History Recap / TheSimpsonsS2E7BartVsThanksgiving

** This is why Lou and Eddie are shocked that Marge told Bart he ruined Thanksgiving; it's one thing that he wasn't sorry about destroying her centerpiece, but it's another that Bart was the kid in the situation and Marge is the adult. Thus she ought to be the mature one about it, or maybe having stopped the fight before it went too far. Marge herself realizes that what she said was uncalled for and out of line when recounting it.
* ThanksgivingEpisode: While "Homer vs. Dignity"[[note]]The climax centers around a parade like the Macy's parade and Homer being expected to shower the audience with fish guts as a prank to end all pranks.[[/note]] and "Homer the Moe"[[note]]Homer hunting for a Thanksgiving turkey as part of his hunting club which was an attempt to get around local liquor laws.[[/note]] also have Thanksgiving in the plot, those episodes aired on Sunday instead of Thursday and had Thanksgiving shoehorned into the final act. This episode actually aired on Thanksgiving (which is on the fourth Thursday of November in America, while ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' were competing with ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' on Thursdays. Canadian Thanksgiving is in October) and centered on a Thanksgiving meal gone bad. While many Thanksgiving episodes indeed are about ill-fated dinners, and there's plenty of in-jokes and gags, critics lauded this episode because it had actual sentiment and one of its central characters was enlightened about the meaning of the holiday (after he runs into two homeless men who have very little, if anything).
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich: Mr. Burns, who has a table of food that could feed people for months. He only eats a little of the slice of turkey and orders the rest to be thrown out, and is waiting for the pumpkin pie.

-->'''Bart:''' Oh yeah? Prove it.
-->'''Lisa:''' ''(handing him the bottle)'' Here.

* FromBadToWorse: Bart's bickering with Lisa about her centerpiece leaving no room for the turkey is childish but not bad. Then he grapples with her over it and tosses it into the fireplace, which could have been an accident or Bart having lost his temper and not thinking things through. Sure he refuses to apologize, but he's still angry. The moment that pushes things over the edge is when Marge accuses him of ruining Thanksgiving, which is ''not'' the case at all.

* ExtremeDoormat: When the family comments on Bart's stubbornness, Abe notes that Homer was this growing up. It seems to still be the case:
-->'''Abe:''' Homer was never stubborn. He always folded instantly over everything. It was as if he had no will of his own. Isn't that true, Homer?
-->'''Homer:''' ''(cheerfully)'' Yes, Dad.

'''Homer:''' Yes, Dad.

* ImmediateSelfContadiction: When Homer threatens to confiscate the bottle of glue that Bart and Lisa are squabbling over:

* AdultFear: Both Homer and Marge are terrified once they realize that Bart ran away from home with Homer himself asking if they will ever see him again.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Bart and his family inflict this on each other. He destroys the centerpiece in a fit of anger or accident and refuses to apologize, but the adults could have split up the siblings and made room on the table for both the centerpiece and the turkey. Bart is sent to his room after Marge tells him "You ruined Thanksgiving!" and ordered to apologize. He runs away from home, causing the motherload of AdultFear when his family realizes he went to a homeless shelter and then vanished. Bart eventually suffers a JerkassRealization after he hears Lisa crying and talks to her. It's only when he apologizes to Lisa, that his parents let him come inside without any fuss, that they can finally enjoy dinner in peace. All in all, Lisa is the only innocent party who didn't deserve any of the drama.

* TheRunaway: Bart, primarily out of spite, opts to leave home when he is told he can only come back downstairs if he apologizes.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: This has few laughs in it and the tone is more on par with what you would find in a less preachy VerySpecialEpisode of a live-action sitcom.

It's Thanksgiving Day, and Homer is watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. Lisa is meticulously assembling a centerpiece to place on the family dinner table (with a little help from Maggie), while Marge is busy cooking and preparing for the guests: Patty, Selma, Jacqueline, and Grampa. Bart is basically getting in everyone's way. Patty and Selma arrive with main dishes of their own as an overt critique of Marge’s cooking, while their mother snarkily tells Marge she never does anything right.

** When Marge is agreeing with Homer about Bart being sent to his room without Thanksgiving dinner, she didn’t need to add that he ruined Thanksgiving, but she did.

* AbusiveParents: Marge's, Patty's and Selma's mother, Jacqueline. As soon as she arrives, she tells Marge she never does anything right. And when Bart gets sent to his room, she tells Marge that she's sorry she came at all.

It's Thanksgiving Day, and Homer is watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. Lisa is meticulously assembling a centerpiece to place on the family dinner table (with a little help from Maggie), while Marge is busy cooking and preparing for the guests: Patty, Selma, Jacqueline and Grampa. Bart is basically getting in everyone's way. Patty and Selma arrive with main dishes of their own as an overt critque of Marge’s cooking, while their mother snarkily tells Marge she never does anything right.

