This weekend, the nation was glued to their television screen, news channels constantly documenting footage of Prince, the unfortunate child who fell down a hole.

I'm glad the little tyke is out (gladder that they threw him candybars), but all the frenzied media coverage (little girls singing songs for Prince [imagine doing that for the popstar; lawsuit imminent] and prayer vigils organised around the country) got the better of me, and I giggled.

Don't get me wrong, the rescue was laudable and all. It's just that it struck far too familiar a chord.

In Season 3 of The Simpsons (one of their finest and most memorable years), there remains an unforgettable episode called Radio Bart. In a nutshell, Bart tosses an AM radio down a disused well and uses a microphone to convince townsfolk that a fictitious young lad called Timmy O'Toole is stuck underground. Suddenly sympathetic, the town rallies to his rescue, and glowers at Principal Skinner, who allegedly didn't admit (the orphaned) Timmy to school because he was too poor.

Homer: That little Timmy is a real hero.
Lisa: What makes him a hero dad?
Homer: Well he fell down the well and ... can't get out.
Lisa: How does that make him a hero?
Homer: Well, it's more than you did!

The rescue operations are daft yet earnest, but completely eclipsed by the media circus. While the news channels begin monitoring the phenomenon round-the-clock, Krusty the Clown decides the only way out is by recording a celebrity charity single, inviting Sting to sing along. All this while everyone seems to be wearing t-shirts with the words "I survived Timmy O' Toole falling down the well" proudly emblazoned across them.

Later, realising he has a 'property of bart simpson' label on the radio, Bart bravely spelunks down the well to retrieve it, and predictably ends up trapped himself. The populace, justifiably outraged, have little sympathy for the prankster, with Chief Wiggum candidly admitting to Marge that "I'm afraid we've got a budget problem, Marge. Your boy picked a bad time to fall down a well. If he had done it at the beginning of the fiscal year, no problemo."

Finally, Homer Simpson takes it on himself to dig the boy out of the hole, and when faced with a daunting boulder, Sting comes valiantly to the rescue.

Marge: Sting, you look tired. Maybe you should take a rest.
Sting: Not while one of my fans need me.
Marge: Actually, I don't know if I've ever heard Bart play one of your albums.
Homer: Shhhh. Marge, he's a good digger!

A classic, eminently quotable episode. And again, while we're all grateful for the media attention given disproportionately toward Prince's rescue, I just wish the news channels would stop smugly congratulating themselves and moronically referring to this as 'reality tv.'