| "Bart Gets an Elephant" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 17 |
| Directed by | Jim Reardon |
| Written by | John Swartzwelder |
| Production code | 1F15 |
| Original air date | March 31, 1994 |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "Organ transplants are best left to the professionals" |
| Couch gag | The family's eyes run in with the lights off. When the lights turn on, the bodies run in and push the eyes back into their sockets. |
| Commentary | Matt Groening David Mirkin David Silverman |
"Bart Gets an Elephant" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 31, 1994. In this episode, Bart wins a radio contest and is awarded a full-grown African elephant that he names Stampy. After Stampy wrecks the Simpsons' house and eats all the food, Homer decides to sell Stampy to an ivory dealer. Bart runs away with Stampy to save his pet, but the family finds the two at a museum exhibit, where Homer sinks into a tar pit. Homer is saved by Stampy, and so gives the elephant away to an animal refuge instead.
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder, and directed by Jim Reardon. It introduced the fictional elephant Stampy, and marks the first appearance of the recurring character Cletus Spuckler. The episode features cultural references to the songs "Sixteen Tons" and "Do-Re-Mi", and the La Brea Tar Pits cluster of tar pits located in Hancock Park in Los Angeles, California.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 10.7, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.