Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - Bart Gets An F

Episode Date: October 14, 2015

After a series of academic disasters, Bart is threatened with being held back a grade. Fingers crossed for a miracle…

Ahoi hoi everybody and welcome to Talking Simpsons, the Lazer Time Podcast Network's chronological exploration of the Simpsons. I am your host, Bob Mackie. Who else is here today? Christopher Antistam. Henry Gilbert. And I'm Dave Rudden and I'm on Thursday nights now. Oh, nice.

Don't get ahead of us. He's trying to take down Cosby. This is the first one that's being heard by everybody. Yes, so welcome. So I guess what we do is we break down every episode of The Simpsons in chronological order. Shouldn't be more than 30 minutes or so. That's about how long they run. This show is so much fun to do.

By the way, in terms of the research we do in the Later Time Network, this is the most fun. Watch The Simpsons episodes. Yes, we just sit down and crank out notes and just have so much fun listening to commentaries and delivering the best parts of these episodes to you. And just rediscovering these shows for the first, second time or whatever. Especially these early episodes. And yes, we did the first season. I know this is the first one the public is hearing.

We did the first season. This is a show unlocked by Patreon. If you want access to the first season of Talking Simpsons, it is at patreon.com slash laser time. The price of five bucks, you have access to the whole first season. Until then, we're going to power through the rest of the show. And I will say, if you're scoffing at the idea of listening to a discussion of the first

season, we had so much fun talking about those episodes. It is so cool seeing things for the first time and it's literally how characters evolve from just disgusting Klasky Shupo pieces of play into actual characters. And most of them are redeemable, those episodes. So, should we get started with this one?

This is the first episode of the second season, Bark Gets an F, and it aired on October 11th, 1990. Chris, what was happening in the universe on that date? That's right. One of our segments is to catch you up on exactly what is happening in the zeitgeist in this day and time. So, let's get started with The Simpsons News. Oh, my God!

Polaroid successfully sues Kodak for almost a billion dollars over a patent on instant film. Remember that? The Cosby Show is the number one comedy in America and Fox's ratings are so bad it's forced to cancel fourth quarter ad sales in order to present free make-good ads

to their sponsors. And I bring that up because that's important because what happened this season to The Simpsons? Dave? You just said it. Oh, they moved to Thursdays. They moved to Thursdays. And I remember reading about it.

It's like, man, what a dick move. But Fox was struggling so hard. Like, having to give free ads out for the fourth of the year. It was like a stunt move to take down cosby which was in its second to last season yeah and they didn't actually beat cosby on its first on their first week and from what i was listening like the first half of the commentary is talking about this no one's rooting for the cosby show at this point oh god yes nobody nobody knows it's so funny if we had recorded this a year and a half ago this would be a very different conversation exactly

it is funny to hear how mad the writers were about this move, because the Simpsons were consistently in the top ten on Sunday night. The second season, they were like in the fifties. Wow. Because of that move. Who knows how popular they could have been to stay in their popularity. I always thought it was a dick move, but it was like, it was

really Fox struggling, like, this is our number one show, and we really need to take some of this audience from this other show. When you talk about that make good thing, I remember a joke in like season 10, they have a joke where Rupert Murdoch says to Bart, you saved my network. Wouldn't be the

first time. Yeah, for sure. But I think that's more true than not. They were in such a bad spot and this and Married With Children Were it Anybody remember Major Dad? That was CBS I believe There was a Matt Frewer sitcom that I watched

Oh, Shaky Ground I think Shaky Ground Shaky Ground Ever since you put me down These are the deep cuts we'll hear on Talking Simpsons We're all of a certain age Where we were just front and center when The Simpsons came out. And I've said this on other shows, but again, this is the first one that's going out to everybody.

I was exactly Bart's age when The Simpsons premiered. Now, according to the arcade game, I am one year away from being Homer's age. Wow. I am one year away from being Homer's age. So this episode was also forced forward. This was the third episode in the production order. That's age. I am one year away from being Homer's age. So this episode was also forced forward. This was the third episode in the production order. That's true. Bart gets an F. And it was done that because Bart was such a merchandising sensation

and kids were all about it. So this episode, it is a little weird. There's like three lines in this episode that are just, that's a t-shirt. You're quoting a Bart's t-shirt. Exactly. They do reference the t-shirt controversy. How simpler times we live. I do.

