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| {{Infobox Simpsons episode | {{Infobox Simpsons episode | ||
| | image = | |||
| | episode_name = Bart of Darkness | |||
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| season = 6 | ||
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| episode = 1 | ||
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| director = ] | ||
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| writer = ] | ||
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| production = 1F22 | ||
| | airdate = {{Start date|1994|09|04}} | |||
| <!-- Please enter new data between the ListGenBot-SourceStart and ListGenBot-SourceEnd tags, so they can be used for automated list generation -->{{ListGenBot-SourceStart|SimpsonsWriters|SimpsonsWritersS06}} | |||
| | blackboard = "Beans are neither fruit nor musical"<ref name="book">{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |editor1-first=Ray |editor1-last=Richmond |editor1-link=Ray Richmond |editor2-first=Antonia |editor2-last=Coffman |title=] |edition=1st |year=1997 |location=New York |publisher=] |lccn=98141857 |ol=433519M |oclc=37796735 |isbn=978-0-06-095252-5 |pages= |ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}} }}.</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| | couch_gag = The Simpsons sit down in midair; the couch builds itself on top of the family and makes them fall.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season6/page1.shtml |title=Bart of Darkness |access-date=2007-07-25 |author1=Martyn, Warren |author2=Wood, Adrian |year=2000 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> | |||
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| | commentary = ]<br />David Mirkin<br />Jim Reardon<br />]<br />]<br />] | |||
| | director = | |||
| | prev = ] | |||
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| ] | |||
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| {{ListGenBot-SourceStart|SimpsonsBlackboard|SimpsonsBlackboardS06}} | |||
| "Beans are neither fruit nor musical." | |||
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| | couch_gag = | |||
| {{ListGenBot-SourceStart|SimpsonsCouchGags|SimpsonsCouchGagsS06}} | |||
| The family sits in midair as the couch runs in, puts itself together on top of them, and they collapse under its weight. | |||
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| | season = 6 | |||
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| "'''Bart of Darkness'''" is the premiere of the ] of the American animated television series '']''. It originally aired on ] in the United States on September 4, 1994.<ref name="book"/> In the episode, ] breaks his leg and becomes increasingly isolated. Spying on ] from his room, Bart suspects that Ned has murdered ]. The episode was produced during the ], which delayed production by a month, and it was originally going to be the season five finale and is largely a parody of ]'s '']'' (1954).<ref>{{Citation |last=Reardon |first=Jim |title=Bart of Darkness |date=1994-09-04 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0763026/ |series=The Simpsons |access-date=2023-01-31}}</ref> | |||
| The episode was written by ] and directed by ]. | |||
| "'''Bart of Darkness'''" is the first episode of '']''<nowiki>'</nowiki> ]. When ] breaks his leg, his resultant isolation causes him to believe that ] has committed murder. | |||
| == |
==Plot== | ||
| During a heatwave, ] and ] persuade ] to buy a swimming pool for their backyard after a day of swimming in a mobile pool truck. Once the backyard pool is up and running, the family holds a town-wide pool party that ends with Bart breaking his leg in an attempt to dive into the pool from the tree house; 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. To cheer him up, Lisa gets Bart a ], which he uses to spy on other town residents. Bart becomes gradually more concerned about his next door neighbor ] after he first hears a womanly scream from his house, and later witnesses Ned digging a grave in the backyard and remorsefully calling himself a "murderer". The next day, Bart overhears Ned telling his sons ] that their mother is "with God" and they will soon join her. All of this leads Bart to believe that Ned has killed his wife ] and is now planning to do the same to their children. | |||
| {{spoiler}} | |||
| A ] in Springfield leads Bart and Lisa to pester Homer for a swimming pool. After several seconds of their relentless nagging, Homer gives in. When Bart tries an ambitious dive from the ], he breaks his leg, forcing him to remain in his bedroom. His isolation slowly makes him more and more irritable and paranoid. Lisa loans him her ], so Bart will have something to take his mind off things, Bart hears a scream next door, and witnesses ] digging a grave. He becomes convinced that Flanders has murdered his wife, ], and vows to reveal the truth. It is soon discovered that Maude is alive and well, having gone to ] for the weekend, and the only thing Ned killed was her favorite plant. Ned Flanders himself was the source of the high-pitched scream which Bart heard. | |||
