Looking for Mr. Goodbart

"Looking for Mr. Goodbart" is the twentieth episode of the twenty-eighth season of the animated television series The Simpsons, and the 616th episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on April 30, 2017 and the United Kingdom on Sky 1 on May 12, 2017.

"Looking for Mr. Goodbart"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 28
Episode 20 (616th overall)
Directed byMichael Polcino
Written byCarolyn Omine
Production codeWABF13
Original air dateApril 30, 2017 (2017-04-30)
Guest appearance(s)

Valerie Harper as Ma-Ma
Jennifer Saunders as Phoebe Pratt

Episode features
Couch gagMaggie's scene from the Simpsons short "Good Night" and a spoof of The Big Bang Theory opening sequence

In the episode, Bart accompanies elderly women in exchange for gifts, and befriends one woman who he realizes is suicidal. Meanwhile, Homer becomes addicted to the augmented reality game Peekimon Get (a parody of Pokémon Go).

The episode was watched by 2 million viewers, making it the second-most viewed show on Fox that night. For her performance as Bart, Nancy Cartwright was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.

Plot

The episode begins in medias res, in which Bart Simpson appears to be mannerly. Bart breaks the fourth wall by asking the viewer whether he would like to know why Bart changed. Bart then flashes back to the start.

Two months earlier at Grandparents' Day, Bart changes the lyrics of a song for the grandparents visiting, and Principal Skinner takes him to detention. Grampa stops them, saying he's strong to punish a little boy but he'd be scared to punish a veteran. Skinner does that and punishes him to write "I just wrote one and I'm already tired" on the blackboard. As Skinner is thinking of a punishment for Bart, his mother Agnes Skinner walks in and asks him to take her to the bus stop. Skinner sends Bart, who gets on the bus with her to the candy store. After learning that he can be given gifts for accompanying elderly women, he spends time with many others. One, Phoebe, catches on to what he is doing, but settles to give him money if he can pick her up four days in a row from her nursing home. Meanwhile, Homer becomes addicted to the augmented reality game Peekimon Get (a parody of Pokémon Go). He causes accidents and embarrassment while playing, but Lisa believes that the game is helping him exercise, so she encourages him to play and accompanies him. When he discovers that he can buy in-game content with real money, Lisa begrudgingly agrees to it and Homer spends $600 of the family's savings.

Bart arrives at the nursing home and takes Phoebe out in the woods to admire the nature together. After four days, she gives him the promised money, but he refuses it. Having acknowledged that he changed, Phoebe gives him her camera, saying that she has "bequeathed" it to him. After learning the meaning of the word, Bart realizes that Phoebe had been mentioning plans to commit suicide. Bart turns to Homer and Lisa, who enlist other Peekimon Get players for help finding Phoebe in the woods. They find her alive and she thanks Bart for showing that she still has a lot to live for.

Bart finishes his narration, having learned that it is wrong to play with women's hearts and take advantage of the elderly. At the retirement home, he tells his story to Grampa and apologizes to him for embarrassing him, though Grampa complains about how long the story has been. Marge discovers that Homer had spent their money, but once he assures her that the game will soon fade away, learns to be content with it. During the end credits, Homer and Lisa sing a parody of the original Pokémon anime theme tune.

Reception
Nancy Cartwright received an Emmy nomination for her voice performance as Bart

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B, stating "'Looking For Mr. Goodbart’ isn’t boring. But it doesn’t quite land as hard as it appears it’s going to for a time. The script really does lay the foundation for it—Bart and Phoebe’s mutual admiration makes sense in context, and both actors find the emotional truth there. I like how Phoebe’s unimpressed reaction to Bart’s scam turns to genuine appreciation once she, among other things, sees Bart enjoying nature (in the form of a losing fight with a praying mantis). Walking off with Bart, she talks about them going ‘inside that Milhouse you love so much.’ (She thought it was a house, don’t be weird). Set straight, Saunders’ offhand ‘Oh well, there you go,’ once last time, hints at the rounded person who gave Bart’s little epiphany someone real to bounce off of.”[1]

Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 2/5 stars. He praised the premise and the performance of guest star Jennifer Saunders as Phoebe, but noted a lack of jokes and criticized an extended opening sequence as a way to fill time.[2]

"Looking For Mr. Goodbart" scored a 1.0 rating with a 4 share and was watched by 2.30 million viewers, making it Fox's second highest rated show of the night.[3]

For her performance as Bart, Nancy Cartwright was nominated for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance at the 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards,[4] which was awarded to Seth MacFarlane for the Family Guy episode "The Boys in the Band".[5]

Controversy

Russian cable channel 2x2 refused to air the episode due to a scene in which Homer plays Peekimon Get in church. The scene was similar to an ongoing incident in Russia, in which atheist blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky was on trial for blasphemy, having made a video of himself playing Pokémon Go at the Church of All Saints, Yekaterinburg and claiming that he could not find Jesus because Jesus did not exist.[6] Amnesty International called this "worrying self-censorship".[7] The episode had eventually aired on April 2018, but without the scene in question included in the airing.

References
  1. Perkins, Dennis (2017-04-30). ""Looking For Mr. Goodbart" · The Simpsons · TV Review Bart's just a gigolo as The Simpsons hunts for some heart · TV Club · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2017-05-06.
  2. Tony Sokol (2017-04-30). "The Simpsons Season 28 Episode 20 Review: Looking for Mr. Goodbart". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2017-05-06.
  3. Porter, Rick (May 2, 2017). "'Chicago Justice,' 'America's Funniest Home Videos' adjust up: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  4. Hill, Libby (July 13, 2017). "How Nancy Cartwright's Emmy nomination is technically a first for her 28 years of work on 'The Simpsons'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  5. Bright, Charles (September 9, 2017). "Seth MacFarlane wins Best Voice-Over Performance Emmy for "Family Guy" at Creative Arts ceremony". Gold Derby. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  6. Martinelli, Marissa (May 5, 2017). "The Simpsons' Episode About Pokémon Go Will Not Air in Russia Due to Religious Controversy". Slate. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  7. "Russian YouTuber convicted of blasphemy after playing Pokémon Go in a church". Amnesty International. May 11, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
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