Bart the Fink

Not to be confused with Barton Fink.

"Bart the Fink"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no. 143
Directed by Jim Reardon[1]
Written by Teleplay:
John Swartzwelder
Story:
Bob Kushell[2]
Showrunner(s) Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Production code 3F12
Original air date February 11, 1996
Couch gag The couch is a fax machine that spews out a piece of paper with the Simpson family in a sitting position.
Guest appearance(s) Bob Newhart as himself
Phil Hartman as Troy McClure
Commentary Matt Groening
Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Jim Reardon
David Silverman
David X. Cohen

"Bart the Fink" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons' seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 1996. In this episode, Bart ruins Krusty the Clown's career by accidentally exposing Krusty as one of the biggest tax cheats in American history. Driven to despair, Krusty fakes a suicide in order to start life anew as a sailor; feeling guilty for what he did, Bart convinces Krusty to become a television clown again.

The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and Bob Kushell, and directed by Jim Reardon. American actor Bob Newhart guest starred in it as himself. The episode's title is a play on the 1991 film Barton Fink. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 8.7, and was the fifth highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.

Plot

After the death of great aunt Hortense, the Simpson family attends a will reading. Each member of the family discovers they will receive $100 to do with as they like. Marge has Bart and Lisa open bank accounts at the Bank of Springfield. Bart is excited with his new checking account, and begins writing checks for his friends. In an attempt to obtain, Krusty the Clown's autograph, Bart slips a check into Krusty's pocket, figuring that he will receive an endorsed copy of it with his monthly bank statement. However, when Bart receives the check, it is endorsed with a stamp instead of a signature. Dismayed, Bart takes the check back to the bank so that they can force Krusty to sign it. Suspicious, a bank teller investigates, and within minutes Krusty is exposed as one of the biggest tax cheats in American history.

The IRS takes control of Krusty's assets and his show, reducing his lifestyle to that of an average citizen. One evening, a depressed Krusty pilots his airplane into a mountainside, and he is later pronounced dead. While everyone assumes that Krusty is dead, Bart believes otherwise when he begins to see a Krusty look-alike all over town. With Lisa's help, he soon discovers that Krusty has gone into hiding under the disguise of Rory B. Bellows, a grizzled old longshore worker. They try to convince him to return to his former life, and he finally accepts when they explain how he is more respected than the nations' scientists and teachers. Krusty kills off his pseudonym in a "boating accident" in order to collect the life insurance, thus ending his tax woes.

Production

Bob Newhart guest starred in the episode as himself. Many of his lines had to be cut because he talked very slowly.

"Bart the Fink" was written by John Swartzwelder, but Bob Kushell came up with the idea for it. The episode was based on the "big tax problems" that some celebrities, such as country singer Willie Nelson, had at the time. The idea of Krusty faking his own death was an idea the production team had wanted to do for a long time, and it was inspired by the rumors that American actor Andy Kaufman had faked his death.[3] Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, the show runners of seasons seven and eight of The Simpsons, thought the beginning of the episode in which the family spends the night in a haunted house would have been "the cruddiest beginning of any cruddy thing", if they had not added the twist that the family did not encounter any ghosts in the house and had their "best night's sleep ever".[4] The twist was Oakley's idea and he thought it "worked out great".[3]

The episode was directed by Jim Reardon. Consultant David Mirkin suggested that the animators should add "some funny things" to the episode to "spice it up", such as the gorilla suit that one of the bank employees wear.[4] After the audio recording of the script by the cast, the episode ended up being too long. Weinstein said one of the reasons for it was that Krusty talks very slowly, which drags out the time. They were only allowed to send twenty minutes worth of audio to Film Roman for them to animate, but the audio track for the episode was twenty-six minutes long.[4] American actor Bob Newhart guest starred in the episode as himself. Oakley said Newhart also talked very slowly and they had to cut out more than half of his recorded lines.[3] Many of the writers were big fans of Newhart and everybody wanted to see him record his lines. Oakley and Weinstein decided to shut down production so that the whole writing staff could go to the recording studio. The episode was recorded in a big room so everyone had to be really quiet. It took Newhart two and a half minutes to record his first take, and, as no one was allowed to laugh during that time, there was an "explosion" of laughter in the room when he finished.[5] Parts of Phil Hartman's appearance as Troy McClure were also cut from the episode due to time limits.[3]

Cultural references

Reception

In its original broadcast, "Bart the Fink" finished sixty-fourth in the ratings for the week of February 5–11, 1996, with a Nielsen rating of 8.7.[8] The episode was the fifth highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following Melrose Place, The X-Files, Beverly Hills, 90210, and Married... with Children.[8]

"Bart the Fink" received generally positive reviews from television critics. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson called the episode a "winner" and praised it for the "one hundred tacos for $100" joke.[9] Jennifer Malkowski of DVD Verdict said that the best part of the episode is when Homer comforts Bart after Krusty's death by assuring him that he, too, could wake up dead tomorrow.[10] In the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Unofficial Simpsons Guide by Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, they comment that "Bart the Fink" is "very fast and very good, with plenty of gags and effective set pieces. Bob Newhart's eulogy to Krusty is especially memorable."[1] The authors of Media, home, and family, Stewart Hoover, Lynn Schofield Clark, and Diane Alters wrote that "Krusty ultimately expertly proves the truth about the IRS: ruining the financial and emotional life of many [people]."[11] William Irwin, author of The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer, also praised the use of IRS in "Bart the Fink" to convey the message that "none of us can escape the unavoidable taxes".[12] In addition, Chris Turner claims "Bart the Fink" offers a "pointed answer to the question of why such a manifestly miserable world of phonies and cheats would be so enticing to many".[13]

References

  1. 1 2 Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Bart the Fink". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  2. ↑ Richmond & Coffman 1997, p. 195.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Oakley, Bill (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Fink" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Weinstein, Josh (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Fink" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ↑ Coehn, David (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Fink" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. ↑ Groening, Matt (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Fink" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  7. ↑ Reardon, Jim (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Fink" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  8. 1 2 Williams, Scott (February 16, 1996). "NBC Easily Wins Weekly Ratings". Rocky Mountain News. p. 36D. Retrieved on January 5, 2009.
  9. ↑ Jacobson, Colin (2006-01-05). "The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season (1995)". DVD Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  10. ↑ Malkowski, Jennifer (2006-01-16). "The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  11. ↑ Hoover, Stewart M.; Lynn Schofield Clark; Diane F. Alters (2004). Media, home, and family. Routledge. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-415-96917-8.
  12. ↑ Irwin, William (2001). The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer (8 ed.). Open Court. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-8126-9433-8.
  13. ↑ Turner 2004, pp. 384-386.
Bibliography

External links

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