- "What's everyone so worked up about? So there's a comet. Big deal. It'll burn up in our atmosphere, and what's ever left will be no bigger than a chihuahua's head."
- ―Homer Simpson
| "Bart's Comet"
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| Episode Information
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"Bart's Comet" is the fourteenth episode of broadcast season 6 of The Simpsons and the one hundred seventeenth episode overall. It originally aired on February 5, 1995. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Bob Anderson.
Synopsis
- The townspeople think that Springfield's days are numbered when Bart discovers a comet is heading straight for them. They must then decide who will brave the comet's arrival and who can stay in the Flanders' bomb shelter.
Plot
It is Science Week at Springfield Elementary School and Principal Skinner is getting ready to launch his weather balloon, which even Bart Simpson is cheering for. Skinner launches the balloon and Bart pulls on a string, which causes parts of it to unfurl and reveal that Bart has vandalized it to make "Big Butt Skinner", horrifying Skinner. Skinner tells the students that whoever knocks the balloon down won't have to learn fractions, so they all start throwing rocks at it. However, the balloon gets away from the students and Skinner gives Bart detention helping him take astronomical readings at 4:30 in the morning.
Bart arrives at school in the early morning to help Skinner. Skinner tells Bart that he's always wanted to discover an astronomical object and have it named after him and that he came close to doing so one time, but someone else beat him to it. So he started bringing a cell phone with him to call the Springfield Observatory quicker. After an uneventful few hours, Skinner spots something and phones the observatory, only to realize that it's the weather balloon. Skinner realizes the balloon is close to the ground, so he goes to try and catch it, telling Bart not to play with the telescope. Bart ignores him and immediately starts messing with the telescope, only to discover a comet in the sky. Bart calls the observatory and has the comet named the "Bart Simpson Comet", upsetting Skinner when he returns with the weather balloon, causing the balloon to escape again.
After Bart's discovery, the Superfriends invite Bart to join them, calling him "Cosmos". When Database asks if Bart could show them the comet one night, Bart tells them to look out the window. The nerds are shocked to see the comet so close to them as this means it's on a collision course with Springfield. The Superfriends and Bart head to the Springfield Observatory to report it to them and soon an emergency siren is going off in town. A meeting is called at the Springfield Town Hall where Mayor Quimby and Professor Frink reveal a plan to launch a rocket at the comet to break it apart and save the town. This alleviates the fears of the townspeople who all watch the rocket launch. However, the rocket misses the comet and destroys the Only Bridge Out of Town instead, trapping everyone in Springfield.
As the people of Springfield have only six hours to live, the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. has a vote on a bill to evacuate the people of Springfield. However, because congressman Bob Arnold tacks on a rider for $30 million of taxpayer money to support the perverted arts, the bill is denied. Homer isn't worried as he believes that the comet will burn up in the atmosphere and end up no bigger than a chihuahua's head. Since the rest of the family aren't so convinced, Homer takes them to the Flanders family bomb shelter, which Ned had built big enough to support both families. As they settle in for the end, more people turn up at the shelter wanting in because they don't have shelters of their own. Ned lets them in and the shelter becomes so full the door can't close. The people try to work out who to kick out of the shelter so they can close the door and eventually settle on Ned.
After Ned is kicked out, he heads to the top of a nearby hill and begins singing "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)". Meanwhile, the people in the shelter try to pass the time by playing a barnyard animal guessing game, which leads to arguments. Homer decides to leave the shelter and face the end with Ned, and soon everybody else follows him. As they gather on the hill, the comet begins breaking up in the atmosphere and ends up no bigger than a chihuahua's head, just as Homer predicted. As the townspeople leave to burn down the observatory so this never happens again, Bart pockets the remains of the comet and the Simpsons are worried about Homer's prediction being correct.
In other languages
| Language
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Name
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Translation
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 Deutsch
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"Barts Komet"
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Bart's Comet
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 Español
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"El cometa de Bart"
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Bart's Comet
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 Español
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"El cometa de Bart"
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Bart's Comet
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 Français
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"La Comète de Bart"
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Bart's Comet
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 Français
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"La Comète Bart"
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Bart's Comet
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 Italiano
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"La cometa di Bart"
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Bart's comet
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 Português
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"O cometa Bart"
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Bart's Comet
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 日本語
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"スプリングフィールド最期の日"
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Springfield's last day
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