"Bart's Birthday" is the season thirty-six premiere of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox on September 29, 2024. The episode is a faux-series finale produced by an artificial intelligence. Former series writer Conan O'Brien guest stars as the episode's host, alongside Joel McHale, John Cena, and Tom Hanks, among others.
| "Bart's Birthday" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 36 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Rob Oliver |
| Written by | Jessica Conrad |
| Production code | 35ABF15 |
| Original air date | September 29, 2024 |
| Guest appearances | |
| John Cena as himself, Danny DeVito as Herbert Powell, Tom Hanks as himself, Joel McHale as himself, Conan O'Brien as himself, Mark Proksch as HackGPT, Seth Rogen as himself, Amy Sedaris as Maggie Simpson | |
Plot
Former Simpsons writer Conan O'Brien hosts the show's long-overdue series finale, a Hollywood event attended by the many guest stars who have appeared on the program. O'Brien programs an AI machine called HackGPT to generate a final episode that will avoid the pitfalls of other polarizing TV finales.
On the morning of Bart's birthday, he learns that Homer has forgotten to mail the invitations to that night's party. Bart hand-delivers them at school, where Principal Skinner announces that he and Willie are moving to Sacramento. At the power plant, Homer accidentally kills Mr. Burns by knocking him into a vat of acid after Burns had already willed the plant to its employees as part of a joke. Later that afternoon, at The Android's Dungeon, Bart witnesses John Cena assist with the birth of Comic Book Guy and Kumiko's child, after which Comic Book Guy decides to close his shop. Each of these scenes ends with a character declaring they'll "miss this place" before turning off the lights.
Sensing something is off, Bart confides in Milhouse, who is also experiencing several changes: he is on new medication, he is getting laser eye surgery, and his family is moving to Atlanta. The church hosts several weddings,[a] Moe's Tavern closes down, and the Springfield Tire Fire is extinguished. At home, Bart learns that Homer and Marge have had successful couples' counseling, Homer plans to take weight-loss drugs, and that the Simpson family will effectively cease to be a dysfunctional family. Unable to handle so many changes to the status quo, Bart runs away as Maggie says her first words: "So that just happened." HackGPT admits that this was not programmed and that the Bart character has become self-aware.
Bart runs through town and sees more endings: Nelson Muntz is reunited with his father, Agnes Skinner is reunited with her real son, and the church hosts several funerals.[b] Even Krusty the Clown is filming the finale of his show. Bart attempts to ruin the show's filming by mooning the cameras and ends up in police lockup, where he learns that Chief Wiggum is relocating to the Chicago PD. Bart asks Lisa for help, but she is too busy, having just won a scholarship to Juilliard and a MacArthur preteen genius grant.
Bart's family bails him out and brings him home, where dozens of his friends and family are gathered for his birthday party. When he sees the candles on the cake, Bart realizes that this is his 11th birthday, even though he has always been 10. The other characters implore Bart to blow out the candles so they can all be happy, but Bart angrily points out that happy endings can't exist in Springfield. Homer tries to calmly talk to Bart, but Bart, laughing at the idea that Homer could ever be a good father, goads him into strangling him. The candles go back to saying "10", the menagerie of guest stars disappear, and a grateful Bart pledges to never grow up.
Despite HackGPT's failure to end the series, O'Brien says that the episode ended up being genuinely moving. O'Brien asks HackGPT if it can produce another 800 episodes, to which the machine replies "I choo-choo-choose oblivion." before exploding.
The episode ends with a series of stills depicting Simpsons characters in famous TV finales.
Production
The episode guest stars Conan O'Brien as himself. O'Brien was a writer on the show from 1991 to 1993, and previously voiced himself in the episode "Bart Gets Famous". Additionally voicing themselves are John Cena, Tom Hanks, Joel McHale, and Seth Rogen. Hanks previously appeared as himself in The Simpsons Movie, while Rogen appeared in the episodes "Homer the Whopper" and "Steal This Episode", in addition to co-writing the former. Danny DeVito reprises his role as Homer's half-brother Herb Powell, Mark Proksch voices HackGPT, and Amy Sedaris provides Maggie's one line of dialogue.
Cultural references
The episode contains many references to O'Brien's career and his programs Late Night, The Tonight Show, and Conan, as well as to current FOX shows Animal Control, The Masked Singer, and Farmer Wants a Wife.
HackGPT is a parody of artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT. Series mentioned as having good finales include Breaking Bad and Mad Men, while shows with poorly received finales include Seinfeld and Lost. The finale to The Sopranos is described as both good and bad. A ride called "Homer Simpson's Claim-Jumping, Yukon-Rumbling Rock-N-Rollercoaster" is mentioned as being planned at Disneyland Shanghai.
Bart mentions that the Sea Captain has been cast on a revival of The Love Boat. O'Brien refers to Hanks as "bosom buddy", and Hanks calls Ron Howard "Opie".
The end credits feature images parodying the series finales of The Sopranos, M*A*S*H, Mad Men, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Breaking Bad, Frasier, Succession, and Newhart.
Notes
- ^ Among the couples are Patty Bouvier and Evelyn; Ned Flanders and Ruth Powers; Selma Bouvier and Yes Guy; and Duffman and Miss Hoover
- ^ Among the deceased are Burns, the Old Jewish Man, Disco Stu, and Hans Moleman, who is still alive at the time of his funeral