Lisa's Date with Density

"Lisa's Date with Density"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no. 160
Directed by Susie Dietter
Written by Mike Scully
Showrunner(s) Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Production code 4F01
Original air date December 15, 1996
Couch gag The living room is upside down, and after the family sits down, they fall off.[1]
Commentary Matt Groening
Josh Weinstein
Mike Scully
Nancy Cartwright
Yeardley Smith
Susie Dietter
Alex Rocco
Season 8 episodes
Seasons

"Lisa's Date with Density" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons' eighth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 15, 1996.[2] It was written by Mike Scully and directed by Susie Dietter.[2] The episode sees Lisa develop a crush on Nelson Muntz, which eventually leads to Lisa and Nelson dating.

Plot

At Springfield Elementary School, Superintendent Chalmers visits Principal Skinner to show off his newly purchased 1979 Honda Accord. However, he becomes distraught when he discovers the car's hood ornament is missing. Principal Skinner orders a search of every student's locker, and it is discovered that Nelson Muntz is the culprit. As punishment, Nelson is forced to return all stolen items to their owners and is sentenced to be a janitor alongside Groundskeeper Willie.

Mr. Largo catches Lisa looking outside at Nelson during a music lesson, and as a result, she is given detention. After school, she continues to watch Nelson and develops a crush on the school bully. Lisa tries to let Nelson know how she feels about him by getting Milhouse to pass a love note to him in class. The plan backfires, with Nelson hurting Milhouse, thinking the note came from him. Lisa confesses that she wrote the letter and although Nelson seems indifferent about the matter, he begins visiting her home. Lisa is resolved to turn Nelson from a trouble maker into a sweet, sensitive young man. Later, Lisa and Nelson share a kiss during their date at the Springfield Observatory.

The influence of Nelson's friends Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney proves to win out when they convince him to throw rancid Cole slaw at Principal Skinner's house. Skinner immediately phones the police, and the four flee. Nelson takes refuge with Lisa, proclaiming his innocence. Lisa believes him, until Nelson unwittingly tells the truth. Lisa realizes that Nelson is always going to be who he is and decides to end the relationship.

In the subplot, Chief Wiggum arrests a scam artist for telemarketing fraud. Homer witnesses the arrest and sees the discarded autodialer in a nearby trash bin. Homer takes the autodialer home to use for tele-panhandling. However, he ends up annoying all of Springfield with his "Happy Dude" scam, and soon enough, Wiggum catches him. Instead of confiscating the autodialer and taking Homer into custody, he shoots it and gives Homer a citation, asking him to bring the autodialer with him to his court hearing. In the closing credits, however, Homer has recorded a new message apologizing to everyone he scammed and that if they can forgive him to send more money.[1][2][3]

Production

The idea of Lisa dating Nelson had been around for a while, with several different versions being pitched.[4] The writers wanted a "silly" Homer story to balance the episode out,[4] and the idea of using the telemarketing scam for this had also been around for a while.[5] By this time, the show had begun to have episodes revolving around secondary characters. This was the first episode to revolve around Nelson, and was done to partly explain why Nelson acts the way he does.[5] The words to Nelson's song were contributed by Mike Scully's daughters.[4] The scene in which Milhouse passes Lisa's note to Nelson was written by Bill Oakley,[4] with the line, "He can't hear you, we had to pack his ears with gauze", being George Meyer's line.[6] There was a debate as to how injured Milhouse should look without it looking disturbing, and the drop of blood coming from his nose was decided to be enough.[5] Milhouse liking Vaseline on toast was based on a child from Josh Weinstein's school days who everyday would get onto the bus with a piece of toast, which had Vaseline on it.[5]

Cultural references

A majority of the story is a reference to the film Rebel Without a Cause.[1] Lisa remarks that Nelson is "like a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a vest", a reference to "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma"; this was Winston Churchill's opinion of Russia at the outbreak of the World War II.[1]

Reception

In its original broadcast, "Lisa's Date with Density" finished 63rd in ratings for the week of December 9–15, 1996, with a Nielsen rating of 7.4, equivalent to approximately 7.2 million viewing households. It was the fifth-highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-Files, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Party of Five.[7]

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it "impressive" how "even after Nelson has beaten [Milhouse] up for apparently making a pass, [Milhouse] will still do anything for uncaring Lisa."[1] Josh Weinstein called it one of the most "real" episodes, commenting that every character in the episode, from Superintendent Chalmers to Lisa, acts like a real person throughout.[5] The medic's line "He can't hear you, we had to pack his ears with gauze" is one of Matt Groening's favorites.[6] Marge's line "When I first met your father, he was loud, crude and piggish. But I worked hard on him, and now he's a whole new person", is one of Susie Dietter's favorites, as it explains why Marge is still married to Homer despite his actions.[8]

This is also one of several episodes that has been performed live by the cast in front of an audience.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Lisa's Date With Density". BBC. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia, eds. The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M.
  3. ↑ "Lisa's Date With Density". The Simpsons.com. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Scully, Mike (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Date with Density" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Weinstein, Josh (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Date with Density" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. 1 2 3 Groening, Matt (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Date with Density" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  7. ↑ Bauder, David (December 19, 1996). "NBC rides tall again in ratings". Rocky Mountain News. p. 16D.
  8. ↑ Dietter, Susie (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Date with Density" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  • "Lisa's Date with Density" at The Simpsons.com
  • "Lisa's Date with Density episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
  • "Lisa's Date with Density" at TV.com
  • "Lisa's Date with Density" on IMDb

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