Bart is behaving wildly: he teases and exasperates Principal Skinner, and floods the gymnasium and the schoolyard (coincidentally saving Ned Flanders, who had caught fire).

His parents think they can safely go out for an intimate evening together, but when they come home Bart is in his room wrapped in aluminum foil, with a garbage can lid on his head, and numerous coat hangers dangling from the ceiling.

There, persuaded not to destroy the school or any other building, he points the tank's cannon into the sky and shoots down a Major League Baseball satellite; inside are detailed documents on everybody's behavior.

Major League Baseball, however, is still spying on the Simpson family: the autographed bat that McGwire gave Bart has a hidden camera.

"Brother's Little Helper", which was originally called "Bart a Go Go",[1] was written by staff writer George Meyer and directed by director Mark Kirkland.

After the season 5 episode "Bart's Inner Child", Meyer got "a little burned out on writing scripts", so he wrote "Brother's Little Helper" in order to "try [his] hand again".

[2] Co-producer Tim Long jokingly commented that the script was "literally moist with contempt" but went on to say that it was in fact "an amazing draft".

[2] In the DVD audio commentary for the episode, Selman stated that he got the idea from watching a news report about "a guy" who had died while "[going] nuts with a tank".

[3] To show the side effects Focusyn had on Bart, the animators made slight changes to his face as the episode progressed.

It is first seen in the scene where Bart is reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Pre-teens": a cheek line is added just under his eyes to suggest that he is starting to change.

Mike Scully, an executive producer and the show runner for the episode, commented that McGwire was "probably the biggest man [he'd] ever seen" and that he "did a great job for [them]".

[6] According to Genevieve Koski, Josh Modell, Noel Murray, Sean O'Neal, Kyle Ryan, and Scott Tobias of The A.V.

"[2] Focusyn, the fictional psychoactive drug that is prominently featured throughout the episode, is based on the real-life medicine Ritalin, which is used to treat disorders such as ADHD.

[11] After Bart has flooded the school gym, Skinner can be seen wiping mud off his eyes in an homage to American actor Oliver Hardy.

[4] The sequence of Bart stealing an army tank and destroying half of Springfield under the influence of mind-altering substances is likely a reference to Shawn Nelson, a man infamous for a similar, albeit serious, incident.

Mike Scully, George Meyer, Mark Kirkland, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman and Tim Long participated in the DVD audio commentary of the episode.

"It's not that I necessarily disagreed with this sentiment", Canning wrote, "but at the time, I didn't think I needed to be taught a lesson while I watched The Simpsons.

"[16] Five months after the episode aired, Bill Clinton, who served as president of the United States at the time, held the first ever White House conference on Mental Health.

About the word, Mark Peters and Daniel O' Brien of Cracked.com wrote "We'd be lying if we said we didn't go out to every Christian-themed general store in the country hoping to acquire our very own set of exorcism tongs the day this episode aired.