Bart's Birthday
Bart becomes self-aware during a fake series finale.
"Bart's Birthday", also known onscreen as "The Simpsons Series Finale", is the thirty-sixth season premiere of the American animated series The Simpsons and the 769th episode overall. It aired on Fox on September 29, 2024, and was written by Jessica Conrad and directed by Rob Oliver. The episode features guest stars including John Cena, Danny DeVito, Tom Hanks, Joel McHale, Conan O'Brien, Mark Proksch, Seth Rogen, and Amy Sedaris.
Quick Facts
- Season
- 36
- Episode
- 1
- Director
- Rob Oliver
- Writer
- Jessica Conrad
- Production
- 35ABF15
- Air date
- 29 September 2024
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Former guest stars attend a celebration of the series finale hosted by Conan O'Brien, who explains Fox has tried to end the series for decades and shows alternate versions of classic episodes that would have killed Homer. He tasks an AI chatbot called Hack-GPT to generate a finale. Bart needs to distribute his birthday party invitations after Homer forgets to mail them. He passes them out at a school assembly where Principal Skinner announces he is leaving. At the power plant, Mr. Burns pretends to be dead and leaves his fortune to employees; Homer accidentally kills him, and the workers cheer. Bart sees John Cena deliver Kumiko and Comic Book Guy's baby and finds it strange that many people say they will miss a place before turning off lights and closing doors. Milhouse's parents announce they are leaving Springfield. Multiple marriages occur at once, and Raphael turns off the Springfield Tire Fire. Homer and Marge announce their relationship is permanently fixed, and the family will cease to be dysfunctional. Maggie says her first words, and Bart realizes everything is changing. Hack-GPT explains Bart has become self-aware and is rejecting the finale. Bart goes to a taping of Krusty's series finale and tries to prevent it from airing, landing in jail. He is bailed out as Chief Wiggum says he is leaving. The townsfolk throw Bart a surprise 11th birthday party, but he refuses to blow out candles, noting that dead characters like Bleeding Gums Murphy, Frank Grimes, and Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky are present. Bart provokes Homer into strangling him, disrupting the finale and resetting to Bart's 10th birthday. O'Brien is moved that Bart overcame Hack-GPT's finale and announces this is only a season premiere. When asked to create another 800 episodes, Hack-GPT explodes.
Production
Matt Selman, an executive producer on The Simpsons, once felt the show couldn't have a proper series finale because each episode resets and the series lacks ongoing canon. When journalists pressed him on the question during a trip to Australia, he instead imagined a fake finale and worked out the idea with co-showrunner Michael Price and writer Jessica Conrad. The team thought about what Fox might actually do for a real ending and settled on a celebrity-filled celebration. The episode took inspiration from the seventh season's "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular." Selman also linked it to "Lisa the Boy Scout" from season thirty-four, while Price compared it to "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" from season eight. The creators used the episode to comment on AI-generated art, a hot topic during the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. An early AI-generated finale had Bart pulling off the "greatest prank," but James L. Brooks suggested a birthday party instead. To poke fun at fans, they included the real Seymour Skinner from "The Principal and the Pauper" and, to mock media think pieces, had Homer strangle Bart—a move that had sparked discussion after "McMansion & Wife" aired. David Silverman animated the strangling scene in the violent style of the early seasons. Former writer Conan O'Brien appeared as himself, filling the host role Troy McClure had in the 138th episode. O'Brien had previously appeared as himself in "Bart Gets Famous." Amy Sedaris voiced Maggie Simpson after Nancy Cartwright originally recorded the part; Sedaris recorded her line the Thursday before the episode aired. Mark Proksch voiced the AI character Hack-GPT and recorded his role the week before airing.
Cultural references
The act of characters switching off lights and exiting a room pays homage to the final scenes of both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Cheers. The closing credits feature visual nods to the series finales of The Sopranos, M*A*S*H, Mad Men, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Frasier, Succession, and Newhart. In the Frasier homage, Sideshow Bob stands in for Frasier Crane, a character voiced by Kelsey Grammer, who also provides the voice for Sideshow Bob. The montage uses an instrumental version of "They'll Never Stop the Simpsons," originally from the episode "Gump Roast," which itself parodies Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire." Tom Hanks calls Ron Howard "Opie," referencing Howard's role on The Andy Griffith Show. The episode includes allusions to Conan O'Brien's shows Late Night, The Tonight Show, and Conan, along with current Fox programs Animal Control, The Masked Singer, and Farmer Wants a Wife. Hack-GPT is a spoof of the AI chatbot ChatGPT. Shows cited as having strong finales include Breaking Bad and Mad Men, while Seinfeld and Lost are noted for poorly received endings; The Sopranos finale is labeled both good and bad. A ride named "Homer Simpson's Claim-Jumping, Yukon-Rumbling Rock-N-Rollercoaster" is mentioned for Disneyland Shanghai. Bart notes the Sea Captain is seeking a role in a Love Boat revival. O'Brien calls Hanks his "bosom buddy."
Reception
The episode earned a 0.33 rating and was watched by 1.08 million viewers, making it the most-watched show on Fox that night. John Schwarz of Bubbleblabber gave it a 7.5 out of 10, liking the premise of making fun of everyone and everything but feeling commentary could have been sharper if not owned by Disney. Mike Celestino of Laughing Place called it a clever way to hang a lampshade on how anyone involved could end the show. Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter named it one of his favorite television episodes of 2024, saying the show proved it still has creative juice and would not have a better ending when a true finale came. Nick Valdez of Comicbook.com ranked it second on his list of season episodes, feeling it made the series openly defy the fact its finale seemed to come year after year, and concluded the show was not losing steam. The episode was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program at the 77th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Writer Jessica Conrad was nominated for the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production at the 52nd Annie Awards.
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