"Moaning Lisa"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 6
Directed byWes Archer
Written byAl Jean
Mike Reiss
Production code7G06
Original air dateFebruary 11, 1990 (1990-02-11)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Chalkboard gag"I will not instigate revolution"[1]
Couch gagThe Simpsons pile on to the couch, Maggie pops up in the air and Marge catches her. (This is also the gag used in The Simpsons arcade game.)
CommentaryMatt Groening
Wes Archer
Al Jean
Mike Reiss

"Moaning Lisa" is the sixth episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 1990. The episode was written by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, and was directed by Wes Archer.[2] Ron Taylor guest stars in the episode as Bleeding Gums Murphy.[3] The episode deals with Lisa's depression and her attempts to sublimate it by playing her saxophone.

Plot

Lisa wakes up one morning saddened. At school, she gets in trouble with her music teacher for improvising and becomes reluctant to play dodgeball in gym. At home, Homer and Bart pummel each other at video boxing, but despite Homer's attempts, he is unable to defeat Bart. Homer and Marge try to cheer Lisa up, but she is consumed with existentialism and worry over all the suffering in the world. In her room, Lisa hears music coming from outside her window. She follows the music through town and meets Bleeding Gums Murphy, a soulful saxophonist playing the blues. Lisa learns about expressing herself through her music from him, only to be discovered and whisked away by Marge.

Homer goes to the arcade and enlists the help of an arcade boxing expert, while Marge, who is still upset at Lisa for sneaking out the night before, takes her to band practice. She tells Lisa to smile no matter how she feels inside, to suppress her emotions to be popular, and that happiness will follow. But when she sees Lisa hiding her true feelings and being taken advantage of by her classmates and her music teacher, Marge changes her tune and tells Lisa to be herself and her support helps Lisa to feel genuinely happy. When Homer returns home, he is about to defeat Bart in a rematch but Marge unplugs the game console to announce Lisa's recovery, while Bart declares his retirement as an undefeated video boxing champ. Later, the Simpsons visit a jazz club to hear Bleeding Gums Murphy sing a blues number written by Lisa.

Cast

Production

A video camera is being pointed at a bearded man who is wearing glasses. Some other people stand in the background.
The idea for "Moaning Lisa" was suggested by James L. Brooks.

"Moaning Lisa" was the first episode of the series to focus on the character, Lisa Simpson.[5] The idea for it was suggested by The Simpsons producer James L. Brooks, who wanted to do an episode where Lisa was sad but she did not know why.[3] The writers also felt they had done several "jokey" episodes on the show and wanted to try something new that was "really emotional and sweet".[3]

While writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss were initially thrilled to write an episode pitched by Brooks, for whom they had deep admiration, they were unsure that the depression-themed episode would work. Matt Groening taunted the pair for having been assigned the episode, while Sam Simon told them that Brooks had been trying to get such an episode made since Taxi. According to Reiss, the episode establishes Lisa as a character, as in his and Jean's previous episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home", she is as badly behaved as Bart.[6]

The song Lisa sings in this episode later reappeared in expanded form on The Simpsons Sing the Blues CD.[3] Mr. Largo, Lisa's music teacher, was partly inspired by a music teacher Groening had as a child.[7] The designs of the boxers in the video game Homer and Bart play were loosely based on Homer and Bart,[3] and the referee in the game was based on a character from Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strip.[7] Bleeding Gums Murphy was loosely based on the famous blues musician Blind Lemon Jefferson.[3] Ralph Wiggum,[3] Bleeding Gums Murphy, and Jacqueline Bouvier (during Marge's childhood flashback) all make their first (going by production order rather than airdate) appearances on The Simpsons in this episode.[2]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Moaning Lisa" finished 34th place in the weekly ratings for the week of February 5–11, 1990 with a Nielsen rating of 13.8. It was the highest-rated show on Fox that week.[8]

