Bull-E: Difference between revisions

"**Bull-E**"
"Bull-E"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 26; Episode 21
Directed by	Lance Kramer
Written by	Tim Long
Production code	TABF15
Original air date	May 10, 2015
Guest appearances
	Albert Brooks as Dr. Raufbold; Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony; Johnny Mathis as himself;
Episode features
Couch gag	Homer fails at making goal saves, as Maggie continues kicking soccer balls at him until he is buried in them.
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"Bull-E" is the twenty-first episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 573rd overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Lance Kramer and written by Tim Long. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 10, 2015.

In this episode, the town passes an anti-bullying law when Bart is bullied, but Homer is arrested when he is accused of bullying Ned. Albert Brooks guest starred, and musician Johnny Mathis appeared as himself. The episode received positive reviews.

Plot

Bart is not excited about going to his first school dance, but after he accidentally destroys the orange drink machine that Nelson's mom's fiancé brought over, a 5th grade girl is impressed and asks him to dance. Bart then wins the "Best Dancer" trophy and his date asks him to meet her outside, but the bullies are waiting for him and they break his trophy and mock him, leading his date to desert him. After a humiliated Bart tells Marge about the incident, she goes to a City Council meeting and says it is time to make bullies feel scared instead of their victims, and a bill giving the police wide powers to crack down on bullying is passed unanimously.

Chief Wiggum starts out by legitimately arresting bullies like Jimbo, Kearney, and Dolph after they try to steal Bart and Milhouse's sleds. However due to how vaguely the law defines a bully, Wiggum soon begins to arrest anyone he wants to even if they are wrongly accused. Homer, who has abused the new law on anyone who even mildly inconveniences him, gets a taste of his own medicine when Rod and Todd Flanders, fed up with how Homer treats their father Ned, have him arrested and sentenced to 90 days of treatment. While in the center, Homer has an epiphany that he is cruel to Ned because his neighbor is better than him in every way. A distraught Homer begs for forgiveness which an angry Ned refuses several times for how he treated him. But after Homer penitently kneels on Ned's lawn for a long stretch, Ned reluctantly forgives him. The Simpsons and the Flanders then join together and have brunch.

During the episode's subplot, Otto, who's also in the school dance, doesn't even realize that there were drugs in the fruit punch, and that causes him to hallucinate the School Train (a parody of Soul Train). Whilst on his acid trip, he meets Miss Frizzle, who uses her Magic School Bus to see inside his brain. This enrages Otto, so he takes the now shrunken bus and squishes all of the people in it. He wakes up from his dream, only to see that he was arrested and put in court.

Production

In September 2014, an interview was published that revealed that singer Johnny Mathis had recorded lines for The Simpsons. He was able to observe Dan Castellaneta perform before he recorded his part as a gardener who sings a modified version of his song "Chances Are."^[1]

Cultural references

While on drugs, Otto encounters characters that parody the ones from The Magic School Bus^[2] and the episode's title is a reference to the Pixar film WALL-E.

Reception

The episode received a 1.2 rating and was watched by a total of 2.77 million people, making it the most watched show on Fox that night.^[3]

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B, saying "since the Homer-Flanders dynamic can only stretch so far—Flanders has to stay Flanders, Homer Homer—an episode that sets out to seek an emotionally satisfying rapprochement between the two has to earn its eventual big moment, and "Bull-E" comes up just short."^[2]

Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars. He enjoyed the social commentary of the episode and the sight of Moe's seven seconds of cursing.^[4]

Stacy Glanzman of TV Fanatic gave the episode 4.5 of out 5 stars. She liked Homer modulating his voice for different reasons but disliked the repeated instance of Bart's interest in a girl and Otto's hallucination.^[5]

References

^ Fekadu, Mesfin (September 12, 2014). "Q&A: Mathis on new box set, yoga and 'Simpsons'". Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 9, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Perkins, Dennis (May 10, 2015). "The Simpsons: "Bull-E"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
^ Bibel, Sara (May 12, 2015). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time' & 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 14, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
^ Sokol, Tony (May 11, 2015). "The Simpsons: Bull-E Review". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
^ Glanzman, Stacy (May 10, 2015). "The Simpsons Season 26 Episode 21 Review: Bull-E". TV Fanatic. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

External links

"Bull-E" at IMDb
"Bull-E" Archived December 20, 2016, at the Wayback Machine at theSimpsons.com

[1] Fekadu, Mesfin (September 12, 2014). "Q&A: Mathis on new box set, yoga and 'Simpsons'". Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 9, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.