Upon returning home, he starts to go inside but reconsiders after envisioning his family rejecting his apology and blaming him for everything. Instead, he climbs onto the roof to try to sort out his feelings. When he hears Lisa crying in her room and conceding defeat, Bart—perhaps realizing his earlier imagining of how his family would greet him was likely all in his head—invites her to join him on the roof. Lisa talks about how she felt hurt and that all she wants is for Bart to say he was sorry for the trouble he caused. Bart struggles to keep his bravado up but finally admits he was in the wrong and apologizes, and an overjoyed Lisa accepts. Homer and Marge, overhearing the conversation, are relieved that all is okay between the two, and the Thanksgiving holiday at the Simpsons is saved. The episode ends with the family enjoying leftovers in the kitchen, with Homer thanking God for giving them "one more crack at togetherness."

Upon returning home, he starts to go inside but reconsiders after envisioning his family rejecting his apology and blaming him for everything. Instead, he climbs onto the roof to try to sort out his feelings. When he hears Lisa crying in her room and conceding defeat, Bart – perhaps realizing his earlier imagining of how his family would greet him was likely all in his head – invites her to join him on the roof. Lisa talks about how she felt hurt and that all she wants is for Bart to say he was sorry for the trouble he caused. Bart struggles to keep his bravado up but finally admits he was in the wrong and apologizes, and an overjoyed Lisa accepts. Homer and Marge, overhearing the conversation, are relieved that all is okay between the two, and the Thanksgiving holiday at the Simpsons is saved. The episode ends with the family enjoying leftovers in the kitchen, with Homer thanking God for giving them "one more crack at togetherness."

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich: Mr. Burns who has a table of food that could feed people for months. He only eats a little of the slice of turkey and orders the rest to be thrown out, and is waiting for the pumpkin pie.

Episode - 7F07\\
First Aired - 11/22/1990\\

Upon returning home, he starts to go inside but reconsiders after envisioning his family rejecting his apology and blaming him for everything. Instead, he climbs onto the roof to try to sort out his feelings. When he hears Lisa crying in her room and conceding defeat, Bart – perhaps realizing his earlier imagining of how his family would greet him was likely all in his head – invites her to join him on the roof. Lisa talks about how she felt hurt and all she wants is for Bart to say he was sorry for the trouble he caused. Bart struggles to keep his bravado up but finally admits he was in the wrong and apologizes, and an overjoyed Lisa accepts. Homer and Marge, overhearing the conversation, are relieved that all is okay between the two, and the Thanksgiving holiday at the Simpsons is saved. The episode ends with the family enjoying leftovers in the kitchen, with Homer thanking God for giving them "one more crack at togetherness."

-->'''Homer:''' Hello, operator? Get me the number for 911!

* ThanksgivingEpisode: While "Homer vs. Dignity"[[note]]The climax centers around a parade like the Macy's parade and Homer being expected to shower the audience with fish guts as a prank to end all pranks.[[/note]] and "Homer the Moe"[[note]]Homer hunting for a Thanksgiving turkey as part of his hunting club which was an attempt to get around local liquor laws.[[/note]] also have Thanksgiving in the plot, those episodes aired on Sunday instead of Thursday and had Thanksgiving shoehorned into the final act. This episode actually aired on Thanksgiving (which is on the fourth Thursday of November in America, while ''TheSimpsons'' were competing with ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' on Thursdays. Canadian Thanksgiving is in October) and centered on a Thanksgiving meal gone bad. While many Thanksgiving episodes indeed are about ill-fated dinners, and there's plenty of in-jokes and gags, critics lauded this episode because it had actual sentiment and one of its central characters was enlightened about the meaning of the holiday (after he runs into two homeless men who have very little, if anything).

* AdultFear: Both Homer and Marge are terrified once they realize that Bart ran away from home with Homer himself asking if they will ever see him again. Marge also gets this when the cops hear the full story, because they give her a WhatTheHellHero about saying such a thing to her underage son.

* FromBadToWorse: Bart's bickering with Lisa about her centerpiece leaving no room for the turkey is childish but not bad. Then he grapples with her over it and tosses it into the fireplace, which could have been an accident or Bart having lost his temper and not thinking things through. Sure he refuses to apologize, but he's still angry. The moment that pushes things over the edge is when Marge accuses him of ruining Thanksgiving, which is ''not'' the case at all. When Bart runs away, Homer and Marge get a WhatTheHellHero from Lou and Eddie that they are the adults in the situation, and Bart is just a kid.
* HardTruthAesop: The episode emphasizes that even if a kid does a terrible thing, the adults in charge will cause more harm if they refuse to act like adults, causing TheChainOfHarm. If any of the parents or relatives had broken up the fight between Bart and Lisa, it wouldn't have escalated. Lou and Will emphasize this with their WhatTheHellHero to Marge about telling her preteen son that he ruined Thanksgiving, that it was a very messed-up thing to say, and that she was at a RageBreakingPoint was no excuse. Indeed, Bart seems prepared to spend Thanksgiving night on the roof, since he doesn't know if he'll be welcome home or if anyone will accept his apology because of how badly all the adults reacted; it takes Lisa crying for him to drum up the courage to talk to her and give a sincere apology.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Bart and his family inflict this on each other. He destroys the centerpiece in a fit of anger or accident and refuses to apologize, but the adults could have split up the siblings and made room on the table for both the centerpiece and the turkey. Bart is sent to his room after Marge tells him "You ruined Thanksgiving!" and ordered to apologize. He runs away from home, causing the motherload of AdultFear when his family realizes he went to a homeless shelter and then vanished. Will and Lou give Marge a WhatTheHellHero for what she said, while Bart eventually suffers a JerkassRealization after he hears Lisa crying and talks to her. It's only when Bart apologizes to Lisa, that his parents let him come inside without any fuss, that they can finally enjoy dinner in peace. All in all, Lisa is the only innocent party who didn't deserve any of the drama

