{{Distinguish|Bart Star}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Good article}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | caption = | season = 6 | episode = 14 | director = [[Bob Anderson (director)|Bob Anderson]] | writer = [[John Swartzwelder]] | production = 2F11 | airdate = {{Start date|1995|02|05}} | blackboard = "[[Cursive|Cursive writing]] does not mean [[Profanity|what I think it does]]"<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=The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family |edition=1st |year=1997 |location=New York |publisher=[[HarperPerennial]] |lccn=98141857 |ol=433519M |oclc=37796735 |isbn=978-0-06-095252-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomplete00groe/page/165 165] |ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}} |title-link=The Simpsons episode guides#The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family }}.</ref> | couch_gag = The Simpsons are animated in the style of [[Fleischer Studios]].<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season6/page14.shtml |title=Bart's Comet |access-date=2008-03-27 |last1=Martyn |first1=Warren |author-link1=Gary Russell |last2 = Wood |first2=Adrian |author-link2=Gareth Roberts (writer) |year=2000 |publisher=BBC |archive-date=October 4, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031004133458/https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season6/page14.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> | commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br />David Mirkin<br />[[Dan Castellaneta]]<br />[[Yeardley Smith]]<br />Bob Anderson | prev = [[And Maggie Makes Three]] | next = [[Homie the Clown]] }} "'''Bart's Comet'''" is the fourteenth episode of the [[The Simpsons season 6|sixth]] [[List of The Simpsons episodes (seasons 1-20)|season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in the United States on February 5, 1995.<ref name="book"/> In the episode, [[Bart Simpson]] accidentally discovers a [[comet]], which is heading towards [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]]. The show's writing staff saw an issue of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine that presented the threat of comets hitting Earth on its cover, and so decided to create an episode in a similar vein. "Bart's Comet" contains references to ''[[Where's Wally?|Where's Waldo?]]'' and ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'', and received positive reviews.
The episode was written by [[John Swartzwelder]] and directed by [[Bob Anderson (director)|Bob Anderson]].
==Plot== After [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] sabotages [[Principal Skinner]]'s [[weather balloon]], Skinner punishes him by making him arrive in the schoolyard at 4:30 a.m. to be his amateur astronomy assistant. Whilst Skinner is distracted by retrieving the weather balloon, Bart accidentally locates a [[comet]], which scientists soon discover is headed straight for [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]]. [[Professor Frink]] plans to launch a [[missile]] at the comet, exploding it before it touches the ground. Instead, the missile undershoots the comet and destroys the only bridge out of town. An evacuation of the town is voted down in Congress due to the addition of a [[poison pill amendment]] to the enabling legislation.
[[Homer Simpson|Homer]] decides his family should stay in [[Ned Flanders]]'s [[bomb shelter]]; anticipating this scenario, Flanders has constructed a shelter large enough for several people. Other townspeople soon arrive, crowding the shelter until Homer is unable to close the door. Because everyone else thinks they deserve to live, Flanders is expelled from his own shelter.
Eventually, Homer feels guilty and leaves the shelter, followed by the other townspeople. Everyone joins Flanders on a hill, joining in with his singing while awaiting death from the comet. As it enters the Earth's atmosphere, the comet burns up in the thick layer of pollution over Springfield. When it touches down, all that remains is a [[meteorite]] the size of a [[Chihuahua (dog breed)|Chihuahua]]'s head. Only the shelter and the weather balloon are destroyed, leaving the rest of the town untouched. The townspeople band together to burn down the [[observatory]] so "it will never happen again". With Homer having accurately predicted the comet's fate earlier, he, Bart and [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] huddle together in fear.