[Perkins-2] Perkins, Dennis (May 10, 2015). "The Simpsons: "Bull-E"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 11, 2015.

[3] Bibel, Sara (May 12, 2015). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time' & 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 14, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.

[4] Sokol, Tony (May 11, 2015). "The Simpsons: Bull-E Review". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 22, 2024.

[5] Glanzman, Stacy (May 10, 2015). "The Simpsons Season 26 Episode 21 Review: Bull-E". TV Fanatic. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2016.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
 {{Infobox Simpsons episode
-| title          = Bull-E
 | image          =
 | caption        =
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 | production     = TABF15
 | airdate        = {{Start date|2015|5|10}}
-| guests         = [[Albert Brooks]] as Dr. Raufbold<br>[[Joe Mantegna]] as Fat Tony<br>[[Johnny Mathis]] as himself
+| guests         = * [[Albert Brooks]] as Dr. Raufbold
+* [[Joe Mantegna]] as [[Fat Tony (The Simpsons)|Fat Tony]]
+* [[Johnny Mathis]] as himself
-| couch_gag      = Homer fails at making goal saves, as Maggie continues kicking soccer balls at him until he is buried in them.
+| couch_gag      = [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] fails at making [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goal saves]], as [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] continues kicking [[Ball (association football)|soccer balls]] at him until he is buried in them.
 | commentary     =
 | prev           = [[Let's Go Fly a Coot]]
 | next           = [[Mathlete's Feat]]
 }}
-"'''Bull-E'''" is the twenty-first episode of the [[The Simpsons (season 26)|twenty-sixth season]] of the American [[animated sitcom]] ''[[The Simpsons]]'', and the 573rd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on May 10, 2015.
+"'''Bull-E'''" is the twenty-first episode of the [[The Simpsons season 26|twenty-sixth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]'', and the 573rd overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by [[Lance Kramer]] and written by [[Tim Long]]. It originally aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on May 10, 2015.
+In this episode, the town passes an anti-bullying law when Bart is bullied, but Homer is arrested when he is accused of bullying Ned. [[Albert Brooks]] guest starred, and musician [[Johnny Mathis]] appeared as himself. The episode received positive reviews.
-The title is a reference to the [[Pixar]] movie ''[[WALL-E]]''
 ==Plot==
-[[Bart Simpson|Bart]] isn't excited about going to his first school dance, but after he accidentally destroys the orange drink machine that [[Nelson Muntz|Nelson]]'s mom's boyfriend brought over, a 5th grade girl is impressed and asks him to dance. Bart then wins the "Best Dancer" trophy and the girl asks him to meet her outside, but the bullies are waiting for him and they break his trophy and mock him, leading the girl to tell him she's leaving and Bart to feel completely humiliated. When Bart tells [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] about the incident, she goes to a [[City Council]] meeting and says it's time to make bullies feel scared instead of their victims, and a bill giving the police wide powers to crack down on bullying is passed unanimously. Prior to the bill being passed, [[Hans Moleman]] initially voted "No" until [[Mayor Quimby]] angrily threatens and shoves him, causing him to change his vote to "Yes".
+[[Bart Simpson|Bart]] is not excited about going to his first school dance, but after he accidentally destroys the orange drink machine that [[Nelson Muntz|Nelson]]'s mom's fiancé brought over, a 5th grade girl is impressed and asks him to dance. Bart then wins the "Best Dancer" trophy and his date asks him to meet her outside, but the bullies are waiting for him and they break his trophy and mock him, leading his date to desert him. After a humiliated Bart tells [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] about the incident, she goes to a [[City Council]] meeting and says it is time to make bullies feel scared instead of their victims, and a bill giving the police wide powers to crack down on bullying is passed unanimously.
