Bart After Dark

"Bart After Dark" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons' eighth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 24, 1996. After accidentally breaking a stone gargoyle at a local house, Bart is forced to work there as punishment. He assumes it will be boring work, but is pleasantly surprised when he learns that it is actually a burlesque house. Marge is horrified to find out about the burlesque house, and resolves to have it shut down. The episode was directed by Dominic Polcino and was written by Richard Appel. It won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Music and Lyrics" for the song "We Put the Spring in Springfield".

An Itchy & Scratchy cartoon is interrupted with a news report that an oil tanker has crashed and spilled millions of gallons of oil on "Baby Seal Beach". Lisa sees the report and asks Marge if she can go and help save the wildlife. After some begging, Marge agrees and the two go to help out, leaving Bart and Homer home alone. The house quickly becomes a mess and Bart goes out to play with his friends. Milhouse's toy airplane crashes into a house after Nelson tampers with the remote control and Bart, despite warnings that the house is inhabited by a witch, goes to retrieve it. While doing so, he accidentally knocks down a stone gargoyle and Belle, the owner of the house, goes to Homer and says she will not press charges but demands he be punished. Homer originally dismisses this, but Belle threatens to come back and speak with Marge, leading Homer to force Bart to do chores for Belle. Fearing the worst, Bart soon discovers that the house is actually a burlesque house called the Maison Derrière (the "back house" as Belle translates it to Bart) and quickly takes a new enthusiasm to his job.