The Boys of Bummer (The Simpsons)
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| "The Boys of Bummer" | ||||||||||||||||
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 This is a classic case of 'The Simpsons' swinging and missing. A strikeout, if you will.
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"The Boys of Bummer" is the 18th episode of the 18th season of The Simpsons. Written by Michael Price and directed by Rob Oliver, it aired in the United States on April 29, 2007.
Plot
The Springfield Iso-Tots play their arch-rivals Shelbyville in the final of the Little League World Series, but when Bart misses a pop fly that ends up costing the Iso-Tots the championship, the townspeople refuse to forgive him for it. Meanwhile, Homer's attempts to talk his way out of being caught sleeping on a bed in a department store bed end up selling the mattress, resulting in him becoming a mattress salesman, but he has second thoughts when Reverend Lovejoy trades Homer's mattress for the one he just bought.
Why It's a Bummer Indeed
- The primary issue with this episode is its excessively harsh treatment of Bart, with the townspeople continuously harassing him for merely missing a baseball catch at the Little League World Series. Although it seems the episode may have been trying to satirize the 2003 Steve Bartman incident, it unfortunately misses the mark.
- They even manage to goad Homer into joining in on Bart's harassment!
- Even less flanderized characters like Lenny Leonard, Carl Carlson, Groundskeeper Willie, Barney Gumble, and Ralph Wiggum participated in the harassment against Bart, making this very out-of-character of them.
- The whole town dramatically reacts to Bart's missed baseball catch, treating it as though it were a catastrophic event, akin to a criminal offense.
- In this episode, Chief Wiggum displays his most unfavorable behavior. As Bart flees the stadium, he jumps into Wiggum's car, expecting to be driven to safety. Contrarily, Wiggum returns Bart to the stadium, leaving him at the mercy of the furious crowd who bombard him with trash.
- When Bart is on top of the water tower, he literally goads Bart into jumping off the tower. Yes, you heard that right.
- Even after Bart's suicide attempt, the town continues to chant "Bart sucks!" until Marge yells at them to stop.
- This episode is eerily similar to the critically-hated Disney movie Chicken Little, as both the people of Oakey Oaks and Springfield harass Chicken Little and Bart for making one little mistake.
- In fact, it's even worse than Chicken Little because, as horrible as the people of Oakey Oaks were, at least they didn't drive Chicken Little into attempting suicide.
- The townspeople, other than being forced to apologize to the Simpsons, ultimately get off scot-free for their deplorable actions.
- The solution to the problem is lazily written and just plain stupid.
- The humor is weird, nonsensical and awkward. For example, in one scene, Bart moons the entire town, and in another, Moe runs across a baseball field completely naked in which it comes off as fan disservice since Moe is a middle aged man. The jokes in the subplot are even worse - there's one scene where Homer literally humps a mattress.
- This episode depicts baseball fans in a highly negative manner, characterizing them as overly petty individuals who react excessively to minor errors.
- This episode, along with "On a Clear Day, I Can't See My Sister", are torture episodes for Bart Simpson. It's as if the writers of those episodes (Michael Price and Jeff Westbrook, respectively) wanted to let everyone know exactly what they think of Bart (i.e., let out their full hatred of him)
- These guys should honestly be fired, because if you work writing for a show that many people love, then you're supposed to care about the stories you want to tell and the characters on it. What's the point of writing for a show if you hate the characters?!
- It's more likely that Michael Price is letting everyone know what he thinks of not Bart, or the rest of the Simpsons family, but instead the majority of Springfield, given that they have a giant billboard proudly labeling themselves "The Meanest City in America".
- Joe LaBoot, an expy of the late Bill Buckner, hurling abuse at Bart after finding out his name was beyond cruel and an insult to Buckner's legacy.
- What LaBoot did in this episode was so awful that it got him a page on the Loathsome Characters Wiki.
Qualities That Aren't a Bummer
- The scene in which Marge confronts the entire town over their excessive harassment towards Bart is simply awesome.
- Great ending: After Bart recovers from his failed suicide attempt, he gets his respect for everyone again when he manages to catch the decisive ball after the championship game is replayed.
- Some funny moments here and there:
- Grampa Simpson insulting Joe LaBoot after the latter fails to stop Bart from attempting suicide is funny and cathartic.
- "You stink, LaBoot!"
- Lenny's line "Well, I wrote a best-selling series of mystery novels. Stephen King called it 'scary good fun'!" is probably the best line of the entire episode.
- The ending where the elderly Bart and Milhouse discuss the game while Homer and Marge's ghosts watch is pretty funny.
- Grampa Simpson insulting Joe LaBoot after the latter fails to stop Bart from attempting suicide is funny and cathartic.
- Marge, Lisa and Maggie are still supportive of Bart in this episode, and they feel sorry for how he lost the game.
- Lisa and Marge aren't flanderized like they usually are.
- Milhouse was the only non-Simpson who didn't participate in Bart's harassment, which is good since he would NEVER do something as heinous as driving his own best friend into committing suicide.
- To make a long story short: Bart, Lisa, Marge, Maggie and Milhouse are still likeable here.
- Despite is unlikable in the main plot, Homer is likeable in the side plot.
- In the third act, Dr. Hibbert kindly advices Bart's parents that Bart needs some peace and quiet so the boy can recover so he can be likeable as well.
- The beginning of the episode was great until we see it turn into a depressingly horrible and unwatchable episode.
- The side plot of Homer being a mattress salesman and his with Marge's conflict to Lovejoys about their mattress is pretty good and better than the main plot, despite not going anywhere.
- The episode's message (That we shouldn't harrass or publicly shame somebody over something as minor as losing a game) holds up pretty well.
- While Joe LaBoot was cruel to Bart after learning about the game, at least he tried to redeem himself by saving Bart from falling off the water tower. Fortunately, Bart lands in a nearby bush and survives.
Reception and Controversy
The episode received overwhelmingly negative reviews from many Simpsons fans on social media and in real life. Many Simpsons fans consider it to be one of, if not the single, worst Simpsons episodes of all-time due to the town's mean-spirited treatment of Bart.
The episode currently sits at a 5.5 rating on IMDb.
Trivia
- Originally, this episode was set to air on May 6, 2007. However, on April 16, the Virginia Tech massacre took place, less than two weeks before the airdate of "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot!", which prominently featured gunplay in some scenes. Out of sensitivity to the victims of the shootings, Fox moved this episode up in the schedule.
- This episode has been banned from FOX Entertainment and Channel 4 due to the incredibly harsh tones of suicide towards Bart.
Gallery
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These guys are so angry, they even vandalized Barney! Spoiler Alert: that guy was actually Bart himself.
Videos
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