!#&% ABOUT

Episode: CABF12
Original Airdate: 02/25/01
Writer: Tim Long
Director: Tim Moore
Executive Producer: Mike Scully
Guest Voices: 'N Sync (Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Justin Timberlake) as themselves.

Bart wins the Springfield Marathon by disguising himself as an Italian runner and joining the competition near the finish line. At the award ceremony, Bart's deception is revealed and an angry mob of racers threaten him. Luckily, a stranger comes along and helps Bart make a getaway, protecting him from harm. The stranger turns out to be L.T. Smash, a record producer who is starting a new boyband called the "Party Posse". He wants Bart to join because of his "bad boy" attitude.

The other members of the Party Posse are Milhouse, Nelson and Ralph. None of the boys can sing very well, but L.T. Smash uses "Studio Magic" - a voice enhancing sound machine created by NASA - to make their voices sound smooth and harmonious. The Party Posse are an instant success. They recieve encouragement from fellow boyband *NSYNC and they debut their first music video on TV. Something about the video disturbs Lisa, and after some detective work, she realises that it has subliminal messages convincing viewers to join the Navy.

Lisa turns to L.T. Smash with this information, but she discovers that he is, in reality, a Navy lieutenant and that he is responsible for the recruitment scheme. Soon after, at a Party Posse concert aboard a navy aircraft carrier, L.T. Smash (now Lt Smash) is told to close down his boyband operation by a superior officer. It seems MAD Magazine is is planning to do a parody of the Party Posse, ruining the band's image and the Navy's recruitment program. Lt Smash disobeys orders, goes beserk and uses the battleship to attack the MAD Magazine building. The Party Posse determine that the only way to stop the crazed lieutenant's plan is to sing the ultimate "chill out" song. *NSYNC come to the rescue with the perfect tune, but while the two boybands disagree on the choreography for the song, Lt Smash launches a missile strike on the MAD Magazine building destroying it. As the lieutenant is led away by the police, Bart and the rest of the Party Posse are disapointed they will not get to appear on the cove of MAD Magazine.