The Bart Wants What It Wants
Encyclopedia
"The Bart Wants What it Wants" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons
' thirteenth season
. It first aired on the Fox network
in the United States
on February 17, 2002. In the episode, Bart
befriends Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter, Greta. While Greta falls in love with him, Bart only accompanies her because she owns a lot of entertaining things.
"The Bart Wants What it Wants" was written by John Frink
and Don Payne while Michael Polcino
served as director. Although the episode's first draft was written by Frink and Payne, the idea for the episode was pitched by staff writer Matt Selman
. Because the Simpsons visit Toronto
in the episode, the Fox network wanted to promote it by having the city of Toronto declare February 17 "The Simpsons day", and award the Simpsons family a key to the city. Because the city does not allow for-profit companies to receive a key, the request was turned down.
"The Bart Wants What it Wants" also features guest stars Reese Witherspoon
as Greta and Wolfgang Puck
as himself. It also features references to Scrabble
, Seinfeld
and Whassup?
, an advertisement campaign for Budweiser beer
. In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 6.4 million viewers, finishing in 27th place in the ratings the week it aired. Following its broadcast, the episode received mixed reviews from critics.
has stolen the Olympic torch because the television broadcast of the Olympics preempt his favorite shows. When Marge
finally gives the torch to the administrators, the sight of its flame causes them to crash. On their way home, the family go to a private school
-held carnival
, where Bart
meets Greta, Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter (voiced by Reese Witherspoon
). Greta develops a crush on the oblivious Bart, and the whole family begins enjoying the royal treatment her father, Rainier, provides them. However, Lisa
discovers Bart not taking Greta seriously, after skipping her school dance to watch Principal Skinner bomb at an open mic comedy night. Upon Lisa's advice, Bart breaks up with Greta, who does not take it well.
After losing her, Bart discovers that he actually wanted to be with Greta and goes to her house to asks her to come back to him. To his surprise, Greta has already started a new relationship with Milhouse
. Greta goes to Canada
with Milhouse during her father's movie shooting, and Bart follows her to Toronto
with his family. At the movie set, Bart confronts Milhouse and they get into a fight, crashing into sets and ruining props. They end up in front of Greta, demanding her to choose between them, and Greta turns both boys down due to loss of interest in the two. The episode ends with the boys reconciling and joining Canada's basketball team.
and written by John Frink
and Don Payne
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 17, 2002. Although the episode was written by Frink and Payne, the idea for the episode was conceived by staff writer Matt Selman
, who pitched an episode in which Bart likes a girl because she has "awesome things," while the girl likes him for his personality. Because the Simpsons visit Toronto in the episode, the Fox network decided to promote it as the episode's main focus, even though Canada is not mentioned before the third act. To help promote the episode, Fox requested that the city of Toronto declare February 17, 2002, the day the episode first aired, to be "The Simpsons Day" and award the Simpson family a key to the city. However, the request was turned down because the city does not allow for-profit companies to receive a key. According to executive producer and current showrunner Al Jean
, Fox's request "upset" Canada, and a "sternly worded" editorial in The Toronto Star criticized the network's ways of promoting the episode. The newspaper also credited Canadian The Simpsons staff writers Joel H. Cohen
and Tim Long
for pitching the episode, but this was refuted in the episode's DVD commentary. While "The Bart Wants What It Wants" features the Simpsons' first travel to Canada, the family would return in two later episodes: season sixteen
's "Midnight Rx
", where Homer and Grampa
visited Winnipeg
so they could smuggle cheap medication; and season 21
's "Boy Meets Curl
", where Marge and Homer travel to Vancouver
, so they can participate in the 2010 Winter Olympics
.
