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"Bart Gets an F" is the first episode of The Simpsons' second season, airing on October 11, 1990. It managed just about over 33 million viewers.

Synopsis

When Bart presents his book report at school on Treasure Island, it is clear to everyone that he has not read the book. Mrs. Krabappel tests Bart by asking him to name the main pirate in the book, which he cannot do. She warns him that his grades have gotten steadily worse since the beginning of the term, and warns Bart of an exam on Colonial America the following day. Bart, however, does not pay attention to a word she says. He tries to study, but he frequently procrastinates until late at night, whereupon he falls asleep over his text books.

When he wakes up the next day, he is worried he will flunk. He looks to Sherri and Terri for help while riding to school, and they offer him false answers in hopes that he will fail the test. Martin warns Bart of the faulty information he has received, so, right before the test, Bart "collapses". He goes to see the nurse, who suggests that Bart stay home because she believes he has amoria phlebitis. At home, Bart procrastinates again and calls Milhouse to copy his answers on the test. When he takes the test, Mrs. Krabappel tells him that he did even worse than Milhouse. Homer and Marge have an interview with Mrs. Krabappel and the school's psychiatrist, Dr. J. Loren Pryor, who sees Bart as an underachiever and suggests that Bart be held back a grade. Bart, however, is strongly against this idea, exclaiming "As God is my witness, I can pass the fourth grade!"

With Bart worried he might be held back, he looks to Martin for help. He helps Bart study, and Bart reciprocates by showing how to be more popular, which encourages him to take on some of Bart's bad attitudes. Bart reminds the "new" Martin about the test the following day, but he ignores it, and now Bart must study on his own. He prays to God that something will happen to make him miss school the next day so he can have more time to study. That night it snows and schools are closed the next morning. After Lisa reminds him of his wish, he decides to study for the rest of the day, while everyone is outside having fun. Bart actually concentrates while he is studying. However, even Bart's studying is a distraction; as he tries to picture himself as a member of the First Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 witnessing the signing of the Declaration of Independence, he then pictures it somehow snowing in July, to which the signers then go out and have fun in the snow. Bart forces himself to pay attention through self-inflicted physical abuse. As soon as he finishes the test, he asks Mrs. Krabappel to grade it immediately. She gives it back to him and he sees that he got 59%, another F. Extremely upset at this failure after his honest effort, Bart breaks down over his failure, lamenting that now he knows how George Washington felt when he surrendered Fort Necessity to the French in 1754. The stunned Mrs. Krabappel, realizing that he did study after all, gives Bart an extra point for demonstrating applied knowledge, pushing his grade up to a D-. Bart becomes so joyful about passing that he gives his teacher a kiss on the cheek. Homer proudly hangs the test on the fridge, and Bart states that "part of this D- belongs to God."

Trivia

General Trivia

• In Bart's fantasy about the snowy 4th of July, Benjamin Franklin's sled says Don't Sled on Me, a play on the famous serpent flag "Don't Tread on Me".
• Despite passing the fourth grade, Bart, of course, remains in Mrs. Krabappel's class in all subsequent episodes, since virtually no time ever really passes on the show.
• During the episode Bart writes "I will not fake my way through life" on the chalkboard.
• The idea behind the grade on the refrigerator would reappear in Bart's Nightmare where a letter grade would appear and the mood of the Simpson family would differ, with a scene similar to the ultimate scene in "Bart Gets an F".
• Milhouse' voice appears deeper.
• When Homer askes Lisa what she wants, she says "An absence of moodswings." Since Lisa is only eight years, this should not affect her yet.

First Appearances

• This is Mayor Quimby's first appearance.
• This is the first episode with the show opening used between Season 2 to mid-twenty.

Production Information

• When the FOX network decided to show The Simpsons on Thursday at 8:00 P.M. EST against NBC's highly-rated The Cosby Show, many were expecting this to be a war for ratings. Surprisingly, this episode of The Simpsons drew higher ratings in its first airing than The Cosby Show, and it would lead to The Cosby Show's eventual cancellation in 1992.
• Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish was the first episode produced this season while this episode was produced 3 episodes onward but the executives wanted it to air first in the new season because Bart was popular at the time.

Reception

The episode was ranked 31st on Entertainment Weekly' list of the 100 Greatest Moments in Television.^[1]

It marked the first time that The Simpsons aired at the same time as The Cosby Show on NBC. It averaged an 18.4 Nielsen Rating and 29% of the audience. In the weeks ratings, it finished tied for eighth behind The Cosby Show which had an 18.5 rating. However, an estimated 33.6 million viewers watched the episode, making it the number one show in terms of actual viewers that week. At the time, it was the most watched episode in the history of the Fox Network.^[2] At the time, NBC had 208 television stations, while Fox only had 133.^[3] It is still the highest rated episode in the history of the show.^[4]

Opening Sequence

This episode marked the first appearance of the current opening sequence which was different from the one in the first season.

