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[[Homer Simpson|Homer]] and [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] watch a TV movie called ''The Krusty the Clown Story: Booze, Drugs, Guns, Lies, Blackmail and Laughter'', but they keep getting interrupted by [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] playing her [[saxophone]] in her bedroom. Homer asks her to stop and Lisa responds that she has to have an hour of practice everyday. Bart enters Lisa's bedroom and tries to grab the saxophone from her but he inadvertently tosses it out the window. It lands in the middle of the street and is run over by a car and a truck. In a period of mourning, Lisa reveals she cannot remember ever ''not'' having that saxophone, so Homer recounts the instrument's origins.
[[Homer Simpson|Homer]] and [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] watch a TV movie called ''The Krusty the Clown Story: Booze, Drugs, Guns, Lies, Blackmail and Laughter'', but they keep getting interrupted by [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] playing her [[saxophone]] in her bedroom. Homer asks her to stop and Lisa responds that she has to have an hour of practice everyday. Bart enters Lisa's bedroom and tries to grab the saxophone from her but he inadvertently tosses it out the window. It lands in the middle of the street and is run over by a car and a truck. In a period of mourning, Lisa reveals she cannot remember ever ''not'' having that saxophone, so Homer recounts the instrument's origins.


In a flashback to 1990, Bart goes to his first day of school, but things do not go so well for him. Bart's initial enthusiasm was crushed by an uncaring teacher and he drew a violent sketch of his feelings. Marge became worried that something was truly wrong with him. It was during discussions of Bart's future that the school [[psychologist]] realized the young Lisa completed a complicated puzzle of [[Taj Mahal]]. The psychologist told Homer and Marge that they needed to nurture her gifted spirit. They tried to send Lisa to a [[private school]] but the tuition fee cost $6,000. Meanwhile, a terrible [[heat wave]] hit Springfield and Homer saves $200 to buy an [[air conditioner]]. Marge asks Homer not to buy one until they figure out how to help Lisa. At the school, Bart talks with his will-be-friend [[Milhouse Van Houten|Milhouse]] and makes a funny gesture, causing Milhouse to find him funny. He entertained a group of children with rude words and when [[Seymour Skinner|Principal Skinner]] tells him to stop, Bart replies "eat my shorts".
In a flashback to 1990, Bart goes to his first day of school, but things do not go so well for him. Bart's initial enthusiasm was crushed by an uncaring teacher and he drew a violent sketch of his feelings. Marge became worried that something was truly wrong with him. It was during discussions of Bart's future that the school [[psychologist]] realized the young Lisa completed a complicated puzzle of [[Taj Mahal]]. The psychologist told Homer and Marge that they needed to nurture her gifted spirit. They tried to send Lisa to a private school but the tuition fee cost $6,000. Meanwhile, a terrible heat wave hit Springfield and Homer saves $200 to buy an [[air conditioner]]. Marge asks Homer not to buy one until they figure out how to help Lisa. At the school, Bart talks with his will-be-friend [[Milhouse Van Houten|Milhouse]] and makes a funny gesture, causing Milhouse to find him funny. He entertained a group of children with rude words and when [[Seymour Skinner|Principal Skinner]] tells him to stop, Bart replies "eat my shorts".


Meanwhile, Homer discovers that a musical instrument is a way to encourage a gifted child. He sacrifices his air conditioner (which he imagine Patti and Selma melting from the heat) money to buy Lisa her first saxophone. He asked the clerk to engrave on the sax: "''To Lisa. May all your days be filled with D'oh''". In the present, Homer complains that the house has had no air conditioner for many years, but decides to buy another saxophone for Lisa, again.
Meanwhile, Homer discovers that a musical instrument is a way to encourage a gifted child. He sacrifices his air conditioner money to buy Lisa her first saxophone. He asked the clerk to engrave on the sax: "''To Lisa. May all your days be filled with D'oh''". In the present, Homer complains that the house has had no air conditioner for many years, but decides to buy another saxophone for Lisa.


==Production==
==Production==

Revision as of 18:53, 29 February 2008

"Lisa's Sax"
The Simpsons episode
File:Simpson Lisa's Sax.PNG
Episode no.Season 9
Directed byDominic Polcino
Written byAl Jean
Original air datesOctober 19, 1997
Episode features
Chalkboard gag"I no longer want my MTV"[1]
Couch gagHomer is a Russian nesting doll that twists himself off and reveals each family members’s top halves.[2]
CommentaryAl Jean
Mike Reiss
Dominic Polcino
Episode chronology
The Simpsons season 9
List of episodes

"Lisa's Sax" is the third episode of The Simpsons' ninth season and originally aired on the Fox network on December 19, 1997.[3] In the series' sixth flashback episode, it is explained how Lisa got her saxophone. The episode was executive produced by Al Jean and Mike Reiss and was the first episode Jean wrote by himself as all of his previous writing credits has been shared with Reiss. It was directed by Dominic Polcino and guest stars Fyvush Finkel, who appeared as himself portraying Krusty in a film.[2]

Plot

File:The Simpsons 3G02.png
Lisa as a toddler.