What is the plot of this episode? The plot is Bart is trying to graduate from the fourth grade, and there is one test that is standing in the way of that. And essentially a miracle happens that lets Bart buy extra time. And spoilers, he makes it just by the skin of his teeth. Yeah. Connecting with Bart was a really weird thing for me because I was a bad kid. I think we discussed that before.

We don't have that in common with the rest of you guys. You weren't constantly in trouble. No, I was more Martin than Bart. Same here, yeah. It's the tale of like ADHD, basically. Like I thought watching Bart allowed me to see what I was doing was irritating people because I thought every adult hated me. And it made me sad.

And watching this episode again really, I don't know, hit me in a very weird place because I was certified super gifted in kindergarten. And this was the exact age where I could normally just get good grades, not study, and look at anything, and this is when that stopped. That happened to me in high school. For me, this episode is difficult to watch because it so underlines the pain and desperation of procrastination.

It's not about being lazy, it's about torturing yourself, and that is exactly what Bart does throughout, and it still hurts to watch. This is him talking to his teacher. This is just ADD in a nutshell. Your grades have gotten steadily worse since the beginning of the term. Are you aware of that? Yes, ma'am. Are you aware that there

is a major exam tomorrow on Colonial America? Yes, ma'am. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yes, ma'am. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yes, ma'am. Bart, you haven't been paying attention to a word I said, have you? Yes, ma'am. Well, then what haven't been paying attention to a word I said, have you? Yes, ma'am. Well, then what did I say?

Uh... Straighten up and fly right? Well, that was a lucky guess. That, that, I... All of this brought a really deep pain, especially with studying for history. Oh, yeah. Because it was so boring, and, like, I am trying.

I think I've read this paragraph eight times. This has no... I don't understand any of this. I'm having trouble with it right now trying to write an article about history. It does feel like there's a bit of commentary in this episode where rote memorization does nothing for no one. And Bart will never do anything with this knowledge. It's just something that he needs to regurgitate

in order to like meet some standards. Society is kind of coming around to being anti-testing or the over-testing that's happening in schools. I'm feeling a little validated. But, like, yeah, this is a super rocky time. And I only grabbed this clip, by the way. This clip from early in the episode.

Got an A on my vocabulary test. What? You did? Well, that's just... Oh, what a glorious day. I've heard that a lot, yeah. No, you have heard that a lot. You have heard that a lot. And so when Simpsons

announced in syndication it's like that's right the Simpsons five times a week. Oh what a glory. So like whether you know it or not you've heard that line over and over again that was used in like every promo for the Simpsons. And then it was used in Mad Max. Oh what a glorious day.

I heard it a million times. I love that scene though though, because it's, Homer is being a bad parent in two ways there. Marge first says, you're not, Lisa says, he's not going to care. He's like, I can have a beer. I can eat a beer while I care. And then he sees that it's clearly hurting Bart to take his one thing off the fridge, but Homer's like, those whiskers. It's literally the opposite of a scene from Lisa on Ice, which we'll get to in like five years worth of seasons. Which at this point is my favorite Simpsons gag.

Which one is that? You better win or I'll kill you. I love it. Here's your turtle alive and well. But yeah, so this episode, it is just all Bart. Oh, we didn't even mention at the start, first for this one, the new opening. Exactly. The real opening.

No more Lisa on a bike. That magnificent freeze frame friendly pan of every character, which Simpsons Illustrated posted in its entirety. I love that. I love that poster. I had it up. I think Bart no longer takes the bus stop sign. From all those weird characters we never see. As a couch gag,

it's not the first couch gag though, right? Oh no, there were plenty of couch gags in season one. I never saw it. What I did identify was the same thing Bob said, that it was procrastination. That was my thing in school. I knew history though, so I would have done good on that test, at least in elementary school.

But I was the same deal. Like, eh, homework. TV is better. TV games are better. All that shit happens to me now. Same here. It does. To this day.

