The Heartbroke Kid

"The Heartbroke Kid" is the seventeenth episode of the sixteenth season of The Simpsons.

Synopsis
Principal Skinner is looking for a company to sign a vending machine contract with Springfield Elementary, with half of the machine's profits going to the school. He looks at suggestions from the Sea Captain and from Gil and rejects them, until he gets a suggestion from Lindsay Naegle, and the school has its vending machine. Some of the students like it, but the machine's biggest customer is Bart, who seems to like it so much that in three weeks fast he has gained a lot of weight, and he suffers a heart attack.

Bart sees Dr. Hibbert, who says that a snack—malted milk balls—has clogged his arteries. Either way, Bart still gets addicted to junk food heavily, continuously eating it until Marge intervenes and puts Bart on a diet. When that suggestion fails, he is caught by two representatives of a maximum security fat camp, Serenity Ranch. Bart ends up there with Apu, Rainier Wolfcastle (who was last seen fattening up for a movie), and Kent Brockman, and the camp's leader is none other than former junk food magnate Tad Spangler (who is dealing with many anger issues). However, when Bart is there, the family is faced with an expensive bill. To pay for the camp, the family converts their house into a youth hostel which attracts German tourists.

Bart has a hard time at camp, and Tad Spangler takes him home to visit the family to show him the horrors that occur. He suggests Bart fight his addiction, and he does, by destroying the vending machines in school. His addiction to junk food is over, and he steals the money from the vending machines, which the family uses to pay for the bill and give the Germans "Das Boot". Tab Spangler says that they still have three weeks left of treatment, and Homer goes with him (if this is by choice or not is unknown), where the episode ends with them driving in Tad's car getting into an argument over the cheeseburger Homer is eating.

Production
This episode was originally set to be the 350th episode (despite being the 352nd to air), but was inexplicably switched with Don't Fear the Roofer.

General

 * Spangler's car is a Volvo.
 * The montage near the end of the first act spoofs Bart's shots in the show's opening; additionally, Barney appears in place of where the now-deceased Bleeding Gums Murphy would've appeared.
 * One of the candies that Bart eats is named Cop Killaz.

Previous Episode References

 * Bart's line "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger" was also said by Homer in "Homer's Triple Bypass" following one of several heart attacks, which Dr. Hibbert quickly proved to be wrong.
 * Homer has a fantasy about a robotic Marge, a reference to "Gump Roast" where "Marge becomes a robot" is suggested as a future plotline.
 * Homer's half-brother Herb Powell is mentioned in this episode, marking his only appearance or even mention since his starring roles in Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? and Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes?.

Goofs

 * How far is Spangler's compound from the Simpson house? Earlier in the episode it takes only an hour's drive; later, as Homer and Tab are out on the highway, Tab wants to stop at a motel overnight.

Cultural references

 * The title of this episode is probably a spoof of the 1972 film The Heartbreak Kid starring Charles Grodin. It may also reference World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Superstar Shawn Michaels whose nickname is "The Heartbreak Kid".
 * The song Homer sings for change to the German students on vacation is "99 Luftballons".
 * The song played during Bart's junkfood sequence is "Yummy yummy yummy" by The Ohio Express.
 * The line "raged against the machine" is a reference to the political rap-rock band Rage Against the Machine.
 * When Bart rips off the Krusty poster in his room which conceals a stash of junk food, it is a reference to "The Shawshank Redemption", where Andy DuFresne's means of escape is through a hole in the wall covered by a poster of Rita Hayworth.
 * Homer says "they're melting" in a style reminiscent of The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.
 * This episode's storyline is likely a satire of the real-world problem of vending machines in schools. In fact, some states have made it illegal for public schools to sell junk food to its students during school hours.