Bart Gets Famous
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"Bart Gets Famous" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons' fifth season, that originally aired on February 3, 1994.
[edit] Synopsis
Bart goes on a class field trip to the box factory. However on the tour of the box factory Bart gets bored and escapes from the class to go to the Channel 6 TV studio nearby where he wanders by a beach scene and Bumblebee Man. With his absence, Skinner calls Homer who arrives, thinking that Bart was killed in one of the box-making machines.
Meanwhile, Bart meets up with Krusty who is angry that he doesn't have his Danish. Because of this, Bart steals a Danish from Kent Brockman and gives it to Krusty who becomes grateful and asks him to become his assistant (though he forgets all the other times Bart has helped him out, from saving his career to renewing Krusty's relations with his father). When Bart returns home, Homer is relieved that he doesn't have to tell Marge that Bart was killed in a box accident. Afterwards, Bart continues his work as Krusty's assistant, though soon he gets tired in that the cast members don't treat him well and he doesn't get credited for his work of helping the show. However, before Bart decides to quit Krusty offers him to say one line in a sketch. Bart messes up his lines and destroys all of the props on the stage and when the crowd's focus comes on him, he tries to get out of it, saying, "I didn't do it", which causes the audience to laugh and applaud. Seeing this, Krusty immediately uses Bart and his "I didn't do it" catch phrase in later sketches and eventually creates a franchise out of Bart such as the "I didn't do it" music video.
As Bart continues with his "I didn't do it" catch phrase, he begins to fear that the fad will eventually wear off so he tries to act intelligent (as during his interview on Conan O'Brien's show). Even so, eventually Bart's catch phrase loses its humor and Bart loses his fame.
[edit] Trivia/Goofs
- The song that Bart whistles and Marge finds annoying is actually the Simpsons theme.
- Krusty used the catchphrase "I didn't do it" at least twice in the first season episode "Krusty Gets Busted".
- This episode was shown on the UK's Channel 4 shortly after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. As a result, the references to a tidal wave from Kent Brockman and Bumblebee man were cut out. As of January 2007, these lines are still omitted from airings of this episode. Because of this, Bumblebee Man is seen to take the news script off Kent Brockman, then fall straight over without saying anything.
- In Bart's imagination, of himself as a future celebrity panelist on "Match Game 2034", one of the other panelists is the "lovely and vivacious" head of Kitty Carlisle, which was located in a glass jar filled with water. This may have served as a basis for Futurama's similar use of heads kept alive in jars, though the show takes place almost a millennium after Bart's dream occurred.
- This is the last episode in The Simpsons DVD boxsets to not include a chapter break at an act break. All subsequent episodes released on DVD have a break after the opening, between each act, and before the credits.
- When Krusty opened the door so he and Bart could leave, his glove was clearly shown. When he claimed to own Bart and grabbed him, he was wearing no gloves.
[edit] Cultural references
- Bart getting famous for one phrase might be a reference to 1930s comedian Joe Penner whose major claim to fame was his phrase "Wanna buy a duck?".
- The idea of Bart becoming famous by ducking out of a school trip into a studio is possibly a reference to Stephen Spielberg's early life. He once ducked out of a school bus, and found a back door into Universal Studios.
- The writing on the blackboard is a reference to The Fugitive.
- Bart's line "Jawohl, mein Mommandant" is similar to Sergeant Schultz's line to Colonel Klink: "Jawohl, mein Kommandant" from Hogan's Heroes.
- Krusty with a candlestick in the conservatory is a reference to the board game "Cluedo" (Clue in the United States).
- Krusty's line "Hey kid!" is a parody of "Mean" Joe Greene's line from the Coke television commercial, which was recently voted the best commercial in Super Bowl history.
- The set of "Match Game 2034" makes a reference to the Jetsons and Match Game.
- The musical cue is a parody of the Batman television series.
- Bart raps to Rick James' "Superfreak"/MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This".
- Bart's album cover looks similar to the Kris Kross rap duo.
- Homer compares Bart to another child star, the character Steve Urkel, who gained his own show after a single appearance in the sitcom Family Matters.
- In the beginning of the episode, Bart hums the Simpsons theme, then Marge tells him to stop whistling that annoying tune. This is a reference to TV Guide saying the Simpsons theme was one of the most annoying themes ever.
- Bart does Late Night with Conan O'Brien after he becomes famous. Conan was part of the writing staff before he got his talk show, was written into the show just before he got the job because it wasn't 100% if Conan would get the Late Night spot or not.
- Cast members on Bart's imagining of "Match Game 2034" include himself (As "The I Didn't Do It Boy"), Billy Crystal, Farrah Fawcet-Majors-O'Neal-Varney (A reference to her marriages to Lee Majors and Ryan O'Neal, and a supposed union with Jim Varney), "ventriloquist" Loni Anderson, Spike Lee, and the head of Kitty Carlisle.
