page:  = Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart = 
   
   " Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart " is the fifteenth episode of the twenty @-@ third season of the American animated television sitcom The Simpsons . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 4 , 2012 . In the episode , Bart is punished by Homer after causing trouble . He gets revenge on his father by spray @-@ painting images of him with the word " dope " all over Springfield . Street artist Shepard Fairey encounters Bart one night and offers him a gallery show of Bart 's artworks . However , Chief Wiggum suddenly appears during the show and arrests Bart for covering the town in graffiti . It turns out that Fairey is an undercover officer working for Wiggum . 
   The episode references the 2010 street art documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop by graffiti artist Banksy , and features guest appearances from street artists Ron English , Kenny Scharf , and Robbie Conal as themselves . Fairey , who is a long @-@ time fan of The Simpsons , also guest starred in the episode as himself . Around 5 @.@ 09 million Americans tuned in to watch " Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart " during its original broadcast . Since then , the episode has received praise from television critics for its opening sequence , which parodies the opening sequence of the medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones . 
   
   = = Plot = = 
   
   As a birthday gift for Marge , Homer buys a blender designed by television chef Paula Paul . He goes to a health food store called Swapper Jack 's , where Paula is giving away autographs , to have Paula sign it . Homer is impressed by the store and says he will not be shopping at the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart any more . Apu , who is there to spy , overhears Homer and the two engage in a fight until the security guards grab hold of Apu and take him away . At the signing , Homer tells Paula that Marge is a big fan of hers . Paula decides that she will call Marge live during her upcoming show to wish her a happy birthday . Meanwhile , Bart gets his mother a rabbit for her birthday . The rabbit chews through the phone lines in the Simpsons ' home , causing Marge to miss Paula 's call . Paula becomes furious at Marge for not answering the phone as she embarrassed herself on her show . Homer punishes Bart by locking him up in the rabbit 's cage . 
   To get revenge on Homer , Bart goes around Springfield spray @-@ painting graffiti of Homer 's face and the word " dope " . When his work appears on the television news , it encourages Bart to create even more graffiti in the town . Street artists Shepard Fairey , Ron English , Kenny Scharf , and Robbie Conal encounter Bart one night when he is making some graffiti . The four tell Bart that they are impressed by his work and would like to showcase his art in a gallery show , at first Bart is unsure , but Bart remembers how Homer treated him , and then agrees . Meanwhile , the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart suffers because of the competition from Swapper Jack 's . Apu ends up attempting to rob Swapper Jack 's in a desperate measure , but the cashier ( Snake Jailbird ) convinces him to hand over the gun . Later , Apu is about to shut down the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart when his wife Manjula tells him that Swapper Jack 's is closing because it was discovered they were selling monkey meat imported from Brazil as chicken . 
   Homer initially refuses to attend Bart 's show because he discovers the artwork is an insult to him , but changes his mind after Bart apologizes and writes " I 'm sorry " on the hood of Homer 's car . At the show , Chief Wiggum and the Springfield Police Department suddenly appear to arrest Bart for making graffiti throughout the town . It is revealed that the gallery show is a sham and that Fairey is an undercover officer who helped the police identify Bart as the graffiti artist that had been spray @-@ painting Springfield . Since Bart is just a boy , he is not sent to jail . Instead , he is punished by once again being locked up in the rabbit cage . When Bart tells Wiggum that he has to go to the bathroom , Wiggum covers the cage with the blanket and finds Bart gone when he removes the blanket from the cage . 
   
