| "Bart on the Road" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 7 Episode 20 | ||
| Directed by | Swinton O. Scott III | ||
| Written by | Richard Appel | ||
| Production code | 3F17 | ||
| Original air date | March 31, 1996 (1996-3-31) | ||
| Guest appearance | |||
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| Episode features | |||
| Couch gag | The Simpsons are set onto the couch like bowling pins. | ||
| Commentary | Matt Groening Bill Oakley Josh Weinstein Richard Appel David Silverman | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| The Simpsonsseason 7 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Bart on the Road" is the twentieth episode of theseventh season of the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons. It originally aired on theFox network in the United States on March 31, 1996. In the episode,Bart makes his ownfake driver's license and takesMilhouse,Martin, andNelson on aroad trip that goes awry, andLisa has to help them get back home after they become stranded far away fromSpringfield.
The episode was written byRichard Appel, and directed bySwinton O. Scott III. The idea of a road trip was "so exciting" that the writers immediately knew they wanted to write it. The episode features cultural references to the 1991 filmNaked Lunch, American singerAndy Williams, andLook magazine.
Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from television critics;Central Michigan Life named it the eighth-best episode of the series. It acquired aNielsen rating of 7.2, and was the fifth-highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
After encountering administrative errors that will require him to begin his vacation one day earlier than expected,Principal Skinner abruptly changes the final day of the school semester to be a "go to work with your parents day" so he can close the school early.Lisa goes to the nuclear power plant withHomer, whileBart, after finding out he isn't allowed to just stay at home and watchMarge do housework, instead goes withPatty and Selma to theDepartment of Motor Vehicles. Bart makes himself afake driver's license while at the DMV, and later uses it to rent a car and arrange a road trip withNelson,Milhouse andMartin, paid for with money that Martin's father helped him earn on thefutures market.
The boys soon hit the road after each giving their parents an alibi concocted by Bart. At first, they travel aimlessly for a while and frivolously spend Martin's money at multiple stops, before deciding to travel to theWorld's Fair inKnoxville, Tennessee. It's only upon arriving atWorld's Fair Park that they realise the Fair ended fourteen years prior, and instead spend the last of Martin's money on mediocre souvenirs. Nelson's frustration boils over and he winds up accidentally toppling theSunsphere, which in turn crushes the boys' rental car and leaves them stranded in Knoxville.
Bart places acollect call to Lisa, who has so far spent her entirespring break at the power plant with Homer, and asks her to help him return home while concealing the ordeal from their parents. On her advice, Bart becomes acourier, but he fails to earn enough money to get home and none of his assignments get him anywhere near Springfield (his first involving flying organ transplants toHong Kong), so he again asks Lisa for help. After making Homer promise he will not get upset, Lisa reveals Bart's predicament and asks Homer to help bring Bart home. Homer then deliberately destroys hisworkstation so that he can order a replacement unit from theOak Ridge National Laboratory and have it shipped via nearby Knoxville, with Bart as the courier and the other boysstowing away inside the shipment crate.
With Bart safely back in Springfield, Lisa and Homer quietly fume at him at the dinner table. However, Marge remains clueless about Bart's misadventures, despite later receiving multiple confusing phone calls from Principal Skinner (who witnessed Bart in Hong Kong), theTennessee State Police, and the courier service that Bart worked for.
