Surely one of the first things one thinks of when considering Bart Simpson is his hundreds upon hundreds of chalkboard gags that appear at the beginning of the show, heading the famous opening sequence. Over the years there have been many a-cracking chalkboard gag hidden away. A few personal favourites include 'non-flammable is not a challenge', 'I will not waste chalk', 'I will not cut corners' followed by lots of 'ditto' marks, 'I should not be twenty-one by now' and finally the recent 'Does any kid still do this any more?' One of the delights of The Simpsons is that gags are stuffed everywhere, even during the titles. The chalkboard gags only last a few seconds but are an enjoyable part of each episode, getting you laughing before the story has even started. And for that we have to thank Bart for getting into trouble more than a 550 times to make it happen. Thank you Bart. Thank you and your presumably destroyed wrists.
8. Timmy Fell Down the Well
From: Radio Bart (Season 3, Episode 13) It's not that often that the prince of pranksters, Bart, gets any punishment or comeuppance for his bad deeds, with the authority figures in his life, his parents and the useless Principal Skinner, being unable to handle him. However, on at least one occasion Bart's pranks led to a fall... down a well. Using a radio microphone, his birthday present from Homer (yes, Bart has had a few birthdays but he is always ten years old. Let's skip over that), Bart tricks the townspeople into thinking that a boy, 'Timmy', is stuck down a well. They all rally together to help the poor boy - a charity single is even released; 'We're Sending Our Love Down the Well' - until it is revealed that it is a prank by Bart. Who then himself falls in. Angry for falling for his ruse, the town decides to leave Bart down there. Eventually, inspired by Homer, Springfield gets together to dig a repentant Bart out. As a rare example of a time when Bart is actually taught a lesson, this ranks as one of Bart's most important moments and could really have had a longer lasting effect. However, by the next episode he is up to his old shenanigans again. It's as if the writers just hit the reset button. Like it was just a cartoon or something!
7. 'Hey Guys, I'm Looking for Amanda Hugginkiss...' ETC
For the first few years of the show, one of The Simpsons most common running gags was Bart's habit of prank calling angry local bartender Moe. The formula went that Bart would ask after *insert humorous wordplay name here* and Moe would say the name aloud to his barflies, inadvertently humiliating himself. Moe would only then realise what he had said and scream an insult back down the phone, never knowing that the prankster was his favourite customer, Homer's, own son. Similar to Bart's chalkboard gags, there are a number of classics across the many prank calls Bart commits including Ivanna Tinkle, Anita Bath and I.M.A Weiner (a variation of which also plays an important role in Futurama). However, perhaps the funniest prank call occurs when Bart asks after a 'Hugh Jass' ('hey, somebody check the men's room for a Hugh Jass), only to actually be put through to someone. They have an awkward conversation until Bart admits the truth.
Bart: 'Uh, look, I'll level with you, Mister. This is a prank call that sort of backfired, and I'd like to bail out right now.'
Hugh: 'All right. Better luck next time.' Hangs up the phone. 'What a nice young man.'
In short, apart from Homer himself, Bart is responsible for most of the best running gags on the show. Eat his shorts!
