Bart to the Future

Season 11, Episode 17, Aired
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Episode Summary

The Simpsons go to an Indian casino when their vacation plans fall apart. Bart encounters a wise Indian chief who tells him his future. Bart becomes a pot-smoking, unemployed slacker who has Ralph Wiggum as his roommate. He regularly begs a blinded Flanders for money (Rod and Todd are gay). Bart tries to lead a band, but he fails. With Lisa as the newly elected President of the United States, he goes to mooch from her. She is very ashamed of him and she is also busy trying to think of a way to get the United States out of debt. Meanwhile, Homer is busy trying to find Lincoln's gold. Lisa tries to hike taxes by using creative phrasing to trick everyone when Bart accidentally reveals that it is actually a tax hike. America owes money to a number of nations, so Lisa invites their leaders to Washington. She sends Bart away so he won't screw up everything again, but Bart manages to return and talks to the nations. Bart manages to save the day this time and with that, his vision ends and the family goes home.moreless
7.7
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Good
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Cast & Crew

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  • Julie Kavner

    Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, and Selma Bouvier

  •

    Harry Shearer

    Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Waylon Smithers, Kent Brockman, and others

  •

    Dan Castellaneta

    Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, and others

Fan Episode Reviews (11)

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  • Love this episode - Lisa is a president of USA and Bart is a loser lol

    10
    "Perfect"
    By kennyraider, Jan 24, 2012 Report Abuse
    Fun :)

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    0 0

  • Has some laughs, but lacks story

    5.0
    "Mediocre"
    By DAK4Blizzard, Jan 09, 2012 Report Abuse
    I enjoy Simpsons episodes that look into the future, but the overall story in this one was lacking. The moral at the end is supposed to be that Bart has the power to change his future, but it is never demonstrated in the episode how that is so. There are several laughs to be had, but not over anything very memorable.

    A few small highlights I found from this episode are a couple of Native American puns, Homer's search for Lincoln's treasure, and Bart revealing his future vision to Lisa in a twisted fashion.moreless

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    0 0

  • A great episode in terms of good to see what happened to the family, but not very many good, hilarious jokes.

    8.8
    "Great"
    By Iverson82094, Aug 19, 2010 Report Abuse
    During a family outing to an Indian-owned casino, Bart sees a vision of his future courtesy of the wise Native American casino magnate. Flash forward thirty years: Bart is crashing on Ralph Wiggum's couch, trying his hardest to make it as a rock guitarist. His sister has just been elected the first straight woman President of the United States and when Bart gets evicted for not paying rent, he decides it's time to pay Lisa a little visit at her new home. Bart moves into the White House, which is already overrun by Homer and Marge and Maggie, Jr., Maggie's beautiful baby girl. As Lisa begins her Presidency, Bart makes a total nuisance of himself, interrupting press conferences to promote his demo tape, setting off the Secret Service with his Frisbee, and using an official Presidential helicopter to fly in Ralph Wiggum to hang out and drink beer. Lisa and her top advisor, Milhouse, decide to send Bart on a wild goose chase to get rid of him. But when Bart discovers the plot, he is hurt and offended. Returning to the White House, he finds Lisa in a critical meeting with other leaders of the free world, begging them not to collect the loans they gave to her financially strapped country. Bart, who is by now an expert at dodging creditors, helps Lisa fend off their demands and saves the day. Back in the present, Bart realizes that he can change his future if he tries and goes off with Lisa and tells her all about his vision.moreless

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    2 1

  • Worst Episode Ever?

    2.5
    "Terrible"
    By futuramarama, Nov 14, 2009 Report Abuse
    This episode was rated Worst Episode Ever by Entertainment Weekly. Deserving? Perhaps not the worst episode of the entire series, no, but one of the bottom ones.

    A Casino Manager teachers Bart a lesson after he sneaks into his casino. He shows Bart his future. He will be in a crappy job, and his sister will be none other then President.

    There were some laughs, none too good a one, but some nonetheless. At times it felt really lazily written. Probably one of my least favorite Bart-centric episodes of the series. Bart is usually my favorite character but he just wasn't very funny in this one.moreless

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    0 1

  • Bart looks into the future and sees Lisa as president, and him as a bum. Homer also digs for Lincoln's gold.

    8.0
    "Great"
    By Hornets3, Aug 03, 2009 Report Abuse
    This episode was voted the worst episode of the series by Entertainment Weekly. However, I would not go that far so say it is the WORST episode to date, but it certainly is not a brilliant moment in the series. Sure it was nice to see how Bart and Lisa would turn out, but the writers really were missing that gut busting comedy that they had in all the other episodes of this season. The "B" story with HOmer was definaely funnier, but the "A" story was lacking in humor. The only funny part was when Bart says: "What happened to you China, you used to be cool." and the Chinese guy says, " China still cool, you pay later!" Anyway nevertheless it was still a decent episode. C+moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • The extra bedroom Homer built on the Simpsons' house in from "Lisa's Wedding" is still there. Edit
    • In "Lisa's Wedding" Moe has only one eye- here he has two of them. Edit
    • When Bart says, "So I'm the President's no-good brother. Moochie, moochie!", the captioning said, "In the words of the late, great Charro, 'Moochie, moochie'!" (probably changed for fear of a lawsuit). Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • Blackboard Joke: Non-flammable is not a challenge. Couch Gag: The living room is a trendy nightclub and everyone gets in except Homer. Edit
    • "Bart To The Future" was recently selected by Entertainment Weekly as "Worst...Episode...Ever!" Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Marge: I'm not sure mosquito season is the best time to visit Larva Lake. Edit
    • Kent Brockman: According to the latest polls, Americans have emphatically said, "Smell you later," to President Simpson's refund adjustment. Edit
    • Marge: Shouldn't we wait for Lisa? She IS the President. Homer: She knows what time dinner is. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Day-O When Bart goes on TV in front of Lisa playing his guitar trying to sell his tapes, he parodies the song "Day-O", originally by Harry Belafonte. Edit
    • Future Nelson is dressed like Biff Tannen from the 1989 film Back to the Future Part II. Edit
    • Lisa: Lincoln didn't hide any gold in the White House. Homer: Then what is his ghost protecting? Guests in the White House have actually reported seeing Abraham Lincoln's ghost, although the poet Vachel Lindsay wrote that his ghost walked at midnight in his hometown of Springfield Illinois. This famous ghost covers a lot of ground. Apparently, Lincoln also had at least one supernatural experience while he was alive. He dreamed about his own assassination shortly before it happened. Of course, skeptics say that Lincoln had received several death threats during his presidency and therefore it was natural that he would dream about being killed. Edit

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