The episode was written byRichard Appel,[1] who wanted to do an episode that had two things; a "go to work with your parents day" and Bart getting a driver's license. The "go to work with your parents day" idea appealed to Appel because it was something he "lost the right" to do when he went frompublic school toprivate school as a child. Appel considered those days to be his favorites because he "didn't have to do anything" at his parents' job. The idea of having a driver's license was something that Appel dreamed about when he was younger.[2]
The writing staff had never done a spring break episode before so they thought, "What would Lisa and Bart do on spring break?" and came up with the road trip plot.Bill Oakley, theshow runner ofThe Simpsons at the time, said that road trips were something that the writers liked to write stories about. The idea of four children going on a road trip was "so exciting" that they immediately knew they wanted to write it. There was a debate over where the children would go, andFort Lauderdale, Florida, was first suggested, but the writers eventually decided to have them go to a "funny unlikely place".[3] Oakley's show runner partner,Josh Weinstein, said that the writers were always looking for combinations of characters that had not been done many times on the show. Homer and Lisa had not been done "too often" and they wanted the two characters to bond and get closer to each other.[4]
The episode was directed bySwinton O. Scott III.[1] It was difficult to animate because the animators had to draw completely new designs for the locations outside of Springfield, such as Knoxville. The car scenes were also difficult to animate. At the time,The Simpsons was usingtraditional animation without computers, but they had to get one for a scene where the camera spins around the car from above.[5] The car was difficult to animate because it had to "look real" and not "boxy like a truck". The car was based on a 1993Oldsmobile car with rounded edges.[4]The Simpsons animatorDavid Silverman said that the episode was "probably the most difficult one" Scott had to direct on the show.[5]
During his visit to the cracker factory as part of the "go to work with your parents day", Milhouse and his father slide down poles likeBatman andRobin in the 1960sBatman TV series. Bart and his friends use Bart's fake license to see theR-rated 1991 filmNaked Lunch, an adaptation ofWilliam Burroughs's novel dealing withheroin addiction,homosexuality, andhallucinogens.[6] While leaving the theater after viewing the film,Nelson Muntz remarks, "I can think of at least two things wrong with that title". The boys also see anAndy Williams concert inBranson, Missouri, and the marquee advertising it outside reads "Wow, he's still got it –Look magazine", withLook having been out of business for 25 years when the episode first aired.[1] On the road, the boys pick up ahitchhiker, who is based on the hitchhiker in theTexas Chainsaw Massacre horror film series.[4] Principal Skinner books a vacation with AmeriWestica, a parody ofAmerica West Airlines.[6] "Radar Love" by Dutch rock bandGolden Earring is also heard.[7]
In its original broadcast, "Bart on the Road" finished 63rd in the ratings for the week of March 25 to March 31, 1996, with aNielsen rating of 7.2.[8] The episode was the fifth-highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, followingThe X-Files,Cops,Party of Five,Martin, andMelrose Place.[8]
Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the bookI Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said that it "contains some superb touching character scenes between Homer and Lisa, a fascinating glimpse of Marge's insecurities, and some nice touches that take it above the show's very high average."[6]
Dave Foster of DVD Times said that "Bart on the Road" is an episode which is built upon a "frankly ludicrous" idea which if the writers were to "stumble upon" now, "we'd simply see Bart happen upon a license and skip town without anyone noticing, but here they do give the setup a great deal of consideration both on and off the screen." He thought the story was "partly believable, though the opportunity when Bart hits the road is largely wasted with only a few well-constructed jokes to speak of." Foster thinks, "what saves the episode is the opportunity to see Lisa and Homer connect, once again displaying what a strong season this is for Lisa as we see the two share some wonderfully tender moments, alongside some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments."[9]
DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson enjoyed the episode and said that he "loves" the children's experiences at their parents' jobs, adding, "and when they head out of town, the fun continues. Any episode that sends the kids to the site of the World's Fair is OK by me."[10]
Jennifer Malkowski of DVD Verdict considered the best part of the episode to be when Patty and Selma explain their job at the DMV: "Somedays we don't let the line move at all. We call those weekdays." Malkowski concluded her review by giving the episode a grade of B+.[11] John Thorpe ofCentral Michigan Life named it the eighth-best episode of the series.[12] Robert Canning ofIGN gave the episode a score of 9.5 out of 10, calling it "outstanding" and summarizing his review with: "'Bart on the Road' is a fun trip and very funny, but it's the way everything comes together that really makes it memorable."[13]