That's why it was uncomfortable for me to watch. I got goosebumps and teary several times, especially at this dumb sequence. Because I'm probably entering an older stage in my life. I could become a dad soon. And the idea that Homer wants Bart to watch old monster movies with him. That is going

to happen to me. And I'm going to prevent him. So all the Bart stuff got to me. And then this part. It's so unfair. Just because he's different. Well, time to hit the books. Burning the candle at both ends, eh boy?

Go get him. Right now, my girlfriend is sadly my Bart who I forced to watch all this old horrible monster stuff. Well, it was Big Gorilla Week on Million Dollar Movie. Big Gorilla Week.

Are you excited that would make me? I love when they would call things Million Dollar Movie. It's just the theme movie. Movie for a Drury Afternoon was another one. They literally created, like, a lot of this stuff is so old-timey now. But, like, yeah, the Million Dollar Movie and, like, creating a sequence. It's the Saturday Night Movie. So wild.

It's a third-rate thing you never would have watched. Also, it's a joke that Homer is so invested and sad over this, but I actually could see myself crying over the ending of something now. I will cry at the end of King Kong every single time. I'll cry at the end of Die Hard. Yes, I cry at the end of beautiful sequences. The end of Goodfellas. It's awful.

But this is also like becoming a parent and I'm terrified. It's not happening yet, but the biological clock on my girlfriend is definitely ticking and this is going to have to happen in two years or not at all. There's a deadline. We're having those talks.

We're having those talks, but just coping with the dumb kid. Come take a look at this. Oh, the little tiger tries so hard. Why does he keep failing? Just a little dim, I guess. All of that was me, a very promising student, turned terrible. I was awful.

Seeing a school psychologist. That scene was weirdly heartwarming for me when I watched it. Because I was like, you know, this is a big thing for Bart right now, but it ultimately doesn't matter. He'll fail the class. He still has his family. They still love him. It does.

It kind of made me just worry a little bit less about life in general. Weirdly, I'm like, no matter how bad things are going, my family will support me. There's comfort in that line. I will never be homeless out in the street. Things can never get that bad. It's just kind of like that weird little scene right there. I do love that Homer is, I guess, comfortable with, yeah, I'm dumb.

It's cool. And I love this because, one, it's a reference. It's the only time this is said on the show. Our district psychiatrist, Dr. J. Loren Pryor. Hey, Dr. J. I think what we have on our hands here is a classic case of what laymen refer to as fear of failure. As a result, Bart is an underachiever, and yet he seems to be, how should I put this, proud of it. Oh, yeah.

Now it's a little cringy. That is representing the controversy in which that T-shirt was banned from school. I own that T-shirt. That was one of the most popular Simpsons T-shirts. A Bart and a little red banner iris, underachiever and proud of it. Was he aiming a slingshot or something? I had the cool your jets man T-shirt. I would say the underachiever and proud of it is, and sorry to use a wrestling term.

By the way, we have a wrestling show on this network if you're new. It's the Austin 316 of Simpson shirts. It's the most iconic Simpson shirt ever made, I think. Yeah, it's everywhere. By the way, that character, remember the psychologist character? J. Lorne Pryor. Appears a ton in the first season, and I think this might be his last appearance ever. I think that was like in Lisa's saxophone. Oh, Pryor. Appears a ton in the first season, and I think this might be his last appearance ever. I think that was like the...

In Lisa's saxophone. Oh, that's right. That could be the vestigial remnants of the Tracy Ullman Show psychologist jokes. Psychiatrist jokes. What is that? Pryor's appearance also shows me that I made a note saying, this episode is a sequel to Bart the Genius. That's right, it is.

Bart confronting his own stupidity. I confuse the two all the time. And unlike you guys, I have rewatched the early seasons quite a bit. One is where they're slightly underestimating Bart, but actually not underestimating him all that much. And the other one, they're overestimating Bart. He's a super genius. Though Homer in this one, I don't think there's one angry Homer scene in this episode. No, it's very rare.

Like this one, and I had this discussion with people involved in my school faculty. Like, I'm tired of hearing about this. Let it go. I'm an idiot. Who cares? But this... This failed his last four exams in history. Is there anything you're not telling us?

