Bart the Daredevil
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- "Ladies and gentlemen, the ten-year old who's brave and bold, when he's not in class, he's risking his ass, the world's greatest daredevil, Bart Simpson!"
- ―Announcer in Bart's dream
"Bart the Daredevil"
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Episode Information
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"Bart the Daredevil" is the eighth episode of Season 2 of The Simpsons and the twenty-first episode overall. It originally aired on December 6, 1990. The episode was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky and directed by Wes Archer.
Synopsis[edit]
- "Bart attempts to follow in the footsteps of his hero, a daredevil named Captain Lance Murdock. As part of becoming a daredevil himself Bart does increasingly dangerous stunts leading to his final stunt: jumping the Springfield Gorge."
Plot[edit]
Homer and Bart eagerly anticipate a trip to the monster truck rally featuring Truckasaurus, a giant robotic dinosaur that ultimately crushes the Simpson family car. The robot's owner compensates them for the damage. The rally's grand finale showcases a death-defying stunt by "the world's greatest daredevil," Lance Murdock. Despite Murdock being badly hurt and hospitalized after the act, Bart becomes enamored and dreams of becoming a daredevil.
Bart quickly injures himself during his first skateboard stunt. At the hospital, Dr. Hibbert shows Bart a ward full of children injured from attempting stunts. Nonetheless, Bart persists, successfully jumping over a swimming pool, some animals, and Homer on his hammock. On a class trip to Springfield Gorge, Bart announces that he plans to jump the gorge on the coming Saturday. Lisa persuades Bart to visit the hospital to see Murdock, hoping the daredevil will dissuade him. Unexpectedly, Murdock encourages Bart's plan. In an effort to stop him, Lisa informs the family.
Despite receiving a punishment, several warnings, and a "heart-to-heart talk" with Homer, Bart still goes to the gorge to attempt the jump. At the last second, Homer stops him. Angrily, Homer decides to jump the gorge himself to show Bart what it is like to see a family member needlessly risking their life. Bart, not wanting to see his father hurt, withdraws his wish to jump. However, Homer finds himself on Bart's skateboard, rolling down the ramp toward the jump. Homer becomes airborne but fails to make the distance and plummets into the gorge.
Homer is airlifted into an ambulance via helicopter, but the helicopter crashes into a tree, sending him back down the gorge. He is eventually taken to the hospital and placed in the same room as Lance Murdock. Homer remarks, "You think you've got guts? Try raising my kids!"
Production[edit]
The episode was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky and directed by Wes Archer. The main inspiration for the episode came from the real-life world famous daredevil, Evel Knievel. The writers were huge fans of Knievel and decided to write an episode about stunts with Bart in the spotlight.
Reception[edit]
Matt Groening said in an interview that this episode was his favorite Simpsons episode. This would likely explain why footage of this episode is that which is most often used for the series clip shows. The scene of Homer plummeting down Springfield Gorge has become one of the most used Simpsons clips ever; it was featured in the 1993 episode "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show" and referenced in "Treehouse of Horror XIII" to the point in an episode far down the line, many seasons later, Homer is about to flash back on the moment, only to be interrupted by Lisa, who says "Everyone's sick of that memory".
This episode was once again referenced in The Simpsons Movie. There is a scene where Bart and Homer jump over Springfield Gorge on a motorcycle and when they land on the other side, the ambulance from this episode can be seen (still stuck against the tree) in the background. It also ranked #18 in the "TV's Funniest Moments" special by the Museum of Television and Radio. In the episode, the footage of Homer falling down the cliff shows him falling down on the skateboard, bouncing off the cliff and finally landing at the bottom, where the skateboard lands on his head. After being loaded into the ambulance, it crashes into a tree, and the gurney rolls out, and Homer goes over the cliff again. However, when the clip is shown in "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show", additional footage is seen of Homer bouncing down the cliff once again, and after he lands at the bottom, the gurney lands on his head.
The premiere of this episode was cut short as the music video for The Simpsons Sing the Blues song Do the Bartman premiered afterwards. The scene cut was Homer falling down the cliff a second time.
In other languages[edit]
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