"Bart Has Two Mommies" is the fourteenth episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

''. It originally aired on the

Fox network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...

in the United States on March 19, 2006. The episode was written by

Dana Gould Dana Gould (; born August 24, 1964) is an American stand-up comic, actor, writer, and voice artist who has been featured on HBO, Showtime, and Comedy Central. He voiced the titular character in the '' Gex'' franchise, and wrote for ''The Simpso ...

and directed by Michael Marcantel. In the episode, Marge babysits for Flanders' sons while Bart is kidnapped by a

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

. Baseball player

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...

and actress

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

voiced themselves. The episode received mixed reviews.

Plot

The Simpson family attend a church fundraiser for a new steeple.

Ned Flanders Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr., commonly referred to by his surname, is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an ...

wins a

rubber duck A rubber duck, or a rubber duckie, is a toy shaped like a duck, that is usually yellow with a flat base. It may be made of rubber or rubber-like material such as vinyl plastic. Rubber ducks were invented in the late 19th century when it became ...

racing contest and is awarded a computer, although he gives it to

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...

because he does not have any use for it. Marge babysits Rod and Todd while Ned attends a left-handed convention to repay the favor. She finds that all the games they play are boring and overly safe, such as a "sitting still contest," and helps Rod and Todd have fun by encouraging them to liven up. At the left-handed convention, Ned meets baseball hall of famer

(who was then playing for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

), who is there to pitch his own line of teddy bears called Randy Johnson's Southpawz. After asking Johnson if he has any mailman teddy bears, the pitcher tells Ned that a teddy bear can't be a mailman. Johnson then asks Ned how many doctor bears he wants as they come in a box of 1,000. When Ned tells him he only wants one box, this makes Johnson angry with Ned. With Marge spending so much time at the Flanders' house, Homer, Bart, and Lisa go to an animal sanctuary for retired film animals. Bart sees an elderly female

named Toot-Toot and offers her some ice cream, only to be taken into her cage and "adopted." Ned comes home and sees Todd wearing a Band-Aid, having injured himself during one of Marge's games. Marge encourages Ned to let his kids start taking more risks, showing him a flyer for a child-safe activity center. Marge takes Rod and Todd to the activity center. Ned follows her and is surprised to see Rod climbing a structure, yelling that he will get hurt. Rod gets worried and falls, chipping a tooth against the structure. A news broadcast plays about Bart's kidnapping, shocking Marge and causing everyone at the center to view her as an unfit mother. Following this, Ned starts child-proofing the house, although Rod and Todd protest and tell him that they liked having Marge over. Lisa suggests that Toot-Toot is keeping Bart captive because her real son has gone missing. When Marge goes into the cage to talk to Toot-Toot, she escapes and climbs atop the unfinished church steeple, which

Reverend Lovejoy The Reverend, Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy, Jr. is a recurring character in the Animated cartoon, animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Rev. Lovejo ...

, anticipating the worst, pledges to name in Bart's memory. With Toot-Toot's son, Mr. Teeny, Rod climbs up the steeple and Ned encourages him. Toot-Toot happily reunites with Mr. Teeny and lets Bart go. In a mid-credits scene, Maude Flanders looks down from Heaven, proud that Rod is growing up.

Production

This episode was recorded on May 9, 2005, and the script was finalized for the first time on May 27, 2005. Actress

voiced herself as the voice of the FeMac computer won by Ned. Sarandon previous guest starred as a ballet teacher in the sixth season episode " Homer vs. Patty and Selma". Left-handed pitcher

makes a cameo appearance at the Left-Handed convention selling his own line of left-handed teddy bears.

Cultural references

The episode title refers to the children's book '' Heather Has Two Mommies''. The FeMac computer is a parody of the

iMac G4 The iMac G4 is an all-in-one personal computer designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from January 2002 to August 2004. The computer is comprised of a hemispheric base that holds the components, including a PowerPC G4 processor, ...

, and it runs AOL software.

Purported foreshadowing

In 2016, the incident with the gorilla

Harambe Harambe ( ; May 27, 1999 – May 28, 2016) was a western lowland gorilla who lived at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Cincinnati Zoo. On May 28, 2016, a three-year-old boy visiting the zoo climbed under a fence into an outdoor gorilla ...

generated reports that the subplot involving Bart and the chimpanzee was a purported foreshadowing of the event.

Reception

Viewing figures

The episode earned a 3.1 rating and was watched by 8.67 million viewers, which was the 48th most-watched show that week.

Critical response

Adam Finley of ''

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles, and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could b ...

'' said the main plot of Marge and the Flanders children was "okay but forgettable." He highlighted Homer's attempt to retrieve his rubber duck and the Flanders children playing on the seesaw. Colin Jacobson of ''DVD Movie Guide'' said the story of Marge with Rod and Todd was "positive" but disliked the Bart subplot. On ''Four Finger Discount'', Guy Davis and Brendan Dando said the main plot with the Flanders children was relatable but they thought the subplot with Bart was "random".

References

External links

* {{The Simpsons episodes, 17 The Simpsons season 17 episodes 2006 American television episodes