Lisa the Simpson

"Lisa the Simpson" is the seventeenth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. The episode first aired on March 8, 1998.

Episode details

Production Number: 4F24
Original Air Date: March 8, 1998
Writer: Ned Goldreyer
Director: Susie Dietter
Couch Gag: In the middle of the room, a vine grows. The whole family is either a fruit or vegetable.

Synopsis

Lisa tries to solve a brain teaser, and she fails. She also cannot solve a proper math question, and she also loses her saxophone technique. These things point to evidence that Lisa fears she is losing her gift of intelligence. When she tells about this to Grampa, he tells her that all the members of the Simpson family—including himself, Homer, and Bart—started smart at first, but later became dumber, as part of the "Simpson gene". Eventually, Lisa becomes dumb like the rest of the family, but she rejects her newfound idiocy.

She appears on Smartline and demands that the citizens of Springfield treasure their brains. As she does this, Homer brings all the Simpson family relatives to come to the house as an indication that the whole family is not a bunch of idiots. Lisa actually learns that when the relatives visit, all the men are stupid, and all the women are smart. She regains her confidence in being smart, and solves the brain teaser that she almost solved.

Meanwhile, Jasper visits the Kwik-E-Mart in hopes that he wants to make himself frozen in a freezer so he can see into the future. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon sees a money-making opportunity and renames the Kwik-E-Mart the Freak-E-Mart, which becomes a tourist trap. The Freak-E-Mart lasts briefly when Jasper gets out of the freezer and is alive and well. Fearing he will lose his customers, he makes the Kwik-E-Mart into the Nude-E-Mart, a combination of a convenience store and a strip club.

Quotes

• Apu: Come one, come all! See the amazing frozen man! Also gaze at the Frito found in a bag of Doritos. Marvel at the floor that just won't come clean!
• TV announcer: We now return to When Buildings Collapse on Non-Stop Fox!
• Rod and Todd Flanders: Show me your...hey! (Ned covers their eyes)
  Ned Flanders: It says, "Show me your tie." It's cute. Let's go!