Bart's Dog Gets an F

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Simpsons episode
"Bart's Dog Gets An F"

Bart desperately attempts to train a hapless Santa's Little Helper
Episode no.	29
Prod. code	7F14
Orig. Airdate	March 17, 1991
Show Runner(s)	James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon
Writer(s)	Jon Vitti
Director(s)	Jim Reardon
Chalkboard	"I will not sell school property"
Couch gag	All the family sit on the couch and fit, including the pets.
Guest star(s)	Tracey Ullman as Emily Winthrop
DVD commentary by	Matt Groening Jon Vitti Al Jean Jim Reardon
SNPP capsule
Season 2 October 11, 1990 – July 11, 1991
Bart Gets an F Simpson and Delilah Treehouse of Horror Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish Dancin' Homer Dead Putting Society Bart vs. Thanksgiving Bart the Daredevil Itchy & Scratchy & Marge Bart Gets Hit by a Car One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish The Way We Was Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment Principal Charming Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? Bart's Dog Gets an F Old Money Brush with Greatness Lisa's Substitute The War of the Simpsons Three Men and a Comic Book Blood Feud
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"Bart's Dog Gets an F" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons' second season, airing on March 17, 1991. The music video for Do the Bartman aired afterward.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Cultural references
4 The Bouvier Family Quilt
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Lisa has the mumps and has to spend a few days home from school. While Marge teaches her sewing, Homer goes to the mall to buy some magazines for her. There he sees and purchases some expensive shoes known as 'Assassins', which he saw Ned Flanders with earlier. The next day, he buys a giant cookie.

Marge shows Lisa a patchwork quilt, which is a family heirloom. Lisa makes her own contribution to it, but then Santa's Little Helper rips it up, also destroying the shoes and cookie. Homer wants to get rid of the dog, but Lisa convinces them to take it to an obedience school first.

Santa's Little Helper does not do well at the Obedience School as Bart is unwilling to use a choke chain. The night before the final exam, Bart and Santa's Little Helper play, thinking it will be their last few hours together. This bonding breaks down the communication barrier,allows Santa's Little Helper to understand Bart's commands, and to pass obedience school. Lisa marks the occasions by creating a new quilt to replace the one destroyed.

[edit] Trivia

This was the second appearance of Ms. Botz the Babysitter Bandit from "Some Enchanted Evening". She appears on television.

The name of the episode is a reference to "Bart Gets An F", the starting episode of the second season.

[edit] Cultural references

Predator: When we switch to Santa's Little Helper's point of view, we hear a little explosion sound. The same sound is used in the movie when we switch to the Predator's point of view.
The Far Side: How human speech sounds to dogs.
The Cosby Show: Dr. Hibbert's home and family bear a more-than-coincidental similarity to a program that competed with The Simpsons for the Thursday 8pm time slot.
2001: A Space Odyssey: The way Marge's needle spins in the air, same for the bone and pen.
Buffalo Bill Cody's `Wild West Show': The second frame in the Bouvier Family Quilt.
Death of a Loyalist Soldier (photograph by Robert Capa): The third frame in the Bouvier Family Quilt.
Lethal Weapon, G Gordon Liddy (Watergate scandal): Marge holding a lighter under her finger to show it didn't hurt. (Though in Lethal Weapon, it did hurt.)
E.T.: Lisa shows Marge her sewing callous and their fingers touch. Music that is similar to that from the movie plays in the background. (Some may associate this scene to 'Creation' in the Sistine Chapel.)
Jaws: Dramatic music just before Santa's Little Helper attacks something.
Friday the 13th: The echo sound effect when Santa's Little Helper attacked the quilt.
The dog obedience school have different categories named after famous dogs, which are Rin Tin Tin, Benji, Toto and, where Santa's Little Helper is, Cujo
One of the dogs seen in the graduation ceremony is named after Lao Tzu.

[edit] The Bouvier Family Quilt

"King Tobacco."
A woman shooting a bison from horseback. (See movie references).
A WWI-type soldier in the pose of the fatally-shot soldier in Robert Capa's photograph "Death of a Loyalist Soldier." The Capa photo was made during a fight in the Spanish Civil War and was taken at the moment the man was hit by a bullet.
The '29 Crash.
A yin-yang "Keep on Truckin'" from Marge.