   = = Production = = 
   
   " Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart " was written by Marc Wilmore and directed by Steven Dean Moore as part of the twenty @-@ third season of The Simpsons ( 2011 – 12 ) . It spoofs the debated status of street art as a true form of art . The title is a reference to Exit Through the Gift Shop , a 2010 street art documentary by graffiti artist Banksy who produced the opening sequence of an earlier Simpsons episode titled " MoneyBART " ( 2010 ) . The Richard Hawley song " Tonight The Streets Are Ours " , which is the theme song of Exit Through the Gift Shop , is included in the episode during a montage of Bart painting graffiti in Springfield . Hayden Childs of The A.V. Club noted in his review of " Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart " that the " reveal that the art show was a police sting gives the show a moment to joke about the anti @-@ art market theme from Exit Through The Gift Shop . Wiggum asks who would be stupid enough to pay for work that an amateur puts up for free in public , and the answer is , as in Banksy ’ s movie , the very wealthy , here represented by Mr. Burns . " 
   American street artist Fairey guest starred in " Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart " as himself . The graffiti art featuring Homer 's face and the word " dope " that Bart creates in the episode is a reference to Fairey 's Barack Obama " Hope " poster and his OBEY Giant image . Fairey has said that The Simpsons has been one of his favorite television shows since the early 1990s because of its " blend of humor and social commentary " , and he felt " deeply honored " to be included in an episode . Fairey wrote on his website that " Part of being on The Simpsons , is you ’ re being honored as a reference point in culture . " He described the plot of the episode as " great " , adding that the staff members of the show " were kind enough to indulge a couple of my dialogue suggestions designed to make the social commentary more pointed ( even though I had to make fun of myself to do so ) . " This was Fairey 's first acting performance . Street artists English , Scharf , and Conal also guest starred in the episode as themselves . 
   The traditional Simpsons opening sequence was replaced in this episode with a redesigned version that spoofed the opening sequence of the HBO medieval fantasy series Game of Thrones . The Game of Thrones opening shows the various locations featured in the series on a three @-@ dimensional map of the fictional continent Westeros . In the Simpsons opening , these locations were substituted with places in Springfield , and The Wall was replaced with the Simpson family 's couch . The theme song featured in the Game of Thrones opening sequence was arranged by The Simpsons composer Alf Clausen and used in the Simpsons opening as well . Nicholas McKaig , known for uploading a cappella covers of famous songs on YouTube , performed the Simpsons theme song over the closing credits of " Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart " . He was recruited after a staff member of the show saw his cover of the Simpsons theme on YouTube . 
   
   = = Release = = 
   
   " Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart " was originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on March 4 , 2012 . It was watched by approximately 5 @.@ 09 million people during this broadcast , and in the demographic for adults aged 18 – 49 , the episode received a 2 @.@ 5 Nielsen rating and a seven percent share . This was a slight decrease from the previous episode , " At Long Last Leave " , which acquired a 2 @.@ 6 rating . The episode became the second highest @-@ rated broadcast in Fox 's Animation Domination lineup for the night in terms of both total viewers and in the 18 – 49 demographic , finishing higher than new episodes of American Dad ! , Napoleon Dynamite , and The Cleveland Show , but lower than a new Family Guy episode ( which received a 2 @.@ 8 rating and was seen by 5 @.@ 33 million people ) . For the week of February 27 – March 4 , 2012 , " Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart " placed 25th in the ratings among all prime @-@ time broadcasts in the 18 – 49 demographic , and seventh among all Fox prime @-@ time broadcasts . 
   Writing for The A.V. Club , television reviewer Hayden Childs commented that " Exit Through the Kwik @-@ E @-@ Mart " was " somewhat amusing and far more coherent than many recent episodes , but the satire is relatively mild . The episode curdles a bit while looking for a sweet ending , but it is otherwise solid enough . " Critics have praised the opening sequence that parodies Game of Thrones . Tim Surette of TV.com called it " one minute of genius " , and MTV 's Brandon Freeberg wrote : " Congratulations are in order for Matt Groening and his staff for really knocking this one out of the park . " Jenna Busch of Zap2it and Kelly West of Cinema Blend , both fans of Game of Thrones , named the opening the best in the history of the show . IGN 's Eric Goldman commented : " Ah , The Simpsons . Always there for us with clever / loving parody of something we all love . Such was the case last night , when the animated series opened with an epic opening credit sequence that gave us the Springfield @-@ inspired version of the terrific Game of Thrones credits . " 
   
   