Homer watches a 1980s family sitcom called Thicker Than Waters for tips on how to be a better father, while Bart earns money for a dirtbike by selling nuclear secrets to China.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: The reason Bart tries to sell nuclear secrets is because after watching "Thicker Than Waters", Homer refuses to just get him the dirtbike he wants so badly, wanting him to work for it instead so Bart can realize its true value, just like in the show. So, in order to get close enough to Homer to gain access to the nuclear plant blueprints and other data, he needs to bond with him, which in turn causes Homer to relent and just get him the dirtbike as a gift, making Bart's betrayal of his country completely pointless.
- Blackmail: The creator of "Thicker Than Waters" got the show to be aired because he had proof the network's president ran over somebody.
- Brick Joke: When Milhouse showed interest in a feminine set of overalls, he said he could find a way to make it work. After a few scenes without it being mentioned, Milhouse appears wearing it and being chased by bullies.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Motivated by the misapprehension that he'll be rewarded with the bike he badly wants, Bart studies for hours and manages to get an A on a math test.
- Broken Pedestal: The Running Gag of Homer becoming more of an old-school sitcom dad by the influence of "Thicker Than Waters" ends when he sees an E! True Hollywood Story-style special on the show's cast and learns how bad things were behind the scenes.
- Comically Small Demand: Bart offers to sell nuclear secrets to America's enemies in exchange for a dirtbike.
- Depraved Dentist: Downplayed. Dr. Waters isn't overly sadistic, but he does encourage his son's friends to eat more sugary foods so he can generate new business.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Homer is released by the Chinese spies after he helps them build a nuclear power plant that blows up into a mushroom cloud the second he cuts the ribbon, he tries to get a taxi to drive him to the airport for 20 dollars or less. The first taxi in the line tries to drive off, but Homer blocks it by first standing in its way and moving with it when it tries to turn, then saying he's feeling tired and lying in front of it.
- Expy/Shout-Out: The A-Team of Finland. One of them was basically a white Mr. T.
- Fun with Acronyms: Chinese Intelligence in America, French Bureau of Investigations and the A-Team of Finland.
- Funny Background Event: The scene with bullies chasing Milhouse for wearing a feminine set of overalls.
- Poor Communication Kills:Bart: Dad, if I get an "A" on my math test, would that be worth some money?Homer: Well, in season two, when Sam got good grades, he got a very surprising reward. And if you do it, son, you'll get the same.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Downplayed For Laughs: the Chinese make good on their promise to Bart and leave him the minibike he asked for, but it has a Vanity License Plate that says TR8OR. Bart thinks it's cool.
- Shout-Out: Bart's Imagine Spot about his punishment for selling nuclear secrets has a bald eagle rip out his liver, a nod to the Greek legend of Prometheus.
- Show Within a Show: "Thicker than Waters," featuring a parent/child relationship similar to what is seen in shows like Full House (white family with Golden Moments) or The Cosby Show (the dad wears sweaters and very moralistic to his son).
- Shoddy Knockoff Product: The Chinese spies threaten Bart with a teddy bear that has a blade under its head, a toy bunny whose ears function as a taser and a can of dog food that bursts into flame when opened.
- Spy Ship: The episode had a series of these, each of them having the initials of an American government agency but standing for something completely different (CIA = Chinese Intelligence Agency, FBI = French Bureau of Investigation, and ATF = A-Team of Finland).
- Strange Minds Think Alike:
- Deciding to use Homer to gain nuclear secrets, Bart tells him that he appreciates the lesson Homer taught him earlier and wants to start spending more time with him.Bart: (thinking) He's buying it!Homer: (thinking) I'm buying it!
- Bart loves his ill-gotten minibike so much that he takes it to bed with him. Upon buying him the same bike, Homer asks, "Want me to take it up to your bed so you can snuggle with it?"
- Deciding to use Homer to gain nuclear secrets, Bart tells him that he appreciates the lesson Homer taught him earlier and wants to start spending more time with him.
- Vanity License Plate: The license plate for the dirtbike given by the Chinese says "Tr8or".
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The dirtbike given to Bart by the Chinese Intelligence in America comes with a license plate stating it came from "Springfield, USA".
- Who Writes This Crap?!: Digby Sheridan hates the script for "Thicker than Waters" enough to go on a profanity-laden tirade against the screenwriter, David Mamet. The latter is then inspired to adapt Glengarry Glen Ross.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Chinese intelligence agents have no qualms about hurting ten-year-old Bart after the young boy refuses to cooperate with them.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Both Homer and Bart: Homer tries to apply tactics he learned from a wholesome 80s Dom Com to the rearing of Bart, unaware that the sitcom he's in is a shade Darker and Edgier, meaning that when his budding Enfant Terrible gets a dose of Tough Love his reaction is not to shape up but to sell nuclear secrets to China in exchange for the reward he feels he deserves. The whole problem arises because Bart himself doesn't understand the sitcom and—when Homer describes an episode in which a kid got a "surprising reward" for his good grades and tells Bart that studying will give him the same reward—assumes he's being promised a minibike. (The reward was a sense of accomplishment.)