* PartingWordsRegret: The last things that Marge says to Bart before he runs away is that he ruined Thanksgiving and he needs to apologize. When Marge recounts this to Lou and Eddie, their WhatTheHellHero emphasizes how messed up it was to say that to her own son.

* WhatTheHellHero: Lou and Eddie are visibly shocked at Marge for telling Bart that he ruined Thanksgiving.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: While she wasn't exactly the warmest of people in her subsequent appearances (especially towards her son-in-law and for the episodes that she actually appears), here Mrs. Bouvier is a {{Jerkass}} towards almost the entire family, even tells her youngest daughter that she never does anything right.

It's Thanksgiving Day, and Homer is watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. Lisa is meticulously assembling a centerpiece to place on the family dinner table (with a little help from Maggie), while Marge is busy cooking and preparing for the guests: Patty, Selma, Jacqueline and Grampa. Bart is basically getting in everyone's way. Patty and Selma arrive with main dishes of their own, overtly criticizing Marge’s, while their mother snarkily tells Marge she never does anything right.

Upon returning home, he starts to go inside but reconsiders after envisioning his family rejecting his apology and blaming him for everything. Instead, he climbs onto the roof to try to sort out his feelings. But when he hears Lisa crying in her room and conceding defeat, Bart invites her to join him on the roof. After some initial struggle, he feels remorse for destroying Lisa's centerpiece and finally apologizes. Homer and Marge, overhearing the conversation, are relieved that all is okay between the two, and the Thanksgiving holiday at the Simpsons is saved. The episode ends with the family enjoying leftovers in the kitchen, with Homer thanking God for giving them "one more crack at togetherness."

It's Thanksgiving Day, and Homer is watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. Lisa is meticulously assembling a centerpiece to place on the family dinner table (with a little help from Maggie), while Marge is busy cooking and preparing for the guests: Patty, Selma, Jacqueline and Grampa. Bart is basically getting in everyone's way. Later, as the guests assemble at the table, Lisa brings in the centerpiece and proudly shows it off, just as Bart brings in the turkey. When Bart tries to jockey for position in placing the turkey platter, he gets into an argument with Lisa about where her centerpiece should be set, resulting in a fight and, in the middle of the ruckus, the centerpiece lands inside the fireplace and instantly is destroyed in the flames. Lisa is devastated and runs to her room in tears, while Bart refuses to accept responsibility. An angry Marge—with Homer, in a rare move, backing her up—sends Bart to his room without dinner, declaring that "you ruined Thanksgiving!"

* AdultsAreUseless: When Bart and Lisa fight over the centerpiece, and then Bart throws said centerpiece into the fire, the adults just sit and watch—with Grampa even getting ''excited'' watching it. It isn't until after Lisa runs crying to her room that Marge and Homer come down hard on Bart, when it's too late to deescalate the situation.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: A very rare non-''Treehouse'' example. When watching the Macy's Parade on TV, Homer tells Bart that you can't just introduce flash-in-the-pan cartoon characters willy nilly or you'll turn that parade into a farce. Immediately afterwards, a Bart Simpson float can be seen on the TV.

* {{Hypocrite}}: The adults don't step in when Bart tries to move Lisa's centerpiece, nor try to save it when he throws it into the fire, but are quick to come down on him once it's destroyed.

* ThanksgivingEpisode: While "Homer vs. Dignity"[[note]]The climax centers around a parade like the Macy's parade and Homer being expected to shower the audience with fish guts as a prank to end all pranks.[[/note]] and "Homer the Moe"[[note]]Homer hunting for a Thanksgiving turkey as part of his hunting club which was an attempt to get around local liquor laws.[[/note]] also have Thanksgiving in the plot, those episodes aired on Sunday instead of Thursday and had Thanksgiving shoehorned into the final act. This episode actually aired on Thanksgiving (which is on the fourth Thursday of November in America, while ''TheSimpsons'' were competing with ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' on Thursdays. Canadian Thanksgiving is in October) and centered on a Thanksgiving meal gone bad. While many Thanksgiving episodes indeed are about ill-fated dinners, and there's plenty of in-jokes and gags, critics lauded this episode because it had actual sentiment and one of its central characters was enlightened about the meaning of the holiday (after he runs into two homeless men who have very little if anything).

* PlatonicKissing: While in the middle of hugging Bart after he feels bad and apologizes, she gives him a deep kiss on the cheek.

** Both Patty and Selma expressed concern when Bart isn't coming down the stairs to apologize.