{{About|[[The Simpsons]] episode|the [[Kid vs. Kat]] episode|List of Kid vs. Kat episodes}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | caption = | season = 20 | episode = 11 | director = Lance Kramer | writer = [[Michael Price (writer)|Michael Price]] | production = LABF02 | airdate = {{Start date|2009|03|01}} | guests = | blackboard = "[[NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|March Madness]] is not an excuse for missing school" | couch_gag = The Simpsons travel through iconic sitcoms from four different decades (''[[The Honeymooners]]'', ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'', ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'', and ''[[Cheers]]'') before finally returning to their own living room. | prev = [[Take My Life, Please]] | next = [[No Loan Again, Naturally]] }}"'''How the Test Was Won'''" is the eleventh episode of the [[The Simpsons season 20|twentieth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on March 1, 2009.<ref name="verdict"/> It was written by [[Michael Price (writer)|Michael Price]] and directed by Lance Kramer. The episode features cultural references to the television shows ''[[The Honeymooners]]'', ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'', ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'', and ''[[Cheers]]'', and the film ''[[Footloose (1984 film)|Footloose]]''.
Since airing, the episode received mostly mixed reviews from television critics.
==Plot== The episode starts as [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] and [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] celebrate the start of the new year of school (although [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] and [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]]'s classes remain the same).
Bart is informed that he received a perfect score on a practice test for the upcoming Vice President's Assessment Test, by writing "Slurp My Snot" across his page. This enables him to attend a pizza party by helicopter. However, it all proves to be a [[Ship of fools|ship-of-fools]] ruse to purge the school of all low-achievers. Bart actually failed the test, and the helicopter is a disguised school bus. He, [[Nelson Muntz|Nelson]], [[Ralph Wiggum|Ralph]], [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Kearney Zzyzwicz|Kearney]], [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Dolph Starbeam|Dolph]], and [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Jimbo Jones|Jimbo]] are driven to [[Springfield (The Simpsons)#Capital City|Capital City]] by [[Otto Mann|Otto]], along with [[Seymour Skinner|Principal Skinner]], who was tricked on board the bus by [[Superintendent Chalmers]] for the same reasons as the other passengers.
On the way, Ralph stops for a bathroom break, and the bus is disassembled and stolen by vandals (while Otto is still sitting in it). The group attempts to walk the rest of the way, but they lose Ralph on a garbage barge. Skinner signals for a slingshot cargo ship to rescue Ralph with its crane, but he accidentally stuns the driver. Skinner rescues Ralph himself by jumping on board the Shipping Container hoisted by the crane and using the law of [[Angular momentum#Conservation of angular momentum|conservation of angular momentum]]. Eventually the container rotates into a position that allows Skinner, the boys, and [[Otto Mann|Otto]] to run along its top and jump onto the barge. As it turns out, the barge is headed towards [[Springfield Elementary School]]. The boys now believe that education is impressive due to Skinner's saving the day, and so Skinner reads ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' to the boys until they arrive, which they enjoy.
At school, Lisa is unable to focus on the test, as the thought of Bart being smarter torments her. When the test ends, she has not answered a single question, along with the fact that the test is nearly impossible (the choices to a question's answer all mean the same thing, and there is a penalty for guessing). However, Skinner returns just in time to cancel the test and lift the school's "ban on dancing".
Meanwhile, Homer is late making an insurance payment, and will not be insured until 3:00 PM, so he cannot hurt himself until then. Images of injuries flood his mind when he gets home, envisioning Marge's book club being killed by a series of freak accidents (and Marge making out with [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Lindsey Naegle|Lindsey Naegle]]). He has to keep the entire book club safe while he is still uninsured, but ends up throwing a knife in [[Mr. Burns]]' head at 3:01 as he randomly walks onto the Simpsons' property. Marge, however, is pleased to know what Homer can and cannot do.
