Bart the Lover
In the episode, Bart, playing a prank on his teacher Edna Krabappel, responds to her personal ad as a man named Woodrow, which goes off the rails.
The subplot where Homer tries to clean up his language was written partially in response to the complaints the writers had been getting about the amount of cursing on the show.
The writers had originally wanted to use a picture of American football player Johnny Unitas, but were unable to get the rights to use his image.
Springfield Elementary School teacher Edna Krabappel, feeling increasingly lonely and isolated due to the lack of a male presence in her life, places a personal ad in the newspaper.
During a detention session where Edna is not present, Bart rummages through her desk for his yo-yo and discovers her personal ad, ultimately deciding to respond to it as a prank.
Using dialogue from old romance films as well as Homer's old love letters to Marge, Bart tells Edna what she wants to hear, increasing her romantic interest in Woodrow.
[4] Near the end of the episode, there is a montage where Homer has a series of bad experiences that cause him to curse, although the scene always cuts out before he can be heard swearing.
[3] The ending of the episode was largely pitched by James L. Brooks, who wanted a scene where the entire family got together to write Woodrow's final letter to Edna.
The writers had originally wanted to use a picture of American football player Johnny Unitas, but were unable to get the rights to use his image for free.
[7] At the end of the episode, Howe's NHL and WHA statistics are shown because the writers decided to try something different in filling a slight time under-run.
[3] King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew's name appears on a paper Edna Krabappel is grading during detention.
"[5] In its original airing on Fox during February sweeps, the episode had a 12.9 Nielsen rating and was viewed in approximately 11.88 million homes.
[11] Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict said "Bart the Lover" represents The Simpsons "at its apex as a well tuned talent machine grinding out the good stuff with surprising accuracy and skill".
"[13] 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.
"[14] 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.
[15] 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.
"[16] 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.
[17] In 2004, ESPN released a list of the Top 100 Simpsons sport moments, ranking Gordie Howe's image in the episode at number 34.
