Lisa's Substitute (Simpsons Episode)

Cafe Society
1

Hey all. I recently acquired the Simpsons Season 2 DVD. Go TV shows on DVD!! Of course, this season includes Lisa’s Substitute, in which Dustin Hoffman guest stars in the title role. I hadn’t seen it in years, but it was actually as good as I remembered it. Maybe even better. It’s a very touching, moving episode, and if you haven’t seen it yet…go out and do so. It’s very memorable. And it includes the first speaking appearance of Ralph Wiggum.

Anyway, on the episode capsule, there were two different takes on the ending. Which boiled down to: Homer is a horrible father, and Homer is a pretty good dad.

What say you? I personally thought the first review (Homer being an unfit parent) was kind of harsh. He wasn’t perfect. Making fun of Mr. Bergstrom, whom Lisa admired, was a disgusting thing to do. But he does love Lisa, and…well, he’s Homer. You can’t really hate him. He didn’t exactly give great advice…but he did try.

But it was suitably poignant for me. It wasn’t a great (as in, happy, everything completely wrapped up) episode. But it worked because it’s not supposed to make you feel that way. Anyway…I’m starting to ramble on. Any thoughts, about anything in the episode?

2

Well, I always thought Bergstrom was an idiot for giving money to a museum that, according to his announcement in class, was closing down shortly anyway. Why not just throw your money into a hole in the ground?

3

I thought the point of that episode was that Homer couldn’t compete with Mr. Bergstrom, but once he stopped trying and focused on Lisa’s feelings, he learned to be a pretty good dad in his own way, and Lisa learned to be less judgmental.

(Too bad neither lesson lasted, but that’s TV for you.)

4

I remember it as one of the few episodes focusing on Lisa that didn’t annoy me. In later seasons, she became so whiny and self-righteous.

5

Amen to that. I think they’ve done the “Lisa looks down upon her unsophisticated father, then learns to appreciate him” episode several times over…and then some. There was “Lisa’s Wedding,” as well as “Make Room for Lisa.” In which they had to make use of sensory deprivation tanks in order to make the lesson clear for the audience.

6

Yeah, but the whole leson learning thing is really just a vehicle for the humor. If all you can focus on when it comes to the Simpsons is plot repetition, I feel sorry for you.

7

Oh, we all know the best part of the episode was the The Graduate shot with Mr Bergstrom saying “Ms Krabappel, you’re trying to seduce me.”

8

Maybe the museum was in debt, and his donation helped get it a little bit out of debt?