The Boys of Bummer
"The Boys of Bummer" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons' eighteenth season, which originally aired on April 29 2007. It was written by Michael Price and was the first episode to be directed by Rob Oliver.
Plot
As the episode starts, the Simpsons are at a baseball game, and Bart catches a fly ball, pushing the Springfield Isotopes into the championships. The next day, Marge is shopping at a department store, but Homer is tired and can not find a place to sit, so he lies down on a mattress and ends up falling asleep. However, when he wakes up, everybody is staring at him, so he gets up and exclaims his love for the mattress and manages to sell five; he is promptly hired as a mattress salesman.
At the championship, Springfield is against Shelbyville, and is leading 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, but Shelbyville has the bases loaded. When their batter hits the ball that could decide the game, it heads towards Bart. He drops an easily caught pop up and repeatedly fails to pick it up, allowing all four runners to score on a walk-off inside the park grand slam, giving Shelbyville the 6-5 victory, and possibly disqualifying the Springfield Isotopes from Baseball forever because they lost. The entire crowd turns against Bart and throws beer at him, to the point where Chief Wiggum hurries him in to his police car, only to drive back to the stadium and open the car roof so the crowds can continue to throw beer at him after fleeing the stadium. Bart is totally humiliated and is now the town pariah.
At Homer's new job, he assists Apu Nahasapeemapetilon successfully. Then the Lovejoys approach him with a sex problem, so Homer sells them a new mattress made by Matrimonix. The Lovejoys buy it, but return it to the Simpson home next day, their problem unimproved. As Homer is writing them a refund check, the Lovejoys make out on Homer and Marge's mattress, and trade their new mattress for it. That night, when Homer and Marge are unsuccessfully trying to have sex, Homer admits he traded their mattress away. Also that he spent the money they kept in it on a chain for Elvis The next day, Timothy and Helen Lovejoy are both singing joyfully and giggling at the Church.
Bart's humiliation goes on as Bill and Marty tell everyone on the radio, and Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney sung a song about it. The town continues to angrily mock Bart for losing the game. Lisa, feeling remorseful for him, tries to cheer him up by taking to see an old baseball star (Bill Buckner) who dropped a fly ball and still grew up to be rich and famous. Unfortunately, it only makes Bart feel worse after the baseball player learns who he is and makes everybody in the building boo him and Bart starts to cry because he is hurt, much to Lisa's shock. The next morning Springfield awakes to find a deranged Bart has spray-painted "I HATE BART SIMPSON" on everything in town (including a passed-out Barney). While he is painting the message on the water tower (Marge viewing him using glasses), he lets go of the rope that was holding him up in an attempted suicide.
He survives and is revived by Dr. Hibbert. Marge looks outside and sees an angry mob outside chanting "Bart Sucks" over and over. Finally fed up with all the abuse poured onto Bart, she walks out to them and angrily tells them off for mocking Bart's "boo-boo", telling them they should be ashamed of themselves for the way they have treated Bart. She also says that it was no big deal to lose a game, and she backs up her negative assessment of their harsh treatment of Bart by saying that Springfield is the "Meanest City in America", which is true (there's even a gigantic billboard to prove it). Feeling guilty, the entire town apologizes to Bart for hurting him and agrees to restage the game. After 78 tries (some flying into orbit, some stolen by Homer, one where Moe ran naked on the field), Bart catches the ball, winning the game.
Homer and Marge sneak in to the Lovejoys' home to steal back their mattress, but the Lovejoys return and excitedly rush up to bed, and Reverend solves the problem Solomon-style – he cuts the mattress in half diagonally. Homer convinces Marge to drive behind a billboard where they have sex, just as they did on their honeymoon – complete with the same bum watching them.
Sixty years later, Milhouse nearly lets it slip to Bart that the game was faked to make up for his lack of talent, but then takes it back, prompting Bart to say that he rules and Milhouse drools. The episode ends with the ghosts of Homer and Marge watching Bart taunt Milhouse and voicing their disappointment, and Homer attempts to talk Marge in to having ghost sex with him, only for Marge to tell him that it is just not the same as when they were alive, though she still moans apparently (what with being a ghost and all).
Cultural references
- Yeardley Smith voicing Lisa was seen in the commercial after.
- This episode's title is a play on the book The Boys of Summer, which dealt with the legendary Brooklyn Dodger baseball team of the 1950s and was also a nickname for the team. There is also a song called "The Boys of Summer" by Don Henley.
- It is revealed that Springfield has held the record of being the "Meanest City in America", which is apparently backed up for the town's treatment of Bart's losing their game against Shelbyville.
- The episode's plot borrows from the movie The Best of Times, in which an old football game is replayed.
- The episode is extremely similar to an episode of the Stephen King miniseries Kingdom Hospital, entitled 'Butterfingers'. In the 'Butterfingers' episode, Earl Candleton is playing in the final game of the World Series, and although he has had a stellar career that season up until that moment, just like Bart, he drops an easy pop fly that means the difference between his team, the Robins, winning or losing the game (they lose.) He is abused and scorned by fans just like Bart, although his torment extends over years; he is given the scornful nickname 'Error' Candleton and 'Butterfingers,' and people throw baseballs at him wherever he goes. Like Bart, he is given a chance to replay the critical moment of the game (although in his case, it is due to the intervention of supernatural forces; also unlike Bart, the second time around, he catches the ball on the first try.)
- The theme music from the Green Hornet TV series is played during the mattress-switching scene. It is a trumpet version of "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky-Korsakov performed by jazz trumpeter Al Hirt.
- Homer snatching the ball away from Bart (while wearing headphones) is a reference to Steve Bartman.
- Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney's song Bart Stinks has the exact same tune as Love Stinks by The J. Geils Band.
- The instrumental theme played while Bart watches the fly ball in the air is the main theme from the film Rudy.
- Bart having the ball spin him in a circle while his clothes fly off is a reference to Charlie Brown in Peanuts.
- Although voiced by Harry Shearer, the voice and appearance of the play-by-play commentator of Bart's baseball games resembles Vin Scully, voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
- Bart can be seen wearing his baseball glove on his right hand in this episode, once again showing that he is left-handed, like Simpsons creator Matt Groening.
Airdate
Originally, this episode was to air on May 6, 2007. However, on April 16, the Virginia Tech Shootings took place, less than two weeks before the airdate of "Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!" which prominently featured gunplay in some scenes. Out of sensitivity to the victims of the shootings, Fox moved this episode up in the schedule.
