The Simpsons/I Love Lisa

I Love Lisa
Season 4, Episode 15
Airdate	February 11, 1993
Production Number	9F13
Written by	Frank Mula
Directed by	Wes Archer
← 4x14 Brother from the Same Planet	4x16 → Duffless
The Simpsons — Season Four

I Love Lisa is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of The Simpsons, and the seventy-fourth episode overall.

This episode places the focus on Ralph Wiggum, an occasional background character and classmate of Lisa who used frequent non-sequiturs and nonsensical, often bizarre comments and engaged in behavior consistent with an awkward primary school-aged student, and often was the kid that nobody liked and was often mercilessly teased.

This was Ralph's first episode as the primary character, and it focuses on him trying to become friends with Lisa. Because of his nature, Ralph takes receiving a Valentine's card from Lisa as a signal she really likes him, when in reality no one else gave him a card and she decided to give him one as an act of kindness and pity. Hilarity ensues as Ralph awkwardly tries to pursue a relationship with Lisa, and two things – a live television special celebrating Krusty the Klown's longevity as a Springfield pop culture icon; and a President's Day Pageant, where the two are paired in the main feature (a celebration of George Washington) – will play key factors in this character sketch.

The episode also establishes Chief Clancy Wiggum as Ralph's father, and Ralph being an only child.

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

Plot Overview

Valentine's Day around Springfield:

• Bill and Marty, the morning show at KBBL, accidentally play "The Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Krypt Keepers.

• Bart takes a box of Sweethearts candy and replaces the love messages with something decidedly less romantic.

• At the Springfield Retirement Castle, Grampa grumpily scoffs at the holiday, until he sees Jasper get some mail, including a Valentine's card from his granddaughter.

• Moe, working the bar, gets a Valentine's card from his "secret admirer," and is creeped out when he realizes it came from ... Barney! Urrppphhhh!!!!

At school, 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. One of the students, a clumsy, socially awkward student named Ralph Wiggum, is having trouble constructing the box, to the amusement of the other students and Miss Hoover's annoyance. After the boxes are constructed, the students all exchange Valentines, but Ralph doesn't get any and begins to cry. 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, and not understanding that her feelings for him are little more than pity.

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. At the same time, Ralph asks his father – who is revealed to be none other than Chief Wiggum – for advice in winning over Lisa; Chief Wiggum tells his son that persistence is the key to winning a woman's heart. 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.

In the meantime, two background events will play a major part of this episode:

• Plans announced for school production celebrating President's Day – the President's Day Pageant, of which Miss Hoover is producing and directing.

• Krusty the Klown announcing his upcoming anniversary special, much in the vein of The Tonight Show anniversary specials during the Johnny Carson era.

For the former, auditions are ongoing for the main segment, a biography of George Washington; Ralph and another boy in class, Rex (an aspiring actor with dramatic flair), are vying for the lead role of the Father of Our Country. After Rex gives a stunning performance, Miss Hoover announces that Lisa will play Martha Washington ... and Ralph has (somehow) won the role of George Washington. Rex, figuring that Ralph will be an embarrassment and badly botch his performance, goes into a tirade ... unaware that Miss Hoover, who is trying to calm Rex down while moving the shades up and down, has been blackmailed by Chief Wiggum into giving his son the part. (The "somehow" is that the Springfield Police Department had placed a parking boot on his car, and Wiggum would remove it in exchange for Ralph getting the lead role.)

Meantime, as bumpers are aired for Krusty's upcoming special are aired, Wiggum procures tickets for Ralph and Lisa. Lisa is forced into a dilemma: Go to the special, which will be aired live (something she's always wanted to do) with a boy that is making her feel increasingly uncomfortable, or stay home. Bart tries suggesting a third option: Not go, but let Bart go in his place.

In the end, Lisa goes with Ralph, and the special begins.

After several "classic clips" and some comedy skits take place, Krusty begins interviewing audience members. Lisa squirms in her seat, worried that Krusty will ask to speak to either her or Ralph. The clown chooses Ralph, and immediately he happily and proudly declares Lisa as the love of his life and that he intends to one day marry her. Lisa snaps and – forgetting that they are on live television – angrily yells at Ralph, telling him he is not her boyfriend and never will be, and that the only reason she gave him a Valentine's card is because no one else had.

Flash immediately to home, where Bart taunts Lisa about the incident, narrating Ralph's immediate reaction frame by frame. "You can actually pinpoint the second when his heart rips in half," he tells her, as Lisa now realizes the severity of her actions: Her inappropriate words of anger needlessly humiliated Ralph on live television, and now she's going to have to find a way to make it up to him.

Especially since they have to find a way to work together to put on a half-decent presentation or else things will get worse.

But before that happens, a deeply saddened Ralph tries to make sense of things and Chief Wiggum helps him sort his emotions out, promising he'll get revenge ... which he does by pulling Homer over under false pretenses, claiming a broken taillight. When the taillight isn't broken, Wiggum decides to remedy the situation with his baton! Homer then promises that he and other honest citizens will get their revenge on corrupt police. The Chief worriedly blurts out, "They are? Oh, no! Have they set a date?"

