Bart's Friend Falls in Love

"Bart's Friend Falls in Love"
The Simpsons episode
Bart with Samantha and Milhouse
Episode no.	58
Directed by	Jim Reardon
Written by	Jay Kogen Wallace Wolodarsky
Showrunner(s)	Al Jean & Mike Reiss
Production code	8F22
Original air date	May 7, 1992
Chalkboard gag	"I will not snap bras"
Couch gag	The couch tips over backwards, sending the Simpsons through the wall.
Commentary	Matt Groening James L. Brooks Al Jean Mike Reiss Julie Kavner Nancy Cartwright Yeardley Smith Jay Kogen Wallace Wolodarsky Jim Reardon
Guest appearance(s)
Kimmy Robertson as Samantha Stanky Phil Hartman as Troy McClure
Season 3 episodes September 19, 1991 – August 27, 1992 "Stark Raving Dad" "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" "When Flanders Failed" "Bart the Murderer" "Homer Defined" "Like Father, Like Clown" "Treehouse of Horror II" "Lisa's Pony" "Saturdays of Thunder" "Flaming Moe's" "Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk" "I Married Marge" "Radio Bart" "Lisa the Greek" "Homer Alone" "Bart the Lover" "Homer at the Bat" "Separate Vocations" "Dog of Death" "Colonel Homer" "Black Widower" "The Otto Show" "Bart's Friend Falls in Love" "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?"
Seasons
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Kimmy Robertson as Samantha Stanky
Phil Hartman as Troy McClure

"Bart's Friend Falls in Love" is the twenty-third episode of The Simpsons' third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 7, 1992. In the episode, Bart's best friend Milhouse falls in love with the new girl in school, Samantha Stankey. Milhouse and Samantha spend all their free time together, leaving Bart feeling jealous and excluded. In order to ruin their relationship, Bart tells Samantha's strict father about it. As a punishment, Samantha is sent to an all-girls Catholic school, while Milhouse is left behind heartbroken. Meanwhile, Homer orders a subliminal cassette tape to help him lose weight, but is accidentally sent one that helps him increase his vocabulary after the weight-loss tapes sell out.

The episode was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky, and directed by Jim Reardon. American actress Kimmy Robertson guest starred in the episode as Samantha. The opening sequence of "Bart's Friend Falls in Love" is a parody of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, while the closing sequence parodies the film Casablanca. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 12.4 and was the fourth highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.

While riding the bus to school, Milhouse shows Bart his new fortune-telling toy, a Magic 8 ball. Bart asks the ball whether he and Milhouse will still be friends by the end of the day, and the ball predicts they will not. Both are puzzled by how this could happen. A new girl from Phoenix, Samantha Stanky, starts at Springfield Elementary School the same day, and Milhouse instantly falls in love with her. To Bart's dismay and anger, Milhouse and Samantha start a relationship and, rather than playing with Bart after school in his treehouse, Milhouse brings Samantha with him and spends the entire time hugging and kissing her. They ignore Bart, leaving nothing for him to do but leave in tears.