Mr. Burns builds a doomsday ark, after he believes that the end of the world is near when he sees an old Orson Welles show about Nostradamus. Professor Frink comes up with a new way of testing everyone in Springfield after Burns wants a test to determine who should go on a spaceship with him.
Tropes:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: According to Orson Welles, Nostradamus predicted his own death, wars in Europe and Fleetwood Mac breaking up.
- Book Dumb: Upon receiving the town's lowest test score, Bart insists that he's "street-smart" and runs outside to immediately get run over by Nelson's bike. When Marge questions the score, though, it's revealed that there was a mixup and that Bart was onto something as his intelligence is actually above average.
- Brick Joke: Nelson runs Bart down with his bike. Later in the episode, he does the same to Ralph and cheers, "Two for two!"
- Construction Zone Calamity: Lisa follows Ralph Wiggum as he wanders into a construction site. Chief Wiggum points out the use of this trope on cartoons.Chief Wiggum: I've seen this in cartoons lots of times. Swee'Pea, Mr. Magoo, they all come out fine.
Lou: What about Sylvester the Cat?
Chief Wiggum: Never be a cat in a cartoon, Lou. Never. - Couch Gag: The couch gives a birth of a smaller couch like a human being. Homer drops the "baby" couch on the floor and Maggie sits on it.
- Epic Fail: Milhouse bleeds everytime he says "booyah".
- For Inconvenience, Press "1": When Lisa phones Chief Wiggum, she hears a recorded message telling her to press one if Ralph is stuck on something; two if something is stuck on Ralph; and, if the caller is Ralph, he's not inside the phone and Ralph is not supposed to open the phone to look for him.
- Heroic BSoD: Bart's reaction upon receiving the lowest test score in town (he finally triggers Marge to investigate the matter when he lies down and refuses to get up, declaring that he's doing the only thing he's good at: "nothing"). Then Homer's reaction upon learning that there was a mixup, and that was actually his score.
- Hidden Depths: Since we first met the Springfield chapter of MENSA in "They Saved Lisa's Brain", Apu's wife Manjula has joined their ranks.
- History Repeats: Orson wells notes that the wars in Europe Nostradamus "predicted" were similar to the ones he observed happening at the time.
- Improbable Infant Survival: Ralph manages to survive even the most dangerous situations, which in context explains why he got a better score than Lisa.
- Ivy League for Everyone: Prof. Frink attended Cornell.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Once Burns makes it clear everyone aboard the ark would be enslaved, he's abandoned by everyone. And taking off without Smithers leaves him completely defenseless against his malfunctioning robotic aides.
- Left the Background Music On: The background music that starts playing when Homer starts improving his calligraphy comes from Lisa's radio.
- Running Gag: Homer has several moments where he's an example of Book Dumb.
- Shout-Out: One of the series introduced in Orson Welles' show is The Nukes of Hazzard.
- Take That!:
- When Prof. Frink gives Lisa ten extra points if she doesn't tell anyone his test is flawed, he says it's for accepting a similar deal he was accepted at Cornell University, which he considers the worst of all Ivy League universities.
- When Homer asks Marge what a man can do after turning 39, Marge informs him that George W. Bush went sober and ran for President. Homer replies that both were the biggest mistakes George W. Bush ever made.
- According to the Welles documentary on Nostradamus's predictions that the Simpsons watch, the events that will precede World War III include the antichrist being elected president—to which Homer and Marge exchange a nervous glance (this being a year into the Trump presidency).
- Talent Double: In-Universe during Frink's presentation. The transition from Frink to his dancing double is less than seamless; not only is the double taller and more muscular than Frink, you can also see Frink crouching behind a column after the switch. You can also see the double crouching behind a couch after they switch back.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After many, many episodes of Bart being treated as stupid and told he'll amount to nothing, with the final seal being set on his despair when he seemingly receives the lowest score in town on Frink's exam, Frink discovers that there was a mixup and reveals that far from being stupid, Bart is of above-average intelligence.
- Turned Against Their Masters: Mr. Burns is strangled by his own robot.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The entire point of Frink's test as distinct from a normal IQ test is that it measures for "personal value" according to factors aside from pure academic intellect, such as emotional intelligence, morality and social skills. However, once the scores are released the episode treats it like a normal intelligence test. (Which it's probable that Springfield simply assumes it to be, not having been informed of the details—Homer's low score makes sense regardless of what combination of factors it's measuring.)
- Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: Lisa asks who would take Orson Welles' show seriously, the scene cuts to Mr. Burns being worried about the end of the world.
