Bart's Girlfriend
"Bart's Girlfriend" | |
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The Simpsons episode | |
![]() Jessica Lovejoy giving a sermon at church. Julie Kavner was impressed by the design of her eyes. | |
Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 7 |
Directed by | Susie Dietter |
Written by | John Collier |
Featured music | "Stayin' Alive" by Bee Gees |
Production code | 2F04 |
Original air date | November 6, 1994 |
Guest appearance | |
| |
Episode features | |
Couch gag | Five pairs of eyes float in the air, before being reunited with the Simpsons' bodies. |
Commentary | Matt Groening David Mirkin Jonathan Collier Julie Kavner Susie Dietter David Silverman |
"Bart's Girlfriend" is the seventh episode of the
The episode was written by
Plot
During a church sermon, Bart falls in love with Reverend Lovejoy's daughter, Jessica. When he approaches her to praise her sermon, she ignores him. Bart attends Sunday school the next week to convince Jessica that he is a saint, but she still ignores him. Frustrated, Bart plays a prank on Groundskeeper Willie and is punished with detention. Jessica expresses sympathy for Bart and invites him to her house for dinner.
During dinner with the Lovejoys, Bart's crude manner and foul language cause Reverend Lovejoy to forbid him from ever seeing Jessica again. She and Bart secretly date, bonding over their shared love of mischief while
Homer assumes Bart is guilty, but Marge believes he is innocent. Reluctant to implicate Jessica, Bart visits her the next day and finally comprehends her callous demeanor when she refuses to come forward. Upon learning the truth, Lisa is determined not to allow her brother to be blamed for Jessica's misdeed. After unsuccessfully prompting her to confess, Lisa tells the congregation that Jessica is the guilty party. The townspeople search Jessica's room and find the money hidden under her bed. When Reverend Lovejoy expresses disbelief at her actions, Jessica reminds him of her past misbehavior, which he wilfully ignores. Jessica is ultimately punished by being forced to scrub the church steps, and Bart receives an apology from the congregation.
Later, Bart approaches Jessica at church and admits he's matured from having known her. Jessica replies that she's capable of making men do whatever she wants. Bart agrees to finish scrubbing the steps for her as she leaves with her new boyfriend, but he vows to do a poor job to get even with her.
Production
"Bart's Girlfriend" was written by Jonathan Collier and directed by Susie Dietter.[2] David Mirkin, who was show runner at the time, originally had the idea of Bart having a girlfriend that was more evil than he was.[3] Mirkin gave the idea to Collier to write it with the help of the show's executive producer James L. Brooks. Collier said later that he thought it was a case of Brooks coming up with good ideas and him "giggling obsequiously".[4] The idea for the ending of the episode was to have none of the characters learn anything from the experience.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Meryl_in_1990.jpg/220px-Meryl_in_1990.jpg)
Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, felt that Jessica Lovejoy was hard to draw in his own style but at the same time make her attractive.[5] Julie Kavner, the voice of Marge, was particularly impressed by the eyes.[6] Jessica was made the Reverend's daughter to give the impression that she was good at first and then to show that she was rebelling against the righteousness of her family.[4] In the scene where Bart talks to Jessica outside her house, her baton playing was in the script but the exact choreography was not. Dietter liked its incorporation because it gave Jessica something else, other than Bart, to pay attention to. This was also done in the final scene when Jessica scrubs the church steps and plays with the scrub brush.[7]
Cultural references
In the beginning, the parents chase the children in a cornfield to eventually round them up for church, which parodies a similar scene from " can be heard outside the church; Bart assumes it is being sung by Jessica, but it is actually Ned Flanders, a revelation he calls "disturbing".
Reception
"Bart's Girlfriend" finished 53rd in the ratings for the week of October 31 to November 6, 1994, with a
Since airing, the episode has received critical acclaim. Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, said: "Poor Bart gets picked on very cruelly by Jessica in a cleverly drawn study of pre-pubescent love. We're very fond of the scene in which Bart leaps out of the window at the church, after which Homer cries: He's heading for the window!"[2]
Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review of the sixth season DVD: "We don’t often see Bart in a sympathetic light, so shows like this one are fun. [The episode] reminds me of
In 2008, Entertainment Weekly named Meryl Streep's role as Jessica Lovejoy as one of the sixteen best guest appearances on The Simpsons.[13] Total Film's Nathan Ditum ranked Streep's performance as the fifth best guest appearance in the show's history, commenting that she is "the perfect mix of beguiling and devilish as Reverend Lovejoy’s rebellious daughter".[14]
David Mirkin told the
Erik Adams writes "He’s got a thing for the preacher’s daughter, and he’s got it bad, an emotional state brilliantly illustrated by the gauntlet the episode stages for its protagonist. He’s a patsy for her, he risks serious cranial injury for her, he even takes one of
References
- ^ OL 433519M..
- ^ a b c Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Bart's Girlfriend". BBC. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Mirkin, David (2005). The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart's Girlfriend" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c Collier, Jonathan (2005). The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart's Girlfriend" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Groening, Matt (2005). The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart's Girlfriend" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b Kavner, Julie (2005). The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart's Girlfriend" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b Dietter, Susie (2005). The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart's Girlfriend" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ ISBN 0-7868-8600-5.
- ^ a b Woulfe, Sharon (November 3, 2001). "Ay caramba! Animated actress live at IWU - Bart's voice a real character Stories shared about popular 'Simpsons' show". The Pantagraph. Pantagraph Publishing Co.
- ^ a b "What we watch, what we don't...". Austin American-Statesman. November 13, 1994. p. 36. Retrieved on October 17, 2008.
- ^ Jacobson, Colin (2003). "The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season (1994)". DVD Movie Guide. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
- ^ Finley, Adam (August 10, 2006). "The Simpsons: Bart's Girlfriend". HuffPost TV. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2008.
- ^ Bruno, Mike (May 11, 2008). "Springfield of Dreams: 16 Great 'Simpsons' Guest Voices". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ^ Ditum, Nathan (March 29, 2009). "The 20 Best Simpsons Movie-Star Guest Spots". Total Film. GamesRadar. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ^ Lowman, Rob (August 16, 2005). "DVD - Reviews Of New Releases". Daily News of Los Angeles. p. U4.
- ^ Funk, Tim (September 18, 1995). "Is she fed up doing Bart Simpson's voice? No way, man!". Chicago Tribune. p. 5.
- ^ Adams, Erik. "The Simpsons (Classic): "Bart's Girlfriend"". The A.V. Club.
External links
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