==Production== [[File:John Swartzwelder Brighter Sharper.jpg|140px|thumb|left|[[John Swartzwelder]] wrote the episode.]] The episode was written by [[John Swartzwelder]] and directed by [[Bob Anderson (director)|Bob Anderson]]. After seeing an issue of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine which presented the threat of comets hitting Earth on its cover the writing staff decided to have an episode based on the concept of a comet hitting Springfield. They fleshed out the episode's plot over several days and Swartzwelder then set about writing the details of the script.<ref name="Mirkin"/> According to [[showrunner]] [[David Mirkin]], examples of "Swartzwelder humor" in the episode include the American fighter pilots mistaking [[Groundskeeper Willie]] for an Iraqi jet and cutting to [[Grampa Simpson|Grampa]] and [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Jasper|Jasper]] outside a 1940s [[general store]].<ref name="Mirkin">Mirkin, David (2005). DVD Commentary for "Bart's Comet", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> For the bomb shelter scene, the mass of townspeople was constructed on multiple layers so that it was easier to animate.<ref name="Anderson">Anderson, Bob (2005). DVD Commentary for "Bart's Comet", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref>
[[Kent Brockman]]'s list of gay people is composed of the show's production staff, who had to sign legal agreements that they would not sue their own show. As a result, according to show creator [[Matt Groening]], many of the staff appear on lists of gay people on the Internet.<ref name="Mirkin"/><ref name="Groening"/> The episode marks the first appearance of [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Database|Database]], a character Groening dislikes if he is used for anything more than one line.<ref name="Groening">Groening, Matt (2005). DVD Commentary for "Bart's Comet", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref>
Mirkin considers the episode to be one of his all-time favorites, calling it a "perfect ''Simpsons'' episode" due to the size of the plot, emotion and observational humor.<ref name="Mirkin"/>
==Cultural references== [[Image:SimpsonsWaldo.png|thumb|right|200px|David Mirkin put [[Where's Wally?|Waldo]] in the top-left of the frame.<ref name="Mirkin"/>]] * The couch gag is a reference to the animation of [[Fleischer Studios]].<ref name="Mirkin" /> * Principal Skinner curses [[Pierre Jules César Janssen]]<ref>{{cite news| title=The Simpsons (Classic): "Bart's Comet"| last=Sims| first=David| work=[[The A.V. Club]]| date=September 8, 2013}}</ref> * The constellation of the [[Biblical Magi|Three Wise Men]] is a drawing of [[The Three Stooges]].<ref name="Mirkin" /> * Principal Skinner refers to the [[Comet Kohoutek]]. * The townspeople yanking their collars after the rocket destroys the only bridge out of town is a reference to [[Charles Nelson Reilly]]'s performance in ''[[The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (TV series)|The Ghost & Mrs. Muir]]''.<ref name="Mirkin" /> * Waldo from ''[[Where's Wally?|Where's Waldo?]]'' appears near the top-left of a frame during the first group shot in the bomb shelter, imitating the style of the ''Where's Waldo?'' books.<ref name="Mirkin" /> * The bomb shelter scenes were based on ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' episodes "[[The Shelter (The Twilight Zone)|The Shelter]]" and "[[The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street]]".<ref name="Mirkin" /> * The episode makes references to ''[[Back to the Future]]'', including when [[Professor Frink]] accidentally sets his town model on fire, just like [[Emmett Brown|Doc Brown]].<ref name="BBC" /> * The Super Friends are named after the 1970s cartoon of [[Super Friends|the same name]]. * As the comet approaches Springfield, the townspeople sing "[[Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)|Que Sera Sera]]", a song originally recorded by [[Doris Day]] for [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s 1956 film ''[[The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film)|The Man Who Knew Too Much]]''.<ref name="BBC" /><ref name="Mirkin" />
==Reception== ===Critical reception=== [[Gary Russell]] and [[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv51/garyrussell.html|title=Gary Russell: From Peladon to Placebos|author=Preddle, Jon|date=June 1997|magazine=Time Space Visualiser|issue=51|access-date=20 August 2020|publisher=The New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club|quote=I've just done my first non-fiction book, Oh No It's A Completely Unofficial Simpsons Guide for Virgin, co-authored with Gareth Roberts which has, to be frank, been more of a nightmare than it needed to be [the book was published as I Can't Believe It's An Unofficial Simpsons Guide, with Gary and Gareth writing under the pseudonyms Warren Martyn & Adrian Wood].}}</ref> the authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', called it an "excellent episode" and praised the "great moment when the ever-pious Maude Flanders happily sacrifices her Neddy".<ref name="BBC"/>
