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Bart's Birthday |
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This episode is considered non-canon, and the events featured are not part of the timeline of the series' continuity. |
- "I'm going to miss this place."
- ―A running gag where characters say this before shutting off the lights and leaving a room
Bart's Birthday is the first episode of Season 36 (originally produced for Season 35), and the 769th episode overall.
Synopsis[]
In an AI generation of the show's final episode, Bart celebrates his 11th birthday that will change his life and the rest of Springfield's history forever.
Full Story[]
The episode begins at the Dolby-Mucinex Theatre, where many guest stars appear. This is apparently the premiere of the series finale of The Simpsons. Conan O'Brien, former writer on the series, explains how FOX had been trying to cancel the series since the first episode; one of the first attempts was in "Bart the Daredevil", where Homer's plummet to the bottom of Springfield Gorge had ended tragically. Conan talks about how the writers have created an AI known as HackGPT to write, direct, animate, and voice the series finale; the AI was provided with knowledge about every episode of the series, as well as every other TV series finale.
HackGPT's episode starts in the Simpson home, where Bart is excited about his 11th birthday. However, when he asks how many people are coming to the party, Marge tells him that she hasn't gotten any messages. She asks Homer if he handed out the invitations, but he says that nobody responded because everybody hates Bart. Marge then realizes that Homer didn't actually hand out invitations, so Bart gets stressed because that means Bart has only 8 hours to get the word out.
Back in the real world, Conan complains to the AI for picking the worst theme for an episode, but the AI asks him "Do you have anything better?", which Conan does not argue with. making Conan accept the episode. After a commercial break, Conan asks the AI again about the episode, who brings in AI Executive Producers to approve of the episode. The episode continues in the auditorium of Springfield Elementary School: Bart hands out the invitations for his party (recognizing the forgotten characters in the class) and then Professor Skinner announces that he is retiring as principal, making Bart happy. He says he is leaving for Sacramento and is bunking with Groundskeeper Willie. Superintendent Chalmers says he would make sporadic appearances (as if the three of them are setting up a spinoff focusing on Skinner's new adventures in Sacramento). The three hug, and Skinner tells the students that school is dismissed. Bart leaves to deliver the remaining invitations, and Skinner turns off the lights saying "I'm going to miss this place."
Later at the Nuclear Power Plant, Mr. Smithers tells the employees that Mr. Burns has passed away but is giving away his money to all of the employees, making everybody happy. However, Burns is revealed to be alive as he was hiding in the shadows, mentioning that this was simply a joke. However, Homer walks by and knocks Burns off the catwalk; the Blue-Haired Lawyer says the will is still valid, so everybody inherits his wealth after all. Nobody has to work again, so they all leave the power plant. Carl says "I'm going to miss this place" before turning off the lights. Bart is skating by when he sees the crowd celebrating Homer killing Burns, wondering if something strange is happening.
Bart then arrives at the Android's Dungeon where he sees Comic Book Guy and his wife Kumicko. The latter is giving birth to her baby, and Comic Book Guy calls John Cena and helps the two to deliver the baby. Comic Book Guy tells Bart that he is going to close the store since he is going to focus on his family. As he closes the store, he says "I'm going to miss this place", scaring Bart even more.
Later at the Van Houten home, Bart tells Milhouse everything that has happened. Milhouse's parents enter the room and announce that they are all moving to Atlanta because Kirk is having great success with his music there. He also tells him that he will have laser surgery so that he can stop wearing glasses, exciting Milhouse as he leaves the room. Kirk says "I'm going to miss this place" before turning off the light while Bart is left alone in there.
Bart arrives at the church where Patty & Evelyn, Ned Flanders & Ruth Powers, Selma & The Yes Guy, and Duffman & Mrs. Hoover are getting married. Meanwhile, Moe closes his bar for good (he hangs up a sign that says "Sold"), saying "I'm going to miss this place" before turning off the lights and leaving. On the ground, a rat does the same thing, leaving out of a tiny door. Bart also sees that the Springfield Tire Fire is turned off by Raphael with a simple switch.
