Bart the Genius

Bart cheats on an aptitude test, and gets sent to a School for young geniuses.

It's a really good example of what these early Simpsons episodes were all about, raw, original and funny.

We're introduced to Bart's teacher and school mates, we learn the role he plays at school, the class clown, the Joker.

I love how raw the animations are in the early years, I think that really does add to the charm.

It's a winner, (weiner) 8/10.

Bart the Genius continues Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire's good work introducing the cast while providing more laughs than the opening episode.

For most episodes in the early seasons Bart was the star of the show and this is the clearest indication. There is no discernible B story, instead we only see the family react to the unexpected news that Bart is a gifted child.

The episode opens with a real slice of Americana as the family sit down to play scrabble. It doesn't take long for this illusion to be shattered however and for The Simpsons to show how different it is to other comedies available at the time.

Homer and Marge agonise over what words to play before choosing 'he' and 'do'. When Lisa plays 'id' nobody believes her until she rescues the dusty dictionary from under the couch to prove it.

We only had a brief glimpse into Springfield Elementary in the first episode, Bart the Genius dives into Bart's school life in a lot more detail. Martin is absolutely insufferable on debut, much more abrasive than he will later be which means we feel no sympathy when Bart takes his place.

Bart and Homer have never been closer than they are in this episode and it seems set up for a touching finale. As the sentimental music starts and Bart comes clean about his deception you can almost hear Homer's response before he says anything, 'It's ok son, we love you for who you are. Always be yourself.' Instead Homer shouts and chases Bart through the house forcing him to lock himself in his room.

From the get go The Simpsons was determined to show it wasn't your typical family sitcom. The fact they were able to do this with so much heart was truly a work of genius.

The animation is still the slightly rougher style of the first episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, but already, with this first regular episode, Bart the Genius, the humor is beginning to be more "layered", quicker and greater depth of characterization is already appearing.

This episode firmly establishes Bart's "slacker" personality, and more subtly, Lisa's intellectual superiority to the whole family. Although that's the main theme of the whole episode (there's also a nice secondary theme of Bart and Homer's father/son relationship), it's given to us first in a nutshell as the episode opens with the Simpsons playing Scrabble. Lisa comes up with "id" for her word--short, but something you have to be well educated to know. She has to read the definition to the rest of the family from the dictionary, which has been serving as a way to prop up the couch. Marge can only come up with "he". Homer has "oxidize" already sitting on his tray in order, but doesn't recognize that it's a word, so he presents "do" instead. Bart comes up with "kwyjibo", which he insists is a word. Similarly, in the main plot line of the episode, Bart cheats on his IQ test, which leads to his being put into a special school full of gifted kids. We know that's not likely to last long.

"The Simpsons" has always had a lot of fun playing with varying degrees of intellectual abilities among people through its characters, and more importantly, they way that people with vary degrees of intellectual abilities fit into (or not), are accepted (or not) and are perceived in society. Aside from beginning to present Bart, Lisa, Homer and Marge's place in this context, this episode already starts respectfully poking fun at nerds and geeks outside of the Simpsons family. Via some of the dialogue from the students at the special school, as well as some of the other references, including purely visual ones, this episode also shows that "The Simpsons" isn't going to pull any punches by means of writing or talking down to its audience. It may be just a cartoon, but it's a cartoon that intellectuals, geeks and nerds are going to understand more than anyone else. And that fact, aside from it just being a very funny show, is the key to the show's longevity.

In "Bart the Genius" can be seen the seeds that would go onto define the greatness of The Simpsons. While the animation is still rough and lacks the beautiful smoothness of the majority of the show's golden age, and while some of the voice work is not what would go onto become a staple of the series (namely Homer's very deep voice in these episodes), the episode manages to bring forth the heart that has made the series a timeless staple of media.

The single greatest aspect of the episode is Bart and the episode perfectly nails everything that has made the character so endearing and enduring. He's a troublemaker, he's lazy, he craves a relationship with his father, he tries to be better and ultimately admits to his own mistakes. In this episode, Bart swaps an IQ test with class genius Martin and due to 'his' remarkable results is given the chance to attend an intellectual school for gifted kids. He accepts when he realizes the freelance nature of studying and very soon comes to realize his place there.

The part of the episode in which Homer begins to dote on his son and the two share a healthy and touching relationship is a story that the show would come to time and time again, always to great success. Here it works but perhaps not as well as when the show REALLY finds its footing.

While the episode can be a little dry on humour, there's some amusing moments with Homer such as the joke about his atrociously childish handwriting or the doctor casually insulting Homer's intelligence by suggesting that Bart's genius bears no resemblance on his heredity. More importantly, there's great heart behind this episode and while the episode isn't quite part of the show's Golden Age, it's still pretty impressive.

There's a lot of fun to be had watching these early episodes and seeing how the show went from this to what it ultimately became.

Martin as Bart's enemy, Homer not being dim - how times change!

This episode is smart, it's funny, and it's heartfelt- what more could you want?