| Lisa revels in her newfound popularity with the schoolkids as a direct result of the swimming pool, until the other children abandon her in favor of ], whose family now has an even bigger backyard pool than the Simpsons. Martin's turn as the new popular kid goes well until 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, leaving Martin naked and alone as the sun sets over the wreckage of his pool. | |||
| 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. However, Ned unexpectedly comes home early and Lisa hides upstairs, causing Bart to chase after Ned. The three of them soon meet in the attic where Bart accuses Ned, who 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 in his backyard, forcing Ned to tearfully confess that he dug the grave for one of Maude's ]s after realizing it was overwatered. When Ned sees the police have unearthed the dead plant from his backyard, he lets out a high-pitched scream which Bart recognizes as the womanly scream he originally heard. | |||
| ==Trivia== | |||
| <!-- Please enter new data between the ListGenBot-SourceStart and ListGenBot-SourceEnd tags, so they can be used for automated list generation --> | |||
| {{ListGenBot-SourceStart|SimpsonsTrivia|SimpsonsTriviaS06}} | |||
| *While in his room, Bart plays ] by himself. | |||
| *At one point while looking through his telescope Bart sees ], who also has his leg broken and watching people from his window, while wearing the same pyjamas he wore through almost the entirety of '']''. He even calls out to "Grace", an obvious reference to Stewart's leading lady ]. | |||
| *This episode, along with many in Season 6, was produced during the ] of 1994. | |||
| *Nelson's comment about ] is close to the fact, but not correct; epidermis is actually the ], not ]. | |||
| *The content of Bart's play further reinstates his bizarre obsession with the ] accent and ] England (he previously expressed a desire to live as a bootblack and frequently slips into ]. | |||
| *While Bart and Lisa are in Ottos's pool, if you look closely you will see a young Marge in the pool as well. | |||
| {{ListGenBot-SourceEnd}} | |||
| ==Production== | |||
| ==Cultural references== | |||
| 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.<ref name="Reiss">{{cite video |people=Reiss, Mike |date=2002 |title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart Gets an F" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref><ref name=pit>{{cite news |title=Fifth Season Finds 'The Simpsons' Still Fresh, Funny |work=] |first=Mike |last=Duffy |page=C-8}}</ref> | |||
| <!-- Please enter new data between the ListGenBot-SourceStart and ListGenBot-SourceEnd tags, so they can be used for automated list generation --> | |||
| {{ListGenBot-SourceStart|SimpsonsCultural|SimpsonsCulturalS06}} | |||
| *The episode's title refers to the novella '']'' by ], the inspiration for the ] movie, '']''. ''The Simpsons'' has also spoofed ''Heart of Darkness'' in "]". | |||
| *The part in the beginning where the hippie sings "Sunshine on My Shoulders" and gets punched by a passerby is similar to a scene in '']'' during the ] where a hippie singer performs "The Riddle Song" and gets his guitar wrecked by Bluto (played by ]). | |||
| *The plot of the episode, as well as several visual and musical cues, parody the ] film, '']''. | |||
| {{ListGenBot-SourceEnd}} | |||
| ] was chosen to write the episode, while ] directed.<ref name="book"/> The episode was originally produced as the season finale of the ], but was held over and aired as the premiere of the sixth.<ref name=Mirkin>{{cite video |people=Mirkin, David |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart of Darkness" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> This was because the episode, along with "]", was in production at the time of the ].<ref>{{Citation |title="The Simpsons" Bart of Darkness (TV Episode 1994) - IMDb |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0763026/trivia/ |access-date=2023-01-31}}</ref> The earthquake damaged much of the ] 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.<ref name=Reardon/> The only staff members that came in expecting to work were future show runners ] and ].<ref name=Mirkin/> 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.<ref name=Reardon/> Having been a director on the series for five years, he believed that this episode "was closer to what was trying to achieve as a director than had done before".<ref name=Reardon/> 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,<ref name=Reardon>{{cite video |people=Reardon, Jim |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart of Darkness" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> and wearing his underwear instead of a swimsuit.<ref name=Groening>{{cite video |people=Groening, Matt |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart of Darkness" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> | |||
