Bart the Mother
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| The Simpsons episode | |
| "Bart the Mother" | |
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| Episode no. | 206 |
| Prod. code | 5F22 |
| Orig. Airdate | September 27, 1998 |
| Show Runner(s) | Mike Scully |
| Written by | David S. Cohen |
| Directed by | Steven Dean Moore |
| Couch gag | Two firemen hold the couch adjust it to catch Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, but Homer falls through the floor. |
| Guest star | Phil Hartman as Troy McClure |
| Season 10 August 23, 1998 – May 16, 1999 |
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| List of all Simpsons episodes... | |
Bart the Mother is the third episode of the 10th season of The Simpsons, originally aired on September 27, 1998. The episode is the show's version of the classic episode of The Andy Griffith Show, "Opie the Birdman". It contains the final appearance of Troy McClure, and is dedicated to his voice actor, Phil Hartman.
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[edit] Synopsis
When Marge takes the family to the Family Fun Center, she notices that Nelson is acting like an incredible nut, especially when he knocks Milhouse off the track and wins a BB gun. Bart and Nelson attempt to be friends, but Marge insists that she does not want him to be with Nelson. Bart uses Nelson's BB gun anyway, and when he does, he accidentally kills a bird, and leaves two eggs behind after the bird dies. Marge is mad that Bart killed an animal, but instead of punishing him, she refuses to have anything to do with his destructive ways. Bart secretly keeps the eggs warm; eventually, they hatch as lizards, which he names "Chirpy Boy" and "Bart Jr."
Bart and Marge take the lizards to the Springfield Birdwatching Society, and when they are there, Principal Skinner, a member of the Society, explains they are Bolivian tree lizards. A Bolivian tree lizard is a type of lizard that steals a bird's eggs and leaves their own eggs to be watched after by the mother bird. Skinner wants the lizards killed by law, because they have killed many bird species (not making those species extinct). Bart escapes and runs away with the lizards, which later decimate the entire pigeon population of Springfield. Much to Marge's surprise, the rest of the town considered the pigeons to be a nuisance, so they are in fact delighted. As a result, Bart was thanked for this and was honored with a loganberry candle by Mayor Quimby. In the end, while the Simpsons head to their car, a pigeon gets trapped and mauled by several lizards on the sidewalk.
[edit] Trivia
- The "Bolivian tree lizard" is a fictional species. However, its behavior mirrors the habits of birds which are brood parasitic, such as the cuckoo and cowbirds (though they do not, of course, eat their hosts).
- When frying a carrot, Nelson hums the Simpsons theme.
- This episode is rated TV-G.
- This episode has the last appearance of Troy McClure, who was retired as a result of Phil Hartman's untimely death.
[edit] Cultural references
- Homer: (to Marge) "Who am I? Kreskin?" When Marge is puzzling about what Bart might be doing in his tree-house she asks Homer what he thinks, and in a very short quip he mentions Kreskin. George Kresge, better known as "The Amazing Kreskin," (b. January 12, 1935 in Montclair, New Jersey) is a mentalist, popular on North American television in the 1970s and still busy as a live performer. He appears annually on New Years Day on CNN to give his predictions for the upcoming year. Perhaps his best known trick is finding the check for his performance fee, which he instructs his hosts to hide before each show. He has only failed to find the check nine times.
- Nelson (to Bart): "You're an octowussy!" This is a pun on the title of the 1983 James Bond movie Octopussy.
- The episode's title and basic plot – Bart killing a mother bird with his BB gun – are taken from the classic Andy Griffith Show episode "Opie the Birdman" (wherein Opie adopts three baby birds after he kills their mother with a slingshot).
- Inside the arcade of the Family Fun Center, there is a game called "Pack-Rat Returns"; a reference to the arcade game "Peter Packrat".
[edit] External links
- "Bart the Mother" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
- "Bart the Mother" at the Internet Movie Database
