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"Lisa's Substitute" is the 19th episode of the second season of The Simpsons. The episode is about Lisa falling in love with an unconventional substitute teacher.

Synopsis

Template:Spoilers When Ms. Hoover falls ill with a suspected case of Lyme disease, she is replaced by substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom. With his unusual 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. 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 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 who calls him a baboon before running to her room in tears. Marge furiously orders Homer upstairs to apologize and make up with Lisa. He goes upstairs and manages to cheer Lisa up with a baboon impression. Finding Bart still seething over the election result, Homer reminds his son that all the job would have meant was extra work with little reward. Bart is then instantly glad 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.

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 shows history, although the episode is credited to Jon Vitti. Brooks was also responsible for the "You are Lisa Simpson" line.
• 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).

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.

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 is Jewish. Since Hoffman's, and in season 3 Michael Jackson's appearance under pseudonyms, series creator Matt Groening has imposed the rule that guest voices on the show are not permitted to use pseudonyms.

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."

External links

• Episode Capsule on "Simpsons Archive"
• "Lisa's Substitute" at IMDb

• The Simpsons episodes, season 2