"Lost Our Lisa" is the twenty-fourth and penultimate episode of the
ninth season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
''. It originally aired on the
Fox network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
in the United States on May 10, 1998. The episode contains the last appearance of the character
Lionel Hutz
Lionel Hutz is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He was voiced by Phil Hartman, and his first appearance was in the season two episode " Bart Gets Hit by a Car". Hutz is a stereotypical shady ambulance cha ...
.
When
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to:
People
People with the mononym
* Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam
* Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer
* Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
learns that
Marge
Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret (name), Margaret. Notable Marges include:
People
*Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist
*Marge Anderson (1932 ...
cannot give her a ride to the museum and forbids her to take the bus, she tricks
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
into giving her permission. After Lisa gets lost, Homer goes looking for her and the two end up visiting the museum together.
The episode is analyzed in the books ''
Planet Simpson
''Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation'', also abbreviated to ''Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation'', is a non-fiction book about ''The Simpsons'', written by Chris Turner ...
'', ''
The Psychology of the Simpsons: D'oh!'', and ''
The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer'', and received positive mention in ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide''.
Plot
Bart
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barthol ...
and
Milhouse
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series ''The Simpsons'' voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class ...
visit a joke shop, and after Bart tries out some novelty props for his face, they visit
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
at the power plant to borrow his
superglue
Cyanoacrylates are a family of strong fast-acting adhesives with industrial, medical, and household uses. They are derived from ethyl cyanoacrylate and related esters. The cyanoacrylate group in the monomer rapidly polymerizes in the presence ...
for the props. Meanwhile,
Marge
Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret (name), Margaret. Notable Marges include:
People
*Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist
*Marge Anderson (1932 ...
and
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to:
People
People with the mononym
* Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam
* Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer
* Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
plan a trip to the Springsonian Museum so they can see the Egyptian Treasures of
Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
exhibit and the Orb of Isis. However, when Bart comes home and shows off his face props which he is now unable to remove, Marge is forced to take him to the hospital and is therefore unable to drive Lisa to the exhibit. She also forbids Lisa to take the bus alone, since it is too dangerous for her age.
Since this is Lisa's last chance to see the exhibit, she calls Homer to ask him if she can take the bus. When he initially seems uncertain, she tricks him into letting her take the bus by suggesting that she could take a
limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment.
A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...
instead. However, Lisa boards the wrong bus; with the unsympathetic bus driver dropping her off in the middle of nowhere. At work, Homer tells
Lenny and
Carl Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
that he let Lisa ride the bus alone. When they point out the error of his judgment, he leaves work to go look for her. He heads to the museum and ends up in downtown
Springfield
Springfield may refer to:
* Springfield (toponym), the place name in general
Places and locations Australia
* Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast)
* Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council)
* Springfield, Queenslan ...
, where Lisa has hitched a ride to from
Cletus. He uses a
cherrypicker
An aerial work platform (AWP), also known as an aerial device, elevating work platform (EWP), cherry picker, bucket truck or mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) is a mechanical device used to provide temporary access for people or equipment t ...
to get up higher. Homer and Lisa spot each other, but the vehicle's wheels creak backwards and it rolls down a hill. It slides off the edge of a pier at the harbor into a river. Lisa tells the
drawbridge
A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...
operator to close the bridge so Homer can grab on. His head is caught between the two closing halves and he survives with nothing more than a few tire marks across his forehead.
Meanwhile, as Bart is examined by
Dr. Hibbert
Dr. Julius Michael Hibbert, M.D. is a recurring character on the television animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is Springfield's most prominent medical professional. Although he has a kind and warm persona, he is also often characterized as gree ...
, Hibbert manages to trick Bart into thinking he will give him a series of painful injections in his spine to get the props off his face. Bart sweats heavily in terror, resulting in the props falling off. Hibbert then explains that terror sweat was the key to removing the superglued props; the "weapon" he used is actually a button applicator. When Marge and Bart get home, she forces Bart to apologise to Lisa for ruining her trip; as he talks to her behind her bedroom door, he is unaware that she still is not home.
With Homer and Lisa re-united, he tells her that it is all right to take risks in life. The two decide to go to the museum after all, by illegally entering since it is now closed. While there, Homer accidentally knocks the Orb of Isis onto the floor, where it splits open, revealing it to be a music box that had gone overlooked by scientists and museum staff. Lisa concludes that what her father said about risks was right – until the alarm goes off and guard dogs chase them out of the building.
