Lisa Gets an "A"

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"Lisa Gets an 'A'"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	210
Prod. code	AABF03
Orig. airdate	November 22, 1998
Show runner(s)	Mike Scully
Written by	Ian Maxtone-Graham
Directed by	Bob Anderson
Chalkboard	"I will not scream for ice cream"
Couch gag	The Simpsons sit on the couch; hair dryer helmets land on every family members’ heads. When the helmets come off, every family member has each other’s hairstyles. Maggie falls off the couch because Marge’s bouffant is too heavy for her to support.
DVD commentary	Matt Groening Mike Scully George Meyer Ian Maxtone-Graham Ron Hauge Yeardley Smith Mike B. Anderson
Season 10 August 23, 1998 – May 16, 1999 "Lard of the Dance" "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" "Bart the Mother" "Treehouse of Horror IX" "When You Dish Upon a Star" "D'oh-in in the Wind" "Lisa Gets an "A"" "Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble"" "Mayored to the Mob" "Viva Ned Flanders" "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" "Homer to the Max" "I'm with Cupid" "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"" "Make Room for Lisa" "Maximum Homerdrive" "Simpsons Bible Stories" "Mom and Pop Art" "The Old Man and the "C" Student" "Monty Can't Buy Me Love" "They Saved Lisa's Brain" "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo" List of all The Simpsons episodes
Seasons 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21

"Lisa Gets an 'A'" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons' tenth season. It aired on November 22, 1998, and received generally positive reviews from critics, being praised as one of the best episodes of the season.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cultural references 2.1 Video game references 3 External links

[edit] Plot

After yet another long morning at church, the Simpsons go to a grocery store (Eatie Gourmet's) to take advantage of free samples in lieu of a Sunday brunch. At the store, Homer wants to buy a lobster, but since the larger ones are too expensive he decides to buy a small one and fatten him up before he, in his words, "eats the profits". Homer also tries to look for normal flavors of ice cream among the unusually titled flavors of the "Ken & Harry's" factory plant, so he decides to put Lisa into the freezer to look for some in the back, which ultimately results in her getting a cold. Marge wants Lisa to stay home from school for the next few days to recover from her cold. At home, Lisa gets addicted to one of Bart's video games, ignoring the homework on The Wind in the Willows that she is given by Ralph. When Lisa returns to school there's a test on the book. Having not read the book, she is not prepared for the test, and when she asks Bart for advice, he brings her to Nelson from whom she gets the test answers. Miss Hoover grades the tests over lunch, and Lisa is awarded the rare grade of A+++ (it was written with four plusses, but the fourth plus was a stain of Drambuie).

Meanwhile, Homer has become attached to his Lobster and names him Pinchy. When it comes time to cook Pinchy, Homer cannot bring himself to do it, and instead, declares him a part of the family now.

The family is extremely proud of Lisa's "achievement", much to the chagrin of her guilt-ridden conscience. The next day at school, Principal Skinner informs Lisa that her test grade has brought Springfield Elementary's GPA up to the State's minimum standard, and they now qualify for a basic assistance grant. Lisa confesses that she cheated on the test and Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers both agree it would be best to keep this a secret in order to keep the money. Although Lisa confesses during the grant money presentation assembly, the school manages to keep the money, as Principal Skinner anticipated Lisa would confess, and staged a phony presentation before the real one (even going as far as to allow Bart in on the plan.). At home, after getting dirty playing in the yard, Pinchy is put in a hot bath by Homer, and unfortunately Pinchy is boiled alive. Homer sadly eats Pinchy all by himself, crying whilst his family looks on.

[edit] Cultural references

• While shopping for ice cream, the flavors Homer rejects are all named after famous people. Cherry Garcia (a real Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor), Honey Bono, Desmond Tutti Frutti, Milli Vanilla, Candy Warhol, Xavier Nougat, and Sherbert Hoover. The ice cream brand name is a parody on the Ben & Jerry's ice cream brand.
• In one scene, Nelson says "Well la-di-da, Lady Cheaterly." This is a reference to the D. H. Lawrence novel Lady Chatterley's Lover.
• The story with Homer getting a pet lobster after he buys a live lobster intending to eat is similar to the Garfield and Friends episode "Maine Course".
• The name of the grocery store Eatie Gourmet's is a play on Eydie Gormé one half of the husband and wife singing team, Steve and Eydie.

[edit] Video game references

• Dash Dingo, the video game Lisa becomes addicted to, is a parody of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. The two games' opening themes are similar, while the evil floating Australian head in Dash Dingo is a parody of the Crash games' villain, Doctor Neo Cortex. Dash Dingo revolves around finding and devouring "seven crystal babies", referencing the Azaria Chamberlain disappearance, the Crystals in the Crash Bandicoot game and the seven chaos emeralds of the Sonic the Hedgehog universe.
• The game console Lisa plays Dash Dingo on resembles the PlayStation but the controller and console are black rather than grey.
• At one point in the episode, Ralph Wiggum mistakenly calls Superintendent Chalmers "Super Nintendo Chalmers".
• In the same scene, Gil is merchandising an apparently primitive PC of the brand Coleco, a reference to the ColecoVision game console.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: "Lisa Gets an "A""

• "Lisa Gets an "A"" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
• "Lisa Gets an "A"" at the Internet Movie Database