Lost Verizon

Plot

Milhouse tries to call Bart to share the news about Principal Skinner attempting to cross a freeway on foot, but Bart has no cell phone to answer. Bart asks his mother for one, but Marge explains she cannot afford it. While walking past a country club, Bart gets struck by a golf ball hit by Dr. Hibbert, who pays him for returning it. This gives Bart the idea to earn money for a phone by collecting more golf balls, but Groundskeeper Willie accuses him of stealing his part-time job and takes the balls away.

Nearby, Denis Leary swings and misses his shot as his phone rings; he tosses it away in anger, and it lands near Bart. Bart picks it up and starts using it to impersonate Leary and make prank calls. Marge overhears Bart and Milhouse laughing, and Milhouse admits the phone belongs to Leary, so she takes it. When Leary calls, Marge apologizes and offers to return it, but he suggests she turn on the phone's GPS instead and give it back to Bart, letting her and Homer secretly track him.

Using the GPS, Marge stops Bart from doing things she sees as dangerous or inappropriate. Lisa finds out about the spying and confronts Marge, who tries to defend herself. Lisa then tells Bart about the tracking chip. Bart removes the chip and attaches it to a bird, which flies away.

Marge sees the bird moving and thinks Bart is running away from home. The whole family leaves to search for him, while Bart stays home alone, enjoying his freedom during the day but growing scared once night falls.

Production

At the August 2007 table read, Hank Azaria filled in for Matt Damon, who was slated to record later that month. Damon’s part was ultimately cut from the finished episode. The installment was dedicated to Paul Newman, who died on September 26, 2008, nine days before it aired; Newman had previously appeared in the season 13 episode "The Blunder Years." Denis Leary and producer Brian Grazer voiced themselves, with Grazer having also appeared in the season 10 episode "When You Dish Upon a Star."

Cultural references

The prank calls Bart makes to bars in Sweden and Australia are packed with cultural nods. The Swedish establishment is called "Inga-Bar Beerman," a play on filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. Its visual setup, with the bartender shown in profile and another figure staring directly into the camera, mirrors a shot from Bergman's 1966 film Persona.

When the bartender tells Bart, "I will thank you for showing me the futility of human endeavor," it echoes the bleak themes of death, betrayal, and despair common in Bergman's work. The Australian bar is named "Crocodile Drunkee's," and its bartender looks like Michael "Crocodile" Dundee, both referencing the 1986 film "Crocodile" Dundee. A partial sticker for the band INXS appears in the bar's window, along with the album Business as Usual by Men at Work. A zoom-in reveals the bar is located at Fox Studios Australia.

Elsewhere in the episode, Skinner acts out a real-life version of the arcade game Frogger while trying to cross a highway for gas. Marge gets a collection notice from a company called Allied Peas, whose mascot looks very much like the Jolly Green Giant, as she pays for frozen peas in installments. Meanwhile, Bart, Milhouse, and Nelson grill Twizzlers licorice.

Bart suggests to Leary's manager that he order New York Yankees hats and Derek Jeter jerseys. In real life, Leary is a Boston Red Sox fan—the Yankees' biggest rival—and was born in Massachusetts, attending Emerson College in Boston. When Krusty teases Leary during a golf game, Leary brings up his real-life role as the voice of Diego the sabertooth tiger in the movie Ice Age.

Two musical montages appear in the episode. Homer and Marge track Bart to the tune of Elvis Costello's "Watch Your Step," while Bart's golf ball recovery montage features Merle Haggard's "Workin' Man Blues." In Marge's dream sequence, a Peruvian god explains that ancient people never learned to defend themselves because their parents were too overprotective. When the villagers see the conquistadores and flee in fear, they mimic the Three Stooges, with one fat villager even letting out Curly Howard's signature "Whoop, whoop, whoop" yell.

Reception

When it first aired, "Lost Verizon" was seen by 7.43 million viewers, earning a 3.6 rating and a 10 share. Robert Canning of IGN scored it 6.7 out of 10, calling it not terrible but lacking humor for its complicated plot, and noting that Denis Leary's role felt wasted. Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club gave it a B-minus, drawing a comparison to the season seven episode "Marge Be Not Proud." He felt this episode had characters stating their feelings to nobody rather than showing them like the earlier one, though he enjoyed the standalone jokes. Erich Asperschlager of TV Verdict described it as mostly solid but a missed opportunity for a show that currently draws more complaints than praise.

Did You Know?

• During the table read in August 2007, Hank Azaria filled in for Matt Damon, but Damon's role was cut from the final episode.
• The bird Bart attaches the GPS chip to is a scarlet tanager migrating to Machu Picchu, which is Lisa's dream trip.