Editing Bart vs. Thanksgiving

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox Simpsons episode
| image          = 
| caption        = 
| season         = 2
| episode        = 7
| director       = [[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]]
| writer         = [[George Meyer]]
| production     = 7F07{{Sfn|Groening|2010|p=67}}
| airdate        = {{Start date|1990|11|22}}
| guests         = * [[Greg Berg]] as Rory
*[[Carol Kane]] as [[Maggie Simpson]] (uncredited)<ref name="Confidential">{{cite book |last=Reiss |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Reiss |date=2018 |title= Springfield Confidential |publisher=HarperCollins |page=Chapter 7 |isbn=978-0062748058}}</ref><ref name="JeanTwitter">{{cite tweet|user=AlJean|number=1011833857023172609 |last=Jean |first=Al |title=Bart v thanksgiving
 |date=June 27, 2018|access-date=January 15, 2022}}</ref>
| blackboard     = "I will not do that thing with my tongue"{{Sfn|Groening|2010|p=67}}
| couch_gag      = The family finds [[Grampa Simpson|Grampa]] sleeping on the couch.
| commentary     = [[Matt Groening]]<br/>[[James L. Brooks]]<br/>[[George Meyer]]<br/>[[Al Jean]]<br/>[[Mike Reiss]]<br/>[[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]]
| prev           = [[Dead Putting Society]]
| next           = [[Bart the Daredevil]]
}}
"'''Bart vs. Thanksgiving'''" is the seventh episode of the [[The Simpsons season 2|second season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in the [[United States]] on [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]], November 22, 1990.{{Sfn|Groening|2010|p=67}} In the episode, [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] runs away from home after destroying a [[centerpiece]] that [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] makes for the [[Thanksgiving dinner]] table.

The episode was written by [[George Meyer]] and directed by [[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]]. Voice actor [[Greg Berg]] guest starred as Rory, one of the [[homeless people]] at the [[soup kitchen]]. The episode features cultural references to [[Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade]], and the [[poet]]s [[Allen Ginsberg]], [[Jack Kerouac]], and [[Edgar Allan Poe]]. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from critics. It acquired a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 11.9, and was the third highest-rated show on Fox the week it aired.

==Plot==
[[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] makes a [[centerpiece]] for the [[Thanksgiving]] dinner table. [[Patty and Selma]] arrive, ignoring [[Marge Simpson|Marge]]'s instructions to not bring their own food. [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] picks up [[Grampa Simpson|Grampa]] from the retirement home. Marge, Patty, and Selma's mother [[Simpson family#Jacqueline Bouvier|Jacqueline Bouvier]] arrives and tells Marge she never does anything right.

Once they are assembled, [[Simpson family|the Simpsons]] sit down to eat dinner. When Lisa places the centerpiece on the table, [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] removes it to make way for the turkey. In the ensuing scuffle, Bart ends up throwing the centerpiece into the fireplace and it burns to ashes. Lisa runs to her room sobbing, and Homer and Marge punish Bart by sending him up to his room. Marge then tells him that he has ruined Thanksgiving and later informs him that he will not be allowed to eat dinner until he issues a sincere apology to Lisa in front of the family. Bart refuses and climbs out of his room.

After Homer expels [[Santa's Little Helper]] from the house for stealing a turkey drumstick, Bart and the dog run away from home. Bart tries to steal a pie cooling on a window sill at [[Mr. Burns]]' mansion, but Mr. Burns' hounds chase him away. While wandering the streets, Bart uses Homer's ID to sell his blood and after passing out, is brought to a breadline serving dinner to homeless people. [[Kent Brockman]] interviews Bart for a human interest story. The family sees the television report and call the police, hoping they can help find Bart and bring him home. When the police fail to locate Bart, Homer and Marge regret the things they said to him, feeling that it was what caused him to run off.

Bart later returns home feeling remorseful for leaving after lending money to a couple of beggars. He climbs onto the roof to ponder his choices. When he hears Lisa crying because she misses him, Bart invites her to join him on the roof. He finally realizes what he did hurt her deeply and apologizes as Homer and Marge watch proudly. Bart and Lisa later rejoin the family to enjoy a meal of leftovers.

