The Great Louse Detective

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = The Great Louse Detective
episode_no = 297
prod_code = EABF01
airdate = December 15, 2002
show runner = Al Jean
writer = John Frink and Don Payne
director = Steven Dean Moore
blackboard = none.
couch_gag = The family travels back in time to the prehistoric era and the Roman times when Homer uses the remote.
guest_star = Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob


image_caption = Sideshow Bob saves Homer's life.
season = 14
color = #EFEFEF

"The Great Louse Detective" is the sixth episode of "The Simpsons"' fourteenth season. The episode, which aired on December 15, 2002, marks the point at which "The Simpsons" permanently switched to digital coloring.

Plot

When the Simpson family go to a free spa weekend, Homer is nearly killed when a mysterious man or woman locks him into an incredibly hot steam room. This prompts Homer and Marge to see Chief Wiggum, who suggests that they get someone who can understand a murderer's twisted mind — Sideshow Bob, who is released from prison, much to Bart's discomfort. To ensure Bart's safety, Wiggum placed a shock bracelet on Bob's ankle to keep his murderous urges at bay when he comes to live at the Simpson house. He asks Homer to list all the people who may want him dead, and decides to follow Homer around to investigate who the killer could be. During their day, they go hang gliding (Homer wanted to impress him), visit the Kwik-E-Mart and end up at a repair shop, where Homer chastises the mechanic, Junior.

Later, Homer and Bob go to Moe's, where a hand, holding a gun, appears at the door and fires at Homer, but it hits and shatters Moe's pickled egg jar. The person gets away in a tow truck. Bob suggests that Homer should stay home and out of sight to be safe, but he is told that he was named the King of the Springfield Mardi Gras, in which he must ride on a float for the whole day. Bob discovers that Homer won because someone filled the ballot box with ballots listing Homer's name, but Homer takes part in the parade anyway. At the parade, Bob learns that Homer's engine is having a problem due to the repair by the mechanic (the brake line is cut), and draws a correlation between the wrench used to lock Homer in the steam room, the wrenches in the tow truck, a smudge on the spa invitation, and the tow truck driver (Junior). He saves Homer by getting fired out of a cannon, and grabs Homer by his feet, just before the float hits the Museum of Swordfish. Homer and Bob end up giving chase to the killer on stilts, who is found out to be, indeed, Junior, Homer's mechanic. He admits his name is Frank Grimes Jr., who blames Homer for his father's death. The police arrive, and Chief Wiggum places Grimes Jr. under arrest and has Bob tranquilized with a dart.

That night, after Homer puts Bart in bed, Bob, who was hanging to the back of the door, gags Bart, bent on killing him once again. However, through song, Bob claims he is accustomed to his face and he can not bring himself to do it. With that, Bob takes his leave and Bart hurriedly shuts his window. At that point, Bob becomes electrocuted with his shock bracelet by two birds who play with the remote on their nest.

Cultural references

*When Sideshow Bob is released from prison the guards told him that for cooperation he may have his pick of roles in the upcoming prison musical, "Man of La Mancha".
*"That '30s Show" is a television series within this episode. It is a parody of "That 70s Show".
*The episode's title is a take on the Disney film "The Great Mouse Detective".
*The steam room murder attempt is a tip of the hat to the James Bond novel and film "Thunderball".
*One of the prison inmates is called Decapitating Harry, a reference to the Woody Allen film "Deconstructing Harry".
*The song Bob sings is a parody of "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" from the movie "My Fair Lady".
*The use of a criminal to catch another criminal is a parody of Hannibal Lecter in "Red Dragon" (1981), and subsequently, "The Silence of the Lambs" (1988) and their film adaptions. The film "48 Hrs." also had a similar storyline.
*Bart says he was going to throw a Baby Ruth in the mineral bath, which happened in a pool in "Caddyshack".
*When Homer calls a mail call, he uses the George Foreman Mail Sorter. On the front, there is a picture of George Foreman that reads, "I like money!".
*Reverend Lovejoy kicking the fake Homer in the crotch and commenting "Thank you, Lord" is a reference to the priest in the Mel Brooks movie "Blazing Saddles".
*When in the prison, Bart says "at least it's better than Disney's California Adventure." Then the rest of the family agrees. (Disney's California Adventure drew lack of success in early years.)