7F14 - Bart's Dog Gets an F (March 7, 1991)

Summary: Santa's Little Helper must pass obedience school or else the family can't keep him/

Episode Timeline:
Monday:
- SLH rips the morning paper
- SLH eyes Homer's breakfast
- Lisa is sick and SLH eats Homer's food
- SLH digs in the yard
- Marge arranges a doctor's appointment for 2:00, Bart heads off for school
- SLH follows Bart to the bus
- SLH eats a bug
- SLH goes to the Kwik-E-Mart
- SLH frightens ducks at the park
- Mrs. Winfield calls Homer about SLH in her pool
- Homer checks out Flanders's new shoes
- 2:00, Lisa visits Dr. Hibbert and will miss a week of school
- Lisa calls Homer at work to pick up some magazies for her. He leaves early.
- Marge shows Lisa the Bouvier Family Quilt
- Homer buys the magazines at the mall, then looks at the tennis shoes
- Marge shows her patch, Bart returns with homework and Homer with new shoes
- SLH chews up Homer's new shoes at night
Tuesday:
- Marge looks in the yellow pages for a dog school
- Bart takes SLH to Winthrop Academy
Wednesday:
- Marge and Lisa watch a soap opera, SLH chases Snowball II
- Montage of SLH struggling to learn
- Homer tries to return the shoes, then buys a big cookie
- Homer places the cookie on top of the cookie jar, SLH eats it
- Lisa finishes her patch
- SLH destroys the quilt
- The destroyed quilt and cookie are discovered
- Homer says the dog has to go
- SLH must pass dog school
Thursday:
- At dog school, SLH won't roll over
- Homer and Marge write the flyer for SLH's sale
Friday:
- SLH won't sit at dog school
- Homer tries to sell SLH over the phone
- SLH won't stay
Saturday:
- The prospective buyer checks out SLH
- Bart goes back to the academy to convince Winthrop to pass SLH
- Lisa starts a new quilt
- Bart has fun with SLH in his remaining hours, and SLH finally learns
Sunday:
- SLH passes

References to Time:
- Lisa is in Miss Hoover's class
- Lisa "wasted" the chicken pox by doing homework while sick
- 5 Generations of Bouviers worked on the quilt, apparently going back to pioneer times, with patches from WWI and the Great Depression
- Marge's patch is from 1973 at the earliest
- The family has never had a family meeting before

References to Other Episodes:
- Botz from "Some Enchanted Evening" has escaped from prison

SLH Presence:
- SLH is present
- The Simpsons live next to the Winfields (they moved out in "New Kid on the Block")
- Marvin Monroe is alive
- Lisa has met Bleeding Gums Murphy

Minimum Time Spanned: 7 days, assuming SLH takes all his classes in one week

Canon: Yes, although I'm not sure what is up with the first day. Homer doesn't go to work when Bart goes to school, has enough time to deal with SLH's antics, then is at work by the time Lisa comes home from the doctor and leaves early. Usually Homer goes to work when the kids leave for school, so on this day, Homer both came in late and left early. Maybe safety inspecting isn't as important on Mondays. Also, this episode would make the most sense if it immediately followed the Christmas episode.

Favorite Moments:
- The way Flanders keeps saying "Spoy yourself" in Homer's mind
- One of the dog training ads claims, "We taught a dog to drive"
- The end of the soap opera, with the minister coming back from the dead
- Lisa explaining the musical inspiration behind her patch, including how Mr. Largo ruins classical pieces

Review: I put four favorite moments because those are the only four moments of the episode I like. I'm not very attached to the storyline, and the resolution with SLH "suddenly" learning the commands isn't very well thought out. I do like Marge and Lisa bonding over the quilt, and Bart's dedication to his dog, but Homer seems very obsessed with stupid things (Since when does he care about shoes? And why didn't he just eat the cookie himself?). I also find the character of Winthrop to be annoying and boring to watch. C-