"All About Lisa" is the twentieth and final episode of the nineteenth 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, ...

''. 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 ...

in the United States on May 18, 2008.

Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. She is the middle child and most accomplished of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in '' The Tracey Ullman ...

becomes

Krusty the Clown Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...

's newest assistant and steals his spotlight. She wins Entertainer of the Year at the Springfield Media awards, but is warned that with her sudden fame comes a new attitude towards others and herself. Meanwhile,

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 ...

and

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 ''Bartho ...

bond over their newfound love of coin collecting. The episode features narration by

Sideshow Mel In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. Types There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions: *The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten seq ...

. It was written by John Frink and directed by

Steven Dean Moore Steven Dean Moore is an American animation director. His credits include 65 episodes of the animated television series ''The Simpsons'' and several episodes of the Nickelodeon series ''Rugrats'' (1991–2004). Moore was also one of four sequence ...

Drew Carey Drew Allison Carey (born May 23, 1958) is an American comedian, actor and game show host. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and making a name for himself in stand-up comedy, he gained stardom in his own sitcom, '' The Drew Carey Show'', an ...

guest voices himself, appearing as a guest on Krusty's show.

Plot

The episode begins at the 38th Annual Springfield Media Awards, where the Entertainer of the Year Award goes to

then explains how Lisa became an entertainer. At

's 4,000th episode, Krusty decides to hire brand-new "Krustkateers", children who used to star alongside Krusty in his early episodes. Bart has the best performance of all the children auditioning, but Krusty chooses

Nelson Muntz Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and the lead school bully from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', where he is best known for his signature mocking laugh "Ha-ha!". He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was first intro ...

instead. Lisa decides to defend Bart and demands Krusty hire him. However, Krusty decides to hire Lisa as his intern instead. As Krusty's intern, Lisa is frequently bullied by Krusty. Noticing how Krusty degrades Lisa, Mel tells her that Krusty is very conceited, so in order to bear Krusty's rudeness, Lisa must compliment him. Lisa takes Sideshow Mel's advice, and a conceited Krusty finally praises Lisa's assistance. When Krusty fails to entertain the audience at one of his shows, Lisa attempts to make Krusty look better. After pushing Krusty off the diving board, the entire audience laughs at Krusty and praises Lisa, whose mind is swept with fame and fortune. Krusty is warned by his agent that Lisa's popularity may steal his spotlight. One evening, Krusty is running late for a rehearsal, and the program directors offer Lisa the opportunity to fill in. Dressed in a clown outfit, she performs Krusty's monologue, then when Krusty finally arrives he finds out the network has hired Lisa to replace him, renaming the show "The Lisa Show". As Krusty is relegated to a local late-night talk show, Lisa becomes an overnight success, but Sideshow Mel warns Lisa not to overdo her pride. The story returns to Lisa proudly accepting her award. After the awards show, Mel reveals to Lisa that he had previously won the Entertainer of the Year Award, and that past winners including himself had their careers killed because of the award by starring in mediocre TV shows and movies. Lisa realizes that she needs to get out of the business while she still can. She runs back out on stage and calls Krusty up, allowing him to be in the spotlight again. Krusty regains his reputation and his show, where he continues to torture Mel for comedy. Meanwhile, Bart and Homer decide to sell all of Krusty's merchandise in Bart's room. When

Comic Book Guy Jeff Albertson, commonly known as Comic Book Guy, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the second-season episode " Three Men and a Comic Book", wh ...

trades a coin album and a bicentennial quarter for the collection, Bart and Homer start coin collecting. After nearly filling the entire collection book, they discover a secret coin slot for the rare 1917 "Kissing Lincolns" penny. Bart and Homer head to a coin auction house in an attempt to buy the "Kissing Lincolns" penny, but

Mr. Burns Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, Monty, or C. Montgomery Burns, is a recurring character and the main antagonist of the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced initially by ...

buys it instead. Burns does not willingly give Homer the penny, but Homer tricks him into giving it as part of change for a nickel.

Cultural references

*The episode's title and plot as well as certain elements and scenes are references to the film ''

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does not receive a screen credit ...

''. * The pig dressed in the suit is Spider Pig from 2007's ''

The Simpsons Movie ''The Simpsons Movie'' is a 2007 American Animation, animated comedy film based on the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. The film was directed by the show's supervising director David Silverman (animator), David Silverman and star ...

''. *The Krustkateers are a reference to the Mouseketeers from Disney's ''

The Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised ...

''. *The comic book '' Radioactive Man vs.

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

'' is a parody of the 1978 comic book '' Superman vs. Muhammad Ali''. *''Last Gasp with Krusty the Clown'' is a reference to ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with ''T ...

''. *The dance Nelson practices for Krusty's show is a parody of the famous routine from ''

Flashdance ''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend ...

''.

Reception

In its original run, the episode was watched by 6.11 million viewers. Since airing, the episode was met with mixed reviews. Robert Canning of IGN said the episode lacked the normal spark and was an average season finale. He also criticized the premise of the main plot for being identical to that of " Bart Gets Famous" and gave the episode a final score of 5.8 out of 10. Although he gave it a lackluster review, he said Homer's storyline, despite being a "time filler", had more laughs. James Greene of

Nerve.com ''Nerve'' or Nerve.com, was an American online magazine dedicated to sexual topics, relationships and culture. Founded by Rufus Griscom and Genevieve Field, Nerve published articles and photography on its website and several books, in partnership ...

put the episode fourth on his list ''Ten Times The Simpsons

Jumped the Shark The idiom "jumping the shark" was coined in 1985 by Jon Hein in response to a 1977 episode from the fifth season of the American sitcom ''Happy Days'', in which Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps over a shark while on water-skis. The phrase is pejo ...

'', criticizing the similarities between the episode and "Bart Gets Famous" and stating that "It's inevitable any program will revisit plot lines twenty years in, but a complete rip of a classic outing is pretty rank." At the Springfield Showbiz Awards, the MC's quote, "We now come to our final award: Entertainer of the Year. An award so prestigious that it recently won the 'Award of the Year' Award at the 2007 Awardie Awards," was nominated for Best Quote of the Week. John Frink received a

Humanitas Award The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

nomination for the script.

References

External links

*
All About Lisa script
at Springfield! Springfield! {{The Simpsons episodes, 19 The Simpsons (season 19) episodes 2008 American television episodes