Bart the Daredevil
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| The Simpsons episode | |
| "Bart the Daredevil" | |
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| Episode no. | 21 |
| Prod. code | 7F06 |
| Orig. Airdate | December 6, 1990 |
| Writer(s) | Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky |
| Director | Wesley Meyer Archer |
| Chalkboard | "I will not drive the principal's car." |
| Couch gag | Homer's weight tips the couch. |
| SNPP capsule | |
| Season 2 October 11, 1990 – July 11, 1991 |
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| List of all Simpsons episodes... | |
"Bart the Daredevil" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons' second season. The episode aired on December 6, 1990. It aired with the "Do the Bartman" music video, with airtime cut out for it.
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[edit] Synopsis
When Homer and Bart, at Moe's Tavern and the Simpson home, watch a TV wrestling match, they both see a commercial for a monster truck rally featuring Truck-o-Saurus, and are thrilled that they are going to the one-night-only rally on Saturday night. However, Lisa reminds Homer and Bart that her recital is on Saturday night as well, in which she will be playing her first solo. Homer and Bart are disappointed, until Marge suggests that they can go to Lisa's recital (which is the first in a series of Saturday night concerts) first, then on to the rally. Homer agrees, and at the recital, Lisa plays a solo, as does Todd Flanders on the violin. Homer then gets so impatient he drags Lisa out during the final notes of the 1812 Overture and drives to the Springfield Speedway to see Truck-o-Saurus. When they arrive, all the parking spots are taken, and Homer accidentally drive onto the Springfield Speedway, where Truck-o-Saurus attacks the family car.
Fortunately, the car's frame is not damaged, and for being such good sports, the family gets a half-consumed bottle of Truck-o-Saurus Private Reserve champagne. As the last event at the rally, a surprising guest who appears is "the world's greatest daredevil, Captain Lance Murdoch. Murdoch appears to his most dangerous stunt, in which he leaps over a tank of water filled with sharks, electric eels, piranhas, alligators, and a lion. He performs the stunt on his motorcycle and survives after no one, except for Bart, watches the stunt, and makes it over, but when he shows off after the stunt, he accidentally trips over and falls into the pool and goes to the hospital. After the rally, Bart has his own dreams of becoming a daredevil, and says he wants to be one.
Bart becomes a daredevil but crashes while performing his first stunt, attempting to jump over Marge's station wagon. At the hospital, Dr. Hibbert learns from Bart that he was practicing for a career in defying death. He shows Bart a ward full of children who have been hurt from attempting stunts and decides not to show him the "Three Stooges" ward. Nonetheless, Bart still becomes a daredevil, jumping over a swimming pool, some animals, and Homer on his hammock. On a class trip to Springfield Gorge, Bart announces that on the coming Saturday, he will jump over the gorge. Bart also sees a severely injured Captain Lance Murdoch in the hospital (with Dr. Hibbert's help), and he tells Murdoch about the stunt. Murdoch says that is a good thing, and he plans to do it against the wishes of Homer, who insists that Bart not do it.
After a "heart-to-heart talk" with Homer, Bart goes to the gorge and tries to jump it, but is stopped at the last second by Homer, who resolves to jump the gorge to show Bart what it's like to see a family member needlessly risking their life. Bart recants his wish to jump the gorge, not wanting to see his father injured. However, Homer finds himself somehow on Bart's skateboard rolling down the ramp toward the jump. Homer becomes airborne but doesn't quite make the distance and is injured and put on an ambulance via a helicopter. The ambulance immediately rams into a tree, Homer falls into the gorge again, and is eventually taken to the hospital.
At the end of the episode Bart who is visiting Homer, who's severely injured, happens to be in the same room as Captain Lance Murdoch, and Homer says to Murdoch "You think you've got guts, try raising my kids."
[edit] Trivia
- First appearance of Dr. Hibbert.
- 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, to the point in an episode far down the line, many seasons later, Homer is about to flashback on the moment, only to be interrupted by Lisa who says "Everyone's sick of that memory". Fans have voted Homer's plummet as the most "hilarious" moment of Homer ever.
- 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 clip shows, 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. This additional and perhaps slighty more graphic footage was shown in an early airing of the episode but was then cut out from then on.
- First time Homer bleeds.
- Bart calls Homer "Dad" for the first time.
- Werner Von Brawn, one of the wrestlers in the match, became the first boss in the Simpsons arcade game.
- During the wrestling match, the referee counts to four, rather than three.
[edit] Cultural References
- The Russian wrestler, Rasputin, is probably named after Grigori Rasputin.
- The Springfield Elementary band plays Schubert's Unfinished Symphony and Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.
[edit] External links
