1. Plot

2. Production

3. Cultural references

4. Reception

5. References

6. External links

"Bart the Lover" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons' third season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 13, 1992. In the episode, Edna Krabappel, Bart's teacher, feels increasingly isolated and, looking for a companion, places a personal ad in the newspaper. Bart, who was given a month's detention for breaking the class fish tank with his yo-yo, decides to get revenge by responding to the ad. He creates a new adult male alter ego named Woodrow, inspired by a picture of former President Woodrow Wilson, and Mrs. Krabappel becomes infatuated with "Woodrow". Meanwhile, Ned Flanders asks Homer to cut down on his swearing, so Homer starts using a swear jar.

The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Carlos Baeza. Vitti had wanted an episode centered on Mrs. Krabappel that examined what it was like to have Bart as a student. It was the first episode of the show to feature her in a prominent role. The subplot where Homer tries to clean up his language was written partially in response to the complaints the show had been getting about the amount of cursing on the show. Woodrow's voice was performed by Harry Shearer, who did an impression of Ricardo Montalbán. The picture Bart sends Edna is of NHL and WHA star Gordie Howe. The writers had originally wanted to use a picture of American football player Johnny Unitas, but were unable to get the rights to use his image.

In its original airing on the Fox Network during February sweeps, the episode had a 12.9 Nielsen rating, finishing the week ranked 29th, up from the season's average. Marcia Wallace, the voice of Mrs. Krabappel, won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for her role in the episode.

Plot

Springfield Elementary School teacher Edna Krabappel feels increasingly isolated and, looking for a companion, places a personal ad in the newspaper. A yo-yo craze sweeps through the school after a performance group demonstrate the toys' potential. Bart breaks the class fish tank with his yo-yo and Edna gives him detention. While snooping in her desk to take back his yo-yo, he discovers her ad, and decides to get revenge on her by responding to it as a prank. He creates a new adult male alter ego named Woodrow, after former President Woodrow Wilson. Edna responds by sending a suggestive photograph. Bart responds back using lines from a old love letter Homer sent Marge.

Meanwhile, Marge notices that their dog Santa's Little Helper needs a new dog house. Homer says he can save money by building one himself, but his attempts fail and he curses loud enough for Todd Flanders to overhear. After Todd says "hell no" and "damn" at dinner, Ned searches for any possible bad influences and later discovers he learned those words from Homer. He complains to him, who criticizes Ned's mustache. Ned promises to shave it off in return for Homer curtailing uses of profanity. He promises to put money in a "swear jar" – 25 cents for each curse, under Marge's suggestion. Homer resists temptations to curse but nevertheless experiences intense feelings of rage. However, his constant swearing eventually puts enough money in the jar to purchase a dog house.

Edna asks "Woodrow" for a photograph, so Bart sends her one of ice hockey star Gordie Howe he found in a National Hockey League book. Bart writes Edna other letters, using dialogue from old romance films to tell her what she wants to hear, then asks to meet her at the Gilded Truffle restaurant. Bart sees Edna waiting for Woodrow and laughs as he goes to watch a movie, but feels guilty when he comes back to see Edna still at the restaurant on the verge of tears.

Bart talks to Edna after class and feels worse after being unable to console her. He tells the family what he did, and knowing that the truth would obviously humiliate his teacher, Lisa comes up with the idea of having "Woodrow" write a letter to Mrs. Krabappel that lets her know that even though he's leaving her, he'll always love her. Edna receives a romantically poetic and diplomatic breakup letter from Woodrow saying that he must leave, but he'll never forget her, which gives Edna closure and makes her feel better. She and Bart then spend the latter's last day of detention outside the classroom.

Production

The script for "Bart the Lover" was written by Jon Vitti, who wanted an episode centered on Mrs. Krabappel that examined what it was like to have Bart as a student. Executive producer Mike Reiss pitched the idea of having Bart answer Mrs. Krabappel's personal ad.^[1] It was the first episode of the show to feature Mrs. Krabappel in a prominent role.^[2] The subplot where Homer tries to clean up his language was written partially in response to the many complaints the show had been getting about the language on the show.^[3] Near the end of the episode, there is a montage where Homer has a series of bad experiences that cause him to curse, although the scene always cuts out before he can be heard swearing. While recording Homer's lines for that sequence, Dan Castellaneta was told to include the cursing. According to Mike Reiss, by coincidence, some eight-year-old children were allowed to visit the studio the day those lines were recorded. Reiss recalls that "their eyes were as big as saucers" after hearing Castellaneta curse.^[2] The ending of the episode was largely pitched by James L. Brooks, who wanted a scene where the entire family got together to write Woodrow's final letter to Edna.^[2]

