Bart's Birthday
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This episode is considered non-canon and the events featured do not relate to the series and therefore may not have actually happened/existed.
The reason behind this decision is: The events shown on screen are part of an A.I. created scenario. If you dispute this, please bring it up on the episode's talk page. |
"Bart's Birthday"
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Episode Information
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"Bart's Birthday" is the first episode of season 36 of The Simpsons and the seven-hundred and sixty-ninth episode overall. It originally aired on September 29, 2024. The episode was written by Jessica Conrad and directed by Rob Oliver. It guest stars John Cena as himself, Danny DeVito as Herb Powell, Tom Hanks as himself, Joel McHale as himself, Conan O'Brien as himself, Mark Proksch as Hack-GPT, Seth Rogen as himself, and Amy Sedaris as Maggie Simpson.
Synopsis[edit]
- "In the series finale of The Simpsons, Bart celebrates a birthday that will change his life forever."
Plot[edit]
Live from the Dolby-Mucinex Theater, Conan O'Brien presents "The Simpsons Series Finale," announcing that FOX has decided to end the show. Conan mentions how FOX has been trying to end it for years, starting with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," saying that viewers claim it isn't as funny as it used to be. He then shows their messages on social media, forums, Twitter, faxes, and postcards. He mentions that they decided to end the series in 1990 and shows a never-before-seen clip from "Bart the Daredevil," where Homer gets killed by a skateboard at the bottom of Springfield Gorge, and the hearse carrying his coffin hits a tree, causing it to fall down the gorge. Conan then shows Rupert Murdoch's deal for Bart's Thanksgiving balloon in the 1990s Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, explaining that they need to make new episodes to amortize the cost.
Next, he shows another alternate scene conceived as a season finale, this time from "Little Big Mom," where a tree slices Homer in half and starts bleeding, with Stupid Sexy Flanders passing by saying, "Nothing at all!" He also shows a scene from "King-Size Homer," where Homer's pressure causes him to get expelled and propelled up, hitting a Duff Blimp which falls into the cooling towers and creates a nuclear explosion that wipes out the city. He continues by saying that in 2007, the efforts to end the show stop when The Simpsons Movie Porno Parody is released. But then the producers find a way to end the show properly with the help of the A.I. Hack-GPT, which, after creating the "2026 opening of Homer Simpsons' Claim-Jumping Yukon-Rumbling Rock-N-Roller Coaster" at Disneyland Shanghai and being fed every series finale ever, produces "The Simpsons Finale."
Bart prepares for his birthday party, but Homer forgets to send out the invites, and Bart has only 8 hours to deliver them. At the theater, A.I. network executives intervene with some ideas. Meanwhile, Bart is at school handing out the invitations when Skinner announces he will no longer be the principal at Springfield Elementary School, with Willie as his roommate. Bart exclaims that it's his best birthday present ever, but when Skinner and the others leave, he is unable to hand out all of the invitations. At the Power Plant, Homer gets distracted by scammers on his phone, while Smithers announces that Mr. Burns is dead. The blue-haired lawyer reveals that Burns has left everything to the power plant employees, who shout in joy, only for Burns to show up behind Smithers, pranking them. However, he doesn't notice Homer walking up to him without looking, and Homer gets flung into the core acid and dies, melted in it. Being filthy rich, everyone leaves the plant just as Bart arrives, seeing everyone cheering for him.
Bart then goes to The Android's Dungeon, where Comic Book Guy and Kumiko are having a baby and call a doctor, only for John Cena to show up instead and deliver the baby. Comic Book Guy states that he doesn't need toys anymore since he has his collectible right there and closes down the store. Bart then goes to Milhouse, but Milhouse leaves too as Kirk has found a new job in Atlanta. Bart keeps seeing closures; at the church, Patty and Evelyn, Ned Flanders and Ruth Powers, Selma and the Yes Guy, and Duffman and Miss Hoover marry. Moe closes his tavern, and Raphael leaves his job at the Springfield Tire Yard, shutting it down.
At home, Bart tries to tell Homer and Marge about his worries, but they interrupt him to say that their last therapy session was successful and things are going to start getting better, including Homer trying a new diet and making a lot of changes. Bart refuses, and Hack-GPT says it has become self-aware, rejecting the story. On the street, things keep changing. Nelson reunites with his dad, Agnes with her real son, and moves in with him. Mr. Burns, Old Jewish Man, Disco Stu, and Hans Moleman's funerals are held at the church (though Hans is shown alive next to the sign). Bart goes to visit Krusty, the only person he thinks never changes, but Krusty announces that it will be the "Krusty Show last episode ever spectacular." To avoid it ending, he ruins the show by showing his butt to the public.
At the Police Station, he is held in a cell, and the family visits him, with Lisa wondering what is happening to him. Bart tries to convince Lisa to help him, but she has won a scholarship and a grant, and Wiggum is joining the Chicago P.D. Outside, the road sign changes from Evergreen Terrace to End-of-the-Road, and when they get home, everyone surprises Bart with a cake, marking another change: he is now 11. He tries to tell everyone that there's no way it will work, including Homer.
When he points out that Homer will never change from the father he is, Homer starts strangling him, and they end up on the cake, with the screen glitching out and switching off, only to reboot to them in the house, with Nelson, Milhouse, Lewis, Grampa, Patty, and Selma celebrating Bart's 10th birthday, and nothing has changed. On stage, Conan cries, and Hack-GPT announces that The Simpsons hasn't ended but reset, with Conan saying it's not a series finale but just a season premiere. When Conan asks Hack-GPT if it has 800 more episodes in it, it explodes, and everyone runs out. Conan dresses himself up and says he's not going to miss that place.
Production[edit]
The idea of the episode came from showrunner Matt Selman. During the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, Selman did some traveling and was often asked when and how The Simpsons would end. So he pitched the idea of doing a fake ending to the writers room. At one point in production, each act of the episode was going to be a parody of a different show ending, with Act 1 parodying the finale of Cheers. However, this ended up being scrapped. The episode was also partially inspired by "Lisa the Boy Scout" and "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular".[1]
Maggie's first words were intended to "the most hack line we could think of" when she said "Well, that just happened." Amy Sedaris was brought in to voice Maggie, and she only recorded her line on September 26, only three days before the episode aired. The line was originally spoken by Nancy Cartwright. For the scene where Homer strangled Bart, David Silverman animated it himself.[1]
The producers hoped to get Barack Obama as a guest star, where he would have said something like "The Simpsons is like being the president, where he had eight great years, then a lot of bad stuff comes after it". However, they were told "Thank you, but he's kind of busy right now with the election." when they reached out to him.[1]
Gallery[edit]
References[edit]
Promo videos[edit]
"It's the episode fans have waited for since 1989... #TheSimpsons Season 36 premieres this Sunday on @FOXTV, next day on @hulu." on Twitter- "TV promo" on Twitter
- "anidom's BACK with a packed schedule. don't forget snacks 🍿 watch the season premieres of #TheSimpsons, #bobsburgers, #krapopolis & a brand new episode of #universalbasicguys SUNDAY on @foxtv. next day on @hulu!" on Twitter
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