Just a great episode. Immediately, the animation feels that extra bit smoother and the voice acting feels more up to sniff. Such a touching story and the "I tried as hard as I could and I'm still a failure" climax scene gives me the chills . Boy I relate to Bart in this episode. Maybe there isn't quite as much humour here but the drama more than makes up for it.
[7.2/10] This isn’t the funniest episode of The Simpsons, but it may be one of the show’s most relatable episodes. It’s not that “Bart Gets and F” doesn't have its laughs -- the Founding Fathers sequence is a hoot and Bart’s final “part of the credit for this D- belongs to God” line is wry in the best tradition of the show -- but the humor is more gentle and observational than the packed-full-of-gags approach the series would more typically follow later. This is, frankly, more of a drama, which certainly takes some sideways or silly views of a young man’s efforts and procrastinations, but is more concerned about the honest-to-goodness struggles of this well-meaning but flawed little boy.
As I often say, that’s not a bad thing! I’m not sure that most Simpsons episodes can boast the catharsis of when Bart breaks down in tears and yet somehow manages to win the day by the slimmest of margins. The episode works because, after initially showing the lengths that Bart will go to not to have to work or study, it shows the lengths he’ll go to in order to genuinely try to live up to his potential, and the roadblocks, internal and external, that seem made to make him stumble no matter how hard he tries.
Almost anyone can relate to that. While I’d suspect that only a small percentage of Simpsons-watchers have been threatened with being held back, most of us can sympathize with having some assignment or project or deadline that we just can’t get our brains to focus on until it’s time to face the music. The opening act, the episode’s weakest, is all about Bart doing his usual conniving con artist routine to get out of his poor history assignments. But from then on, the show becomes about his good intentions and genuine efforts to straighten up and fly right when repeating the fourth grade is at stake, and his understandable difficulties in making that happen.
With that, the show cuts loose and has a little fun. The sequences where Bart turns to Martin, offering to teach the class nerd to be cool if he’ll teach Bart how to study, are lots of fun. And the ensuing bits about the Founding Fathers and the town’s winter wonderland fun are a little gratuitous, but also quite amusing. It’s here that the show lets itself stay light while still advancing the tale.
And it’s a good tale. The rub in the last act -- with Bart failing but showing genuine understanding and engagement with the material and succeeding because of it -- is sharp writing that connects Bart’s struggle to his studies. The ending thereafter is appropriately exaltant, and is undercut nicely by Bart’s teacher-kissing revulsion and refrigerated-taped warmth.
Overall, say what you will about the show not being quite as laugh-out-loud funny in these early years, but it still knew how to tell a damn good story.
This is a perfect episode, one of my favorites.
This episode was amazing, I guess it is true that the old episodes are the best. There are so many ways that we can relate to Bart in this episode.
Shout by Mista LukaBlockedParent2022-01-04T14:44:30Z
“Bart Gets an F” is a great episode to start this second season. Already you can see how much this show has improved in terms of writing, voice acting, and animation since the first season. While not a particularly funny episode, the drama mostly makes up for it, with Bart’s struggles resonating strongly. You can't help but feel sorry for him after failing because you know he genuinely tried. It was good to see him pass in the end, as it doesn't feel contrived.
Overall, this is the first great episode of The Simpsons, in my opinion.