Bart the Lover

"Bart the Lover" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons' third season which is an early look at the personal life of Mrs. Krabappel. Marcia Wallace, the voice actress of Mrs. Krabappel, won an Emmy for her performance in this episode.

1 Plot
- 1.1 Subplot
2 In Later Episodes
3 Cultural references
4 External links

[edit] Plot

As a yo-yo craze sweeps through the elementary school, Mrs. Krabappel feels increasingly isolated and places a personal ad in the newspaper. Bart, breaks the class fish tank with his yo-yo, and is given one month of detention by Mrs. Krabappel. He discovers her personal ad, and decides to pull a prank and respond by mail with a new alter ego. Bart pretends to be an adult male called Woodrow, named after former President Woodrow Wilson, with a photograph which actually belongs to ice hockey player Gordie Howe. Bart as Woodrow writes Mrs. Krabappel other letters, telling her what she wants to hear. Bart then sends a letter asking for them to meet at the Gilded Truffle. Bart sees Mrs. Krabappel waiting for Woodrow, and then he sees "Ernest Needs a Kidney" and sees Mrs. Krabappel still at the restaurant and on the verge of tears. Bart is upset and guilty to see her crying. He tells the family what he had done, and The Simpsons then write a romantically diplomatic letter to tell how Woodrow must go, which heals Krabappel's wounds.

[edit] Subplot

Meanwhile, Homer attempts to cut down on his cursing after receiving a complaint from Ned Flanders. Homer tries to criticize Flanders in return but only comes up with criticizing his moustache, which Ned promises to shave off in return for Homer curtailing uses of profanity. He promises to put money in a "swear jar" -- 25 cents for each curse. In the end, he resists temptations to curse but nevertheless experiences intense feelings of rage. However, his constant swearing - when he accidentally puts $20.00 in the church collection plate, when he can't bowl a strike, when Flanders becomes a successful commercial actor after having shaved off his moustache, when he builds a doghouse with no door, and when a beehive falls on him - puts enough money in the jar to purchase a dog house for Santa's Little Helper.

[edit] In Later Episodes

When Mrs. Krabappel is telling Bart about the men she won't date, she mentions that she won't date Principal Skinner because "...his mommy won't let him out to play." The season eight episode Grade School Confidential, Mrs. Krabappel does indeed start dating Principal Skinner and his mother does impede on their romance. Also, Mrs. Krabappel tells Bart that she doesn't like Groundskeeper Willie because "I won't even tell you what that guy's into!" According to the second season three DVD commentary, this ended up being a foreshadowing into the season six episode Homer Badman, where it's revealed that Willie is a peeping Tom who uses a videocamera to tape people in their cars at night.

[edit] Cultural references

The writers originally wanted to use a picture of Johnny Unitas in the episode^{[citation needed]}

The article in Springfield Magazine, which Mrs. Krabappel reads, proclaims "We Talk With J.D. Salinger". Salinger, a recluse, hasn't been interviewed since 1980^{[citation needed]}

The 1950s educational film at the beginning of the episode (presumably titled "A World Without Zinc") is a reference to the short animation and live action film "A Case of Spring Fever", which would later be seen in episode 1012 of Mystery Science Theater 3000. It is also very similar to a sketch from the film Kentucky Fried Movie^{[citation needed]}

In the scene where Bart asks for Lisa's help with writing a love letter, one of Lisa's suspects is "The girl with the lazy-eye patch", which is a reference to the singer Gabrielle^{[citation needed]}