At the President's Day Pageant, there is a song celebrating "The Mediocre Presidents," while Bart, having won the role of John Wilkes Booth for a segment on the assassination of President Lincoln (played by Millhouse) decides to get too creative with his part, impersonating Arnold Schwarzenegger before he is taken offstage.

Then the main segment. After Ralph discards the Valentine's card Lisa had given him in the fireplace, he immediately breaks into a resounding performance of George Washington, winning over the audience with a stunning, emotional portrayal of the first President. After a standing ovation, the bullies – Nelson, Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney – are inspired to read more about the first President, while Groundskeeper Willie (after being instructed to water down the orange punch some more when Principal Skinner realizes they are running out) is moved to tears. The evening ends with an animatronic Mount Rushmore being lowered and Skinner singing the final line to "America the Beautiful" ... and the principal trying to hock more orange punch "for the long ride home!"

In the end, after Ralph signs autographs from an adoring audience, Lisa comes to him and apologizes for the incident on live television. Ralph accepts, and he also accepts her kind-hearted gesture of a new Valentine's card, reading "Let's Bee Friends." Ralph realizes that being friends is the best, and the two go to the swings to finish out the night, Chief Wiggum smiling as he watches the two together.

Notes

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.

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.

Arc Advancement

Characters

• Ralph Wiggum: 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. This character sketch is the first where viewers get to know him: An awkward, clumsy kid who frequently makes nonsensical comments, but still always tries his hardest to fit in.
• Elizabeth Hoover: It is already clear that the second-grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School is in the very least annoyed with Ralph, allowing his classmates to laugh at him when he says he can't use real scissors – in fact, she condones it ("The children were right to laugh at you!") – and again when he says he's eaten a crayon. She also does absolutely nothing to reprimand the class when Ralph receives no cards in his (crudely-made) Valentine's box. All of these are actions that would – in today's world – earn her a reprimand, possibly corrective action and, in some cases, even suspension from the classroom if not further sanctions.

Trivia

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.

Allusions and References

• Apocalypse Now: Principal Skinner's flashback to a Vietnam War battle, where his friend is killed by a sudden burst of gunfire, is taken from the 1979 movie starring Marlon Brando. Laurence Fishburne and Frederic Forrest's characters visible in the background during the sequence.
• Debbie Does Dallas: The movie shown at the adult movie theater where Chief Wiggum and Krusty the Klown are at is Debbie Does Springfield.
• "Do 'Ya Think I'm Sexy": Ned Flanders serenades Maude to the tune, with "sanitized" lyrics.
• Elementary school plays: The "President's Day Pageant," typical of many elementary- and junior high-school presentations, with cheesy songs ("The Mediocre Presidents," a tune about lesser-known presidents (due to few-to-no controversies during their term and/or because historians ranked them among the bottom)) and simplified dramatizations of historic events with clearly fictionalized elements sometimes added (the dramatization of President Lincoln's assassination, where Lincoln recognizes his killer before he is attacked).
• I Love Lucy: The title is inspired by the title of the classic 1950s situation comedy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
• Pee-Wee Herman: A scene where Chief Wiggum is sitting behind Krusty at an adult movie theater and Krusty thinking he is about to be arrested is a reference to Paul Reubens' arrest for masturbating at a pornographic movie theater in Sarasota, Florida.
• Shining Time Station: The original "I Choo-Choo-Choo-Choose You!" Valentine's card Lisa gives Ralph has a cartoon drawing of a steam locomotive resembling Thomas the Tank Engine, from the British TV series that aired on PBS in the United States.
• Star Trek: Groundskeeper Willie does a Scotty impression when, upon being instructed by Principal Skinner to put more water in the orange juice, he tries to point out that the juice has already been diluted way too much. ("She's already been watered down, and she can be watered down no more!").
• Sweethearts Candy: Bart is accused of printing crude messages on the candy hearts (replacing the usual Valentine's Day-related love messages), and then distributing them at school.
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day: Bart mimicks Arnold Schwarzenegger's titular character's famous line, "Hasta la vista, Abey!" and uses a Nerf gun (as a machine gun) in the segment centering on President Lincoln's assassination.
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: The "Krusty the Klown 29th Anniversary Special" was modeled exactly on the specials observing Carson's anniversaries on television. Like the legendary late-night comedian, clips from years past were shown. Some of Krusty's classic clips were time-topical, for instance, a "Kroon Along With Krusty" clip with a time stamp of 1973 shows Krusty singing psychedelic rock, and another segment on past Sideshows, specifically Sideshow Raheem (with a very early 1970s-ish Afro), show off fashion through the years. Others, however, are played for comic value, such as a near frame-perfect re-creation of Joan Embry's marmoset relieving itself on Carson's head, this time with an Embry knockoff as the animal's owner and Krusty as the unwitting victim.