Production
![Yakof](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Yakof.jpg)
Writer
Mike Scully
Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, M ...
came up with the idea for the plot because he used to live in
West Springfield, Massachusetts
West Springfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 28,835 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is also known as "West Si ...
and he would ask his parents if he could take the bus to
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
and they finally agreed to let him one day.
The production team faced several challenges during development of this episode. The animators had to come up with a special mouth chart to draw Bart's mouth with the joke teeth in.
The pile of dead animals in the back of
Cletus' truck originally included dead puppies, but the animators thought it was too sad, so they removed them.
Scully used to write jokes for
Yakov Smirnoff
Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (russian: Яков Наумович Похис; born 24 January 1951), better known as Yakov Smirnoff (russian: Яков Смирнов; ), is a Ukrainian-American comedian, actor and writer. He began his career as a stand ...
so he called him up to get the signs in Russian.
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...
had to learn proper Russian pronunciation so he could speak it during the chess scene in which he voiced the Russian chess player.
In the season 9 DVD release of the episode, ''The Simpsons'' animators use a
telestrator
A telestrator is a device that allows its operator to draw a freehand sketch over a moving or still video image. Also known as a video marker, this device is often used in sports and weather broadcasts to diagram and analyze sports plays or inco ...
to show similarities between Krusty and Homer in the episode. This episode contains the last showing of character Lionel Hutz.
He is seen standing at the bus stop with Lisa, but does not speak. Due to
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...
's death, the recurring characters of Lionel Hutz and
Troy McClure were retired.
Themes
In his book ''
Planet Simpson
''Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation'', also abbreviated to ''Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation'', is a non-fiction book about ''The Simpsons'', written by Chris Turner ...
'',
Chris Turner cites Lisa's experiences on the bus as an example of "satirical laughs scored at the expense of Lisa's idealism". "Lost Our Lisa" is cited in ''
The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer'' along with episodes "
Lisa the Iconoclast
"Lisa the Iconoclast" is the sixteenth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 18, 1996. In this episode, Lisa writes an e ...
", "
Lisa the Beauty Queen
"Lisa the Beauty Queen" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 15, 1992. In the episode, Homer enters Lisa into a be ...
", and "
Lisa's Sax
"Lisa's Sax" is the third episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 19, 1997, to overwhelmingly positive reviews. In the series ...
", in order to illustrate Homer's "success bonding with Lisa".
In ''
The Psychology of the Simpsons: D'oh!'', the authors utilize statements made by Homer in the episode to analyze the difference between
heuristic
A heuristic (; ), or heuristic technique, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediate, ...
and
algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specificat ...
ic
decision-making
In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be ...
.
Homer explains to Lisa, "Stupid risks are what make life worth living. Now your mother, she's the steady type and that's fine in small doses, but me, I'm a risk-taker. That's why I have so many adventures!"
The authors of ''The Psychology of The Simpsons'' interpret this statement by Homer to mean that he "relies on his past experiences of taking massive, death-defying risks and winding up okay to justify forging ahead in the most extreme circumstances".
The episode is another featuring Homer's near invulnerability to head injury, previously explained in "
The Homer They Fall
"The Homer They Fall" is the third episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 10, 1996. After Homer realizes he has a bizarre me ...
".
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Lost Our Lisa" finished 45th in ratings for the week of May 4–10, 1998, with a
Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 7.8, equivalent to approximately 7.6 million viewing households. It was the fourth highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following ''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
'', ''
Ally McBeal'', and ''
King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...
''.
Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood write positively of the episode in their book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'': "A smashing episode, loads of good jokes and clever situations ... and best of all, Lisa working intelligently. The teaming up of father and daughter has rarely been more enjoyable and lovely. Gives you a warm feeling."
A review of ''The Simpsons'' season 9 DVD release in the ''
Daily Post'' notes that it includes "super illustrated colour commentaries" on "
All Singing, All Dancing
All singing, all dancing is an idiom meaning "full of vitality", or, more recently, "full-featured". It originated with advertisements for the 1929 musical film ''The Broadway Melody'', which proclaimed the film to be "All talking all singing a ...
" and "Lost Our Lisa".
References
;Bibliography
*
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
{{Good article
The Simpsons (season 9) episodes
1998 American television episodes