 In its original American broadcast , " Bart vs. Australia " finished 56th in the ratings for the week of February 13 – 19 , 1995 , with a Nielsen rating of 9 @.@ 1 . It was the fourth highest rated show on Fox that week . The episode has since become study material for sociology courses at the University of California , where it is used to " examine issues of the production and reception of cultural objects , in this case , a satirical cartoon show " , and to figure out what it is " trying to tell audiences about aspects primarily of American society , and , to a lesser extent , about other societies . " 
