Difference between revisions of "Bart Gets Hit by a Car"

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Bart Gets Hit by a Car is the twenty-third episode of Season 2, which was originally broadcast on January 10, 1991. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and was directed by Mark Kirkland.In its original broadcast, "Bart Gets Hit by a Car" received a Nielsen rating of 14.5, finishing the week ranked 32nd. The episode received generally positive reviews.

Plot

The episode begins with Bart skateboarding downtown, as he crosses a street he is hit by Mr. Burns' Rolls Royce and knocked to the ground, out cold. Smithers quickly gets out of the car, and suggests they call an ambulance. Mr. Burns, the driver, doesn't understand what the all the commotion is about, and wants to leave the scene. As Bart lies on the ground he has an out-of-body experience, his soul rises up out of his body and he realizes he is dead. He then looks up into the sky as the clouds part and an escalator to the Heavens appears before him. An ominous voice from above instructs Bart to hold on to the hand rail and to not spit over the side. As Bart travels up the escalator, he notices a few of his dead family members and the original Snowball (first family cat). Bart peers over the edge of the hand rail and looks down, he decides to spit anyway. As soon as he does, the stairs of the escalator collapse and the escalator becomes a slide, sending Bart back down to Earth. Bart slides down screaming, and a giant hole in the Earth opens up revealing a fiery pit, and Bart falls through the hole, landing himself in Hell. Down in Hell, Bart is approached the Devil himself. The Devil greets Bart, and he searches for Bart's file on his computer; he discovers that Bart isn't due in Hell for close to another century from now. So, realizing the mistake, Bart's soul slowly begins floating back up to Earth.

By now Bart has been admitted to the hospital, and when his soul meets back with his body he wakes up to see the rest of his worried family huddled over him. Along with his family is a lawyer, who has chased Bart's ambulance to the hospital. He introduces himself as Lionel Hutz, hands Homer a card, and tells the family he would like to represent Bart in a lawsuit against Mr. Burns. Marge and Lisa chase off Mr. Hutz, but Homer is intrigued at the possibility of receiving punitive damages from Mr. Burns. Dr. Hibbert enters the room and informs the family of Bart's condition, which is just a bump on the head and a broken toe. The next day at work, in the break room, Homer talks with Carl and Lenny and tells them that if he wasn't afraid of Mr. Burns he would march into his office and demand some compensation for Bart's injuries. Just then Smithers enters the break room and tells Homer to march into Mr. Burns' office for a meeting. As Homer enters the office, Mr. Burns sits behind his desk with several high priced lawyers surrounding him. Mr. Burns offers Homer a check for 100 dollars in exchange for Homer relinquishing his right to sue. Homer tells Mr. Burns that while he appreciates the gesture, Bart's medical bills alone are more than 100 dollars. Mr. Burns quickly rescinds his offer and tells Homer to go ahead and sue, because he has the finest lawyers in all of Springfield. A nervous Homer exits Mr. Burns' office and takes out the card Lionel Hutz gave him and decides to pay him a visit. At Mr. Hutz's office in the mall, Homer sits down with Lionel to discuss their case. Mr. Hutz guarantees Homer a cash settlement of one million dollars and Homer quickly signs on with Lionel.

Mr. Hutz takes Bart and his parents to see Dr. Nick Riviera, a quack doctor, for a second opinion. Dr. Nick claims that Bart has several more serious injuries than previously diagnosed by Dr. Hibbert. He places Bart in a wheelchair, gives him a neck brace, leg bandages and head bandages. Marge is suspicious of the doctor, but Homer is only thinking of the possibility of one-million dollars and dismisses Marge's suspicions. Cut to a scene in Mr. Burns' office, as Mr. Burns receives a letter informing him of the pending one-million dollar lawsuit. Mr. Burns wants to fire Homer, but Smithers advises him against it. Back at the Simpson home, Lionel Hutz coaches Bart on how to act on the witness stand. Seeing what is happening Lisa objects and wonders aloud if what they are doing is wrong, Marge also voices her opinion, and agrees with Lisa. But, Lionel quickly dismisses them, stating that what they are doing really is the truth.

The trial begins and a wheelchair bound Bart is called to the stand to give his version of the car accident. Bart explains that he was just minding his own business on a Sunday afternoon, riding his skateboard; when Mr. Burns, behind the wheel of his Rolls Royce, maliciously runs him down. Homer and Mr. Hutz are smug, as the jury eats up Bart's sad story testimony, while Lisa and Marge both sigh in disapproval. Mr. Burns is called to testify next, and his version of the accident is wildly different from Bart's. Mr. Burns claims that he and Smithers were on their way to an orphanage to drop off toys, when Bart darted out in front of his car on purpose. He claims he swerved to avoid Bart, but once again Bart darted in front of the car and was struck. Mr. Burns goes on say that while Smithers wanted to just leave Bart; he wanted to stay until an ambulance arrived. The jury and an angry Smithers are clearly not amused and they do not buy Mr. Burns story. At the moment, the trial looks as if it will overwhelmingly tip in Bart's favor.

