Bart of Darkness
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"Bart of Darkness" is the first episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
''. It originally aired on the
Fox network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...
in the United States on September 4, 1994. In the episode,
Bart Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
breaks his leg and becomes increasingly isolated in his room. He starts spying on neighbors with a telescope and begins to suspect that
Ned Flanders Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr. is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." He is the good-natured, ch ...
has murdered his wife. The episode was produced during the
1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximately 1 ...
, which delayed production by a month, and is largely a parody of the Alfred Hitchcock film ''
Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...
''. The episode was written by
Dan McGrath Dan McGrath is an American television writer, educator and stage director. He is known primarily for his work as a writer/producer for several TV series including ''The Simpsons'', ''Saturday Night Live'', ''King of the Hill'', ''Gravity Falls'' ...
, and directed by
Jim Reardon Jim Reardon is an American animator, storyboard artist, television writer, television director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the animated TV series ''The Simpsons''. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series and was cr ...
.


Plot

Bart Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...
and
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
are desperately trying to cool down while Springfield is in the midst of a heatwave, when Otto Mann suddenly arrives in their street driving a semi-trailer truck with a swimming pool on the back. After the children of the neighborhood spend some brief time enjoying the pool, Otto declares that their time is up and admits to Bart that his employers don't have the budget to operate the truck for more than one day. Disappointed, Bart and Lisa persuade
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
to buy a swimming pool for their house, but when word spreads that the Simpsons have built their own pool, a massive crowd of children from Springfield Elementary School show up at their house and a pool party quickly ensues. During this party, Bart gets dared to attempt an ambitious dive into the pool from the family
tree house A tree house, tree fort or treeshed is a platform or building constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level. Tree houses can be used for recreation, work space, habitation, a hang ...
, but
Nelson Muntz Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and the lead school bully from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', where he is best known for his signature mocking laugh "Ha-ha!". He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was first intro ...
distracts Bart to the point where he falls to the ground and breaks his left leg. After a hospital visit, Bart is ordered to spend the rest of the summer wearing a full cast over his broken leg, leaving him unable to swim in the pool or socialize with any of the other children. He soon retreats to his bedroom, where he begins spying on nearby houses using a telescope that he borrowed from Lisa. That night, Bart becomes gradually more concerned about his next door neighbor
Ned Flanders Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr. is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." He is the good-natured, ch ...
after he first hears a womanly scream from the Flanders house and later witnesses Ned digging a grave in the backyard, expressing remorse that he's become a "murderer". The next day, Bart overhears Ned telling his sons Rod and Todd that their mother is "with God" and they will soon join her. All of this leads Bart to believe that Ned has secretly murdered his wife Maude and is now planning to do the same to their children. Meanwhile, Lisa revels in her newfound popularity with the schoolkids as a direct result of the swimming pool. Homer and Marge also find some time to enjoy the pool by themselves, although Homer's botched attempt to chlorinate the pool water causes problems for the schoolkids when they come back the next day. Lisa's time as the popular kid also proves to be short-lived when the other children abandon her in favor of
Martin Prince The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The write ...
, whose family now has an even bigger backyard pool than the Simpsons. Without the attention from the other kids, Lisa soon notices Bart's fears of what Ned might be up to, and she reluctantly agrees to help him investigate by sneaking into the Flanders house while Ned is away. The plan goes awry, however, when Ned unexpectedly comes home early and enters the house with an axe in his hands. Bart, afraid of what he thinks will happen to Lisa if Ned catches her, leaps out of his chair and struggles to chase after Ned in spite of his broken leg. He follows Ned into the attic, where Lisa has hidden herself, and they both start screaming in terror, only to watch as Ned puts the axe away for safekeeping. Ned confusedly asks Bart and Lisa what's going on, and when Bart accuses him of killing Maude, he faints from the shock. After the police arrive to question Ned, they discover that Maude is alive and well, having just returned from her time "with God" at a Bible camp in the countryside. Bart presses Ned about the grave he dug in the backyard, forcing Ned to tearfully confess that the grave was for Maude's favorite ''
ficus benjamina ''Ficus benjamina'', commonly known as weeping fig, benjamin fig or ficus tree, and often sold in stores as just ficus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae, native to Asia and Australia. It is the official tree of Bangkok. The ...
'', which he had accidentally overwatered. When Ned sees the police unearthing the dead plant from his backyard, he lets out a high-pitched scream which sounds like a woman's voice, and Bart recognizes this as the scream he originally heard. All of Bart's lingering questions are now answered, and Ned is cleared of any criminal suspicion. Martin's joy at being the new popular kid gets the better of him when he overestimates the capacity of the new pool, which quickly breaks apart from the physical stress. Nelson rips off Martin's swim trunks as a final insult, and the schoolkids all walk away in anger. Martin, standing naked and alone amid the wreckage, solemnly begins to sing " Summer Wind" as he watches the sunset.


