Bart's Inner Child
"Bart's Inner Child"
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Episode Information
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"Bart's Inner Child" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons' fifth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 11, 1993. In the episode, Marge realizes that she is no fun because of her constant nagging and seeks help from self-help guru Brad Goodman, who then uses Bart's irreverent attitude as a new example of how people should behave. The entire town of Springfield begins to act like Bart, who at first enjoys things but begins to feel that his role as a troublemaker is usurped. During the inaugural "Do What You Feel" festival, several things go wrong and the town decides to stop acting like Bart.
The episode was written by George Meyer and was the first episode of the show to be directed by Bob Anderson. Actor Albert Brooks guest stars in the episode as Brad Goodman, a self-help guru modelled after John Bradshaw. It was Brooks' third of five appearances on the show. Singer James Brown guest stars as himself and he sings his 1965 song "I Got You (I Feel Good)". In 2006, Brooks was named the best Simpsons guest star by IGN, while Brown's appearance has been described as "hilariously over-the-top."
The episode features cultural references to several films, television shows, and songs, including the 1939 film "Gone with the Wind", Scott Joplin's piano rag "The Entertainer" and the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons. In its original broadcast, "Bart's Inner Child" finished 40th in the weekly ratings with a Nielsen rating of 11.8, and was viewed in 11.12 million households.
Plot
Homer sees an add for a trampoline in the Springfield Shopper and takes it from Krusty. He charges admission for the neighborhood kids to jump on it. When the kids get on it, however, they get injured, so Marge makes Homer get rid of the trampoline. Homer tells her that she's no fun, so, offended, she goes to her sisters' apartment to vent. Patty and Selma show Marge an infomercial starring Brad Goodman, a self-help guru. Taking his methods into practice, Homer and Marge improve their relationship.
When Goodman comes to Springfield for a seminar, Marge and Homer decide to take Bart to improve his behavior. During the seminar, Bart speaks out and disrupts Goodman's speech. Rather than get angry, however, Goodman embraces Bart's willingness to speak his mind and tells the citizens to be like Bart so they could be with their inner child. Though initially enjoying his role as a trendsetter, Bart feels as though he is losing his identity when everyone starts imitating his behavior (such as by speaking out in class and spitting off an overpass).
The citizens of Springfield hold a "Do What You Feel Festival" where everyone does what they feel. Unfortunately, this results in workers not doing their jobs, culminating in an ungreased Ferris wheel coming off its hinges and crashing into the zoo whereupon the animals escape and run amuck through town. People begin arguing with one another until they all decide to blame Bart. They form a mob to attack him, but Homer rescues him in a parade float. Giving up, the crowd decides to go to the old mill to get some cider.
Back home, the Simpsons discuss what they've learned. Homer believes the entire thing was Bart's fault for being a bad role model, while Marge states that self help should be left to people in big cities. Lisa, however, corrects them by saying anyone can achieve self help, but it has to be through a long process of self exploration, not through quick fix ideas. With that sorted out, the family watches McGarnagle, a show about a cop who solves crimes in his spare time.
Production
"Bart's Inner Child" was written by George Meyer and directed by Bob Anderson. It was Anderson's directorial debut on The Simpsons. Meyer's inspiration for the episode came from the fact that he was going though therapy at the time and he thought it would be a good idea "to send up these self-help gurus".
Actor Albert Brooks guest starred in the episode as Brad Goodman. It was Brooks' third appearance on the show after playing Jacques in "Life on the Fast Lane" and Cowboy Bob in "The Call of the Simpsons". He would later guest star as Hank Scorpio in "You Only Move Twice", Tab Spangler in "The Heartbroke Kid" and Russ Cargill in The Simpsons Movie. Executive producer David Mirkin describes Brooks as "really weird to direct" because "almost every one of his takes is flawless, but each one has different material. He makes up the stuff as he goes." He uses a combination of the jokes in the script and his own material and because many of his takes are different, it is difficult for the producers to decide which lines to use. Goodman was based on the American self-help author John Bradshaw, who popularized such psychological ideas as the "wounded inner child" and the dysfunctional family.
Singer James Brown guest stars as himself. Brown makes an appearance at the "Do What You Feel" festival, during which he sings his 1965 song "I Got You (I Feel Good)". After a bandstand collapses, he proclaims "Hey, wait a minute, hold on here. This bandstand wasn't double-bolted." He described the experience as "good, clean, and humorous. And we need more of that around." According to Mirkin, the writers like to give guest stars awkward lines which then sound funny coming from them. They knew Brown would not be "the greatest actor in the world" but still "gave him these incredibly hilarious, stiff lines that killed." Mirkin described Brown's line as "horrible" but because of Brown's reading, "you have something that just sounds perfectly wrong and it makes it funny." In his book Planet Simpson, Chris Turner describes James Brown's performance as "hilariously over-the-top" and uses it as an example of how the early seasons of the show would include celebrity cameos and not point out the "enormity of their fame."
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Bart's Inner Child" finished 40th in the weekly ratings during the week of November 8–14, 1993 with a Nielsen rating of 11.8, and was viewed in 11.12 million households. It was the highest rated show on Fox that week.
In 2006, Albert Brooks was named the best Simpsons guest star by IGN, who said he "captivate[s] the audience with his unique characters". In Planet Simpson, Chris Turner also praised Brooks' performance, writing that "Brooks went for a subtle, slow-burn lampoon rather than broad caricature: his Goodman doesn't ooze insincerity, he just lightly dribbles it. [...] Through a dozen little touches, Brooks created a timeless Simpsons character."
MSNBC's Patrick Enwright listed the episode as his ninth favorite in the show in 2007, saying it "brilliantly skewers new-agey self-help gurus" and adding that "it's also noteworthy for clever pop-cultural references." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, described it as "A very bizarre episode in which everyone just has a good time." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote: "A certified classic, 'Child' mocks the self-help field and makes a good point along the way. Of course, it does all this with scads of clever moments and becomes a great show. As one who works in psychology, it's hard to resist this program's spoofery." Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict gave the episode a grade of B+ and described Homer's escapades with the trampoline as "the episode's brightest spot." Turner described the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner homage as "one of the show's most overt and inspired tributes to the Warner cartoons."[15] Bill Gibron of DVD Talk gave the episode a score of 4.5 out of 5.
