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Bart Star

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Bart Star
Episode Number	184
Production Code	5F03
Original Airdate	November 9, 1997
Couch Gag	Compressor couch gag
Written By	Donick Cary
Directed By	Dominic Polcino

"Bart Star" is the sixth episode of Season 9 that first aired on November 9, 1997. The episode was written by Donick Cary and directed by Dominic Polcino. Joe Namath, Mike Judge and Roy Firestone were guest stars in the episode.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Plot 3 Behind the Laughter 3.1 Production 3.2 Casting 3.3 Reception 4 References

SynopsisEdit

Springfield's youth join a pee-wee football team. With Ned Flanders at the helm and Nelson at quarterback the team is undefeated until Homer strong arms himself into Ned's job and puts all his faith in unqualified Bart as his quarterback.

Plot Edit

Following a Health convention held in Springfield, the children of Springfield are deemed to be overweight. To help them stay in shape, the parents enroll their children into pee-wee football, including Bart. Ned Flanders end up being the coach and turns out to be great at it, allowing everyone to play including girls, however despite the teams undefeated streak under his coaching he eventually and angrily quits after being fed up with Homer's constant heckling from the sidelines (especially after Homer threw an already opened beer can at Flanders' head, not only hurting his head, but also humiliating him when the suds from the beer fell on him.).

Homer turns out to be a lousy coach, and far more stereotypical in it. He cuts more than half the team unnecessarily and acts tough toward Bart, but when he is reminded of when he was a child and how his father was hard on him, he decides to be nicer to Bart. The next day, he decides to cut many more players off the team including all the girls, and changes the quarterback from Nelson to Bart, causing an uproar in the team because Nelson had been carrying the team on his own after Homer took over as coach. Bart is unable to play the position well, and causes the team to lose a few games. The team then falls out with Bart and take a dislike to him.

Bart decides to pretend he is extremely injured so he can stop being the quarterback, but Homer claims that without Bart, the team must forfeit. Bart becomes angry, says he never wanted to be the quarterback anyway, and quits the team. Nelson is made the quarterback again and the team wins, but Homer has nobody to celebrate with and becomes lonely. Afterwards, Homer finds Bart and reconciles with him to join the team again. The next day during the final championship game, the score becomes tied when Chief Wiggum comes to arrest Nelson,then Bart decides to pretend he is Nelson as he is assuming it is only for a petty crime, despite it actually being for burglary and arson. However, the team finally wins the championship, and the team tries to carry Homer, unsuccessfully, off the field. Joe Namath appears to give his final thoughts on the episode, and it ends with Bart's fate being ambiguous as to how he will get out of trouble.^[1][2]

Behind the LaughterEdit

Production Edit

The episode was written by Donick Cary, who obtained inspiration for it from when he was younger, where when he was in high school, he had a football coach who also had a son on the team.^[3] Similarly, show runner Mike Scully used to be on a soccer team when he was younger, where the coach had a son on the team, which he gave special treatment to, as Homer did.^[4]

George Meyer got inspiration for the scene toward the beginning of the episode where Rainier Wolfcastle is taunting the kids when he was following behind Arnold Schwarzenegger during a hike, and Schwarzenegger also taunting his kids.^[5] Schwarzenegger's influence was again seen in the same scene, as he appointed to be the chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, which he served from 1990-1993.^[6]

The final scene took a long time to be finally made. The writing process for it was considered to be difficult, and was originally different when it was read at the writing table.^[4]

Casting Edit

The episode guest starred Joe Namath, Roy Firestone, and Mike Judge. Scully claims that Judge was paid $1,000,000 to cast in the episode, where he voiced the cameo of Hank Hill.^[4] Other King of the Hill characters appeared with Hank, but none of them spoke. Namath also guest starred on the episode, and was liked by the staff, as they claimed that, "He was very humble and was great coming in."^[7]

Originally, Marv Albert was going to play the part Firestone played as a sports radio host, but was immediately dropped following the controversial sexual assault charges that were made against him around the time the episode was being made.^[4]

Reception Edit

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, thought well of the episode, saying, "A fun episode, where you root for Bart and, unusually, Nelson - all the way through. Homer is just too stupid for words, but that's excusable because we finally see Ned Flanders lose it, big time!"^[8] The director of the episode, Dominic Polcino, greatly enjoyed the episode, and claims that it is his favorite episode that he directed.^[9]

The fictional beer Homer mentions, Skittlebrau, has since inspired a clothing line,^[10] a website and many people have tried to make their own version.^[11]

References Edit

1. ↑ Template:Cite book
2. ↑ "Bart Star" The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on November 11, 2007
3. ↑ Cary, Donick. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart Star" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Scully, Mike. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart Star" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
5. ↑ Meyer, George. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart Star" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
6. ↑ Castellaneta, Dan. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart Star" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
7. ↑ Cartwright, Nancy. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart Star" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named bbc
9. ↑ Polcino, Dominic. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart Star" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
10. ↑ Drink The Rainbow. Cafe Press. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
11. ↑ The CrazyEngineer (2007-07-30). The Art of Skittlebrau. Glossy News. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.

◄ Season 8	Season 9 Episodes	Season 10 ►
The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson • The Principal and the Pauper • Lisa's Sax • Treehouse of Horror VIII • The Cartridge Family • Bart Star • The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons • Lisa the Skeptic • Realty Bites • Miracle on Evergreen Terrace • All Singing, All Dancing • Bart Carny • The Joy of Sect • Das Bus • The Last Temptation of Krust • Dumbbell Indemnity • Lisa the Simpson • This Little Wiggy • Simpson Tide • The Trouble with Trillions • Girly Edition • Trash of the Titans • King of the Hill • Lost Our Lisa • Natural Born Kissers