Lisa's Substitute
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"Lisa's Substitute" is the 19th episode of the second season of The Simpsons. The episode is about Lisa developing feelings for an unconventional substitute teacher.
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[edit] Synopsis
When Ms. Hoover falls ill with a suspected case of Lyme disease, she is replaced by substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom. Because of his unorthodox teaching methods, Lisa quickly takes a liking to him; he is the only teacher, and perhaps the only adult, who has ever challenged, respected, and liked her. Just as Lisa is about to ask Mr. Bergstrom over to her parents house for dinner, Ms. Hoover returns, stating her Lyme disease was psychosomatic. Rushing to the train station, Lisa confesses to Mr. Bergstrom (who is taking a job in another city) that she will be lost without him. To comfort her, he writes her a note with a message that will always support her. When he is gone, she finds that the note says "You are Lisa Simpson."
Meanwhile, Bart runs for class president against Martin Prince. With his shock-based campaign, he seems to be the sure winner, but still loses due to the fact that nobody in the class (including himself) votes, with the exception of Martin himself and one other student, Wendell.
At dinner that evening, Bart is miserable and Lisa is very upset. Lisa explains to Homer that Mr. Bergstrom is gone, but Homer responds in his usual uncaring manner which enrages Lisa, causing her to decidedly call her own father a baboon before running to her room in tears. Marge furiously orders Homer upstairs to apologize and to console Lisa, explaining how her daughter is very hurt emotionally and in need of her father. He enters Lisa's room and finds her crying over her desk. He is uncertain of how to deal with Lisa's sadness, and is noticeably uncomfortable seeing his daughter crying. Homer finds his inspiration from the music of a musical ballerina jewelry box and explains to Lisa how he can't really understand how it feels to lose someone important because he tells Lisa how everyone he has ever loved and cared about lives with him still. Homer then alludes to Lisa calling him a baboon,and in a loving manner mimics a monkey and Lisa is cheered up . Finding Bart still seething over the election result, Homer reminds his son that all the job of class president would have meant was extra work with little reward. Bart became happy that he lost. Finally going by Maggie's room, he places her pacifier in her mouth.
Proud that he helped all three of his children, Homer goes to bed happy that night.
[edit] Trivia
- According to the DVD commentary for the episode, James L. Brooks contributed more to this episode than he did for any other in the show's history, although the episode is credited to Jon Vitti. Brooks was also responsible for the "You are Lisa Simpson." line but intended for it to be "You are Lisa Simpson!".
- The character of the substitute teacher, Mr. Bergstrom, was actually modeled on the physical appearance of Mike Reiss, longtime writer/producer for the show.
- This is the first episode to have the short main title (Driveway).
[edit] Cultural references
- Many of the lines and camera angles in this shot are a homage to the film The Graduate.
- As the substitute teacher approaches the classroom, the music from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is heard.
- When Bart unexpectedly loses to Martin in the class president race, a picture of Martin holding up a copy of The Daily Fourth Gradian with the headline "Simpson Defeats Prince" is taken, which in turn ends up on the front page of The Daily Fourth Gradian under the headline "Prince Defeats Simpson." This is a direct nod to the famous picture of President Harry Truman holding up a copy of a prematurely printed edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune that proclaimed "Dewey Defeats Truman," taken the day after his close victory over Governor Thomas Dewey in the 1948 presidental race.
- Mr. Bergstrom reads a line from Charlotte's Web. It is implied that this line is the end of the book, when in fact another chapter follows.
[edit] Sam Etic
Sam Etic is a pseudonym for actor Dustin Hoffman. The name is a play on the word semitic, alluding to the fact that Hoffman and the Bergstrom character are Jewish. This is referenced in the later episode "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie", in which Lisa tells Bart that the film included several cameos, mentioning Michael Jackson and Dustin Hoffman, adding that "they didn't use their real names, but you could tell it was them."
[edit] External links