-[[Chief Wiggum]] starts out by legitimately arresting bullies like [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Jimbo Jones|Jimbo]], Kearney, and Dolph after they try to steal Bart and [[Milhouse Van Houten|Milhouse]]'s sleds. However due to how vaguely the law defines a bully, the police can arrest almost anyone, which Chief Wiggum soon begins to do even if they are wrongly accused. [[Homer Simpson|Homer]], who has abused the new law on anyone who even mildly inconveniences him, gets a taste of his own medicine when [[Ned Flanders|Rod & Todd Flanders]] (who are fed up with how Homer treats Ned) have him arrested and he's been sentenced to 90 days of treatment. While in the center, Homer has an epiphany that he is cruel to Ned because his neighbor is better than Homer in every way, and Homer is then held up as a paragon of reform and celebrated. However, Ned doesn't accept this ridiculous logic and bluntly tells Homer that Ned won’t forgive him for his actions. A distraught Homer begs for forgiveness which Ned refuses several times. But after Homer penitently kneels on Ned's lawn for a long stretch, Ned tells him he is forgiven. The Simpsons and the Flanders then join together and have brunch.
+[[Chief Wiggum]] starts out by legitimately arresting bullies like [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Jimbo Jones|Jimbo]], Kearney, and Dolph after they try to steal Bart and [[Milhouse Van Houten|Milhouse]]'s sleds. However due to how vaguely the law defines a bully, Wiggum soon begins to arrest anyone he wants to even if they are wrongly accused. [[Homer Simpson|Homer]], who has abused the new law on anyone who even mildly inconveniences him, gets a taste of his own medicine when [[Rod Flanders|Rod]] and [[Todd Flanders]], fed up with how Homer treats their father Ned, have him arrested and sentenced to 90 days of treatment. While in the center, Homer has an epiphany that he is cruel to Ned because his neighbor is better than him in every way. A distraught Homer begs for forgiveness which an angry Ned refuses several times for how he treated him. But after Homer penitently kneels on Ned's lawn for a long stretch, Ned reluctantly forgives him. The Simpsons and the Flanders then join together and have brunch.
+During the episode's subplot, Otto, who's also in the school dance, doesn't even realize that there were drugs in the fruit punch, and that causes him to hallucinate the School Train (a parody of Soul Train). Whilst on his acid trip, he meets Miss Frizzle, who uses her Magic School Bus to see inside his brain. This enrages Otto, so he takes the now shrunken bus and squishes all of the people in it. He wakes up from his dream, only to see that he was arrested and put in court.
+==Production==
+In September 2014, an interview was published that revealed that singer [[Johnny Mathis]] had recorded lines for ''The Simpsons''. He was able to observe [[Dan Castellaneta]] perform before he recorded his part as a gardener who sings a modified version of his song "[[Chances Are (song)|Chances Are]]."<ref>{{cite web|last=Fekadu|first=Mesfin|url=https://apnews.com/article/6db49dc01cda47768567a2db4b5a0dc8|title=Q&A: Mathis on new box set, yoga and 'Simpsons'|website=[[Associated Press]]|date=September 12, 2014|access-date=July 9, 2023|archive-date=July 9, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709223226/https://apnews.com/article/6db49dc01cda47768567a2db4b5a0dc8|url-status=live}}</ref>
+==Cultural references==
+While on drugs, Otto encounters characters that parody the ones from ''[[The Magic School Bus]]''<ref name="Perkins"/> and the episode's title is a reference to the [[Pixar]] film ''[[WALL-E]]''.
 ==Reception==
-The episode received a 1.2 rating and was watched by a total of 2.77 million people, making it the most watched show on Fox that night.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/05/12/sunday-final-ratings-once-upon-a-time-rooklyn-nine-nine-adjusted-up/402844/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514165159/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/05/12/sunday-final-ratings-once-upon-a-time-rooklyn-nine-nine-adjusted-up/402844/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 14, 2015|title=Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time' & 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Adjusted Up|last=Bibel|first=Sara|work=TV by the Numbers|date=May 12, 2015|accessdate=May 12, 2015}}</ref>
+The episode received a 1.2 rating and was watched by a total of 2.77 million people, making it the most watched show on Fox that night.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/05/12/sunday-final-ratings-once-upon-a-time-rooklyn-nine-nine-adjusted-up/402844/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514165159/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/05/12/sunday-final-ratings-once-upon-a-time-rooklyn-nine-nine-adjusted-up/402844/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 14, 2015|title=Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time' & 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Adjusted Up|last=Bibel|first=Sara|work=[[TV by the Numbers]]|date=May 12, 2015|access-date=May 12, 2015}}</ref>