No. Every other student in the class has shown at least some form of improvement, and yet you continue to struggle. Why is that? I don't know. But look at these results. 55, 42, 26, a 12 on state capital. Okay, okay.

Why are we dancing around the obvious? I know it, you know it, I am dumb, okay? Dumb as a post. Think I'm happy about it? There, there, Bart. You're just a late bloomer. Oh, I wish it. You know it. I am dumb, okay? Dumb as a post. Think I'm happy about it? There, there, Bart. You're just a late bloomer. Oh, I wish it were that simple. As shameful and as emotionally crippling as it may be,

I'm afraid my recommendation is for Bart Simpson to repeat the fourth grade. What? You can't hold me back. I'll do better. I promise. Oh, sure. That'll be the day. Maybe it would help him to be left back. It won't be so bad, Bart. No, I mean it. He can to be left back. It won't be so bad, Bart. No, I mean it. He can't hold me back. I swear I'm going to do better.

Look at my eyes. See the sincerity? See the conviction? See the fear? As God is my witness, I can pass the fourth grade. And if you don't, at least you'll be bigger than the other kids. I love that Homer sees the dumb option. Like, yeah, it's all good. You get a job at the power plant.

That is a real, genuine fear and something that still creeps into my dreams nowadays. I kind of always have the I didn't finish all my credits in college dream. Yeah, it happens constantly. I didn't go to this class all semester and there's a final every time. Still, and I'm 33. My only nightmare. Well, let me tell you guys, this actually does haunt me. I wasn't

gonna, was, not gonna talk about this or not, but it actually – when I moved – okay, so I grew up in Arkansas and then moved to Atlanta. And then when I moved to Atlanta, the minimum age was different. And I had finished – I had started earlier in Arkansas than I would have in Atlanta. Oh. And so I was one year younger than everybody else who was going to be in second grade. Oh, my God. And I was super excited to do it. I passed fine. I was smart year younger than everybody else who was going to be in second grade. And I was super excited to do it. I passed fine. I was smart.

I knew all these things. But my mom was very concerned that I was going to be younger than everybody else that would be picked on. And I was made to repeat the first grade. Were you? Really? I was so angry at my mom for the longest time. That's what was part of

my upbringing is my parents gave me all these stupid math and reading workbooks. And then I get into kindergarten and people are learning how to read. And they're like, the butt. Like, God damn. Dead age, man. I already know all this. I stopped paying attention. I had the same thing.

I only found out in retrospect that I could have been skipped from kindergarten to third grade. But my parents didn't do it. And finding that out as an adult, I'm like, I could have been done with this. I could have been done with this at 15. It is when you look back on it, you're like, school seems so useless. You wish you'd been done with it a year earlier. But I do think back, who knows what would have happened

in a sliding doors universe. And also I think, I did the next year test into gifted classes, and I wonder, just having an extra year to dick around or whatever. No, no, you cheated. I'll say it right now. I got to read a lot of Nintendo Power. Copy it off Milhouse. You have to apologize to every one of your fellow classmates.

But anyway, yeah, so this was a fear that really struck me, and I actually brought it up a few years ago to my mom. I was so mad about being held back. I'm surprised you had something new to tell me. It really hurt her feelings. I was like, oh, I shouldn't have brought it up. Because now I'm seeing how much it was a hard decision for her, too. Oh, sure. I'm not seeing a therapist yet.

But I hold my parents like, ah, they did the best they can. Yeah, no one knows what they're doing at any time. Yeah, yeah. If they did, someone would write a book about it, right? And that book was discredited as soon as he became an adult. The Simpsons will be right back. Hey there, everybody. I'm Chris.