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said: "Certain scenes of this, the most syrupy of Simpsons episodes, sent viewers raised on the later seasons scurrying to the bathroom. Yes, the final moments may give you goosepimples, and are a world away from the anti-schmaltz normally associated with the series, but there is still much to recommend here. In fact, the Homer–Bart subplot is more successful than the main storyline; Homer's nightmare about their relationship is genuinely disturbing."[2]

In a DVD review of the first season, David B. Grelck rated the episode a 2+1⁄2 (of 5) and added: "Lisa develops much of her future personality in this episode. The family dynamic is starting to fall into place, as is the relationship between Homer and Lisa."[9]

Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review that "overall, this was a pretty drab episode" and added that "it had some moments, such as the videogame boxing matches between Homer and Bart, but Lisa lacked the strength at this point to carry an entire show".[10]

Yeardley Smith, the voice actress of Lisa, has cited the episode as one of her favorite Simpsons episodes of all time.[11]

In his 2018 memoir Springfield Confidential, Mike Reiss named the episode as one of four that broke new ground, alongside "Like Father, Like Clown", "Homer at the Bat" and the original "Treehouse of Horror".[6]

Home media

The episode was released first on home video in the United Kingdom, as part of a VHS release titled The Simpsons Collection; the episode was paired with season one episode "Homer's Odyssey".[12] It was released in the US on the VHS release The Best of The Simpsons, Vol. 2 (1997), paired with "Bart the General".[13] In the United States, it was later re released in a collector's edition boxed set of the first three volumes of The Best of The Simpsons collections.[14]

In the United Kingdom, it was re released as part of a VHS boxed set of the complete first season, in November 1999.[15] The episode's début on the DVD format was as a part of The Simpsons season one DVD set, which was released on September 25, 2001. Groening, Reiss, Archer, and Jean participated in the DVD's audio commentary.[16] A digital edition of the series' first season, including the episode, was published December 20, 2010 in the United States through Amazon Video and iTunes.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M..
  2. 1 2 3 Moaning Lisa BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on August 17, 2008
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jean, Al (2001). The Simpsons The Complete First Season DVD commentary for the episode "Moaning Lisa" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. ↑ "The Simpsons: Moaning Lisa: Full CAst & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  5. ↑ Wilson, Stacey (February 8, 2012). "'The Simpsons' at 500: Untold Stories". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
  6. 1 2 Reiss, Mike (2018). Springfield Confidential (First ed.). New York, NY: Dey Street. pp. 147–148. ISBN 978-0-06-274803-4.
  7. 1 2 Groening, Matt (2001). The Simpsons The Complete First Season DVD commentary for the episode "Moaning Lisa" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  8. ↑ De Atley, Richard (February 16, 1990). "'Blind Faith' and 'Funniest Home Videos' are in Nielsen Top 10". St. Petersburg Times. p. 7D.
  9. ↑ Grelck, David B. (September 25, 2001). "The Complete First Season". WDBGProductions. Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  10. ↑ Jacobson, Colin. "The Simpsons: The Complete First Season (1990)". DVD Movie Guide. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
  11. ↑ Smith, Yeardley [@YeardleySmith] (November 24, 2019). "It's #SimpsonsSunday! Today I attempt to answer the impossible-but ubiquitous-question: "What's your favorite episode?" 😀🤨" (Tweet). Retrieved November 23, 2021 – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ "The Simpsons - Moaning Lisa (1989)". Amazon UK. November 1991. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  13. ↑ The Best of The Simpsons, Vol. 1 - Bart the General/ Moaning Lisa. Amazon.com. ASIN 6304561857.
  14. ↑ The Best of The Simpsons, Boxed Set 1. Amazon.com. ASIN 6304561873.
  15. ↑ "The Simpsons - Season 1 Box Set [VHS]". Amazon UK. November 29, 1999. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  16. ↑ "The Simpsons - The Complete 1st Season". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  17. ↑ "The Simpsons Season 1 - Amazon Video". Amazon. Retrieved April 21, 2011.

Sources

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