Differences

• The Simpsons logo is in a lighter blue sky and is surrounded by more clouds.
• The stores in the zoom over Springfield are different.
• The school is now orange instead of white.
• The bald man eating the sandwich is now replaced by Mr. Burns and Waylon Smithers.
• Maggie's hands are now straight on her side rather than put in triangle position.
• Lisa's saxophone is now deeper.
• Bart now does not pass obese townspeople and steal the stop sign, now he roughly skateboards past Helen Lovejoy, Moe Szyslak, Bleeding Gums Murphy, Apu, Barney, Chief Wiggum, and Jacques.
• Lisa's bike sequence is replaced by a zoom over townspeople. Instead Lisa now happily passes by Homer in the driveway.

Cultural references

• Bart gives Treasure Island (whose copy was "published by the good people at McGraw-Hill") a 9 on the Simpson scale of 1 to 10, although it is obvious Bart is just spewing off a number rather than making an informed judgment.

• The "gorilla-film" that Homer and Bart are watching is an obvious spoof on King Kong.

• Bart claims that, "As God as my witness, I can pass the fourth grade!" This is a reference to Gone with the Wind when Scarlett O'Hara says, "As God as my witness, I'll never be hungry again.

Appearances

Characters

Simpson family

• 222px-Homer Simpson 2006.png

  Homer Jay Simpson

• Marge.png

  Marjorie Bouvier Simpson

• 

  Bartholomew Jojo Simpson

• Lisa Simpson2.png

  Lisa Marie Simpson

• Maggie.png

  Margaret Simpson

• Abe.jpg

  Abraham J. Simpson

• Patty Bouvier1.png

  Patricia Bouvier

• 

  Selma Bouvier

• Snowball2.png

  Snowball II

• 200px-SantasLittleHelper.png

  Santa's Little Helper

Springfield Elementary School staff

• 

  Armin Tamzarian

• 

  Edna Krabappel

• 209px-The Simpsons-Jebediah Springfieldt.png

  Otto Mann

Ms. Phipps (only appearance)

• S02e02 150.jpg

  J. Loren Pryor

Springfield Elementary School students

• Martin.jpg

  Martin Prince, Jr.

• 

  Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten

• Lewis working.jpg

  Lewis

• Sherri and Terri.jpg

  Sherri and Terri

• Wendell.gif

  Wendell Borton

• Richard2.jpg

  Richard

• Jimbo.gif

  James Jones

• Nelson Muntz.jpg

  Nelson Muntz

• Weasels.jpg

  Weasels

Noiseland Video Arcade regulars

• Howard.jpg

  Howard

Fictional characters

• Itchy2.jpg

  Itchy

• Scratchy.jpg

  Scratchy

Radio personalities

• Marty2.jpg

  Bill and Marty (voices only)

Moe's Tavern patrons and staff

• 

  Momar Szyslak

• 222px-Barney Gumble.PNG

  Bernard Gumble

Springfield Nuclear Power Plant staff and squatters

• Montgomery Burns.png

  Charles Montgomery Burns

• C-smithers.gif

  Waylon Smithers, Jr.

Entertainers

• Bleedinggums.gif

  "Bleeding Gums" Murphy

• SimpsonsMPG 7G10.jpg

  Shawna Tifton

Lovejoy family

• 222px-Reverend Lovejoy.png

  Timothy Lovejoy

• Helen.jpg

  Helen Lovejoy

TV personalities

• Krusty The Clown.png

  Herschel Shmoikel Pinkus Yerucham Krustofski

Council officials

• Joeq.png

  Joseph Fitzpatrick Fitzgerald Fitzhenry Quimby (first appearance)

The Enriched Learning Centre for Gifted Children staff

• Ms. Mellon.jpg

  Ms. Mellon

Policemen

• 

  Clancy Wiggum

New Barney's Bowl-O-Rama staff

• Jacques.jpg

  Jacques

Criminals

• C-bob.gif

  Robert Underdunk Terwilliger, Jr.

Springfield Retirement Castle elderly and staff

• Jasper.png

  Jasper Beardley

Bob's RV Round-Up staff

• Cowboy Bob.jpg

  Bob

Kwik-E-Mart staff

• Apuu.png

  Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Jr.

Vehicles

Springfield Elementary School owned

• School Bus

Locations

Educational premises

• SpringfieldElementary3.jpg

  Springfield Elementary School

Residential

• 742simphouse.jpg

  742 Evergreen Terrace

Retail

• Noiseland.jpg

  Noiseland Video Arcade

es:Bart Gets An F

References