The beginning of the episode shows the Simpsons being chased by Olympic
employees. The scene was included because the staff knew that the episode would air during the 2002 Winter Olympics
. In order to avoid a lawsuit from the International Olympic Committee
, the animators slightly altered the design of the Olympic rings, which can be seen on Olympic employees' helicopters. At one point in the episode, the Simpsons visit the Springfield Preparatory School fair, where Lisa notices how much more developed the school is in comparison to Springfield Elementary School. Jealous, Springfield Elementary principal Skinner breaks in and steals some school equipment. Shocked, Lisa asks Skinner why he stole the equipment, to which he replies "welcome to Dick Cheney
's America." Originally, he would say "welcome to George W. Bush
's America", but because none of the series' regular cast members could do an impression of him, and because the staff found it to be in bad taste, they decided to change it. When Lisa scolds Bart for being oblivious to Greta's feelings, he replies "Hey, I didn't lead her on. I always played it light and breezy." The line was written by Frink and, according to Selman, it became very popular with the staff writers, having "stayed with [them] for years." The song that plays while the Simpsons visit the Skydome in Toronto is "Take Off" by the fictional comedy duo Bob and Doug McKenzie
. However, the version used in the episode was sung by Geddy Lee
, the lead vocalist and bassist of the Canadian rock band Rush
. The episode features American actress Reese Witherspoon
as Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter, Greta. Jean stated that Witherspoon was "brilliant", and noted that she was "very young-looking". The episode also features Austrian-American celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck
as himself.
. The scene is a reference to an advertisement campaign for the American Budweiser
beer, in which several characters are seen calling each other and saying "Whassup?". In Moe's bar, Wolfcastle receives several questions from bar customers, prompting him to send in his "authorized look-alike" to give answers. In the DVD commentary for the episode, Jean stated that the scene was written at a time when celebrity look-alikes were making "excellent livings". At one point in the episode, Bart and Greta are seen playing Scrabble
, a word game manufactured by Hasbro
. The music cue that plays before and after Skinner's comedy routine is based on the intro music from the American television sitcom Seinfeld
.
, translating to approximately 6.4 million viewers. The episode finished in 27th place in the ratings for the week of February 11-17, 2002, making it the third most watched program on the network. Later that year, the episode was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award
in the Animation category, but it ultimately lost to the Futurama
episode "Godfellas
". On August 24, 2010, "The Bart Wants What It Wants" was released as part of The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season DVD and Blu-ray set. Al Jean, Matt Selman, Tim Long, John Frink, Don Payne, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Joel H. Cohen, Pamela Hayden, Michael Polcino, Steven Dean Moore and Bill Freiberger participated in the audio commentary of the episode.
Following its broadcast, "The Bart Wants What It Wants" received mixed reviews from critics. Giving the episode a positive review, Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star
wrote, "Fortunately, the episode is on par with this season's best, boasting a reasonably unscattered plotline and, where the main romantic storyline is concerned, a touch of the childlike sweetness Simpsons writers have brought to previous 'crush' episodes." Casey Broadwater of Blu-ray.com gave a positive review as well, describing it as a "strong character-centric episode." Although he enjoyed most episodes of the thirteenth season, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide wrote that "Half-Decent Proposal
" and "The Bart Wants What It Wants" "forces [him] to rethink that opinion." He continued, "Like 'Proposal', 'Wants' isn’t a bad program, but it feels stale and rehashed." He particularly disliked a joke about poor mileage, which he stated was "identical" to a gag from an earlier episode. He concluded his review by writing that the episode is "mediocre [...] at best."
Nate Boss of Project-Blu wrote that, while it featured Rainier Wolfcastle, which he considered to be "one of the funniest characters in Simpsons lore," the episode "doesn't tread ground that hasn't been tread a few times before." He continued, "Throw in Canada, and a few Mountie jokes, and bam, you have an episode." 411Mania's Ron Martin also found it to be unoriginal, describing the episode as a "yearly episode just with different tempters each time." Hannah Sung, also of the Toronto Star, felt the episode was disappointing, writing that it "wasn't entirely bad, but the payoff didn't match the hype". She said that the third act in the city of Toronto was a disappointment and "really just a sloppy amalgamation of every Canadian joke we've ever been told by Americans that lose their punch after the millionth time."
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...
The Simpsons (season 13)
The Simpsons thirteenth season originally aired on the Fox network between November 6, 2001 and May 22, 2002 and consists of 22 episodes. The show runner for the thirteenth production season was Al Jean who executive-produced 17 episodes...
. It first aired on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on February 17, 2002. In the episode, 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...
befriends Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter, Greta. While Greta falls in love with him, Bart only accompanies her because she owns a lot of entertaining things.