After the day in court, an angry Mr. Burns chews out his lawyers; they suggest he bring in Homer and Marge and offer them a settlement. Mr. Burns invites Marge and Homer to his house that night to discuss a possible settlement. He offers the two of them half of the one-million dollars they are suing for. Mr. Burns leaves the room to let Homer and Marge discuss his offer alone. Homer balks at the idea of settling for half, when he knows he can win the entire million. Marge objects and says that maybe they should take the money, stating they can't be greedy because they've been using false testimony and phony doctors. Meanwhile, in the next room over, unbeknownst to Marge and Homer, Mr. Burns and Smithers spy on the two of them. As soon as Mr. Burns hears what Marge has said, he quickly reappears, rips up the offer, and releases the hounds on Homer and Marge. The two are forced to retreat hastily off of Mr. Burns' property. The next day as the trial resumes, Mr. Burns defense lawyer calls Marge to the stand, much to the shock of everyone in the courtroom.

On the stand Marge tells nothing but the truth. She testifies that her opinion on Dr. Nick is that he isn't even a doctor at all and that Bart never was in any agony or pain. The case Mr. Hutz was building against Mr. Burns for a million dollars quickly slips away. After the day in court, Mr. Burns offers Homer another settlement this time for the amount of zero dollars. Homer and Mr. Hutz realize they have lost the lawsuit. That night at the dinner table, a depressed Homer picks at his food, and wonders in his head if he can go on loving Marge anymore. He excuses himself from the table and tells Marge he is headed to Moe's. As Homer leaves Marge senses something is amiss with him and begins to worry. At the bar a depressed Homer listens as Moe tries to console him, telling him that rich people aren't happy anyway. Just then the front door swings open, revealing Marge in the doorway. Marge quickly walks over to Homer at the bar and apologizes to him, even though she did the right thing at the trial. Homer tells her that he's not worried about the money, but rather he is worried about being able to continue loving the woman who ruined his one big chance in life. Marge gasps, and demands that Homer look her in the eyes, and search his soul to see if he still loves her. Homer reluctantly agrees, he stares at her feet and slowly brings his eyes up to hers and his depression and anger melt away, as he proclaims that he loves her more now than ever before. The entire bar cheers as Homer and Marge embrace lovingly.

Production

The episode's plot was based on Billy Wilder's 1966 film , The Fortune Cookie in which Walter Matthau plays a dishonest lawyer who convinces Jack Lemmon's character to fake an injury for a large cash settlement. While working on the court room scenes, director Mark Kirkland watched To Kill a Mockingbird and The Verdict to get ideas for different angles he could use. Although the episode was written by John Swartzwelder, a lot of the ending was pitched by executive producer James L. Brooks. Brooks felt that the episode needed a more emotional ending, so some shots were reworked so that voice-overs could be added.

The episode includes the debuts of three recurring characters, Lionel Hutz, Dr. Nick and the Blue Haired Lawyer. Lionel Hutz was designed by Mark Kirkland, who gave him a evil design, but was asked to make him more "bland looking." He gave him a powder blue suit to make him stand out more. Phil Hartman, who voices Hutz, also guest stars for the first time. He would later become one of the most frequently appearing guest stars, with Hutz and Troy McClure (who was introduced later in the second season) being his most well-known characters.

Dr. Nick Riviera is voiced by Hank Azaria, who used a "bad Ricky Ricardo" impression. The animators modeled Dr. Nick after then-supervising director Gabor Csupo, because they mistakenly believed that Azaria was impersonating him. The Blue-Haired Lawyer, who does not have a proper name, was based on Roy Cohn, who became famous as Senator Josepth McCarthy's lawyer. His voice, provided by Dan Castellaneta, was also an impression of Cohn. The devil is also shown for the first time, and he was designed by Mark Kirkland, who originally tried to give him a scary design, but the writers asked him to use a more comedic look.

The show's then- script supervisor Doris Grau also appears in the show for the first time. She was used because of her unique voice, and appears as a minor character in this episode, but would later become known for voicing Lunchlady Doris.

Cultural references

The Devil says "Please allow me to introduce myself", a reference to The Rolling Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil". In addition, When Bart wakes up from his out-of-body experience, he says, "I did go away, Mom! I was miles and miles and miles away, writhing in agony in the pits of Hell! And you were there! And you and you and you," a reference to the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy awakens from her slumber. The design of Hell in the episode references Hieronymus Bosch's triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights, particularly the Hell panel.

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