Production

For season six, Fox moved ''The Simpsons'' back to its original Sunday night time of 8 pm, having aired on Thursdays for the previous four seasons. It has remained in this slot ever since.
Dan McGrath Dan McGrath is an American television writer, educator and stage director. He is known primarily for his work as a writer/producer for several TV series including ''The Simpsons'', ''Saturday Night Live'', ''King of the Hill'', ''Gravity Falls'' ...
was chosen to write the episode, while
Jim Reardon Jim Reardon is an American animator, storyboard artist, television writer, television director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the animated TV series ''The Simpsons''. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series and was cr ...
directed. The episode was originally produced as the season finale of the fifth season, but was held over and aired as the premiere of the sixth. This was because, along with " Lisa's Rival", the episode was in production at the time of the
1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximately 1 ...
. The earthquake damaged much of the Film Roman building in which ''The Simpsons'' writing and animation staff worked, forcing them to move out for three months and continue production in a temporary building. The only staff members that came in expecting to work were future show runners Bill Oakley and
Josh Weinstein Josh Weinstein (born May 5, 1966) is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series ''The Simpsons''. Weinstein and Bill Oakley became best friends and writing partners at St. Albans School; Weinst ...
. As a result, the staff was given a month more than they would usually have had to work on the episode, which Reardon described as "greatly benefiting" it. Having been a director on the series for five years before this episode, he believed that this "was closer to what ewas trying to achieve as a director than ehad done before". He credited this to the extra time, and used it to insert little details, such as having Bart get stuck on the fabric of the chair he was in, and wearing his underwear instead of a swimsuit. Many of the heat wave jokes at the start of the episode were based on past events of the crew's lives. The sitting in front of the fridge-freezer joke, came from McGrath, who had done a similar thing as a child. The Springfield Pool-Mobile was based on a similar vehicle from
David Mirkin David Mirkin (born ) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Mar ...
's childhood, where a truck with a "spinning cars" fairground ride on the back would often come around his neighborhood. Flanders' feminine scream was performed by
Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series '' Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrenc ...
and not his regular voice actor
Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
. Krusty's mispronunciation of
Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North In ...
's name was an
ad-lib In music and other performing arts, the phrase (; from Latin for 'at one's pleasure' or 'as you desire'), often shortened to "ad lib" (as an adjective or adverb) or "ad-lib" (as a verb or noun), refers to various forms of improvisation. The r ...
, that Mirkin kept in after the editing process because he liked it so much.


Cultural references

* The episode title is a reference to Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness''. * Springfield's
wax museum A wax museum or waxworks usually consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses, wearing real clothes. Some wax museums have a special section dubb ...
features models of
The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
and the original cast of ''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...
'', and Bart plays '' Stratego'' on his own. * The barn building scene with the onlooking
Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churc ...
man is a reference to
Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He's known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ''Gallipoli'' (1981), ''Witness ...
's 1985 film ''
Witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
''. * The pool dance scene sees Lisa in a role like those of Esther Williams, while Bart's play has similar elements of the works of Anton Chekhov. * The ''Itchy & Scratchy'' episode title references '' The Planet of the Apes'', with the mutants being referencing the '' Star Trek'' episode " The Menagerie". * The first Klassic Krusty episode is dated February 6, 1961. Krusty's guest was
AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
chairman
George Meany William George Meany (August 16, 1894 – January 10, 1980) was an American labor union leader for 57 years. He was the key figure in the creation of the AFL–CIO and served as the AFL–CIO's first president, from 1955 to 1979. Meany, the son ...
. * The third act is largely a pastiche of Alfred Hitchcock's ''
Rear Window ''Rear Window'' is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film st ...
''. As in the film, a crippled Bart witnesses an apparent murder through his telescope, with the original musical cues also being used. James Stewart's character, L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies, appears twice, caricatured as his initial film appearance. The pictures on the wall of Jeff's room are the same as in ''Rear Window''. * At the end of the episode, Martin begins to sing Frank Sinatra's " Summer Wind"; the song then continues
instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...
ly over the closing credits, instead of the show's usual theme music.


Reception


Critical reception

Mike Duffy praised the episode, stating it showed that ''The Simpsons'' was "just as strong and funny as it ever was". Elaine Liner of the ''
Corpus Christi Caller-Times The ''Corpus Christi Caller-Times'' is the newspaper of record for Corpus Christi, Texas. History There has been a newspaper in Corpus Christi for almost as long as there has been a town. In 1883, the ''Caller'' was started in a frame building ...
'' praised the writing as "crisp, hilarious and multi-layered", praising its many cultural references and noting the "biting commentary" of Maude Flanders' line, "I was at Bible camp learning to be more judgmental". Later reviews shared these sentiments. Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', found that the "eventual explanation for landers'murderous behavior is hilarious". Tim Knight called it "a terrific opener to the season".


Ratings

In this original American broadcast, "Bart of Darkness" finished 44th in the ratings for the week of August 29 to September 4, 1994, with a
Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 8.9 and an audience share of 17. The episode was the third highest rated show on the Fox network that week.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bart Of Darkness The Simpsons (season 6) episodes 1994 American television episodes Parodies of films Parody television episodes