Bart is portrayed as a popular cool boy and has many friends at school. Out of all of them his best friend is Milhouse Van Houten, although Bart has at times shown embarrassment about their friendship. Bart is a bad influence on Milhouse, and the two have been involved in a lot of mischief together. Because of this behavior, Milhouse's mother forbids Milhouse from playing with Bart in "Homer Defined" (season three, 1991). While at first he pretended that he did not care, Bart eventually realizes that he needs Milhouse, and Marge manages to convince Mrs. Van Houten to reconsider. Milhouse is a frequent target for local bullies Nelson Muntz and his friends Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney. At times, Bart also finds himself at the hands of their abuse. Despite being the more socially powerful of the two, Bart's social popularity has temporarily subsided various episodes either due to extreme embarrassment caused by his family or other people (or even himself) or an unfortunate coincidence. Milhouse describes their social standing as "Three and a half. We get beat up, but we get an explanation." While Bart and the bullies have been adversaries at times, with Bart once declaring war on Nelson, the school bullies actually like Bart for his ways and hang out with him at times, especially Nelson who eventually becomes close friends with him.