Bart to the Future
Encyclopedia
"Bart to the Future" is the seventeenth episode of the eleventh season
of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 19, 2000. In the episode, after their vacation in the woods is cut short due to a mosquito infestation, the Simpsons stop by at an Indian casino. There, Bart
sneak in and ends up in the office of an Indian mystic who shows Bart's future in the year 2030 as a washed-up rock star living with Ralph Wiggum
while Lisa
is the President of the United States trying to get the country out of financial trouble. "Bart to the Future" has received mixed reception from critics.
es have overrun the park. While driving back, the Simpsons find an Indian casino. Homer
and Bart
go in (leaving Marge
in the car because of her gambling addiction, and Lisa
because of her age and her conflict over the ethics behind Indian gambling), but Bart is turned away because of his age. Bart then finds ventriloquist Arthur Crandall and sneaks in through Gabbo the dummy's case. During a performance, Bart bursts out of the dummy case and gets caught by casino guards. Bart is sent to the casino manager's office, where the manager shows Bart a vision of his future if Bart does not change his ways.
Thirty years into the future, Bart is a 40-year-old beer-drinking slacker
trying to launch his music career after dropping out of the DeVry Institute, and has resorted to mooching off his parents and Ned Flanders
. The only gig Bart can get is at a beach bar owned by Nelson Muntz
, and even then, Bart is only paid in popcorn shrimp. Bart lives with Ralph Wiggum
in a beach cottage by the shore, from which Bart finds out that he has been evicted
after his disastrous concert at Nelson's beach bar. Meanwhile, 38-year-old Lisa is the first straight female President of the United States
, trying to rebuild the country after President Donald Trump
's disastrous term. Bart tries to upstage her by using one of her addresses to the nation as a foot in the door for a professional music career, which leads Lisa to be branded unpopular when Bart reveals to the public on live television that Lisa will be imposing a tax to get the country out of debt. Lisa meets with America's creditor nations, who demand that America pay them back. Bart steps in and uses his skills at stalling debt collectors to save the day.
Meanwhile, Homer has heard about gold buried by Abraham Lincoln
, but Marge tells him that he is insane. When Homer finally locates the "gold", it is in fact a scroll that Lincoln had written on explaining that his "gold" is pride in one's country. Homer does not appreciate the metaphor, however, and angrily curses Lincoln for planting the idea in his head. After the vision is over, Bart promises that he will change. Lisa finds Bart in the casino manager's office and tells him that the family's been kicked out after Homer pushed a waitress and Marge lost $20,000. Bart tells Lisa about his future vision where he has a rock band and a moped, while downplaying Lisa's future Presidency as "some government job."
and directed by Michael Marcantel
as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000). It was the second episode of the series to show the Simpson family's life in the future, following the season six episode "Lisa's Wedding
" that aired five years earlier in 1995. In his 2006 book Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality, author Jonathan Gray analyzed The Simpsonss many parodies of advertisements. He commented on "Bart to the Future", writing: "As if ads in children's toys or in churches are not enough, in 'Bart to the Future,' an episode in which an Indian shaman at a casino treats Bart to a vision of his future, even his vision is interrupted when future-Bart says, 'I guess I am an embarrassment,' and a ghost responds, 'You sure are. But, hey, there's an embarrassment of riches at the Caesar's Pow-Wow Indian Casino. You can bet on it!' Here, as with the church ads, The Simpsons uses parody with great effect, not only to illustrate how annoyingly and disrespectfully ads infringe on any territory, but also to mock their logic and rhetoric."
for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set.