==Production== The clips where Homer remembers when he got hurt are flashbacks from 33 episodes: *"[[Homer at the Bat]]" *"[[Bart's Friend Falls in Love]]" *"[[Homer's Triple Bypass]]" *"[[Marge in Chains]]" *"[[Deep Space Homer]]" *"[[Bart Gets an Elephant]]" *"[[Homer Badman]]" *"[[King-Size Homer]]" *"[[Two Bad Neighbors]]" *"[[Homerpalooza]]" *"[[A Milhouse Divided]]" *"[[The Homer They Fall]]" *"[[Homer to the Max]]" *"[[Faith Off]]" *"[[The Computer Wore Menace Shoes]]" *"[[Tennis the Menace]]" *"[[Bye Bye Nerdie]]" *"[[Simpson Safari]]" *"[[Weekend at Burnsie's]]" *"[[I Am Furious (Yellow)]]" *"[[Helter Shelter (The Simpsons)|Helter Shelter]]" *"[[Pray Anything]]" *"[[Dude, Where's My Ranch?]]" *"[[Brake My Wife, Please]]" *"[[Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays]]" *"[[Blame It on Lisa]]" *"[[Lost Our Lisa]]" *"[[Lard of the Dance]]" *"[[Trilogy of Error]]" *"[[Million Dollar Abie]]" *"[[He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs]]" *"[[Dumbbell Indemnity]]" *"[[Treehouse of Horror XIII]]"
When Homer finishes reminiscing, he remarks, "What a week!"
This episode was written by [[Michael Price (writer)|Michael Price]], who based it on his experience as a former high school English teacher.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=1440569636685185026|first=Michael|last=Price|author-link=Michael Price (writer)|user=mikepriceinla|title=@AnimatedTVBlog @JaydenLibran Very glad you like HOW THE TEST WAS WON. As a former HS English teacher, that one is very dear to me.|date=22 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922170932/https://twitter.com/mikepriceinla/status/1440569636685185026|archive-date=September 22, 2021|access-date=November 26, 2024}}</ref> In an earlier draft of the third act, Skinner and the boys would learn that the Vice President is in Capital City, and plan to meet him to explain why they missed taking the test.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=1440730399856992261|first=Michael|last=Price|author-link=Michael Price (writer)|user=mikepriceinla|title=@bnhywhyman @RobbyDarling420 Mostly in Act 3, which was very long. Skinner and the boys were going to scheme their…|date=22 September 2021|access-date=November 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923031343/https://twitter.com/mikepriceinla/status/1440730399856992261|archive-date=September 23, 2021}}</ref>
==Cultural references== The episode ends with the characters dancing in the same manner as the characters at the conclusion of the 1984 film ''[[Footloose (1984 film)|Footloose]]''; the scene is also set to [[Kenny Loggins]]' titular song from the film.<ref name="verdict"/><ref name="ult">{{cite book |title=[[Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins|Harper Collins Publishers]] |year=2010 |editor=Bates, James W. |editor2=Gimple, Scott M. |editor3=McCann, Jesse L. |editor4=Richmond, Ray |editor5=Seghers, Christine |isbn=978-0-00-738815-8 |edition=1st |pages=980–981}}</ref> Ralph believes a rat is the character [[Elmo]] from PBS's ''[[Sesame Street]]'', while Skinner reads the students [[Mark Twain]]'s ''[[The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]''.<ref name="ult"/> The episode's couch gag includes the family recreating scenes from sitcoms from different decades: ''[[The Honeymooners]]'' from the 1950s, ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]'' from the 1960s, ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' from the 1970s and ''[[Cheers]]'' from the 1980s. As an in-joke, [[Sideshow Bob]] walks in on the ''Cheers'' segment of the gag dressed as Dr. [[Frasier Crane]]; both characters are played by [[Kelsey Grammer]].<ref>Bates et al., pp. 1024-1025</ref><ref name="IGN"/>
Homer's premonition of the massive accident in his house is similar to the premonitions seen in the ''[[Final Destination]]'' franchise.
When Homer realizes that he is uninsured, he exclaims, "I'm not in good hands!" and "Like a bad neighbor, no one is there!", contradictions to the well-known slogans for Allstate and State Farm, respectively.