"The Bart Wants What it Wants" was written by John Frink
John Frink
John Frink is an American television writer and producer. He has written several episodes of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, many of which he co-wrote with his former writing partner Don Payne. Frink and Payne started their career in television writing for the short-lived sitcom Hope...
and Don Payne while Michael Polcino
Michael Polcino
Michael Polcino is an animation director on The Simpsons. His brother, Dominic Polcino, is a former Simpsons director and currently works on Family Guy.-The Simpsons episodes:He has directed the following episodes:*"The Mansion Family"...
served as director. Although the episode's first draft was written by Frink and Payne, the idea for the episode was pitched by staff writer Matt Selman
Matt Selman
Matthew "Matt" Selman is an American writer and producer. Selman grew up in Massachusetts, attended the University of Pennsylvania and was editor-in-chief of student magazine 34th Street Magazine. After considering a career in journalism, he decided to try and became a television writer...
. Because the Simpsons visit Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
in the episode, the Fox network wanted to promote it by having the city of Toronto declare February 17 "The Simpsons day", and award the Simpsons family a key to the city. Because the city does not allow for-profit companies to receive a key, the request was turned down.
"The Bart Wants What it Wants" also features guest stars Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
as Greta and Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions...
as himself. It also features references to Scrabble
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
, Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
and Whassup?
Whassup?
Whassup? was a commercial campaign for Anheuser-Busch Budweiser beer from 1999 to 2002. The first spot aired during Monday Night Football, December 20, 1999. The ad campaign was run worldwide and became a pop culture catchphrase...
, an advertisement campaign for Budweiser beer
Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...
. In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 6.4 million viewers, finishing in 27th place in the ratings the week it aired. Following its broadcast, the episode received mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
At the beginning of the episode, the Simpsons are seen in their car being chased by Olympic administrators in helicopters. It turns out that HomerHomer 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...
has stolen the Olympic torch because the television broadcast of the Olympics preempt his favorite shows. When 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...
finally gives the torch to the administrators, the sight of its flame causes them to crash. On their way home, the family go to a private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
-held carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
, where 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...
meets Greta, Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter (voiced by Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
). Greta develops a crush on the oblivious Bart, and the whole family begins enjoying the royal treatment her father, Rainier, provides them. However, 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...
discovers Bart not taking Greta seriously, after skipping her school dance to watch Principal Skinner bomb at an open mic comedy night. Upon Lisa's advice, Bart breaks up with Greta, who does not take it well.
After losing her, Bart discovers that he actually wanted to be with Greta and goes to her house to asks her to come back to him. To his surprise, Greta has already started a new relationship with Milhouse
Milhouse Van Houten
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....
. Greta goes to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
with Milhouse during her father's movie shooting, and Bart follows her to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
with his family. At the movie set, Bart confronts Milhouse and they get into a fight, crashing into sets and ruining props. They end up in front of Greta, demanding her to choose between them, and Greta turns both boys down due to loss of interest in the two. The episode ends with the boys reconciling and joining Canada's basketball team.
Production
"The Bart Wants What It Wants" was directed by Michael PolcinoMichael Polcino
Michael Polcino is an animation director on The Simpsons. His brother, Dominic Polcino, is a former Simpsons director and currently works on Family Guy.-The Simpsons episodes:He has directed the following episodes:*"The Mansion Family"...
and written by John Frink
John Frink
John Frink is an American television writer and producer. He has written several episodes of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, many of which he co-wrote with his former writing partner Don Payne. Frink and Payne started their career in television writing for the short-lived sitcom Hope...
and Don Payne
Don Payne (The Simpsons writer)
Don Payne is an American writer and producer. He has written several episodes of The Simpsons since 2000, many of which he co-wrote with John Frink who he met while studying at the University of California, Los Angeles. The duo began their careers writing for the short-lived sitcom Hope and Gloria....
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 17, 2002. Although the episode was written by Frink and Payne, the idea for the episode was conceived by staff writer Matt Selman
Matt Selman
Matthew "Matt" Selman is an American writer and producer. Selman grew up in Massachusetts, attended the University of Pennsylvania and was editor-in-chief of student magazine 34th Street Magazine. After considering a career in journalism, he decided to try and became a television writer...