| ==Goofs== | |||
| <!-- Please enter new data between the ListGenBot-SourceStart and ListGenBot-SourceEnd tags, so they can be used for automated list generation --> | |||
| {{ListGenBot-SourceStart|SimpsonsGoofs|SimpsonsGoofsS06}} | |||
| * The wall of Dr. Hibbert's workout room (seen through Bart's telescope lens) features white (yellow in the Simpson world) family portraits. | |||
| {{ListGenBot-SourceEnd}} | |||
| Many of the heatwave jokes at the start of the episode were based on events from the crew's lives. The sitting in front of the fridge-freezer joke came from McGrath, who had done something similar as a child.<ref name=Daniels>{{cite video |people=Daniels, Greg |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart of Darkness" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The Springfield Pool-Mobile was based on a similar vehicle from ]'s childhood, where a truck with a "spinning cars" fairground ride on the back would often come around his neighborhood.<ref name=Mirkin/> Flanders' feminine scream was performed by ] and not his regular voice actor ].<ref name=Groening/> Krusty's mispronunciation of ]'s name was an ] that Mirkin kept in after the editing process because he liked it so much.<ref name=Mirkin/> | |||
| ==Quotes== | |||
| <!-- Please enter new data between the ListGenBot-SourceStart and ListGenBot-SourceEnd tags, so they can be used for automated list generation --> | |||
| {{ListGenBot-SourceStart|SimpsonsQuotes|SimpsonsQuotesS06}} | |||
| *'''Lisa:''' Dad, as you know, we've been swimming, and we've developed a taste for it. We both agree that getting our own pool is the only way to go. Now before you respond, you must understand that your refusal would result in months and months of... <br/> '''Bart & Lisa:(very fast)''' Canwehaveapooldad? Canwehaveapooldad? Canwehaveapooldad? Canwehaveapooldad? Canwehaveapooldad? Canwehaveapooldad? <br/> '''Homer:''' I understand. Let us celebrate our new arrangement with the adding of chocolate to milk. | |||
| ==Cultural references== | |||
| *'''Homer:''' All right, everybody in the pool! </br> '''Amish Man:''' 'Tis a fine barn, but sure 'tis no pool, English. <br/> '''Homer:''' D'oheth! | |||
| ]'', twice showing the character L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies.]] | |||
| The title is a reference to ]'s 1899 novella '']''.<ref name="BBC" /> Springfield's ] features models of ] and the original cast of '']''.<ref name="BBC" /> The barn building scene with the onlooking ] man is a reference to ]'s film '']''.<ref name="BBC" /> The pool dance scene sees Lisa in a role reminiscent of ].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=Erik |date=June 2, 2013 |title=The Simpsons (Classic): "Bart of Darkness" |website=] |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-simpsons-classic-bart-of-darkness-1798176964}}</ref> The ''Itchy & Scratchy'' episode title references '']'', with the mutants being a reference to the '']'' episode "]".<ref name="BBC" /> The first Klassic Krusty episode is dated February 6, 1961. Krusty's guest was ] chairman ]. | |||
| *'''L.B. Jeffries (from '']''):''' Grace, come here. There's a sinister lookin' kid I want ya to see. | |||
| The third act is largely a parody of ]'s '']''. As in the film, a crippled Bart witnesses an apparent murder through his telescope, with the original musical cues also being used.<ref name="book" /> ]'s character, L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies, appears twice, ]d as his initial film appearance.<ref name="BBC" /> The pictures on the wall of Jeff's room are the same as in ''Rear Window''.<ref name="book" /> At the end of the episode, Martin begins to sing ]'s "]"; the song then continues ]ly over the closing credits, instead of ].<ref name="BBC" /> | |||
| *'''Chief Wiggum:''' Do not be alarmed, continue swimming naked. (''Eating popcorn'') Aw come on! Continue! (''To Lou'') All right Lou, open fire. | |||
| *'''L.B. Jeffries:''' Oh no! That sinister lookin' kid is comin' to kill me! Help! Help! ] falls over''] | |||
| *'''Bart:''' All right, you're right, you're right, let's, let's just forget about that. Here: let me read to you from my play. Ahem. (In a ] accent): "`Kippers for breakfast, Aunt Helga? Is it ]'s Day already?' 'Tis,' replied Aunt Helga". | |||
| *'''Lisa's Brain:''' They're only using you for your pool, you know. <br/> '''Lisa:''' Shut up, brain, I got friends now, I don't need you anymore! | |||
| ==Reception== | |||
| *'''Lisa:''' I need to figure a way out of here!<br/>'''Lisa's Brain: '''Well, well, well! Look who came crawling back! | |||
