When Moe discovers a hidden talent for judging contests, he is approached by a television agent to join the AMERICAN IDOL judges’ panel. Moe flies to Los Angeles where he tours the Fox lot and receives some sage career advice. Meanwhile, Homer drives Marge crazy when he begins hanging around the house.

When Moe discovers a hidden talent for judging contests, he is approached by a television agent to join the AMERICAN IDOL judges’ panel. Moe flies to Los Angeles where he tours the Fox lot and receives some sage career advice. Meanwhile, Homer drives Marge crazy when he begins hanging around the house.

When Mr. Burns gets sick, only a transfusion of Bart’s blood, which is a special type, can save him. With the boy’s blood coursing through his veins, Mr. Burns is more alive than ever and writes a thank-you note to Bart. Homer is convinced that Burns has not shown his boy enough gratitude and writes his boss a nasty letter. Realizing he’s made a mistake, Homer tries repeatedly to stop Burns from getting the note, but can’t do it in time. Reading the letter, Mr. Burns vows to ruin Homer’s life, but after some strong words from Mr. Smithers, the mogul realizes that he is wrong and shows his gratitude by buying the Simpson family a huge, frightening Olmec Indian statue for their house.

Bart becomes obsessed with buying the first issue of Radioactive Man, but can’t scrape together the $100 he needs to make it his own. Enlisting Milhouse and Martin Prince, Bart is finally able to buy the comic, even though he only possesses one third of it. But things get hairy when none of them can decide who gets to keep it or for how long. The three enter into a dangerous confrontation that threatens to destroy not only their precious investment, but their friendships as well.

When Lisa’s teacher Miss Hoover gets Lyme Disease, Mr. Bergstrom takes over the class. Lisa finds Mr. Bergstrom’s teaching methods incredibly inspiring and discovers an entirely new love for learning. When Miss Hoover returns to her class, Lisa is devastated to lose her most positive grown-up role model. Eventually, she realizes that while Mr. Bergstrom was one of a kind, she can find role models in other people, including her own father.

Marge’s interest in art is reawakened when she finds some of her old paintings in the attic. Signing up for a painting class taught by Professor Lombardo at Springfield Community College, Marge eventually develops enough confidence in her work to enter the Springfield Art Fair and win. Her winning painting catches the eye of Mr. Burns, who hires her to paint his official portrait, a task that proves very difficult because Marge finds Mr. Burns to be excessively ugly. Eventually, she paints a picture that emphasizes Mr. Burns’ flaws. But rather than embarrassing him, the portrait humanizes him in the eyes of the public and he is forced to accept the painting as a success.

Grandpa Simpson falls in love with Bea Simmons, a fellow resident of the Springfield Retirement Castle. During the course of their brief romance, Bea passes away and leaves Grandpa her entire savings, $100,000. Grandpa decides to give the money to charity but can’t decide which one is worthiest. Eventually, he donates the money to the Retirement Castle to buy new easy chairs and equipment.

After a series of destructive acts, the entire Simpson family loses patience with Santa’s Little Helper. Marge and Homer insist on sending the dog to Emily Winthrop’s Canine College but Santa’s Little Helper proves too unruly and stupid to learn anything. Homer and Marge threaten to give the dog away if he doesn’t pass his obedience training, so Bart tries as hard as he can to train him, but Santa’s Little Helper refuses to lie down or do any of the other tricks he was taught. Somehow, Bart finally gets through to the dog, who ultimately passes Canine College and stays with the family.

Homer discovers that he has a long-lost half brother, Herb Powell, who is the wealthy CEO of a car company. When Homer and Herb meet, they instantly hit it off and Herb takes in the Simpson family as his own. Herb hires Homer to help design a car for regular guys, but Homer’s design proves so disastrous that it bankrupts Herb’s company and forces the brothers apart once again.

Homer becomes the most popular guy in town when he gets an illegal cable hook-up. But Lisa doesn’t approve and fears that Homer will go to hell for violating the Eighth Commandment. Lisa seeks advice from Reverend Lovejoy, who simply tells her not to watch the stolen cable. Later, Homer invites all of his new friends over to watch a big fight, but he begins to feel guilty about stealing the transmission and, to lessen his guilt, cuts the cable line.