Saturdays of Thunder

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = Saturdays of Thunder


image_caption = Martin presents his Honor Roller at a preliminary Soap Box Derby race
episode_no = 44
prod_code = 8F07
airdate = November 14, 1991
show runner = Al Jean & Mike Reiss
writer = Ken Levine
David Isaacs
director = Jim Reardon
blackboard = "I will not fake rabies."
couch_gag = The couch cushions are missing, and the family fall through into the couch.
guest_star = Larry McKay as the television announcer.
Phil Hartman as Troy McClure
commentary = Matt Groening
Al Jean
Mike Reiss
Ken Levine
Jim Reardon
David Silverman
season = 3 "Saturdays of Thunder" is the ninth episode of the "The Simpsons"' third season, airing on November 14, 1991.

Plot

The local Soap Box Derby is held in Springfield, and Bart has his heart set on first prize. However, the catch is that he must build his own Soap Box Racer. In the meantime, Homer takes a fatherhood quiz and discovers he knows next to nothing about his son. He offers to help his son by building him one as a surprise.

Unfortunately, Homer can only manage a very shoddy, rickety piece of junk for a racer (named "Li'l Lightnin"'), especially so in comparison to Martin Prince's personally designed and built space shuttle-like racer, "Honor Roller". Unable to gather the courage to tell his father that his racer is terrible, Bart attempts to use it in the preliminary match, where he and Martin form an alliance vowing that either must somehow beat bully Nelson Muntz and his very intimidating racer, the "Roadkill 2000", armed with every dirty trick in the book. (Including a body in the trunk)

When the race is underway, Bart can barely reach any kind of noticeable speed with Homer's racer, which eventually falls apart. Meanwhile, Martin has difficulty controlling his racer, as it is moving too fast, which eventually causes his racer to crash while he catches fire due to the combination of velocity and friction of the racer. After being injured, Martin finds that he can no longer race and opts for Bart and himself to combine forces by having Bart race Martin's racer over the racer he and Homer built. Bart seeing no other way to win agrees, breaking Homer's heart.

When Bart later apologizes and desires Homer's best wishes, Homer selfishly denounces both Bart and Martin telling Bart to do whatever he wants. Marge finally steps in and tells Homer that she's defended him through a lot of things over the years, but his latest actions prove that he is a bad father.

Dejected, Bart gets ready to race in the final match with Martin's newly tuned racer. As he does this, Homer thinks to himself about how selfish he has been, realizing he has learned a lot about his son, and that Bart needs his support regardless of whose racer he is using and he rushes off to the race. At the starting line, Homer wishes Bart luck and tells him that no matter how the race ends he'll still be proud of him. The race is tough as Nelson pulls every dirty trick in his arsenal, but eventually through his skill Bart comes out on top and the "team" enjoys their victory.

Alternate versions

The first Fox broadcast of this episode was cut and compressed to accommodate the world premiere of Michael Jackson's new video, Black or White (which, in its original version, featured The Simpsons). However, CanWest Global System stations showed a full version with Bart writing "Hamsters cannot fly" on the blackboard. Fox broadcast the full version for the first time on April 2, 1992, but their version has Bart writing "I will not fake rabies" on the blackboard. (This is the version that's on the Season 3 DVD boxset.)

The version for syndication is similar to the first Fox broadcast, except it wasn't compressed and the opening sequence was taken from Season 5's Rosebud. Unlike most syndication edits, however, this one actually includes a few scenes that aren't in the "full" version.

In the "full" version, the scene at VHS Village (formerly Beta Barn) is faded in from the Simpsons' driveway. However, the edit cuts this fade-in and swaps the VHS Village scene with the beauty parlour scene, which originally came after VHS Village.

In the edited version, the dialogue of the "Football's Greatest Injuries" tape that Homer watches is changed. Originally a story about how "a big cat named Wayne Scheshevski" grabbed the "Galloping Gazelle"'s face mask and snapped his neck, you hear, "The compound fracture, truly one of football's greatest injuries."

In the "full" version, when Marge asks Homer what his son's hobbies are, Homer tells Marge that Bart's "always chewing on that phone cord", then Marge tells Homer he hasn't done that since he was 2, so Homer responds, "Then he has no hobby." The edited version cuts the phone cord lines and changes Homer's response to, "Kids don't have hobbies."

When BBC 2, in Britain, used to air the episodes, the part when the first race is about to begin, when Bart is driving "Lil' Lightin"', when after Bart says "Gravity is my copilot", the scene then goes to Nelson, who his allies give him a knife, is cut, which it goes straight to Martin, from Bart. The part was later uncut on Channel 4.

Cultural references

*In the episode, Homer reads and quotes "Fatherhood" by Bill Cosby, the book can be seen again in the episode Dog of Death, burning in the fireplace.
*While on hold, the song being played is "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin. The scene when Homer is on hold, then gets tears while listening to the music being played, is used again later in the season in the episode "Homer Alone", with a different music being played, but Homer still gets tears from it.
*The whipping and spikes coming out of Nelson's racer are a reference to the chariot race in Ben-Hur.
*The song "Watching Scotty Grow" by Bobby Goldsboro is played in this episode.
*The title is a spoof on the 1990 Tom Cruise movie, Days of Thunder.
*The episode reveals that Homer's hero is Steve McQueen, when Marge is reading out the fatherhood quiz to him, when the question was about who was Bart's hero.

Continuity

* Martin's "Honor Roller" is the same car used by Bart in the Simpsons video games "Road Rage" and "Hit and Run" as his car.
* Homer's groan when he learns Bart has a hobby is the same sound used in Brush With Greatness, and Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.

External links

* [http://www.snpp.com/episodes/8F07.html Episode Capsule on "Simpsons Archive"]