| ===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 ] of 8.9 and an audience share of 17. The episode was the third highest rated show on the Fox network that week.<ref>{{cite news |title=How They Rate |agency=Associated Press |work=] |date=1994-09-09 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nielsen Ratings |work=] |date=1994-09-09 |page=4}}</ref> | |||
| ===Critical reception=== | |||
| *'''Bart's Brain:''' Well, well. It looks like it's just you and me for the summer, Barty Boy. <br/> '''Bart:''' Oh great, I have to spend the summer with my brain. | |||
| Mike Duffy praised the episode, stating it showed that ''The Simpsons'' was "just as strong and funny as it ever was".<ref name=pit/> | |||
| Elaine Liner of the '']'' 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".<ref>{{cite news |title=Bart Starts Off The New Season with a Fresh Cast |work=] |date=1994-09-04 |author=Elaine Liner |page=TV3}}</ref> Later reviews shared these sentiments. | |||
| *'''Ned Flanders:''' I wish there was some other explanation for this. But there isn't. I'm a murderer. I'm a murderer.<br/>'''Bart:''' Then, that's not the real Ned Flanders.<br/>'''Flanders:''' I'm a mur-diddly-urd-ler!<br/>'''Bart:''' If that's not Flanders, he's done his homework. | |||
| 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 murderous behavior is hilarious".<ref name="BBC"/> Tim Knight called it "a terrific opener to the season".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=140255&buy=closed&PID=10117912&Tab=reviews&CID=18#tabs |title=The Simpson: The Complete Sixth Season (1994)(4 DVD Set) |access-date=2007-08-01 |first=Tim |last=Knight |publisher=Reel.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830052635/http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=140255&buy=closed&PID=10117912&Tab=reviews&CID=18#tabs |archive-date=2007-08-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
| *'''Martin:''' Ah, my plan has come to fruition. Soon, I'll be queen of summertime...er, king, king! | |||
| Erik Adams, in '']'', writes that "'Bart Of Darkness' starts ''The Simpsons''’ sixth season off on the right foot with a full-bodied embrace of its source material and a comedic core that challenges traditional TV logic. The episode may have marked the show’s induction into the television establishment, but it would be many more years before any of its well-honed edges would be blunted by complacency.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
| *''']:''' Hey Bart, your ] is showing.<br/>'''Bart:''' It is? ''(Bart stumbles and falls out of the treehouse)''<br/>'''Nelson:''' See, epidermis means your hair. So, technically it's true. That's what makes it so funny. Pardon me a moment (Goes over to the unconscious Bart) Haw! Haw! <br> '''Milhouse:''' Hey Nelson, he's really hurt! I think he broke his leg! <br> '''Nelson:''' I said Haw Haw. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| *'''Homer:''' There is still the mystery concerning the disappearance of your wife. <br/> '''Maude:''' I'm right here. <br/> '''Homer:''' I see. Then everything's wrapped up in a nice little package. <br/> ''Long Pause. Everybody stares at Homer.'' <br/> '''Homer:''' Really, I meant that. I'm sorry if it sounded sarcastic. | |||
| {{Reflist|2}} | |||
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| ==External links== |
==External links== | ||
| {{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_6#Bart_of_Darkness|"Bart of Darkness"}} | |||
| {{wikiquote}} | |||
| {{Portal|The Simpsons}} | |||
| * {{snpp capsule|1F22}} | |||
| * {{Snpp capsule|1F22}} | |||
| * at ] | |||
| * {{IMDb episode|0763026}} | |||
| {{The Simpsons episodes|6}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Bart Of Darkness}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 07:03, 2 January 2025
1st episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons
| "Bart of Darkness" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 1 | ||
| Directed by | Jim Reardon | ||
| Written by | Dan McGrath | ||
| Production code | 1F22 | ||
| Original air date | September 4, 1994 (1994-09-04) | ||
| Episode features | |||
| Chalkboard gag | "Beans are neither fruit nor musical" | ||
| Couch gag | The Simpsons sit down in midair; the couch builds itself on top of the family and makes them fall. | ||
| Commentary | Matt Groening David Mirkin Jim Reardon David S. Cohen Greg Daniels David Silverman | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The Simpsons season 6 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Bart of Darkness" is the premiere of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 4, 1994. In the episode, Bart breaks his leg and becomes increasingly isolated. Spying on Ned Flanders from his room, Bart suspects that Ned has murdered his wife. The episode was produced during the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which delayed production by a month, and it was originally going to be the season five finale and is largely a parody of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954).