"Bart to the Future" has received mixed reception from critics. Nancy Basile of About.com
listed it as one of the episodes she felt "shined in season eleven". While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented "Bart to the Future", writing: "This kind of fantasy episode can be hit or miss, and that trend holds true here. However, more of 'Future' succeeds than flops. Though a few gags bomb, most of them prove pretty good. At no point does this become a classic, but it amuses much of the time." In a 2003 article, writers of Entertainment Weekly
listed "Bart to the Future" as the worst Simpsons episode of all time. They elaborated that "Choosing the lamest Simpsons episode is like picking the crowning installment of Shasta McNasty
— it's all relative. So while 'Bart to the Future' was likely better than anything else on TV the week it first aired, even Mojo the monkey
could've banged out a more inventive script [...] Plus, the whole looking-into-the-future premise is merely reliving past glory, carried out far more successfully in 1995's 'Lisa's Wedding.'" In an article discussing the three hundredth episode of The Simpsons, Ben Rayner of Toronto Star
commented on "Bart to the Future", referring to it as "a lame 2000 outing" and noting that Entertainment Weekly "rightly dubbed [it] the 'worst episode ever'".
The Simpsons (season 11)
The Simpsons 11th season originally aired between September 1999 and May 2000, beginning on Sunday, September 26, 1999, with "Beyond Blunderdome". The show runner for the 11th production season was Mike Scully...
of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 19, 2000. In the episode, after their vacation in the woods is cut short due to a mosquito infestation, the Simpsons stop by at an Indian casino. There, Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
sneak in and ends up in the office of an Indian mystic who shows Bart's future in the year 2030 as a washed-up rock star living with Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum is a recurring fictional character on the animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Nancy Cartwright. The son of Police Chief Wiggum and a classmate of Lisa Simpson, Ralph is best known as the show's resident oddball, and is noted for his non sequiturs and erratic behavior...
while Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
is the President of the United States trying to get the country out of financial trouble. "Bart to the Future" has received mixed reception from critics.
Plot
The Simpson family goes to Larval Lake on a picnic. When they arrive, however, they find that mosquitoMosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
es have overrun the park. While driving back, the Simpsons find an Indian casino. Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
go in (leaving Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
in the car because of her gambling addiction, and Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
because of her age and her conflict over the ethics behind Indian gambling), but Bart is turned away because of his age. Bart then finds ventriloquist Arthur Crandall and sneaks in through Gabbo the dummy's case. During a performance, Bart bursts out of the dummy case and gets caught by casino guards. Bart is sent to the casino manager's office, where the manager shows Bart a vision of his future if Bart does not change his ways.
Thirty years into the future, Bart is a 40-year-old beer-drinking slacker
Slacker
The term "slacker" is used to refer to a person who habitually avoids work. Slackers may be regarded as belonging to an antimaterialistic counterculture, though in some cases their behavior may be due to other causes ....
trying to launch his music career after dropping out of the DeVry Institute, and has resorted to mooching off his parents and Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...
. The only gig Bart can get is at a beach bar owned by Nelson Muntz
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and bully from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was introduced in Season 1's "Bart the General" as a bully but later turned into a friend of Bart Simpson, who is best identified by his signature laugh .-Role...
, and even then, Bart is only paid in popcorn shrimp. Bart lives with Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum
Ralph Wiggum is a recurring fictional character on the animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Nancy Cartwright. The son of Police Chief Wiggum and a classmate of Lisa Simpson, Ralph is best known as the show's resident oddball, and is noted for his non sequiturs and erratic behavior...
in a beach cottage by the shore, from which Bart finds out that he has been evicted
Eviction
How you doing???? Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, eviction may also be known as unlawful detainer, summary possession, summary dispossess, forcible detainer, ejectment, and repossession, among other terms...
after his disastrous concert at Nelson's beach bar. Meanwhile, 38-year-old Lisa is the first straight female President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, trying to rebuild the country after President Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
's disastrous term. Bart tries to upstage her by using one of her addresses to the nation as a foot in the door for a professional music career, which leads Lisa to be branded unpopular when Bart reveals to the public on live television that Lisa will be imposing a tax to get the country out of debt. Lisa meets with America's creditor nations, who demand that America pay them back. Bart steps in and uses his skills at stalling debt collectors to save the day.