You might have heard me in the episode that you're listening to right now. Apologies for the interruption, but I have a little thing I need to say, and it's that this episode is brought to you by Lazer Time and Patreon. If you don't know what Lazer Time is, it's a pop culture podcast and a website, LazerTimePodcast.com, that's existed for about four years. And thanks to Patreon, we've been able to start this Talking Simpsons show and this only happened because people crowdfunded it into existence. This is our

way of saying thank you. Thank you so much. If you wanted to hear the first season, that's the first 13 episodes of The Simpsons Show. I know people have different feelings about the first season of The Simpsons so we have put that on Patreon exclusively. If you're a patron at the $5 level, you get access to the entire

first season and obviously I'm biased I could tell you it's awesome but it is and it's awesome experiencing the first season of Simpsons as a huge Simpsons fan with a bunch of my friends and I invite you to join us patreon.com slash laser time just $5 you have access to everything including a exclusive weekly

show and an exclusive thing we call Monday Night Movies where we all watch a time uh just five dollars you have access to everything including a exclusive weekly show and an exclusive thing we call monday night movies where we all watch a movie together every monday usually at six o'clock pacific time it's really fun but yes this show only exists because you made it happen thank you so much and without further ado back to talking simpsons we now return you to the president's address already in progress. I take all my advice from the bus driver. Hey, relax, man. It could end up being the best thing that ever happened to you.

I got held back in the fourth grade myself. Twice. Look at me, man. Now I drive the school bus. There's an insane look in his eyes. I don't know why I love that clip so much. That reading just runs through my head sometimes. Now I drive the school bus.

That's what I think about if you stay too long at a job and then you're the boss. Now I drive the school bus. Apologies to any bus driver listeners out there. It's probably the hardest job in the universe. I have the coolest bus driver name in the universe, by the way. What? Miss Shabazz. Oh.

Shabazz is the coolest name of all time. My bus driver's name was Dirk. You know, that was one of Malcolm X's new names. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Miss Shabazz. So there is a small B-plot, I guess, in which Martin is recruited to teach Bart how to be good. But first, Bart teaches Martin how to be bad. How to be bad, how to live a little.

I didn't want to capture that because it's too long. He's like, I thought I was rather popular. And, like, man, I imagine, like, oh, God, if somebody had told me how unpopular I was to my face, it could have been done and no one did it. So that's why I know you identified with Bart, but I definitely identified more with Martin in this episode. Not just him being like, oh, people make fun of him and he wants to be cool again. And actually I was not as good of a studier as Martin by even half. But the part where he throws the ball back and is like over talking like, oh, I didn't realize the rules of the game. I thought it was still in play.

That was exactly the way I was going to play. I didn't think of her saying several things like that on a stream. I sound so funny and smart by over-explaining this. Everyone will love this. And I love this. I did grab a clip of like, I love this. Always sit in the back of the bus.

Oh, no? Only geeks sit in the front seat. From now on, you sit in the back row. And that's not back of the bus. Ah. Oh. No? Only geeks sit in the front seat. From now on, you sit in the back row. And that's not just on the bus. It goes for school and church, too. Why? So no one can see what you're doing. Oh.

I think I understand. The potential for mischief varies inversely with one's proximity to the authority figure. Oh, yeah, but don't say it like that. How we use electricity can be smarter, cleaner, and greener. At Electric Ireland,

we can help guide you there. You see, our new Net Zero Hub has all you need to know about smart meter plans, EV tariffs, solar panels, and much more.

Making your usage clearer, your trips greener, your home cozier, and your world brighter. Find our net zero hub at electricisland.ie. It's such a good formula. As a bad kid, I could have used it. That's a great line. I totally forgot about that. That kind of strikes me as the quote-unquote prequel episode

where Bart is a genius, where he's just going along with something a smart person is saying and probably doesn't understand it. I don't think he actually understood that equation. No, I don't think in any way. He said, like, of course. But this all backfires on Bart because Martin undergoes a Wolfman-esque transformation in which he becomes just pure malevolence. Doing bad stuff is fun, Bob. Smoking with cigarettes.

But it doesn't stick. Well, that's the thing. I feel like even a year later, they would have had Martin fall back to grace in the plot, but instead, by the end of the episode, I guess he's cool forever now. Martin, he's cool. But I love that. There's that flash of him with a floral shirt and sunglasses

and slicked back hair in one second. He's still a bad kid. That was another line that I really identified when we said, the fact that it wasn't me. That was my policy in school. If I could get a little bit more popular by ragging on the person right below me in the cast system, I would do it. There's always somebody lower. I mean, unless you are that guy,

then God help you. In reality, I should have made friends with the people who are my same level, but I was just like, I can go higher. I can do it. I also liked his... I had to look this one up,

but I did like his line, back to the forecastle of the Pequod. That's a Moby Dick reference, correct? Yeah, he had a real dinner theater style opening with that Hemingway speech at the beginning. I did think of it as a note on the bus sequence like Sherry and Terry were huge in the first three seasons. Yeah, there was.

