{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Good article}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | caption = | season = 8 | episode = 5 | director = [[Dominic Polcino]] | writer = [[Richard Appel]] | production = 4F06 | airdate = {{Start date|1996|11|24}}<ref name="officialsite">{{cite web |url=http://www.thesimpsons.com/#/recaps/season-8_episode-5 |title=Bart After Dark |access-date=September 21, 2011 |publisher=The Simpsons.com}}</ref> | couch_gag = A parody of the ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band|Sgt. Pepper]]'' album cover.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season8/page5.shtml |title=Bart After Dark |access-date=April 10, 2007 |publisher=BBC|last1=Martyn |first1=Warren |author-link1=Gary Russell |last2 = Wood |first2=Adrian |author-link2=Gareth Roberts (writer)}}</ref> | commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br/>Josh Weinstein<br/>Richard Appel<br/>Dominic Polcino<br/>[[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]]<br/>[[Ken Keeler]] | prev = [[Burns, Baby Burns]] | next = [[A Milhouse Divided]] }} "'''Bart After Dark'''" is the fifth episode of the [[The Simpsons season 8|eighth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on November 24, 1996.<ref name="officialsite"/> After accidentally breaking a [[stone]] [[gargoyle]] at a local house, [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] is forced to work there as punishment. He assumes it will be boring work, but is surprised when he learns that it is actually a [[American burlesque|burlesque house]]. [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] is horrified when she learns of this, and resolves to have it shut down. The episode was directed by [[Dominic Polcino]] and written by [[Richard Appel]].<ref name="bbc"/>
It won an [[Primetime Emmy Award|Emmy Award]] for "[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics|Outstanding Music and Lyrics]]" for the song "We Put the Spring in Springfield".<ref name="Keeler"/>
==Plot== An [[oil tanker]] runs aground, [[Oil spill|spilling millions of gallons of oil]] on Baby Seal Beach. [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] begs Marge to help celebrities scrub oil tar from shorebirds and sea mammals. Marge, Lisa and [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] drive to the beach, leaving Bart and [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] home alone. Soon the house becomes a filthy mess, so Bart goes outside to play with his friends.
[[Milhouse Van Houten|Milhouse]]'s toy airplane crashes atop the roof of a [[Carpenter Gothic|Gothic]] house. While Bart is retrieving it, he accidentally falls, destroying a stone [[gargoyle]]. Belle, the owner of the house, grabs Bart by the ear and takes him home, much to his friends' horror. At the Simpson home, Belle demands that Homer punish Bart for trespassing on her property. Homer balks until Belle threatens to come back and speak with Marge if he won't discipline Bart. Homer forces Bart to perform chores for Belle at the ''Maison Derrière'', which the boy soon learns is a [[American burlesque|burlesque house]]. Bart does his job with enthusiasm and becomes indispensable to Belle. Marge and Lisa arrive at the beach, but discover that cleaning beach tar from animals is a task reserved only for celebrities. Instead, they are put to work scrubbing rocks, a job they soon abandon to return home.
After Homer learns the truth about the burlesque house, he does nothing to stop Bart from working there. [[Principal Skinner]] visits the house and sees Bart is the door greeter. He reports it to the [[Reverend Lovejoy|Lovejoys]] and the [[Ned Flanders|Flanderses]], who confront Homer about Bart's workplace. As Homer crows that he has no problem with Bart working at a burlesque house, Marge returns home unexpectedly and is upset to learn this.
Marge asks Belle to close the house and [[Ostracism|leave Springfield]], but Belle refuses, saying it is a part of [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]] and that she has deeper ties to the town than Marge does. Marge presses the matter at a town meeting and shows slides of several prominent citizens leaving the ''Maison Derrière''. Marge's campaign convinces the town to form a mob to destroy the house.
The mob arrives at the house and starts smashing property. Homer tries to stop the mob's rampage by singing a musical number, accompanied by Belle and her burlesque dancers. The townfolk join in singing and are persuaded to let the house stay. However, Marge arrives with a [[bulldozer]], having missed the song. As she starts a song about her stance on the house, she accidentally puts the bulldozer in drive and destroys a wing of the ''Maison''. She apologizes profusely to Belle and the townsfolk for wrecking their beloved house. To pay for the damage, Marge performs a [[Ventriloquism|ventriloquist act]] at the house, where she is heckled by Homer — who is promptly removed by the bouncer, Bart.<ref name=officialsite/><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 episode guides#The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family|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/236 236] |ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}} }}</ref>
==Production== The episode was written by [[Richard Appel]] and directed by [[Dominic Polcino]].<ref name="bbc"/> Appel was looking for new locales to put Bart and thought it would be funny to have him work at a burlesque house. The problem was to find a way to put such a house in Springfield, which was solved with the bit with the toy airplane.<ref name="Appel">{{cite video |people=Appel, Richard |date=2006 |title=The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart After Dark" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> There were a dozen different possible names for the burlesque house, some of which were raunchy.<ref name="Appel"/> This episode marks one of the four times [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] has a minor role in a [[The Simpsons season 8|Season 8]] episode (like she had a minor role in the [[The Simpsons season 7|Season 7]] episode "[[Two Bad Neighbors]]"), the others being "[[Grade School Confidential]]", "[[Homer's Enemy]]", and "[[The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase]]", although she has major/supporting roles in the season's other episodes.
