Today in TV History: ‘The Simpsons’ Put the ‘Spring’ in ‘Springfield’

Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone. 

IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: November 24, 1996

PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: The Simpsons, “Bart After Dark” (Season 8, Episode 5). [Watch on Simpsons World]

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT:  The Simpsons has a very well-deserved reputation for their production numbers. By the time they’d gotten to their eighth season, the show had already sung about monorails, the Oscar-rigging power of the Stonecutters, the appeal of greyhound-fur tuxedos, and an entire musical about The Planet of the Apes. At that point in the series, a production number could spring forth at any time.

Speaking of springing forth, “Bart After Dark” delivered one of my very favorite Simpsons songs, “We Put the Spring in Springfield.” Naturally, the song was a celebration of the town’s long-running burlesque house, where Bart starts an after-school job after he caused damage to the property when retrieving a remote-controlled airplane. Tale as old as time.

By this point in Simpsons history, there didn’t have to be a whole lot of reason or setup for the musical numbers. This one came so much from out of nowhere that Marge missed the song entirely. With disastrous results. Though I really would have liked to have seen her give the rest of that “morals and ethics and carnal forbearance” song a shot.

Also too bad there was never a song about that bordello.

[You can watch “Bart After Dark” on Simpsons World.]

Joe Reid (@joereid) is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn. You can find him leaving flowers for Mrs. Landingham at the corner of 18th and Potomac.