They've all but disappeared. Yeah, they had kind of an adversarial relationship to Bart in the beginning but that disappeared. But should we get to like Bart? Bart eventually resorts to the last refuge of the scoundrel as Lisa says, which is what I think of prayer currently. I'm edgy, everybody.

But yeah, Bart literally prays for a miracle and he gets it. An atheist on the internet can't believe it. I can't believe it either. But he literally gets a miracle and there is a blizzard in what I'm assuming is May or June. They say July. Oh, it's July? They say it's July. No, no, no.

That's in the dream sequence. Yeah. Wait, both of which... Is it in July? That's because it was a signing of the Declaration of Independence. I'm assuming if it's that far in the school year, it's got to be like April. Well, I have a clip of that because it's one of those jokes I never noticed as a kid, but it's probably...

John Hemsworth. Like, it's the sneakiest dick joke, I think, in the history of film. All men are created equal. All men are created equal. That from that equal creation they derive rights, inherit, and enalien. Hey, look everybody, it's snowing. In the middle of July? It's a miracle.

Fellows, I've invented something fun. The sled. Don't sled on me. Hey, look everybody, John Hancock's writing his name in the snow. Fantastic. That's why I quoted the episode. I never – I didn't get that because I didn't grow up with snow. No, no, me neither.

That's where I live. Me neither, and you're totally right. It's the Declaration of Independence. July 4th, that's why I got the day. Though he's talking about the Continental Congress – well, I can't – I don't blame Barb for getting it mixed up. The Continental Congress is not the same as Declan's independence. I do like how they underline that this is the best thing to ever happen to anyone in Springfield ever. There is maybe like three minutes of scenes like, I declare this day to be the snow day.

It's a fantastic montage. It's evocative of not only How the Grinch Stole Christmas. At the very end, there's a very incongruous shot of Patty and Selma on a sled. I believe that's a reference to... That's a painting, right? It might be a painting. Or a New Yorker cover. I attribute it to a 1948 Disney short from the movie... Do I have it written down?

Melody Time, Once Upon a Winter Time. Oh, wow. Okay. I wrote about it on a cartoon Christmas under a Disney Christmas gift. It is in there. It's very specific, yeah. As a Christmas animation fanboy, I was annoyed that they're singing Winter Wonderland

and not it is Christmas thing. Because technically it's a Winter Wonderland. It's weird to hear that outside of a Christmas reference. I guess they never... That song can work in February. If you hear somebody sing that in January, you're rolling your eyes. Buddy, I'll tell you what, that song is going to

have to work in May from here on out if the climate keeps switching around. Dear God, yes. Bart wants to go out and play. I love Lisa's line here. I heard you last night, Bart. You prayed for this. Now your prayers have been answered. I'm no theologian.

I don't know who or what God is exactly. All I know is he's a force more powerful than Mom and Dad put together, and you owe him big. Fucking love that. Back to that Tracy Ullman, uh, what is God? Well, in both episodes, in this and the second episode, Lisa is just kind of like, she's the, she just shoots out

these witticisms or observations all the time. Oh yeah, the stealing cable episode is basically, Lisa's a religious mouthpiece. Essentially. Yes. Kind of conflicts with her current portrayal. I would say a moral compass. What's that? A moral compass. Oh, yeah. The stealing cable episode is basically Lisa's religious mouthpiece, essentially, which kind of conflicts with her current portrayal. What's that? A moral compass. Yeah, that's true. I love the child.

I don't know what God is, but I'm pretty sure he could beat up mom and dad. Also, as a kid, didn't you love the bit where Homer brought the TV up to his room? Like, oh, I'm this sick. Because you don't have your own TV. A, that never happened to me. B, I bought a black and white television, a 12-inch black and white television from a friend. My parents wouldn't let me have it

except on the weekends my dad would bring up. So I, dude, Bob, you would hate me. I played a bunch of classic Genesis shit and I have no idea what color it is. Dear God. No idea. I'll tell you what, if your parents got divorced, you get TV in your room.