When he gets home, Bart tells his parents that he is scared of what's happening. Marge and Homer begin talking about how after years of marriage therapy, they finally reconcile and have accepted each other. The family share a hug, and Homer tells him "From now on, you're going to see a lot of changes"; Bart realizes that "change" is what he is afraid of, noticing that is what has been going on across town. Maggie is about to say her first word, but Bart covers his ears and runs away. Maggie ends up saying "So, that just happened."
Meanwhile, in the real world, Conan expresses his disapproval of the episode again. HackGPT responds by saying that he didn't program this; the character Bart had become self-aware of the changes going on and is fighting against it. Conan tries to keep the show from falling apart by telling the audience that it's okay since it's real-time animation. He wants to restart HackGPT to stop the episode in progress, but HackGPT warns him that it will kill him if he tries to touch it.
Back in the episode, Bart runs away from the house, scared of more changes that he sees, such as Nelson's father returning. He then goes to Agnes' house, who welcomes her real son back. As Bart approaches the church, he sees that Burns, Old Jewish Man, Disco Stu and Hans Moleman have all died. The latter turns up alive but seems upset about what is to come.
Bart knows somebody that wouldn't change: Krusty the Clown. However, Krusty is revealed to be taping his last episode as well, with special guests like Sideshow Bob are in attendance to watch a clipshow of some memorable moments. Bart has an idea where, if he did something to ruin the show, then it would not be aired. He pulls down his pants to reveal his rear end to the camera, and the episode then cuts to the police station, hinting that Bart was arrested.
Marge, Homer, and Lisa come to meet Bart at his jail cell. Bart confesses to Lisa that he is scared about what is happening, but Lisa does not care too much, because she is excited about winning scholarships. Chief Wiggum tells Bart that he would have sent him to a reform school, but lets him go because he is going to start a new chapter of his life. Wiggum heads to the door and is ready to turn off the light. He is about to say "I'm going to miss this place" but is interrupted by Bart complaining about everybody doing that.
As he is taken home, Bart sees the Evergreen Terrace logo change to End-Of-The-Road. Upon arriving home, Lisa tells Bart that change is inevitable, lifting Bart's spirits a bit. As he walks into the living room, he sees a huge cast of characters. Marge hands Bart the cake with the numbers 11 on it, scaring Bart again. But Homer tries to get Bart to blow out the candle. Even Herb Powell shows up to encourage him to do it with John Cena assisting. But Bart resists, starting to criticize everyone because they're not getting into a spin-off like stating to Captain Horatio McCallister that he won't be cast for The Love Boat reboot as he is not TV pretty, Nelson and his friends can't a raise a baby when they move in with Hank Scorpio, and tells the attending Frank Grimes, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, and Bleeding Gums Murphy that they are supposed to be dead. Homer gets Bart to finally blow out the candle, turning off the light. Bart starts to taunt Homer, but he resists at first, then eventually breaks free and strangles him. Just before the signal is given out, Bart and Homer throw themselves onto the cake. When the signal came back, Bart's real birthday party was revealed, with only a few guests. It is revealed that only Bart threw himself onto the cake, much to Marge's disappointment. Homer starts eating the cake that was thrown away, and that's when Bart sees that he is still turning 10. He is happy about remaining young forever.
Back in the real world, Conan is crying because the episode ended on a nice note. HackGPT tells Conan that The Simpsons didn't end, but rather rebooted. It asks Conan if this is what it means to fail, but Conan tries to calm him down. However, Tom Hanks shows up, yelling due to his disapproval of the episode. Conan tells him that the episode was actually a season premiere, but then the audience begins to boo him. Conan tells HackGPT that he has 800 more episodes to make, but HackGPT blows up, scaring the audience out of the theater. Finally, Conan puts on his old jacket, saying "I'm really not gonna miss this place," turning off the theater lights.
In the credits, an instrumental version of They'll Never Stop The Simpsons plays alongside a montage of characters parodying other series finale episodes.
Behind the Laughter[]
Reception[]
Upon the season premiered, the episode received overwhelmingly positive reviews, with average ratings of 8/10 on IMDb.
Many had speculated online if the show was actually ending due to the fact that it was stating that it was the last episode.
Critical response[]
John Schwarz of Bubbleblabber given 7.5/10 rating, he likes the premise episode for making fun of "everyone of everything", including the entertainment industry. Despite this, he believed the commentary would have been more incisive had the series not been under Disney's ownership.[1]
Videos[]