==Production==
[[File:David Silverman in 2007-cropped.JPG|[[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]] directed the episode.|thumb|upright|left |alt=A man with a cowboy hat on his back.]]

The episode was written by [[George Meyer]] and directed by [[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]]. It was the first script Meyer wrote on the show, and he thought he made "quite a few mistakes, but it turned out really well overall."<ref name="Meyer">{{cite video |people=Meyer, George |date=2002 |title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The staff decided to do a Thanksgiving episode after they realized an episode would air ''on'' Thursday, November 22, 1990 (Thanksgiving Day). ''The Simpsons'' had previously aired at 8:00&nbsp;p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] on Sunday night but Fox switched its timeslot to the same time on Thursdays at the beginning of the second season.<ref name="Jean">{{cite video |people=Jean, Al |date=2002 |title=The Simpsons season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The idea of Bart going up on the roof was suggested by Meyer who used to go up on the roof himself when he had fights with his family.<ref name="Meyer"/>

Voice actor [[Greg Berg]] guest starred as Rory, one of the homeless people at the soup kitchen.<ref name="BBC" /> Marge's mother, [[Jaqueline Bouvier|Jackie Bouvier]], voiced by [[Julie Kavner]], makes her first physical appearance on ''The Simpsons'' in the episode, though she was first referenced in a flashback in the season one episode "[[Moaning Lisa (The Simpsons)|Moaning Lisa]]".<ref name="BBC"/> [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Bill and Marty|Bill and Marty]], voiced by [[Dan Castellaneta]] and [[Harry Shearer]] respectively, also make their first visual appearances, although they were heard on the radio in previous episodes, including "[[Bart Gets an "F"|Bart Gets an 'F']]{{-"}}. They are two [[radio programming|radio show]] [[Radio personality|hosts]] and [[disc jockey|DJs]] on [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]]'s own radio station [[KBBL (The Simpsons)|KBBL]]. Homer listens to their radio show when he drives to pick up Grampa at the retirement home for the Thanksgiving dinner.<ref name="book"/>

In Bart's fantasy, Maggie says "It's your fault I can't talk!" [[Carol Kane]] voiced this line, although she was uncredited.<ref name="Confidential"/><ref name="JeanTwitter"/>

==Cultural references==
At the beginning of the episode, Homer and Bart watch [[Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade]], an annual United States parade that includes floating [[helium balloon]]s modeled after famous fictional characters. When Homer and Bart talk about the balloons modeled after [[Bullwinkle J. Moose|Bullwinkle]] and [[Underdog (TV series)|Underdog]], ''The Simpsons'' is self-referenced as Homer tells Bart that if the parade "turned every flash-in-pan cartoon character into a balloon, it would be a farce", after which a giant balloon of Bart can be seen on the television in the background. Not coincidentally, 1990 was the year Bart was turned into a balloon for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.<ref name="book"/> While watching the Thanksgiving football game, Homer says he is cheering for the [[Dallas Cowboys]].<ref name="BBC"/> Two of the fictional Dallas Cowboys players are named [[Jay Kogen]] and [[Wallace Wolodarsky]] after two writers on ''The Simpsons''.<ref name="book">{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |editor1-first=Ray |editor1-last=Richmond |editor1-link=Ray Richmond |editor2-first=Antonia |editor2-last=Coffman |title=[[The Simpsons episode guides#The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family|The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family]] |edition=1st |year=1997 |location=New York |publisher=[[HarperPerennial]] |lccn=98141857 |ol=433519M |oclc=37796735 |isbn=978-0-06-095252-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomplete00groe/page/41 41] |ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}} }}.</ref>