So I hit the lottery there. I had to sneak one in. So, yes, Bart, I guess he tries to take advantage of this awesome break that God gave him, but does he fall asleep? Is that what happens? No, it's a weird cut because he just keeps slapping himself, and then it cuts back to him still slapping himself to pay attention to the test. I may speak on behalf of the ADHD people.

Like, you want to do this thing, but you can't. Like, it sucks. It's really, like, I don't want to, I've never used that as an excuse. But, you know, clearly, if you're listening to Laser Time, you know there's a bunch of shit I haven't done. And I think this, it shows, like, the institution is failing Bart. Because there should be a way for him to approach this material that is not like everyone else's way. Yes, and there should be a way for him to fucking pass the that is not like everyone else's way. Yes, and there should be a way for him to fucking pass the fourth grade and maybe not know

who gives a fuck about who signed the Declaration of Independence. That feels like a very Matt Groening down with school type message too. If you've read School's Hell all that stuff is in there. Sorry, Henry. But five years and then five years later they'd just be giving Bart Riddle it, which would later be an episode of the show.

But, you know, that reminds me of Groening vs. School. When I was a kid, in our art class once, they put on the video, and it was some art special video that had Matt Groening in it. And I was like, oh my god, Matt Groening, is there talking to him about drawing life in hell? And he then draws a cartoon of, like like no more teachers, no more books a cartoon to that to me which is like I used to sing this in my school kids.

Again, that's why The Simpsons I gravitated to it so much because everybody else treated school like well, I guess and then The Simpsons was sort of like Bart, like fuck this place. It sucks. Here's a fantasy sequence

where I destroy it constantly. Yeah, I will say again read school as hell because there is a MacRainey's diary from when he was 10 years old, he illustrates it and it's exactly what's happening to Bart in this episode. MacRainey just wants to draw monsters

and have fun, but he's got a very Skinner-like figure in his life. My favorite part of the School in Hell book is how for every school you go to, like middle school, high school, grade school, it has tiles that show, here's every single kind of person that's in your grade school. That is fantastic.

I would go through that and be like, okay, that's Jim and that's Tom and blah, blah, blah. The sex pot, the burnouts. It gets increasingly complex as you go from grade school to high school. His cartoons are great. But this episode eventually ends where Bart does fail the test once again.

And then in his breakdown... This scene really hurts me it hurts yeah this is bart at his most self-aware probably i have a clip of it go for it yeah what's the matter well i would think you'd be used to failing by no no you don't understand i It's a good joke. I really tried this time. I mean, I really tried. There, there. This is as good as I can do, and I still failed. Well, a 59, it's a high F. Who am I kidding? I really am a failure. Oh, now I know how George Washington felt when he surrendered Fort Necessity to the French in 1754.

What? Which, by the way, don't have any idea what he's talking about. That still gives me the feels, as the kids say. It's a very useless fact, and she is being more nice and crebopple normally. She says something to that effect. It's like, based on how obscure it is. She does say something based on how obscure it is, and I wasn't looking forward to spending another year with you anyway. Little did she know it would be 20, like a couple decades.

She'll never be free of Bart. Well, actually, she is free now because she's dead. It shows that Bart failed, but the institution failed too. So, I mean, it's fair on both ends. And then what happens after this? I have my line of the show. Oh, what is that? Are we ready?

We don't want to do line of the show? Sure. That of the show. Oh, what is that? Are we ready? We don't want to do line of the show? Sure. That's the joke. The line of the show is the very last line said. I love it so much. A part of this D- belongs to God. I feel like that same image is the one in Bart's Nightmare. Every time you go, when the game ends and your grade is on the fridge.

