Episode no. 111 Production code 2F05 | Showrunner(s) David Mirkin Original air date November 13, 1994 | |
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"Lisa on Ice" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons' sixth season. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on November 13, 1994. In the episode, Lisa discovers that she possesses a skill for ice hockey, and a rivalry between Lisa and Bart ensues.
Contents
The episode was written by Mike Scully and directed by Bob Anderson, whose passion for hockey inspired the plot. It features cultural references to films such as Rollerball and The Pope of Greenwich Village. The episode was well received by critics, and acquired a Nielsen rating of 11.6.
Plot
Principal Skinner calls all the Springfield Elementary School students down for an assembly to tell them which subjects they are failing. Lisa is surprisingly called up, and discovers to her horror that she is failing gym class. When she appeals to her teacher, they reach a compromise: Lisa can get a passing grade if she joins a sports program outside of school. She immediately attempts to join several, but fails, and her self-esteem is devastated. Later, the family goes to see Bart play hockey for his team, the Mighty Pigs, coached by Chief Wiggum. After the game, Bart, while ridiculing his sister for being poor at sports, begins shooting pieces of litter at Lisa with his hockey stick, and Apu, the coach of the Kwik-E-Mart Gougers, notices that she is a natural at hockey goal-tending and makes her goalie for his team. As it turns out, she is remarkably talented, and leads her team to their best season ever.
Due to Homer's increasing pressure, a sibling rivalry develops between Bart and Lisa, and it peaks when the town learns that the Gougers will face the Mighty Pigs in their next match. The game proves to be a vicious one, but very close, with both Bart and Lisa playing their best. With four seconds left, Bart is tripped by Jimbo, giving him a penalty shot against Lisa that will decide the game. However, as they face each other, Bart and Lisa remember the good times they have had together as children before they began fighting. They each throw aside their equipment and hug, and the match ends in a tie. Unsatisfied with the outcome, the residents of Springfield begin rioting.
Production
The idea for the episode came from The Simpsons writer Mike Scully, who wanted to do an episode involving ice hockey because of his passion for the sport. Bob Anderson, who also had an interest in hockey, directed the episode.
The episode starts out with Lisa tricking Bart into believing it is a snow day by throwing a snowball at him which she made out of the ice in the fridge. The scene was inspired by Scully, who as a child loved to sit and listen by the radio waiting to see if there was going to be a school snow day. Scully thought, because of his experience as a child, that there was nothing more disappointing than to wake up expecting a snow day, only to find out there was no snow. The academic alerts the Springfield Elementary School students receive were based on those Scully received in junior high.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Lisa on Ice" finished 34th in the ratings for the week of November 7 to November 13, 1994, with a Nielsen rating of 11.6. It was the second highest rated show on the Fox network that week. 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, called it "a fabulous episode for Lisa and Bart, although with a special mention for a few seconds of tremendous Edna Krabappel wickedness". DVD Verdict's Ryan Keefer said the episode "is one of the few episodes centered on Lisa that I enjoy watching", and gave it a B grade. DVD Talk's Aaron Beierle said, "there are definitely some funny moments in this episode, the sweet-natured way that the episode ends never sat right with me". ESPN.com named this episode the fifth best sports moment in the history of the show. The Orlando Sentinel's Gregory Hardy listed it as the seventh best episode of the show with a sports theme.
TV Squad's Adam Finley gave the episode a positive review, commenting that it is "a skewering of parents who become too involved in their children's sports and turn what should be a lesson in teamwork, trying your hardest, and losing gracefully into a kind of Roman Coliseum where grown adults live out violent fantasies and their own failed ambitions through their children". He added, "Homer is an absolute jerk in this episode, taunting his children when they lose and praising them when they win and humiliate their sibling" and "it's not just Homer. Marge, characteristically so, tries to remain diplomatic, but even she starts screaming for blood when Bart is tripped by an opposing player."