Otto hums [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Ride of the Valkyries]]'' while believing he is flying a helicopter, a reference to the helicopter attack sequence in the 1979 film ''[[Apocalypse Now]]''.<ref name="ult" /> The "Ode to Joy" segment of [[Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 9]], [[Frédéric Chopin]]'s "Fantasie Impromptu 66" and "[[Gonna Fly Now]]", the theme from the 1976 film ''[[Rocky]]'' are both played in the episode, while Ralph sings "[[Wannabe (song)|Wannabe]]" by the [[Spice Girls]].<ref name="ult" />
==Reception== ===Viewing figures=== The episode earns a 2.3 rating and was watched by 6.53 million viewers, which was the 43rd most-watched show that week.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] Medianet|date=March 3, 2009|url=https://abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=030309_04|title=Weekly Program Rankings (Feb. 23-Mar. 1)|work=ABC Medianet|access-date=June 11, 2023|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925075147/http://www.abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=030309_04|archive-date=September 25, 2012}}</ref>
===Critical response=== Since airing, the episode received mixed reviews from television critics.
Steve Heisler of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' wrote: "I'm sorry, but 'How The Test Was Won' was about as low as things get these days—the worst of the season by far, and quite possibly one of the worst episodes I've watched in this brave 'new' era of yellow people." He gave the episode a C−.<ref>{{cite web |last=Heisler |first=Steve |url=https://www.avclub.com/how-the-test-was-won-master-of-puppets-live-and-le-1798205760 |title="How The Test Was Won"/"Master Of Puppets"/"Live And Let Fry" |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=March 1, 2009 |access-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110052126/https://www.avclub.com/how-the-test-was-won-master-of-puppets-live-and-le-1798205760 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Erich Asperschlager of TV Verdict commented: "Despite three strong set-ups and a great first act, the episode barely got off the ground, crash landing long before its what-the-heck Footloose finale. There might have been enough time for Homer hilarity if they hadn’t dedicated so much time to the meandering and ultimately boring story of Skinner trying to keep his dull charges safe after they get stranded in Capital City."<ref name="verdict">{{cite web |first=Erich |last=Asperschlager|date=March 2, 2009|url=http://www.tvverdict.com/2009/03/02/the-simpsons-2011-how-the-test-was-won/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305203956/http://www.tvverdict.com/2009/03/02/the-simpsons-2011-how-the-test-was-won/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2009-03-05 |title=The Simpsons 20.11: "How The Test Was Won" |publisher=TV Verdict|access-date=2009-03-02 }}</ref>
Robert Canning of ''[[IGN]]'' gave the episode an 8.8/10, calling it "a smart, very funny half hour" and praising the couch gag and Homer's sub-plot but adding that the ending "didn't quite live up to what preceded it".<ref name="IGN">{{Cite web |title=The Simpsons: "How The Test Was Won" Review |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/03/02/the-simpsons-how-the-test-was-won-review |author=Canning, Robert |website=[[IGN]] |date=2009-03-02 |access-date=2022-01-10 |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110052126/https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/03/02/the-simpsons-how-the-test-was-won-review |url-status=live }}</ref> The episode was also named the best of the season by the website.<ref>{{Cite web|first1=Robert|last1=Canning|first2=Eric|last2=Goldman|first3=Dan|last3=Iverson|first4=Brian|last4=Zoromski|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/01/08/the-simpsons-20-seasons-20-episodes|title=The Simpsons: 20 Seasons, 20 Episodes|website=[[IGN]]|date=8 January 2010|access-date=2016-03-20|archive-date=June 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629194530/http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/01/08/the-simpsons-20-seasons-20-episodes|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_20#How_the_Test_Was_Won|"How the Test Was Won"}} {{Portal|The Simpsons}} *{{IMDb episode|1291156}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|20}}
[[Category:The Simpsons season 20 episodes]] [[Category:2009 American television episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes written by Michael Price (writer)]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Lance Kramer]]