Bart Gets an Elephant
In this episode, Bart wins a radio contest and is awarded a full-grown African elephant that he names Stampy.
Bart runs away with Stampy to save his pet, but the family finds the two at a museum exhibit, where Homer sinks into a tar pit.
It introduced the fictional elephant Stampy, and marks the first appearance of the recurring character Cletus Spuckler.
Word spreads throughout town about Bill and Marty's refusal to give Bart an elephant, leading to a flood of angry mail and letter bombs from the station's listeners.
Bill and Marty's boss gives them an ultimatum: either find an elephant for Bart or lose their jobs to an automated DJ.
After still failing to cover his budget, and driving away customers by raising admission fees into the thousands, Homer and Marge decide that Stampy must go.
Homer eagerly agrees, but Bart and Lisa disapprove because Blackheart openly admits to being an ivory dealer.
After pulling Barney Gumble from the pit, Stampy frees Homer, who reluctantly agrees to donate the elephant to the wildlife reserve.
[1] The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening thought it was a "quintessential" Swartzwelder episode,[2] and executive producer/show runner David Mirkin said it was a "fantastic job by one of the most prolific writers of the show".
[6] Stampy appeared briefly in The Simpsons Movie, where he tries to break down the giant glass dome lowered over Springfield.
[9] While cleaning the house, Marge turns on the radio and the song "Sixteen Tons" by Merle Travis is heard.
[3] As Stampy wreaks havoc throughout Springfield, Patty and Selma are sucked up by a tornado and fly through the air in rocking chairs, similar Ms. Gulch in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
[15] The Genesis Awards are given out annually by the Humane Society of the United States "to the news and entertainment media for shining that spotlight into the darkest corners of animal abuse and exploitation.
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote: "Another favourite.
"[17] DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson thought the fifth season included "plenty of programs with potentially cheesy concepts", such as "Deep Space Homer" and "Bart Gets an Elephant".