Homer and Bart watch a TV movie called The Krusty the Clown Story: Booze, Drugs, Guns, Lies, Blackmail and Laughter, but they keep getting interrupted by Lisa playing her saxophone in her bedroom. Homer asks her to stop and Lisa responds that she has to have an hour of practice everyday. Bart enters Lisa's bedroom and tries to grab the saxophone from her but he inadvertently tosses it out the window. It lands in the middle of the street and is run over by a car and a truck. In a period of mourning, Lisa reveals she cannot remember ever not having that saxophone, so Homer recounts the instrument's origins.

In a flashback to 1990, Bart goes to his first day of school, but things do not go so well for him. Bart's initial enthusiasm was crushed by an uncaring teacher and he drew a violent sketch of his feelings. Marge became worried that something was truly wrong with him. It was during discussions of Bart's future that the school psychologist realized the young Lisa completed a complicated puzzle of Taj Mahal. The psychologist told Homer and Marge that they needed to nurture her gifted spirit. They tried to send Lisa to a private school but the tuition fee cost $6,000. Meanwhile, a terrible heat wave hit Springfield and Homer saves $200 to buy an air conditioner. Marge asks Homer not to buy one until they figure out how to help Lisa. At the school, Bart talks with his will-be-friend Milhouse and makes a funny gesture, causing Milhouse to find him funny. He entertained a group of children with rude words and when Principal Skinner tells him to stop, Bart replies "eat my shorts".

Meanwhile, Homer discovers that a musical instrument is a way to encourage a gifted child. He sacrifices his air conditioner money to buy Lisa her first saxophone. He asked the clerk to engrave on the sax: "To Lisa. May all your days be filled with D'oh". In the present, Homer complains that the house has had no air conditioner for many years, but decides to buy another saxophone for Lisa.

Production

"Lisa's Sax" is the first episode that Al Jean had ever been credited as having written by himself. Before this episode, all of his writing credits had been shared with Mike Reiss.[4] The episode was written with a small staff that consisted of Jean, Reiss and David Stern, among others. According to Jean, the final episode contained 80-90% of Jeans original script.[5] It is the sixth flashback episode done by the show. "The Way We Was" was the first flashback episode and in it, Homer graduated from high school in 1974 and that made it difficult to have a realistic timeframe as this episode is set in 1990.[5] Jean conceived the idea for the All in the Family style opening while waiting to get tickets to the OJ Simpson murder trial.[5] The episode was very short and the clip of Lisa playing the sax at the end was added in to lengthen it.[5]

The pastel drawing of Krusty was drawn entirely by Dominic Polcino. It was an easy episode for Polcino to direct due to the lack of crowds and being a "grounded episode".[6] This is the last episode in which Doris Grau has a speaking role as Lunchlady Doris, although this episode aired nearly two years after her death. It would also mark the final time the character would speak until Season 18's "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" when she was voiced by Tress MacNeille.[7]

Cultural references

While telling Bart and Lisa about 1990, Homer says "The Tracey Ullman Show was entertaining America with...crudely-drawn filler material". This is a reference to The Simpsons' debut as "bumpers" airing before and after the show's commercials.[2] The song "Those Were the Days" parodies the opening credits of the television show All in the Family.[5] When Lisa's saxophone gets run over, one of the people who runs over it is a man on a tricycle, who promptly falls over. This is a reference the show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.[5] At the beginning of the flashback, the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin can be heard.[5] In the flashback, Dr. Hibbert fashioned his hair and attire like Mr. T in The A-Team.[5] Homer can be seen watching Twin Peaks and The Giant is then shown waltzing with a white horse.[2] In King Toot's music store, when Homer buys Lisa her first saxophone there is a guitar in the background that is similar to Eddie Van Halen's "Frankenstrat" guitar.[4]

Reception

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 "a terrific episode, full of amusing self-referential wit and it is especially nice to finally discover what it was that caused Bart to go down the path to the darkside."[2] A review of The Simpsons season 9 DVD release in The San Diego Union-Tribune highlighted "Lisa's Sax" along with "All Singing, All Dancing" and "Trash of the Titans" as some of the more memorable episodes of the series.[8] Stephen Becker of The Dallas Morning News noted that season 9 "has a special affinity for Lisa," and highlighted this episode along with "Das Bus" and "Lisa the Simpson" in his review of the DVD.[9] A segment of the episode where two schoolgirls chant the digits of pi while playing patty-cake is used by mathematicians Sarah J. Greenwald of Appalachian State University and Andrew Nestler of Santa Monica College in a website on the mathematics of The Simpsons.[10]

References

  1. ^ Gimple, Scott M. (December 1, 1999). The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Continued. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0060987633.
  2. ^ a b c d e Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Lisa's Sax". BBC. Retrieved 2007-12-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Lisa's Sax". The Simpsons.com. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  4. ^ a b Reiss, Mike (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Sax" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Jean, Al (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Sax" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  6. ^ Polcino, Dominic (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Sax" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ "Lunchlady Doris (Character)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
  8. ^ Dixon, David (January 6, 2007). "ON DVD: 'The Simpsons – The Complete Ninth Season'". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Retrieved 2007-12-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Becker, Stephen (December 22, 2006). "DVD review: The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season". The Dallas Morning News. The Dallas Morning News, Inc. Retrieved 2007-12-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Staff (December 1, 2003). "Tune into math The Simpsons way.(Grades 9-12)". Curriculum Review. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)(See also their website, http://www.simpsonsmath.com/)