Meanwhile, Homer has heard about gold buried by Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, but Marge tells him that he is insane. When Homer finally locates the "gold", it is in fact a scroll that Lincoln had written on explaining that his "gold" is pride in one's country. Homer does not appreciate the metaphor, however, and angrily curses Lincoln for planting the idea in his head. After the vision is over, Bart promises that he will change. Lisa finds Bart in the casino manager's office and tells him that the family's been kicked out after Homer pushed a waitress and Marge lost $20,000. Bart tells Lisa about his future vision where he has a rock band and a moped, while downplaying Lisa's future Presidency as "some government job."
Production and analysis
"Bart to the Future" written by Dan GreaneyDan Greaney
Daniel "Dan" Greaney is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons. He was hired during the show's seventh season after writing the first draft of the episode "King-Size Homer", but left after season eleven...
and directed by Michael Marcantel
Michael Marcantel
Michael Marcantel is an animation director on The Simpsons. He graduated form California Institute of the Arts where he studied in the Experimental Animation program under Jules Engel.-External links:...
as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000). It was the second episode of the series to show the Simpson family's life in the future, following the season six episode "Lisa's Wedding
Lisa's Wedding
"Lisa's Wedding" is the 19th episode of The Simpsons sixth season, which originally aired March 19, 1995. The plot focuses around Lisa visiting a carnival fortune teller and learning about her future love. It was written by Greg Daniels and directed by Jim Reardon. Mandy Patinkin guest stars as...
" that aired five years earlier in 1995. In his 2006 book Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality, author Jonathan Gray analyzed The Simpsonss many parodies of advertisements. He commented on "Bart to the Future", writing: "As if ads in children's toys or in churches are not enough, in 'Bart to the Future,' an episode in which an Indian shaman at a casino treats Bart to a vision of his future, even his vision is interrupted when future-Bart says, 'I guess I am an embarrassment,' and a ghost responds, 'You sure are. But, hey, there's an embarrassment of riches at the Caesar's Pow-Wow Indian Casino. You can bet on it!' Here, as with the church ads, The Simpsons uses parody with great effect, not only to illustrate how annoyingly and disrespectfully ads infringe on any territory, but also to mock their logic and rhetoric."
Release
The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 19, 2000. On October 7, 2008, it was released on DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season. Staff members Mike Scully, George Meyer, Larry Doyle, Matt Selman, Carolyn Omine and Mark Kirkland participated in the DVD audio commentaryAudio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set.
"Bart to the Future" has received mixed reception from critics. Nancy Basile of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
listed it as one of the episodes she felt "shined in season eleven". While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented "Bart to the Future", writing: "This kind of fantasy episode can be hit or miss, and that trend holds true here. However, more of 'Future' succeeds than flops. Though a few gags bomb, most of them prove pretty good. At no point does this become a classic, but it amuses much of the time." In a 2003 article, writers of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
listed "Bart to the Future" as the worst Simpsons episode of all time. They elaborated that "Choosing the lamest Simpsons episode is like picking the crowning installment of Shasta McNasty
Shasta McNasty
Shasta McNasty is an American sitcom that aired on UPN during the 1999-2000 season. The show was created by Jeff Eastin and produced by Eastin and Neal H. Moritz...
— it's all relative. So while 'Bart to the Future' was likely better than anything else on TV the week it first aired, even Mojo the monkey
Girly Edition
"Girly Edition" is the twenty-first episode of the ninth season of the animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired in the United States on April 19, 1998, and received a Nielsen rating of 8.7. In the episode, Lisa and Bart Simpson must co-anchor a new news program, though when Bart...
could've banged out a more inventive script [...] Plus, the whole looking-into-the-future premise is merely reliving past glory, carried out far more successfully in 1995's 'Lisa's Wedding.'" In an article discussing the three hundredth episode of The Simpsons, Ben Rayner of Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
commented on "Bart to the Future", referring to it as "a lame 2000 outing" and noting that Entertainment Weekly "rightly dubbed [it] the 'worst episode ever'".
External links
- "Bart to the Future" at The Simpsons.com