Mikey Cahill of the ''[[Herald Sun]]'' picked the episode's chalkboard gag, "Cursive writing does not mean what I think it does", as one of his favorite chalkboard gags in the history of the show.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fab Five |work=[[Herald Sun]] |date=2007-07-26 |first=Mikey |last=Cahill}}</ref>
Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide said in a review of the sixth season DVD that he did not "share the same level of enthusiasm for it" as Mirkin, concluding: "I think it provides a consistently strong show. It stretches reality a bit, but that’s not a problem–or unusual for the series–and the program ends up as a positive one."<ref name=dvdmg>{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonsix.shtml |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season (1994) |access-date=2008-12-18 |author=Jacobson, Colin |year=2003 |publisher=DVD Movie Guide |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225114458/http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonsix.shtml |archive-date=25 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Ryan Keefer of [[DVD Verdict]] gave the episode a B−.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason6.php |title=DVD Verdict Review - The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season |last=Keefer |first=Ryan |date=2005-08-29 |publisher=DVD Verdict |access-date=2008-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225151101/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason6.php |archive-date=25 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
TV critics [[Matt Zoller Seitz]] and [[Alan Sepinwall]] cited the episode as how ''The Simpsons'' "always had the culture and the species on its mind even when it was clowning around", pointing to the moment near the end of the episode when the camera slowly pans across the Springfieldians' faces in the bomb shelter while Ned Flanders sings "Que Sera Sera": "a moment of existential terror that gives way to graceful resignation."<ref>{{cite web|author1=Seitz, Matt Zoller|author2-link=Alan Sepinwall|author2=Sepinwall, Alan|title=Why ''The Simpsons'' Is the Best TV Show Ever|url=http://www.vulture.com/2016/09/tv-the-book-simpsons-best-television-show.html|website=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]]|publisher=[[New York Media, LLC]]|access-date=15 October 2016|date=6 September 2016|author1-link=Matt Zoller Seitz|archive-date=October 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019041130/http://www.vulture.com/2016/09/tv-the-book-simpsons-best-television-show.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
In the July 26, 2007 issue of ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', the scientific journal's editorial staff listed "Bart's Comet" among "The Top Ten science moments in ''The Simpsons''".<ref name=Nature>{{cite journal |last=Hopkin |first=Michael |title=Science in comedy: Mmm... pi |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |date=2007-07-26 |volume=448 |issue=7152 |pages=404–405 |doi=10.1038/448404a |pmid=17653163|bibcode=2007Natur.448..404H |s2cid=4393052 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
===Ratings=== In its original broadcast, "Bart's Comet" finished joint 33rd (with ''[[The X-Files]]'' and ''[[Hangin' with Mr. Cooper]]'') in the ratings for the week of January 3 to February 5, 1995, with a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 11.3. It was the fourth highest rated show on the Fox network that week.<ref>{{cite news |title=How They Rate |date=1995-02-10 |work=[[Tampa Bay Times|St. Petersburg Times]] |page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nielsen Ratings |work=[[The Tampa Tribune]] |page=6 |agency=Associated Press |date=1995-02-10 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|The Simpsons}} {{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_6#Bart.27s_Comet|"Bart's Comet"}} *{{Snpp capsule|2F11}} *{{IMDb episode|id=0778447}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|6}}
[[Category:1995 American television episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes about impact events]] [[Category:The Simpsons season 6 episodes]] [[Category:Fiction about comets]] [[Category:Television episodes written by John Swartzwelder]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Bob Anderson (director)]]