, who pitched an episode in which Bart likes a girl because she has "awesome things," while the girl likes him for his personality. Because the Simpsons visit Toronto in the episode, the Fox network decided to promote it as the episode's main focus, even though Canada is not mentioned before the third act. To help promote the episode, Fox requested that the city of Toronto declare February 17, 2002, the day the episode first aired, to be "The Simpsons Day" and award the Simpson family a key to the city. However, the request was turned down because the city does not allow for-profit companies to receive a key. According to executive producer and current showrunner Al Jean
Al Jean
Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...
, Fox's request "upset" Canada, and a "sternly worded" editorial in The Toronto Star criticized the network's ways of promoting the episode. The newspaper also credited Canadian The Simpsons staff writers Joel H. Cohen
Joel H. Cohen
For the film director, see Joel Coen.Joel H. Cohen is a writer for Saturday Night Live, Suddenly Susan and The Simpsons...
and Tim Long
Tim Long
Tim Long is a comedy writer born in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Tim calls Exeter, Ontario, Canada his home town and has written for The Simpsons, Politically Incorrect, Spy Magazine and The Late Show with David Letterman. Currently credited as a consulting producer on The Simpsons, Long was - until...
for pitching the episode, but this was refuted in the episode's DVD commentary. While "The Bart Wants What It Wants" features the Simpsons' first travel to Canada, the family would return in two later episodes: season sixteen
The Simpsons (season 16)
The Simpsons 16th season began on Sunday, November 7, 2004 and contained 21 episodes, beginning with Treehouse of Horror XV. The season contains six hold-over episodes from the season 15 production line....
's "Midnight Rx
Midnight Rx
"Midnight Rx" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons sixteenth season. It was the first new episode of 2005.-Plot:Mr. Burns reserves the Springfield Air and Space Museum for a plant company party. While there, Burns acts strangely kind to all of his employees. At the end of the party, Burns announces...
", where Homer and Grampa
Abraham Simpson
Abraham J. "Abe" Simpson, often known simply as Grampa, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and he is also the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer Simpson, and the grandfather of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson...
visited Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
so they could smuggle cheap medication; and season 21
The Simpsons (season 21)
The Simpsons twenty-first season aired on Fox from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010. It was the first of two seasons that the show was renewed for by Fox, and also the first season of the show to air entirely in high definition....
's "Boy Meets Curl
Boy Meets Curl
"Boy Meets Curl" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season. It aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 14, 2010. In this episode, Homer and Marge Simpson form a mixed-doubles curling team with Agnes and Seymour Skinner, which is chosen to play in the 2010 Winter...
", where Marge and Homer travel to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, so they can participate in the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
.
The beginning of the episode shows the Simpsons being chased by Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
employees. The scene was included because the staff knew that the episode would air during the 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
. In order to avoid a lawsuit from the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
, the animators slightly altered the design of the Olympic rings, which can be seen on Olympic employees' helicopters. At one point in the episode, the Simpsons visit the Springfield Preparatory School fair, where Lisa notices how much more developed the school is in comparison to Springfield Elementary School. Jealous, Springfield Elementary principal Skinner breaks in and steals some school equipment. Shocked, Lisa asks Skinner why he stole the equipment, to which he replies "welcome to Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
's America." Originally, he would say "welcome to George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's America", but because none of the series' regular cast members could do an impression of him, and because the staff found it to be in bad taste, they decided to change it. When Lisa scolds Bart for being oblivious to Greta's feelings, he replies "Hey, I didn't lead her on. I always played it light and breezy." The line was written by Frink and, according to Selman, it became very popular with the staff writers, having "stayed with [them] for years." The song that plays while the Simpsons visit the Skydome in Toronto is "Take Off" by the fictional comedy duo Bob and Doug McKenzie
Bob and Doug McKenzie
Bob and Doug McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted "Great White North", a sketch which was introduced on SCTV for the show's third season when it moved to CBC Television in 1980. Bob is played by Rick Moranis and Doug is played by Dave Thomas...
. However, the version used in the episode was sung by Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee
Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...
