Lisa's Substitute

Plot

Lisa's teacher, Miss Hoover, thinks she has Lyme disease and is replaced by substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom. Because of his unorthodox teaching methods and friendly nature, Lisa starts falling in love with him. Lisa runs into Mr. Bergstrom at a museum and is embarrassed when Homer displays his ignorance. Sensing a void in their relationship, Mr. Bergstrom takes Homer aside to suggest he be a more positive role model.

At Marge's suggestion, Lisa goes to invite Mr. Bergstrom to dinner at their home, but is devastated to find Miss Hoover back and Mr. Bergstrom gone. She rushes to his apartment and learns that he has accepted a new job in Capital City. She rushes to the train station and confesses that she will be lost without him. Mr. Bergstrom replies that the life of a substitute teacher is transient, and he has to help the more needy. He writes her a note and tells her that any time she feels alone, its contents are all she needs to know. He boards the train and departs. Lisa opens the note: it reads "You are Lisa Simpson".

Meanwhile, Bart's class prepares to elect a class president. Mrs. Krabappel nominates Martin, while Sherri and Terri nominate Bart. During a debate with Martin, Bart tells jokes and wins the class over. Certain of Bart's victory, none of the children in his class—including Bart—vote, giving Martin the victory with just two votes.

Devastated by Mr. Bergstrom's departure, Lisa takes her grief out on the insensitive Homer, calling him a baboon. Marge tells Homer to console Lisa, explaining how their daughter is hurt and needs her father. Homer confesses to Lisa that he cannot imagine her experience, as he has never lost anyone special, and cheers her up by mimicking a monkey. Lisa apologizes for calling him a baboon. Finding Bart seething over the election result, Homer comforts him by pointing out that being class president would have involved extra work with little reward. Finally, passing Maggie's room, he places her pacifier in her mouth. Homer goes to bed with Marge happily that night, stating he is "on the biggest roll" of his life.

Production

"Lisa's Substitute" was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Rich Moore. According to Vitti, The Simpsons producer James L. Brooks contributed more to this episode than he did to any other in the show's history. Vitti said the episode was "very controversial" when it was being made because it "came at a point when the staff were just beginning to realize the comedy potential of the show, but we were trapped with these love stories, and just as the staff were starting to get frustrated with the love stories, along came 'Lisa's Substitute': the biggest, huggiest, warmest and fuzziest of them all."

Mr. Bergstrom was modeled on the physical appearance of Mike Reiss, a longtime writer and producer on the show. American actor Dustin Hoffman provided the voice of Mr. Bergstrom. Hoffman was not sure if he wanted to be identified with a cartoon show at the time, like many early guest stars on The Simpsons, and therefore used the pseudonym Sam Etic in the closing credits. Sam Etic is a play on the word semitic, alluding to the fact that both Hoffman and Mr. Bergstrom are Jewish. Brooks was the one who suggested the pseudonym, which Hoffman immediately liked. The cast of the show flew to New York to record the episode with Hoffman. Yeardley Smith, who provides the voice of Lisa, said she grew as an actress after working with Hoffman that day. The Simpsons writer Al Jean said he remembered that when the audio track of the episode came back, Hoffman's voice was too low on the singing parts. The staff were "petrified" that the singing scenes would not show up on air, so they had Hoffman re-record them when he was in Los Angeles. Vitti mentioned on Twitter that the note Lisa receives at the end of the episode should've had an exclamation point at the end. He didn't catch it in the animatic and it still "haunts [him] to this day".

Reception

In its original broadcast, "Lisa's Substitute" finished forty-third in the ratings for the week of April 22–28, 1991, with a Nielsen Rating of 11.1, equivalent to approximately ten million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. Hoffman has been praised for his guest appearance as Mr. Bergstrom. Entertainment Weekly named it one of the sixteen greatest guest appearances on The Simpsons. In 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times listed his performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show.

Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood said, "Despite a scene-stealing performance from Ms Krabappel, this is Lisa's show. Mr Bergstrom's last message for Lisa is a delightful touch and adds the finishing touch to a wonderful episode." Former TV Squad blogger Adam Finley named "Lisa's Substitute" as one of his top fourteen most touching The Simpsons episodes, and The Simpsons Archive webmaster Jouni Paakkinen rated the episode as his third favorite. Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide said that Lisa episodes "tend to be goopy", but "Lisa's Substitute" seemed like "a good show, however". He went on to say, "The show offered many other good moments, and it helped expand the Lisa/Homer relationship neatly. The Bart’s election subplot punctured any sappiness that otherwise might have occurred. [...] 'Lisa's Substitute' offered a fairly solid program." The episode's reference to The Graduate was named the 20th greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film's Nathan Ditum. Ditum also ranked Hoffman's performance as the 16th best guest appearance in the show's history. Todd VanDerWerff of Slant Magazine picked the episode as the show's second best, praising its emotion and Hoffman's performance.

"Lisa's Substitute" also received positive reviews from cast and crew members of the show. Bart's voice actress, Nancy Cartwright, said it is one of her top three episodes together with "Bart Sells His Soul" and "Bart the Mother", while writer Al Jean said the episode was his favorite sentimental episode. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer, named it his favorite episode of the show together with "Simpson and Delilah" and "Homer the Heretic". Executive producer James L. Brooks said he thinks "Lisa's Substitute" stands out because it is The Simpsons' "best show" with a message behind it.