| "Lisa's Date with Density" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
 | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 8 Episode 7 | ||
| Directed by | Susie Dietter | ||
| Written by | Mike Scully | ||
| Production code | 4F01 | ||
| Original air date | December 15, 1996 (1996-12-15) | ||
| Episode features | |||
| Chalkboard gag | Lisa writes "I will not be a snickerpuss" during the episode. | ||
| 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 | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| The Simpsonsseason 8 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Lisa's Date with Density" is the seventh episode of theeighth season of the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons. It originally aired on theFox network in the United States on December 15, 1996.[2] It was written byMike Scully and directed bySusie Dietter.[2] The episode seesLisa develop acrush onNelson Muntz. When they start dating and Lisa is unable to reform him, she ends their relationship. In the subplot,Homer uses an autodialer in a telemarketing scheme that annoys all ofSpringfield's residents.
Superintendent Chalmers visitsPrincipal Skinner at Springfield Elementary School to show off his newly purchased second-handHonda Accord, only to discover the car'shood ornament has suddenly gone missing. Skinner orders a search of every student's locker which reveals thatNelson Muntz, theschool bully, is the culprit. As punishment, Nelson is forced to return all stolen items found in his locker to their owners and perform janitorial work withGroundskeeper Willie.
Lisa is caught staring at Nelson during band practice and unwittingly causes a commotion among the band students, earning herdetention during which she is forced towrite lines on the chalkboard. After Nelson recommends using an aid for writingmusical notation to get through her punishment faster, she realizes she has developed a crush on him. She asksMilhouse to pass a love note to him in class, but Nelson, thinking Milhouse wrote the love note, beats him up. After Milhouse is taken to the hospital, Lisa confesses to Nelson that she wrote the note and soon she spends more time with him, inviting him to her house and even visiting Nelson's own.
AtMarge's suggestion, Lisa decides to turn Nelson from a troublemaker into a sweet, well-behaved young man like how Marge had done with Homer. Lisa compels Nelson to start dressing more sharply and then takes him to the Springfield Observatory for a date. To distract Lisa, Nelson kisses her, but finds he has fallen for her in the process. However, the influence of his friendsJimbo,Dolph andKearney prevails when they convince him tovandalize Principal Skinner's house later that night. After Skinner calls the police, the four boys flee; Nelson gains refuge in the Simpson house by telling Lisa that he is innocent, which she believes at first. However, Nelson accidentally admits his involvement the next day, and Lisa gently breaks up with him after realizing that he hasn't changed at all. On her way home, she runs into Milhouse, who is delighted to hear that she's no longer seeing Nelson.
In the subplot,Chief Wiggum arrests ascam artist forfraudulentrobocalling.Homer witnesses the arrest and retrieves the discardedautodialer from a trash bin. He uses the machine for a telemarketing scheme to persuade everyone to send him money under the name "Happy Dude". His phone calls annoy the whole town and Chief Wiggum catches him. Instead of confiscating the autodialer and taking Homer into custody, he shoots it and asks Homer to bring it to his court hearing, lest the charges be dismissed for lack of evidence. In the closing credits, the repaired autodialer plays Homer's new, court-ordered message asking residents to forgive him; he ends the message with yet another money beg, this time to "Sorry Dude".[1][2]
The idea of Lisa dating Nelson had been around for a while, with several different versions being pitched.[3] The writers wanted a "silly" Homer story to balance the episode out,[3] and the idea of using the telemarketing scam for this had also been around for a while.[4] 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.[4] The words to Nelson's song were contributed byMike Scully's daughters.[3] The scene in which Milhouse passes Lisa's note to Nelson was written byBill Oakley,[3] with the line, "He can't hear you, we had to pack his ears withgauze", beingGeorge Meyer's line.[5] 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.[4] Milhouse likingVaseline on toast was based on a child fromJosh Weinstein's school days who everyday would get onto the bus with a piece of toast, which had Vaseline on it.[4]
A majority of the story is a reference to the filmRebel 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 wasWinston Churchill's opinion of Russia at the outbreak ofWorld War II.[1] The episode title's use of the word "density" to mean "destiny" is a reference to a line from the filmBack to the Future.
In its original broadcast, "Lisa's Date with Density" finished 63rd in ratings for the week of December 9–15, 1996, with aNielsen 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, followingThe X-Files,Melrose Place,Beverly Hills, 90210 andParty of Five.[6][7]
The authors of the bookI Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide,Gary Russell andGareth Roberts,[8] 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.[4] The medic's line "He can't hear you now; we had to pack his ears withgauze" is one ofMatt Groening's favorites.[5] 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 ofSusie Dietter's favorites, as it explains why Marge is still married to Homer despite his actions.[9]
Yeardley Smith, the voice actress of Lisa, has mentioned this episode is one of her favoriteSimpsons episodes of all time.[10]
This is also one of several episodes that has been performed live by the cast in front of an audience.[5]
I've just done my first non-fiction book, Oh No It's A Completely Unofficial Simpsons Guide for Virgin, co-authored with Gareth Roberts which has, to be frank, been more of a nightmare than it needed to be [the book was published as I Can't Believe It's An Unofficial Simpsons Guide, with Gary and Gareth writing under the pseudonyms Warren Martyn & Adrian Wood].