Yes, it is. Yeah, Bart's Nightmare. We talked about that a bunch in the first season. The first season went on to inform almost every Simpsons game ever made. My favorite line was the last refuge of the scoundrel. I like that line. Mine was, I already said, it's Big Gorilla Week

on Million Dollar Movie. It's God Gets a D-. I love that line, and I don't want to harp on this, and it might be where we As I already said, it's Big Gorilla Week on Million Dollar Movie. It's God Gets a D-. I love that line, and I don't want to harp on this, and it might be where we live, but I love pointing out that the Simpsons still to this day go to church every week. I don't know a person in my life, anywhere in the country, who goes to church. And I'm not calling you dumb. Religion is fine and lovely, but that's how old the show is. That was an institution that everybody was a part of. I did like, can you guys play on Sunday?

Got to go to church, man. Things like religion and especially unions are so baked into The Simpsons as the fabric of life, which are no longer really a thing now. The Simpsons would make a bunch of sacrilegious jokes at the time. My grandma would not approve. Part of this D-minus. But I remember even at the time,

like, man, that's... Yeah, God is responsible for his failure. That is his problem. And like many episodes of these early seasons, there is an incredibly low standard for a character

to meet, and they just barely meet it, and they're happy with that. They're just over-excited. Yeah. Dave, what was your line in the show? It was John Hancock

writing his name in snow. Oh, there were two other notes I wanted to mention real quick that Bart's shirt is colored wrong the entire episode it's like a pastel it's way too light but I love the shot of him running out in the snowy Springfield Elementary

it's beautiful also when he says cowabunga they've said it on the commentaries multiple times that was on t-shirts but he never said it and then on his commentary when he says cowabunga, like that's – they've said it on the commentaries multiple times. Like that was on T-shirts, but he never said it. And then on his commentary when he says it, they're like, oh, he did say it. And also I think this was the first Bill and Marty. I think it was the first Bill and Marty.

Yeah, I think it was too. They're naming off the schools being closed. And again, that's how old timey it is that people are waiting for the radio to announce. I remember that. Even I would watch TV to find out if my school was closed. Now kids can go to the internet. I mean, now you'll get an alert on your phone. Yeah, Jesus. Yeah, the one thing that I'm surprised it took until this viewing to finally kick in,

but I did not realize that this is kind of closely tied to later in the season, Bart's dog gets an F. Bart has the same kind of learning disability as his dog, where he hears blah, blah, blah, blah. That's right, and Homer has it too. So this is like a trilogy between this and... Bart the genius, Bart gets an F, and Bart's dog gets an F. But I don't think Bart gets that breakthrough

where he finally stops hearing blahs. No, I mean, he's still this bad in school every day after this. He just barely passed the one time to keep him on to the fifth grade that he'll never go to. So that was the first real for free episode of Talking Simpsons. Am I right? You can find out more

at TalkingSimpsons.com or LazertimePodcast.com. And as for me, I am Bob Mackey, by the way, if you didn't know that. And I run a classic gaming podcast called Retronauts, so check that out if you would like to. Love my Retronauts. And all these guys have been on it, so it's lots of fun. And what's your Twitter?

My Twitter is BobServo. Are we doing full... Might as well. Yeah, this is a public episode. That's right. Everybody's tuned out already. So everybody, talk about what you want to promote. Canteased on Twitter, but LasertimePodcast.com.

We do a show every week. I believe this week we're talking about evil kids in pop culture mixed with our own tales of being an evil kid and I'm getting... We're way worse than Bart. That episode is dark. I am getting a ton of shit for the things I admit to. Chris, you would have probably murdered me as a small child. I wasn't violent. I swear.

I wasn't. Emotionally. This is Talking Simpsons Babies. We wouldn't be friends. The prequel. Well and I'm Henry Gilbert Again that's H-E-N-E-R-U-Y-G On Twitter And you can go to Cape Crisis My comic book podcast

That's on the Lazer Time Podcasting Network And I'm I'm at Dave Rudden On Twitter And I host Cheap Podcast A wrestling podcast

I swear someday The Simpsons will have to do A wrestling episode right? They haven't done one yet? No There's been one wrestler Ever on the Modern Simpsons. This smells like old man. There is that, I think it's this season in the Truckasaurus episode,

they do watch pro wrestling, and there's also that the other character in that one match will have to unmask and be killed in the ring. So that has been Talking Simpsons. We have to do 500 plus more of these, but we'll see you next week with another episode from Season 2. Take it easy, everybody. I'm I'm I'm I'm