New Kids on the Blecch  "New Kids on the Blecch" is the fourteenth episode of the twelfth season of "The Simpsons". It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 25, 2001. In the episode, a music producer selects Bart, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph to be members of the next hit boy band, who record songs containing subliminal messages about joining the Navy. The episode was written by Tim Long and directed by Steven Dean Moore. The episode's title is a play on the boy band New Kids on the Block and "Mad Magazine" tendency to use the word "blecch" in their parodic titles. The episode has received positive reviews from critics and was watched by over 18 million viewers. After watching an Olympic Games documentary on TV, Homer decides to participate in the Springfield marathon to prove to Marge that he is fit. Bart dons a stereotypical Italian disguise and wins the marathon by cheating, but a bird pulls off his fake mustache during the trophy presentation. To escape from the outraged crowd, Bart accepts a ride from a stranger, who introduces himself as music producer L.T. Smash. He offers Bart a chance to join Nelson, Ralph and Milhouse in Party Posse, a boy band he is putting together. Bart accepts the opportunity, and the four boys quickly rise to stardom, secretly using voice-enhancing software developed by NASA to improve their singing abilities. Party Posse releases a single whose accompanying video includes the strange line "YVAN EHT NIOJ" in its chorus. Puzzled, Lisa analyzes the video and finds a subliminal recruiting message for the United States Navy within it; she also realizes that the chorus is simply "JOIN THE NAVY" written backwards. Seeing that the single's hidden message is beginning to affect the Springfield populace, Lisa confronts Smash, who reveals himself as a Navy lieutenant and explains that popular music has long been used as a recruiting tool by the military. Homer and Marge dismiss Lisa's claims as stemming from jealousy of Bart's fame. During a Party Posse concert aboard an aircraft carrier, Smash's superior officer informs him that a parody of the band in an upcoming issue of "Mad" will ruin its recruiting power, and also that the boy band project is being shut down. The officer turns off Party Posse's voice enhancers, exposing the boys' lack of singing talent and destroying their popularity. Smash goes insane and commandeers the carrier, taking it out to sea as the terrified audience jumps overboard and swims back to the docks.