car was stolen in the church parking lot. The next morning they are surprised however to learn that Groundskeeper Willie was arrested for stealing the car, as he matched the description they gave of the carjacker as a "foreign loner with wild, bushy hair". Not wanting to admit they were conned, Homer and Bart go along with Marge's theory. At the trial, the Blue Haired Lawyer leads Homer to say that it was Willie who stole the car. After Willie is proven guilty, he snatches Wiggum's gun and shoots Principal Skinner. At this point, Homer finally confesses that he got conned, but Marge and the townspeople themselves tell Homer and Bart that they set up the trial and the carjacking to teach them a lesson on conning people, revealing that Skinner was not really shot (it was a fake blood pack and the gun was loaded with blanks), the judge was Grampa wearing a latex mask, and the con man who stole their car was an actor called Devon Bradley. (Willie, however, was not privy to this scheme, as he angrily states.) As Lisa is ready to explain why the town, media and police officials had "nothing better to do" than show them the consequences of their actions, Otto runs through the courtroom doors, shouting, 'Surf's Up!'. The scene then cuts to Springfield at the beach, with characters from the episode surfing, including the waiter from the restaurant, the two astronauts from the Mir space station and the sturgeon swimming in the sea. Production "The Great Money Caper" was written by Carolyn Omine and directed by Mike Frank Polcino. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on December 10, 2000. Originally, the episode would be about pool hustling, however as writing ensued, the script went through several incarnations until the Simpsons writers settled on the grifting story seen in the episode. Omine read several books about grifters for preparation for writing the episode. The other writers also prepared themselves by watching several heist films, including House of Games, Paper Moon and The Sting, the latter two of which are referenced in the episode. For example, the revelation that Devon Bradley, the FBI agent in the episode who is revealed to be a con artist, was inspired by such films. In a scene in the episode, Homer and Bart exit the Magic Palace's gift shop, only