Difference between revisions of "Bart After Dark"

Revision as of 17:37, May 2, 2008

Bart After Dark is the fifth episode of The Simpsons eighth season and first aired on November 24, 1996.

Plot

Lisa sees on the news that an oil tanker has crashed and has spilled thousands of gallons of oil on the beach. She asks Marge if she can go and help save the local wildlife. After begging, Marge agrees. Bart and Homer stay at home and quickly turn the house into a pig sty. Bart goes out to play with his friends and ends up damaging a creepy looking house. The owner of the house, Belle, demands compensation; Homer tells Bart to do chores for her to make up for the damages.

Bart discovers that the house is actually a burlesque house and quickly takes a new enthusiasm to his job. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa discover that all the animal cleaning has been taken by celebrities and drive home. Homer learns about the true nature of the burlesque house, but does nothing about Bart working there. Soon, the Flanderses and Lovejoys confront him on the matter after Principal Skinner sees Bart in the reception, in front of Marge, who was previously unaware of Bart's form of employment.

Marge asks Belle to close down the burlesque house, but she refuses. At a town meeting, Marge brings up the matter of the house and soon gets support of the entire town to destroy it. An angry mob arrives to take it down. As they are about to destroy the house, Bart convinces Homer to tell them to stop. He does so by breaking into a musical number (accompanied by Belle and her backup dancers) which convinces the town not to destroy the house. (This is a parody of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas). However, Marge arrives with a bulldozer, having missed the song. She tries to sing her own song about her views, during which she accidentally puts the bulldozer into drive and damages the burlesque house. To help out, she starts a ventriloquist act to pay for the damage.

Trivia

This episode contains one of the hints that Patty is a lesbian as she is seen exiting the house during the slide show, a fact that is confirmed in future episodes. In her effort to re-convince the town (again) that the burlesque house is bad, Marge begins singing an off key parody of My Favorite Things - although the bulldozer cuts her off before she can sing the title phrase. One of the dancers looks like Cookie Kwan, who later would became a recurring character.

Cultural references

• Belle may possibly be named after Belle Watling, the owner of the burlesque house in Gone with the Wind.
• When Homer stops the destruction of the burlesque house, Reverend Lovejoy says "This house is a very, very, very fine house", a reference to the Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young song "Our House".
• The oil spill depicted in this episode is most likely a reference to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
• Mayor Quimby and the Quimby family, throughout Simpsons history, have been made to resemble JFK and the Kennedy family. *Numerous little allusions to the Kennedy family have appeared throughout the series and in this particular episode, Mayor *Quimby's wife is seen wearing a dress similar to one of Jackie Kennedy's dresses.
• A V-chip kicks in while Bart and Lisa are watching Itchy and Scratchy, prompting them to yell "Dad, V-chip, V-chip" at Homer, who then unblocks the show.
• In French, "derrière" both could mean "behind" (something that is not in front of you) and "butt". In this episode's case, it is most likely the latter ("Maison Derrière" thus meaning "Butt House").

Reception

This episode won an Emmy for "Outstanding Music and Lyrics in a Comedy/Musical Film (An Hour or Less Long)" for the climactic musical number.