"Bart the General" is the fifth episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 4, 1990. In the episode, Bart Simpson enlists Grampa's help to battle local bully Nelson Muntz. Bart unites the neighborhood children against Nelson and defeats him. The episode was directed by David Silverman and was the first to be written by John Swartzwelder.
Production
thumb|[[Harry Shearer based the voice of Herman, a character introduced in this episode, on that of George H. W. Bush.]]
This episode was running too long to use the normal opening sequence and therefore did not feature a chalkboard gag or a couch gag. Instead, it just cut to an image of the Simpson house. David Silverman was the director and was somewhat stressed, because he was doing storyboards for this episode while also directing "Bart the Genius". The producers ignored the notes and "family jewels" remained in the episode. This act of attempted censorship was reflected in the part where Grampa Simpson writes a letter complaining of how sexualized television has become and gives a list of words he never wants to hear on television again, one of which is the phrase "family jewels".
Two new characters were introduced in this episode. The first, Nelson Muntz, remains a frequently used recurring character. Voice actress Dana Hill was originally assigned to play Nelson and was present at the table read, but not at the recording session (for unknown reasons). Nancy Cartwright was then assigned the role. The second character, Herman, has been used far less.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Bart the General" finished 31st place in the weekly ratings for the week of January 29 – February 4, 1990 with a Nielsen rating of 14.3. It was the highest-rated show on Fox that week.
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, Gary Russell and Gareth Roberts, said: "Some good lines and setpieces aside – we love Bart's fantasy of death at Nelson's hands – this episode nevertheless feels a bit unsure of itself, particularly towards the end."
Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review that the episode "remains a primitive example of The Simpsons, but it's a reasonably amusing and entertaining experience", adding that the episode "lacks the subtlety and cleverness found on later episodes, but it was onto something". Matt Groening notes on the commentary track that he finds it strange how controversial this episode seemed at the time of its release. Today, they would go a lot further and to him this episode now seems harmless.
Use in scientific research
"Bart the General" and Seinfeld<nowiki>'</nowiki>s "The Tape" were used in a Dartmouth College experiment to study brain activity in relation to humorous moments in television shows. The results were published in a 2004 issue of the academic journal Neurolmage. The researchers noted, "During moments of humor detection, significant [brain] activation was noted in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus... and left inferior frontal gyrus."
Home media
The episode was released first on home video in the United Kingdom, as part of a VHS release titled The Simpsons Collection; the episode was paired with season one episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home". It was released in the US on the VHS release The Best of The Simpsons, Vol. 2 (1997), paired with "Moaning Lisa". It was later re-released in the US in a collector's edition boxed set of the first three volumes of The Best of The Simpsons collections. It was re-released in the UK as part of a VHS boxed set of the complete first season, in November 1999. The episode's debut on the DVD format was as a part of The Simpsons season one DVD set, which was released on September 25, 2001. Groening, Brooks, and Silverman participated in the DVD's audio commentary. A digital edition of the series' first season, including the episode, was published December 20, 2010 in the United States through Amazon Video and iTunes.