+Dennis Perkins of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave the episode a B, saying "since the Homer-Flanders dynamic can only stretch so far—Flanders has to stay Flanders, Homer Homer—an episode that sets out to seek an emotionally satisfying rapprochement between the two has to earn its eventual big moment, and "Bull-E" comes up just short."<ref name="Perkins">{{cite web|last=Perkins |first=Dennis |url=http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/simpsons-bull-e-219206 |title=The Simpsons: "Bull-E" |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=2015-05-10 |access-date=2015-05-11}}</ref>
+[[Tony Sokol]] of ''[[Den of Geek]]'' gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars. He enjoyed the social commentary of the episode and the sight of Moe's seven seconds of cursing.<ref>{{cite web|first=Tony|last=Sokol|author-link=Tony Sokol|date=May 11, 2015|title=The Simpsons: Bull-E Review|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-simpsons-bull-e-review/|website=[[Den of Geek]]|access-date=July 22, 2024|archive-date=July 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723031923/https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-simpsons-bull-e-review/|url-status=live}}</ref>
-Dennis Perkins of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave the episode a B, saying "since the Homer-Flanders dynamic can only stretch so far—Flanders has to stay Flanders, Homer Homer—an episode that sets out to seek an emotionally satisfying rapprochement between the two has to earn its eventual big moment, and "Bull-E" comes up just short."<ref>{{cite web|last=Perkins |first=Dennis |url=http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/simpsons-bull-e-219206 |title=The Simpsons: "Bull-E" |publisher=Avclub.com |date=2015-05-10 |accessdate=2015-05-11}}</ref>
-Stacy Glanzman of TV Fanatic gave the episode 4.5/5.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.tvfanatic.com/2015/05/the-simpsons-season-26-episode-21-review-bull-e/|title=The Simpsons Season 26 Episode 21 Review: Bull-E|date=2015-05-10|newspaper=TV Fanatic|access-date=2016-12-13}}</ref>
+Stacy Glanzman of ''TV Fanatic'' gave the episode 4.5 of out 5 stars. She liked Homer modulating his voice for different reasons but disliked the repeated instance of Bart's interest in a girl and Otto's hallucination.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Stacy|last=Glanzman|url=https://www.tvfanatic.com/2015/05/the-simpsons-season-26-episode-21-review-bull-e/|title=The Simpsons Season 26 Episode 21 Review: Bull-E|date=2015-05-10|newspaper=TV Fanatic|access-date=2016-12-13|archive-date=March 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305223314/https://www.tvfanatic.com/2015/05/the-simpsons-season-26-episode-21-review-bull-e/|url-status=live}}</ref>
 ==References==
@@ Line 35: / Line 46: @@
 == External links ==
+{{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_26#Bull-E|"Bull-E"}}
+{{Portal|The Simpsons}}
 * {{IMDb episode|4437970}}
+* [http://www.simpsonsworld.com/video/442879555692 "Bull-E"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220112541/http://www.simpsonsworld.com/video/442879555692 |date=December 20, 2016 }} at theSimpsons.com
-* {{Tv.com episode|3076046}}
-* [http://www.simpsonsworld.com/video/442879555692 "Bull-E"] at theSimpsons.com
 {{The Simpsons episodes|26}}
 [[Category:2015 American television episodes]]
-[[Category:The Simpsons (season 26) episodes]]
+[[Category:The Simpsons season 26 episodes]]
 [[Category:Television episodes about bullying]]
+[[Category:Television episodes written by Tim Long]]

v t e The Simpsons episodes
Seasons 1–20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Season 21–present 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Season 26	"Clown in the Dumps" "The Wreck of the Relationship" "Super Franchise Me" "Treehouse of Horror XXV" "Opposites A-Frack" "Simpsorama" "Blazed and Confused" "Covercraft" "I Won't Be Home for Christmas" "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner" "Bart's New Friend" "The Musk Who Fell to Earth" "Walking Big & Tall" "My Fare Lady" "The Princess Guide" "Sky Police" "Waiting for Duffman" "Peeping Mom" "The Kids Are All Fight" "Let's Go Fly a Coot" "Bull-E" "Mathlete's Feat"
Themed episodes	Treehouse of Horror list
See also	The Simpsons episode guides "The Simpsons Guy"
Category