The episode was written by Dan McGrath and directed by Jim Reardon.
Plot
During a heatwave, Bart and Lisa persuade Homer to buy a swimming pool for their backyard after a day of swimming in a mobile pool truck. Once the backyard pool is up and running, the family holds a town-wide pool party that ends with Bart breaking his leg in an attempt to dive into the pool from the tree house; 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. To cheer him up, Lisa gets Bart a telescope, which he uses to spy on other town residents. Bart becomes gradually more concerned about his next door neighbor Ned Flanders after he first hears a womanly scream from his house, and later witnesses Ned digging a grave in the backyard and remorsefully calling himself 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 killed his wife Maude and is now planning to do the same to their children.
Lisa revels in her newfound popularity with the schoolkids as a direct result of the swimming pool, until the other children abandon her in favor of Martin Prince, whose family now has an even bigger backyard pool than the Simpsons. Martin's turn as the new popular kid goes well until 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, leaving Martin naked and alone as the sun sets over the wreckage of his pool.
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. However, Ned unexpectedly comes home early and Lisa hides upstairs, causing Bart to chase after Ned. The three of them soon meet in the attic where Bart accuses Ned, who 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 in his backyard, forcing Ned to tearfully confess that he dug the grave for one of Maude's houseplants after realizing it was overwatered. When Ned sees the police have unearthed the dead plant from his backyard, he lets out a high-pitched scream which Bart recognizes as the womanly scream he originally heard.
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 was chosen to write the episode, while Jim Reardon 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 the episode, along with "Lisa's Rival", was in production at the time of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. 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. 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, he believed that this episode "was closer to what was trying to achieve as a director than had 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 heatwave jokes at the start of the episode were based on events from the crew's lives. The sitting in front of the fridge-freezer joke came from McGrath, who had done something similar as a child. The Springfield Pool-Mobile was based on a similar vehicle from David Mirkin'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 and not his regular voice actor Harry Shearer. Krusty's mispronunciation of Ravi Shankar's name was an ad-lib that Mirkin kept in after the editing process because he liked it so much.
Cultural references
The title is a reference to Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness. Springfield's wax museum features models of The Beatles and the original cast of M*A*S*H. The barn building scene with the onlooking Amish man is a reference to Peter Weir's film Witness. The pool dance scene sees Lisa in a role reminiscent of Esther Williams. The Itchy & Scratchy episode title references Planet of the Apes, with the mutants being a reference to the Star Trek episode "The Menagerie". The first Klassic Krusty episode is dated February 6, 1961. Krusty's guest was AFL–CIO chairman George Meany.
The third act is largely a parody of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. 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 instrumentally over the closing credits, instead of the show's usual theme music.
Reception
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 of 8.9 and an audience share of 17. The episode was the third highest rated show on the Fox network that week.
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 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 murderous behavior is hilarious". Tim Knight called it "a terrific opener to the season".
Erik Adams, in The A.V. Club, writes that "'Bart Of Darkness' starts The Simpsons’ sixth season off on the right foot with a full-bodied embrace of its source material and a comedic core that challenges traditional TV logic. The episode may have marked the show’s induction into the television establishment, but it would be many more years before any of its well-honed edges would be blunted by complacency.
References
- ^ Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. pp. 148–149. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M..
- ^ Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Bart of Darkness". BBC. Retrieved July 25, 2007.
- Reardon, Jim (September 4, 1994), Bart of Darkness, The Simpsons, retrieved January 31, 2023
- Reiss, Mike (2002). The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart Gets an F" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Duffy, Mike. "Fifth Season Finds 'The Simpsons' Still Fresh, Funny". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C-8.
- ^ Mirkin, David (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Sixth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Bart of Darkness" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
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