The song that plays on the radio during the break in the Thanksgiving football game is "[[Get Dancin']]" by [[Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes]].<ref name="BBC"/> The game is played at the [[Pontiac Silverdome]], then home to the [[Detroit Lions]], who also play on Thanksgiving. Lisa says the following about her centerpiece: "It's a tribute to the trailblazing women who made our country great. See, there's [[Georgia O'Keeffe]], [[Susan B. Anthony]], and this is [[Marjory Stoneman Douglas]]. I'm sure you haven't heard of her, but she worked her whole life to preserve the [[Florida Everglades]]."<ref name="book"/> The poem Lisa is seen writing in her room after her centerpiece is destroyed is a reference to [[Allen Ginsberg]]'s poem "[[Howl (poem)|Howl]]".<ref name="BBC"/> Lisa also keeps a book of Ginsberg's work on a bookshelf next to [[Jack Kerouac]]'s novel ''[[On the Road]]'', and a collection of poems by [[Edgar Allan Poe]].<ref name="book"/> Feeling hungry, Bart decides to steal food from the old, rich [[Mr. Burns]], who lives on the corner of [[Croesus]] and [[Mammon]], both connoting wealth.<ref name="BBC"/> A member of Burns' security staff reads the novel ''[[Les Misérables]]''.<ref name="book"/>

==Reception==
In its original broadcast, "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" finished thirty-seventh in the ratings for the week of November 19–25, 1990, with a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 11.9, equivalent to approximately eleven million viewing households. It was the third highest-rated show on Fox that week, following ''[[Married... with Children]]'' and ''[[In Living Color]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bart edges out Bill Cosby rerun |last=Hastings |first=Deborah |date=November 29, 1990 |work=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |pages=3E}}</ref>

Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote: "Marge's mother Jackie is particularly nightmarish in her first real appearance. The final sequence on the rooftop with Lisa and Bart is lovely, and Homer's comment to Marge is a magical wrap-up to a good episode."<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season2/page7.shtml |title=Bart vs. Thanksgiving |access-date=2009-04-12 |author1=Martyn, Warren |author2=Wood, Adrian |year=2000 |publisher=BBC |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060525122625/https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season2/page7.shtml }}</ref> DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said the episode "maintained a nicely irreverent tone most of the time&nbsp;– irreverent enough to make it amusing, at least," and added: "The interaction of the Simpson and Bouvier families at dinner was terrific, and Bart's experiences on skid row made their point while they still managed to be pointed and clever. 'Bart vs. Thanksgiving' was another winner."<ref name="dvdmg">{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseason2.shtml |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season |last=Jacobson |first=Colin |publisher=DVD Movie Guide |access-date=2009-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326021145/http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseason2.shtml |archive-date=26 March 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Bryce Wilson of Cinema Blend said "Bart vs. Thanksgiving" and "[[Lisa's Substitute]]", another season two episode, were the first episodes that "asked [the audience] to truly care about the characters, and they work beautifully".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cinemablend.com/review.php?id=494 |title=The Simpsons&nbsp;– The Complete Second Season&nbsp;– DVD |last=Wilson |first=Bryce |date=April 19, 2004 |publisher=Cinema Blend |access-date=March 23, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901145427/https://www.cinemablend.com/review.php?id=494|archive-date=September 1, 2018}}</ref> Both Dawn Taylor of The DVD Journal and Jacobson thought the most memorable line of the episode was Jackie's line to Marge: "I have [[laryngitis]] and it hurts to talk, so I'll just say one thing&nbsp;– you never do anything right."<ref name="dvdmg" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/s/simpsons.season02.shtml |title=The Simpsons: The Complete Second Season |last=Taylor |first=Dawn |year=2002 |publisher=The DVD Journal |access-date=2009-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326061251/http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/s/simpsons.season02.shtml |archive-date=26 March 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |title=Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 |title-link=Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1–20 |date=2010-10-28 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |year= |isbn=9780061711282 |editor1-last=Richmond |editor1-first=Ray |editor1-link=Ray Richmond |edition=1st |editor2-last=Gimple |editor2-first=Scott M. |editor2-link=Scott M. Gimple |editor-last3=McCann |editor-first3=Jessie L. |editor-last4=Seghers |editor-first4=Christine |editor-last5=Bates |editor-first5=James W.}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_2#Bart_vs._Thanksgiving|Bart vs. Thanksgiving}}
{{Portal|The Simpsons}}
*{{Snpp capsule|7F07}}
*{{IMDb episode |id=0701062}}

{{The Simpsons episodes|2}}
{{Thanksgiving}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bart Vs. Thanksgiving}}
[[Category:1990 American television episodes]]
[[Category:Thanksgiving television episodes]]
[[Category:The Simpsons season 2 episodes]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by George Meyer]]
[[Category:Television episodes directed by David Silverman (animator)]]