, the lead vocalist and bassist of the Canadian rock band Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
. The episode features American actress Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
as Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter, Greta. Jean stated that Witherspoon was "brilliant", and noted that she was "very young-looking". The episode also features Austrian-American celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, businessman and occasional actor. Wolfgang Puck restaurants, catering services, cookbooks and licensed products are run by Wolfgang Puck Companies, with three divisions...
as himself.
Cultural references
When first meeting Greta, Milhouse greets her by saying Whassup?Whassup?
Whassup? was a commercial campaign for Anheuser-Busch Budweiser beer from 1999 to 2002. The first spot aired during Monday Night Football, December 20, 1999. The ad campaign was run worldwide and became a pop culture catchphrase...
. The scene is a reference to an advertisement campaign for the American Budweiser
Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Budweiser is a 5.0% abv American-style lager introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch and one of the highest selling beers in the United States. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Budweiser is produced in various breweries located around the world...
beer, in which several characters are seen calling each other and saying "Whassup?". In Moe's bar, Wolfcastle receives several questions from bar customers, prompting him to send in his "authorized look-alike" to give answers. In the DVD commentary for the episode, Jean stated that the scene was written at a time when celebrity look-alikes were making "excellent livings". At one point in the episode, Bart and Greta are seen playing Scrabble
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
, a word game manufactured by Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
. The music cue that plays before and after Skinner's comedy routine is based on the intro music from the American television sitcom Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
.
Release and reception
In its original American broadcast, "The Bart Wants What It Wants" received a 6.1 rating, according to Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, translating to approximately 6.4 million viewers. The episode finished in 27th place in the ratings for the week of February 11-17, 2002, making it the third most watched program on the network. Later that year, the episode was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
in the Animation category, but it ultimately lost to the Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
episode "Godfellas
Godfellas
"Godfellas" is the twentieth episode of the third production season of Futurama. It was first shown in North America on March 17, 2002, as the eighth episode in the fourth broadcast season. The episode was written by Ken Keeler and directed by Susie Dietter. It features Bender becoming the god of...
". On August 24, 2010, "The Bart Wants What It Wants" was released as part of The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season DVD and Blu-ray set. Al Jean, Matt Selman, Tim Long, John Frink, Don Payne, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Joel H. Cohen, Pamela Hayden, Michael Polcino, Steven Dean Moore and Bill Freiberger participated in the audio commentary of the episode.
Following its broadcast, "The Bart Wants What It Wants" received mixed reviews from critics. Giving the episode a positive review, Ben Rayner of the 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...
wrote, "Fortunately, the episode is on par with this season's best, boasting a reasonably unscattered plotline and, where the main romantic storyline is concerned, a touch of the childlike sweetness Simpsons writers have brought to previous 'crush' episodes." Casey Broadwater of Blu-ray.com gave a positive review as well, describing it as a "strong character-centric episode." Although he enjoyed most episodes of the thirteenth season, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide wrote that "Half-Decent Proposal
Half-Decent Proposal
"Half-Decent Proposal" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons thirteenth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 10, 2002...
" and "The Bart Wants What It Wants" "forces [him] to rethink that opinion." He continued, "Like 'Proposal', 'Wants' isn’t a bad program, but it feels stale and rehashed." He particularly disliked a joke about poor mileage, which he stated was "identical" to a gag from an earlier episode. He concluded his review by writing that the episode is "mediocre [...] at best."
Nate Boss of Project-Blu wrote that, while it featured Rainier Wolfcastle, which he considered to be "one of the funniest characters in Simpsons lore," the episode "doesn't tread ground that hasn't been tread a few times before." He continued, "Throw in Canada, and a few Mountie jokes, and bam, you have an episode." 411Mania's Ron Martin also found it to be unoriginal, describing the episode as a "yearly episode just with different tempters each time." Hannah Sung, also of the Toronto Star, felt the episode was disappointing, writing that it "wasn't entirely bad, but the payoff didn't match the hype". She said that the third act in the city of Toronto was a disappointment and "really just a sloppy amalgamation of every Canadian joke we've ever been told by Americans that lose their punch after the millionth time."
External links
- "The Bart Wants What It Wants" at The Simpsons.com