From The TV IV

I Love Lisa is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of The Simpsons, and the seventy-fourth episode overall. Ralph Wiggum mistakes a valentine from Lisa as being more than pity and tries to get her to like him.

Also Starring: Michael Carrington (Sideshow Raheem), Doris Grau (Lunch Lady Doris), Pamela Hayden (Milhouse Van Houten), Maggie Roswell (Miss Hoover)

Contents 1 Plot Overview 2 Notes 2.1 Title Sequence 2.2 Music 3 Arc Advancement 3.1 Happenings 3.2 Characters 3.3 Referbacks 4 Trivia 4.1 The Show 4.2 Behind the Scenes 4.3 Allusions and References 4.4 Memorable Moments 5 Quotes

[edit] Plot Overview

It's Valentine's Day and Lisa's class is constructing paper boxes to hold their valentines, something Lisa clearly sees as pointless busy work but Miss Hoover isn't fighting that description. At the end of class, they all exchange Valentines. When Ralph doesn't get any, Lisa feels guilty and gives him one of her cards, reading "I Choo-Choo Choose You." After school, Ralph walks Lisa home and awkwardly forces small talk, thinking that Lisa meant more than she did with her valentine.

At home, Lisa asks for advice about how to let Ralph down easily. Marge suggests that she tell him that she's not ready for this sort of thing. She does so, but Chief Wiggum has told his son that persistence is the key to winning over a girl. The next day, Ralph comes to the door and Homer makes him fix his roof with tar under the ruse that Lisa asked him to. Then, Ralph winds up starring alongside Lisa in the President's Day play because Chief Wiggum put a boot on Miss Hoover's car and wouldn't remove it otherwise. Finally, Ralph gives her a Malibu Stacy convertible with tickets to the Krusty the Clown 29th Anniversary Special in the trunk. Bart suggests that she not go, and that he impersonate her.

Lisa decides to go with Ralph to the special after all, but when Ralph declares his undying love for her on national television, Lisa finally loses it. She screams and admits the real reason why she gave him the valentine—she felt sorry for him. Just after the revelation, the two are forced to work with one another in the school play on President's Day. Ralph, surprisingly, turns out to be a great actor in the retelling of George Washington's life. At the end of the night, Lisa gives Ralph a new card, reading "Let's Bee Friends."

[edit] Notes

[edit] Title Sequence

• Blackboard: "I will not call the principal 'Spud Head.'" The final line cuts off at "th."
• Couch Gag: The family does a kicking dance reminiscent of the rockettes at Rockefeller Center. They're joined by several women who dance along with them, followed by men juggling on unicycles. Lastly, the entire backdrop is pulled up to reveal magicians, firebreathers, a dog jumping through a flaming hoop and elephants doing gymnastics.

[edit] Music

• Break on Through (To the Other Side) by The Doors: During the Krusty clip show, Krusty sings a bit of "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" by The Doors in a clip from the 70s. The song was the first single for the band and was a song that helped propel them to fame in 1967.

• Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett: The song that the radio DJs mistakenly play twice is "Monster Mash," by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. It was created when Pickett, an actor who played in a band at nights, was encouraged to try his Boris Karloff impression out on stage. The audience loved it and he decided to capitalize off of the impersonation's popularity. The song was a #1 hit the Halloween that it was released and is a favorite for oldies stations.

[edit] Arc Advancement

[edit] Happenings

[edit] Characters

• Ralph: Up until this point, Ralph was not related to any particular Simpsons character. In this episode, writers realized that Ralph and Chief Wiggum was similar enough that Ralph could be his son.

[edit] Referbacks

[edit] Trivia

[edit] The Show

[edit] Behind the Scenes

• Wedding Vows: When Al Jean got married, his wife gave him a wedding band with "I Choo Choo Choose You" inscribed on it because it was his life experience with over analyzing a Valentine's Day card which inspired this episode and because Ralph (and the episode) is her favorite.
• Election Results: This episode was animated before the election results, so when the time came to show the current president of the United States, producers called for three separate animations: one with Hilary and Bill Clinton, one with Barbara and George H. W. Bush, and one with Ross Perot.

[edit] Allusions and References

[edit] Memorable Moments

[edit] Quotes