| "Bart Gets an 'F'" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
 The "Snow Day" sequence was one of the most difficult sequences David Silverman had to animate, as it featured multiple panoramic shots and was hard to time correctly. | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | David Silverman |
| Written by | David M. Stern |
| Production code | 7F03[1] |
| Original air date | October 11, 1990 |
| Guest appearance | |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | (first) "I will not encourage others to fly"/(second) "I will not fake my way through life" (during the episode)[2] |
| Couch gag | The family sits on the couch and it falls through the floor as Homer says "D'oh!"[3] |
| Commentary | Matt Groening James L. Brooks Al Jean Mike Reiss David Silverman |
"Bart Gets an 'F'" is the first episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It aired originally on Fox in the United States on October 11, 1990.[1] In this episode, Bart Simpson fails four consecutive history exams, and the district psychiatrist recommends he repeat the fourth grade.
Written by David M. Stern and directed by David Silverman, "Bart Gets an 'F'" marks the first appearance of Mayor Quimby as well as a new opening sequence. It was the third episode produced for the second season. It was chosen to be the season premiere because it prominently features Bart, who enjoyed popularity during the early 1990s.
Due to the success of the first season of The Simpsons, Fox decided to switch the show's time slot to Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET where it aired opposite NBC's The Cosby Show, the number one show at the time. Throughout the summer, several news outlets published stories about the supposed "Bill vs. Bart" rivalry and heavily hyped the first episode of the second season. Some critics predicted "Bart gets an 'F'" would do considerably worse in the ratings than The Cosby Show. However, the episode's final Nielsen rating was 18.4, and a 29% share of the audience placed it second in its time slot behind The Cosby Show with an 18.5 rating and 29% share. The episode finished eighth in the weekly ratings, but was watched by an estimated 33.6 million viewers, making it the week's number one show, in terms of actual viewers. It became the highest rated and most watched program in the history of the Fox network and remained so until 1995. It remains the highest rated episode in the history of The Simpsons.
"Bart Gets an 'F'" received positive reviews from television critics. Entertainment Weekly ranked it 31st on its 1999 list of "The 100 Greatest Moments in Television".
- ^ a b Groening 2010, p. 53.
- ^ Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M.
- ^ Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Bart Gets an F". BBC. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2008.