[[Josh Weinstein]] has said that there are so many sleazy characters in ''The Simpsons'' that it was easy to find people for the scenes in the burlesque house.<ref name="Weinstein">{{cite video |people=Weinstein, Josh |date=2006 |title=The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart After Dark" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> A character modeled after [[John Swartzwelder]] can also be seen.<ref name="Weinstein"/> Belle was not modeled after anyone in particular<ref name="Polcino">{{cite video |people=Polcino, Dominic |date=2006 |title=The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart After Dark" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> and she was redesigned several times.<ref name="Groening">{{cite video |people=Groening, Matt |date=2006 |title=The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart After Dark" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Belle was voiced by [[Tress MacNeille]], but there had been previous efforts to cast a guest voice for the role.<ref name="Appel"/>
==Cultural references== Much of the episode's plot is based on the film ''[[The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (film)|The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas]]''.<ref name="Weinstein"/> The oil spill is a reference to the [[Exxon Valdez oil spill|''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill]]. [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Sea Captain|The Sea Captain]] is shown to be drunk at the helm, a reference to [[Joseph Hazelwood]], the captain of the ''Exxon Valdez'' who was accused of being intoxicated.<ref name="Weinstein"/> [[Reverend Lovejoy]]'s line, "This house is a very, very, very fine house", is a reference to the [[Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young]] song "[[Our House (CSNY song)|Our House]]".<ref name=bbc/> Homer responds to a "[[Do you know where your children are?]]" public service announcement by saying, "I told you last night — no!"<ref name=top10psas>{{cite magazine|title=Top 10 Public-Service Announcements - What Time Is It?|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1920454_1920455_1920452,00.html|access-date=3 April 2016|magazine=Time|quote=First launched by a small ABC affiliate in upstate New York...}}</ref> ===Couch gag=== [[Image:Simpsons Pepper.png|right|200px|thumb|]]The episode's couch gag is a reference to ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'', and features (from back left to right) Selma, Patty, a power plant worker, Karl, Apu, Barney Gumble, Radioactive Man, Reverend Lovejoy, Principal Skinner, Sideshow Bob, Otto, Smithers, Mr. Burns, Marvin Monroe, Herbert, Flanders, Jimbo, Kearney, Hans Moleman, Chief Wiggum, Kent Brockman, Mrs. Krabappel, Dr. Hibbert, Mayor Quimby, Itchy, Cletus, Brandine, Moe, Troy McClure, Dolph, Bleeding Gums Murphy, the Tracey Ullman Show Simpsons, Marge, Maggie, Homer, Lisa, Bart, Comic Book Guy, Krusty, Princess Kashmir, Eddie and Lou, Martin, Milhouse, and Nelson. Around the bottom are assorted Simpsons items, such as a Homer Buddha statue, Santa's Little Helper, Snowball II, the Head of Jedediah Springfield, the Simpsons TV, and Blinky the three-eyed fish.<ref name=bbc/>
==Reception== In its original broadcast, "Bart After Dark" finished 57th in ratings for the week of November 18–24, 1996, with a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 8.5, equivalent to approximately 8.2 million viewing households. It was the fourth-highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following ''[[The X-Files]]'', ''[[Melrose Place]]'', and ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=NBC sweeps its way to a hat trick |work=Sun-Sentinel |agency=Associated Press |page=4D |date=November 29, 1996}}</ref>
[[Ken Keeler]] and [[Alf Clausen]] won a [[Primetime Emmy Award]] for "[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics|Outstanding Music and Lyrics]]" for "We Put the Spring in Springfield".<ref name="Keeler">{{cite video |people=Keeler, Ken |date=2006 |title=The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart After Dark" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The song was also a part of the album ''[[Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url={{AllMusic |class=album |id=r431501 |pure_url=yes}} |title=Go Simpsonic with the Simpsons |access-date=February 10, 2007 |author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas |website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{wikiquote|The Simpsons/Season 8#Bart After Dark|Bart After Dark}} {{portal|The Simpsons}} *[http://www.thesimpsons.com/#/recaps/season-8_episode-5 "Bart After Dark"] at The Simpsons.com *{{IMDb episode|0763023}} *{{snpp capsule|4F06}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|8}}
[[Category:1996 American television episodes]] [[Category:The Simpsons season 8 episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Dominic Polcino]]