The episode was directed by Carlos Baeza.^[4] In the background of the classroom, there are several portraits of past United States presidents. These were added for the scene where Bart tries to think of a name for his fictional letter writer, and sees a portrait of Woodrow Wilson.^[4] Woodrow's voice was performed by Harry Shearer, who did an impression of Ricardo Montalbán.^[2] The picture Bart sends Edna is of NHL and WHA star Gordie Howe. The writers had originally wanted to use a picture of American football player Johnny Unitas, but were unable to get the rights to use his image for free.^[1] Howe, their second choice, was suggested by Al Jean, who had been a Detroit Red Wings fan growing up.^[11] At the end of the episode, Howe's NHL and WHA statistics are shown because the writers decided to try something different in filling a slight time under-run.^[2]

During the opening sequence in which Bart's class watch a film about zinc, a character in the film tries to shoot himself in the head. The Fox censors objected to this, so the producers had to claim that the character was not aiming at his head.^[2] For the name of the yo-yo trick that Bart performs for Milhouse, the writers had wanted to use a term that was slang for masturbation. They proposed several names to the censors, and "Plucking the Pickle" was the term they deemed acceptable.^[11]

Cultural references

The 1950s educational film at the beginning of the episode is a reference to old science movies that were often shown in classes when the writers were in school; specifically it was a parody of the 1940s educational short film "A Case of Spring Fever" (later featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000).^[5][6] The Twirl King yo-yo champions are based on groups that companies like Duncan sent to schools to perform tricks.^[2] King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew's name appears on a paper Edna Krabappel is grading during detention. Todd Flanders watches a television show that features Gomer Pyle from Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C..^[4] Bart sees the fictional movie Ernest Needs A Kidney, based on the character Ernest P. Worrell.^[4] Rod and Todd Flanders sing the song "Bringing in the Sheaves", because the writers liked having them sing "obscure religious songs".^[5]

Reception

In its original airing on the Fox Network during February sweeps, the episode had a 12.9 Nielsen rating and was viewed in approximately 11.88 million homes. It finished the week of February 10–16, 1992 ranked 29th, up from the season's average rank of 39th.^[7] The Simpsons was the second highest rated show on Fox that week, after Married... with Children.^[7]

Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from television critics. It was named the eighth best episode of The Simpsons by Sarah Culp of The Quindecim.^[10] Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict said "Bart the Lover" represent The Simpsons "at its apex as a well tuned talent machine grinding out the good stuff with surprising accuracy and skill."^[11] Gibron added that the episode shows that the made-up romance between Mrs. Krabappel and Woodrow "works because it's so painfully true. [...] How the kiss-off to Mrs. Krabappel is created and handled shows that The Simpsons has heart to add to its humor."^[11] Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed gave the episode a 5/5 rating. He thought the intertwining of the two plots in the episode "works very well, creating a fast paced story. Bart's alias, Woodrow, is a delight to hear in voice-overs and Homer's antics produce many laughs."^[12] DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said "Bart the Lover" stands out as a "very strong episode" because it "steers clear of most potentially sappy material and offers a lively piece. [...] The 'B' story in which Homer tries not to swear also swings and creates some great moments."^[13] The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said they "loved" Homer's suggestion for the kiss-off letter from Woodrow: "Dear Baby. Welcome to Dumpsville, population: you. P.S. I am gay."^[14] In 2000, the staff of the Star Tribune listed their top ten episodes. "Bart the Lover" was listed at number four.^[15]

In the July 26, 2007 issue of Nature, the scientific journal's editorial staff listed an education film seen in the episode among "The Top Ten science moments in The Simpsons", writing: "'Thank goodness I still live in a world of telephones, car batteries, handguns and many things made of zinc,' says Jimmy, a character in an educational film. When confronted with a world without zinc he attempts suicide but fails, as his zinc-free gun cannot work."^[16] In 2002, Bill Brioux of The Canadian Press ranked the episode and its use of Gordie Howe as the top reference to Canada on the show.^[17] In 2004, ESPN released a list of the Top 100 Simpsons sport moments, ranking Gordie Howe's image in the episode at number 34.^[18]

In 2013 a Wired article described the episode as "the best Krabappel (and arguably the best Simpsons) episode".^[19]

References

External links

• "Bart the Lover" at The Simpsons.com
• {{snpp capsule|8F16}}
• {{imdb episode|id=0768553|title=Bart the Lover}}

• Manuel Muñoz (Governor of Spanish Texas)
• Manuel Muñoz (writer)
• Manuel Nascimiento
• Manuel Negrete (disambiguation)
• Manuel N. Flores
• Manuel Nicolás Aristóbulo Savio
• Manuel Nocciolini
• Manuel Noregia
• Manuel Noriega Moreno
• Manuel Octavio Gomez
• Manuel Octavio Gómez
• Manuel of Portugal (disambiguation)
• Manuel Ojinaga, Chihuahua
• Manuel Olivares Lapeña
• Manuel Oliveira Silva Júnior
• Manuel Olivieri Sanchez
• Manuel Olmedo
• Manuel Olmedo Villar
• Manuel Orallo
• Manuel O. Rodriguez
• Manuel O. Rodríguez
• Manuel Ortiz
• Manuel Ortiz (fencer)
• Manuel Ortiz Guerrero
• Manuel Ortlechner