The Simpsons/Lisa's Substitute

Lisa's Substitute
Season 2, Episode 19
Airdate	April 25, 1991
Production Number	7F19
Written by	Jon Vitti
Directed by	Rich Moore
← 2x18 Brush with Greatness	2x20 → The War of the Simpsons
The Simpsons — Season Two

Lisa's Substitute is the nineteenth episode of the second season of The Simpsons, and the thirty-second episode overall.

What makes a great teacher ... and what makes a bad teacher? Those are the questions answered in this episode, where Lisa's normal second-grade teacher, Ms. Hoover (at best a very mediocre teacher) takes a personal leave of absence and a teacher who is inspiring and has a love for helping educate children is hired to temporarily take over the classroom, and Lisa and her fellow students suddenly start finding a new love for learning and their grades dramatically improve. What will happen when Ms. Hoover returns?

Guest Stars: Sam Etic (Mr. Bergstrom)

Plot Overview

Ms. Hoover takes a leave of absence from the classroom, announcing to the class she thinks she has lyme disease. In her place is a long-term substitute teacher, Mr. Bergstrom. When he shows up on the first day in a cowboy outfit and asks the class to spot historical inaccuracies, Lisa is able to name them all. Eventually, Mr. Bergstrom's unorthodox teaching methods and skills, as well as his friendly nature and compassion for his students, wins over the class, especially Lisa. Lisa eventually looks up to Mr. Bergstrom as a strong male model, especially after Homer - a case of just being himself – embarasses her at the Natural History museum where they run into Bergstrom.

Eventually, Ms. Hoover is made to return to school and Mr. Bergstrom must leave. Lisa is crushed not only that things will return to normal – they revert to her uninspired, if not downright awful teaching ways, and there is little if nothing the school can do to remove her permanently – but that she will lose the best teacher she ever had. (Ms. Hoover reveals her illness was simply a figment of her imagination and somatic symptom disorder (i.e., psychosomatic), another sign that she doesn't belong in the classroom.) Mr. Bergstrom, who reveals to Lisa he was hired as a full-time teacher at a school in Capital City, tells her not to worry. In addition to challenging her to forgive her father for his faults, she says that there are many other people around Springfield that, despite their faults and quirks, are good people to look up to. (Mr. Bergstrom had just before called Homer, said Lisa told him he embarrassed her and asked him if he can try to show better social graces in public.) At one point, Lisa takes her frustrations out on Homer, but Homer has a heart-to-heart talk with Lisa and eventually she forgives him.

Meanwhile, Bart runs for class president against Martin Prince using charisma and humor to win over the students, which makes Homer proud. The election is lost when only Martin and Wendell bother to cast ballots, much to the delight of Mrs. Krabappel.

Notes

Title Sequence

• Blackboard: none.
• Couch Gag: The Simpsons land on the couch wearing parachutes. Homer's chute doesn't open and he lands on the floor.

Trivia

The Show

• The sign on Lisa's bedroom door reads "GO AWAY"
• The sandwich shop at the museum was named "Age of Heroes"
• The character of Mr. Bergstrom was voiced by Dustin Hoffman but was credited under the pseudonym .
• In the early seasons of The Simpsons, FOX executives weren't too thrilled with a Lisa themed episode. All promotion for the episode featured the "B" story starring Bart.

Quotes

• (Homer notices Bart made the cover of the school newspaper in regards to the election)
  Homer: You made the front page!
  Bart: Dad, it's just a popularity contest.
  Homer: Just a popularity contest? Excuse me, What's more important than popularity?

Reviews

• Overall Grade: no reviews yet
• Review Breakdown: A+: 0 A: 0 A-: 0 B+: 0 B: 0 B-: 0 C+: 0 C: 0 C-: 0 D: 0 F: 0