YMMV / The Simpsons S1 E2 "Bart the Genius"

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Did Dr. Pryor actually believe that Bart was a genius, or did he know from the start that that wasn't the case, and simply found sending him to the gifted school as a way to make him confess, knowing it would be too much for the boy?
  • Principal Skinner insists on Bart retaking the intelligence test, but stops as soon as Dr. Pryor suggests sending him to another school. Did he see this as an opportunity to be rid of the infamous troublemaker, or did he too want to teach Bart a lesson by sending him to a school he can't handle in order to make him confess?
  • Was Homer's response to Bart's confession the result of Bart lying to him or because he found out that Bart wasn't a genius? Or both?
• Fridge Brilliance: Homer asks himself "How can anyone make a word out of these lousy letters?" when he has OXIDIZE on his rack. With the way the board was set up◊, he couldn't legally use that word anyway.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • Homer's line "Now go on, boy, and pay attention. Because if you do, one day you may achieve something that we Simpsons have dreamed about for generations: you may outsmart someone." Bart will, of course, go on to meet that goal many times over. (In fact, he's done it already.)
  • Additionally "Bart Carny", where Homer outwits two carnival workers who stole the Simpson home, ends with Bart congratulating Homer specifically for outsmarting someone. Homer achieved the family dream.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Homer initially dislikes going to the opera. In "Homer of Seville", Homer actually becomes an opera singer.
• Humor Dissonance: Bart defrauds his way into a school for the gifted. The teacher writes the equation y = (r^3)/3 on the board and asks the students to calculate the derivative. Everyone except Bart does and finds it hilarious. The solution is given as "RDRR" or "har de har har". Even though that's not the proper way to write the solution (it should be dy/dr = r^2), apparently gifted children find it funny? (Then again, anyone familiar with engineering jokes can tell you that for "smart people", humor value is often secondary to getting the joke.)
• Memetic Mutation: The frame when Skinner looks down on scene who did a spray grafitti is used with caption "pathetic"◊, although the line itself wasn't said by Skinner at all.

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