scratchy Show.

^ Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. pp. 199–200. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M..
^ Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "The Day the Violence Died". BBC. Archived from the original on December 24, 2003. Retrieved July 30, 2007.

[book-1] Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. pp. 199–200. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M..

[BBC-2] Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "The Day the Violence Died". BBC. Archived from the original on December 24, 2003. Retrieved July 30, 2007.

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