Barting Over (S14, E11-302)

There isn't the same intensity in mid-air skateboard duels like there used to be.

Plot Summary
During Spring cleaning, Bart and Lisa uncover an old tape labeled "BART SAD".  When the two view, they actually see a commercial that features Bart when he was a baby (thus, BART'S AD).  Bart obviously doesn't remember this, but is embarrassed to see his infant self be called "Baby Stinkbreath".  Bart confronts his parents over this who admit that its true, then Homer reveals that instead of saving up the money for Bart, he spent it to purchase incriminating photos.  Bart lashes out at Homer, and decide he's had enough of the family.  A short time later, Bart follows Milhouse's advice and hires a lawyer (that often-seen one that's actually competent), and takes the two to court to divorce himself from his parents.  Though neither Bart nor the court have any problem with Marge, who is just panicking this whole time, the court agrees with Bart that Homer is dangerous to be around and permits Bart to be emancipated from his parents.

Bart quickly finds a place downtown to stay, as he's now getting half of Homer's paycheck to reimburse the losses from the old commercial.  Both Bart and Homer go through a range of emotions through this process.  Homer goes from enraged, to delusional, to downright depressed over Bart's departure.  Bart is initially relieved, but then scared as he has trouble sleeping that first night.  Bart freaks out and tries to leave the building, but inadvertently stumbles upon an indoor skateboard park owned by Tony Hawk, who is also there to greet Bart.  Bart settles in after this.  The family is able to visit Bart soon after at his apartment, and though Homer acts distant towards Bart at first, he starts to worry as Bart reveals he'll be going on tour with Tony Hawk.

Homer decides to make himself look cool to Bart again.  As the tour begins in Springfield, Homer gets in contact with Tony and has him help him get Bart's respect.  Tony reveals some kind of auto-skateboard which does all the work, and Homer uses it to challenge Tony to a skateboard duel.  Tony doesn't mind at first, but Homer is a little too cocky and ends up showing Tony up, so the two engage in an extreme skateboard duel, which Homer somehow wins.  He goes to Bart expecting praise, but Bart reminds him that it was never about being cool, it was about respecting Bart.  With an ailing Tony giving Homer last-second advice, Homer realizes his follies, and promises to make it up to Bart.  Right on cue, Homer is given an offer to star in a commercial for bald, impotent men and Homer agrees to it on the condition that Bart gets the money.  Homer's status as a spokesman for impotence goes with him to the grave.

Quick Review
Honestly, I wasn't expecting even this high of a score.  The Tony Hawk appearance wasn't all that bad (can't say the same for Blink 182), though that skateboard fight was just weird.  Other than that, there were several jokes that worked out alright, especially early on, and the rest was able to hang in there to give this episode a modest score.

As a note, this episode was advertised as the 300th episode, only because FOX was and probably still is pretty bad at timing.  Strong Arms of the Ma was the 300th episode aired.

Final Score: 7.4