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YMMV / The Simpsons S3 E13 "Radio Bart"

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  • Crosses the Line Twice:
    • Homer has a couple of moments when Bart is trapped in the well. First, he admits that Bart was an accident while being interviewed. After Marge calls him out on it, he tries taking it back only to be told the newscast is live coast to coast. Then, he and Marge give Bart a sweater but it's too big for him. Homer's response? "You'll grow into it."
    • Bart tricking Rod and Todd into thinking God is talking to them on the radio, and convincing them to run into a wall for basically no reason.
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • The third act falls under this, because the crowd has went on to ostracize Bart of any love (and the mayor saying that he was going to be left to die) over one prank, with only Homer and Marge being supportive. Come "The Boys of Bummer", and the crowd reaction turns up to eleven over Bart dropping the ball and losing the game. Suddenly, the Asshole Victim applies more to the Townspeople instead of Bart in comparison.
    • After the 2017 earthquake that affected Mexico and the rescue efforts in its aftermath, one of the most alluring stories was that of a little girl (Frida Sofia) that was trapped under a school and kept contact through her cell phone, with prayer vigils and other similar reactions. Then it was discovered the little girl did not exist, and had been made up by Televisa — which started the story for the sake of ratings. It enraged everybody - and the rival network TV Azteca pointedly aired this very episode shortly after the hoax was revealed.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Trapped in the well, Bart laments that he'll never have the chance to use a fake ID. He'll do just that in "Bart on the Road".
  • Jerkass Woobie: While yes, Bart does deserve some satisfying retribution for his prank here, it's difficult to not feel sorry for him when he even admits that he deserved his consequence and is even broken in tears of the possibility of the citizens letting him rot inside the deep well forever.
  • Memetic Mutation: Turns out that on Mexico this episode is pretty well-known, being called "the 'Timmy O'Toole' episode" over there. It became pretty significant for a while in the aftermath of the 2017 earthquake, with a competing network deciding to troll Televisa by airing it after the "Frida Sofia" hoax was revealed.
  • Suspiciously Similar Song: The music that plays during Bart's attempt to scale down the well is clearly meant to be "Axel F".

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