Bart the Murderer

This episode marks the first appearances of recurring characters Fat Tony (Joe Mantegna) and his henchmen, Legs and Louie.

After forgetting his permission slip at home, Bart misses out on a field trip to the chocolate factory and spends the day licking envelopes with Principal Skinner.

On the way home, he loses control of his skateboard during a downpour and crashes down the stairwell of the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club, owned by the Springfield Mafia.

Fat Tony hires him as the club's bartender and errand boy, and Bart starts wearing Rat Pack suits and allows the Mob to store a truckload of stolen cigarettes in his bedroom until they can be fenced.

When he returned home that day, Skinner became trapped beneath stacks of old newspapers in his garage and lay stuck there for a week before finally realizing he had to get out himself.

Bart quits Fat Tony's gang and tells him that the bromide is true: crime doesn't pay.

[4] Mantegna mused: "Who knew that Fat Tony was gonna resonate in the hearts and minds of the [Simpsons fans] out there?

Apparently [the writers] got enough feedback as to how the character was liked that they wrote it in again and again, and I was kind of a recurring guy that they'd tap into at least a couple episodes a season.

[7] All the horses in the race that Bart bets on are named after a famous animated character's catchphrase: "Sufferin' Succotash" (Sylvester the Cat), "Yabba Dabba Doo" (Fred Flintstone), "Ain't I a Stinker?"

[8][9] The Chiffons's song "One Fine Day" is heard when Bart serves drinks to the mobsters during a game of poker.

John Orvted of Vanity Fair named it the eighth best episode of The Simpsons because of the "inspired" Mafia satire and because it "goes deeper into Bart's ongoing conflict with authority figures.

[7] Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed named the episode the best in the third season, and commented that there are "many priceless moments" in it, such as Homer's meeting with the Springfield Mafia.

[15] Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict noted how an episode that starts with Bart's having a bad day can lead to his being tried for murder as the head of the local Mafia "is just one of the amazing monuments to this show's superiority.

"[16] DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson thought "Bart the Murderer" was season three's first "truly great" episode because it "starts off strong and gets even better as it moves."

Even though he thinks Mafia parodies have been overused, Jacobson thought this one brought "a fresh approach and remains consistently amusing.

"[17] Andy Patrizio of IGN called "Bart the Murderer" his favorite of the season, and praised the episode for its references to The Godfather and MacGyver.