Reception
In its original airing on the Fox Network during February sweeps, the episode had a 12.9 Nielsen rating and was viewed in approximately 11.88 million homes. It finished the week of February 10–16, 1992 ranked 29th, up from the season's average rank of 39th. The Simpsons was the second highest rated show on Fox that week, after Married... with Children.
Marcia Wallace, the voice of Mrs. Krabappel, won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for her role in the episode. She was one of six voice-actors from The Simpsons to win the award that year. She is one of three guest stars on the show to win the award. The other two are Jackie Mason, who shared the award in 1992, and Kelsey Grammer who won in 2006 for voicing Sideshow Bob.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It was named the eighth best episode of The Simpsons by Sarah Culp of The Quindecim. Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict said "Bart the Lover" represent The Simpsons "at its apex as a well tuned talent machine grinding out the good stuff with surprising accuracy and skill." Gibron added that the episode shows that the made-up romance between Mrs. Krabappel and Woodrow "works because it's so painfully true. How the kiss-off to Mrs. Krabappel is created and handled shows that The Simpsons has heart to add to its humor." Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed gave the episode a 5/5 rating. He thought the intertwining of the two plots in the episode "works very well, creating a fast paced story. Bart's alias, Woodrow, is a delight to hear in voice-overs and Homer's antics produce many laughs." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said "Bart the Lover" stands out as a "very strong episode" because it "steers clear of most potentially sappy material and offers a lively piece. The 'B' story in which Homer tries not to swear also swings and creates some great moments." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said they "loved" Homer's suggestion for the kiss-off letter from Woodrow: "Dear Baby. Welcome to Dumpsville, population: you. P.S. I am gay." In 2000, the staff of the Star Tribune listed their top ten episodes. "Bart the Lover" was listed at number four.
In the July 26, 2007 issue of Nature, the scientific journal's editorial staff listed an education film seen in the episode among "The Top Ten science moments in The Simpsons", writing: "'Thank goodness I still live in a world of telephones, car batteries, handguns and many things made of zinc,' says Jimmy, a character in an educational film. When confronted with a world without zinc he attempts suicide but fails, as his zinc-free gun cannot work." In 2002, Bill Brioux of The Canadian Press ranked the episode and its use of Gordie Howe as the top reference to Canada on the show. In 2004, ESPN released a list of the Top 100 Simpsons sport moments, ranking Gordie Howe's image in the episode at number 34.
Read more about this topic: Bart The Lover
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
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