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Difference between revisions of "Lisa's First Word"

Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki
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{{Episode
 
{{Episode
 
|name= Lisa's First Word
 
|name= Lisa's First Word
|image= Lisa's First Word promo.jpg
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|image= Lisa's First Word promo.png
 
|number= 69
 
|number= 69
 
|season=4
 
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|couchgag= [[Circus Line couch gag]]
 
|couchgag= [[Circus Line couch gag]]
 
|guests= [[Elizabeth Taylor]] as [[Maggie Simpson]]
 
|guests= [[Elizabeth Taylor]] as [[Maggie Simpson]]
|showrunner= [[Al Jean]]<br>[[Mike Reiss]]
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|showrunner1= Al Jean
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|showrunner2= Mike Reiss
 
|writer= [[Jeff Martin]]
 
|writer= [[Jeff Martin]]
 
|director= [[Mark Kirkland]]
 
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== Plot ==
 
== Plot ==
When [[Homer]], [[Marge]], [[Bart]], and [[Lisa]] unsuccessfully try to get [[Maggie]] to speak, Marge tells the family the story of when Lisa said her first word. Marge begins telling the story of how Lisa learned to talk by describing the spring of 1983 as a time when "Ms. Pac-man struck a blow for women's rights." It is March 1983, and Homer, Marge, and Bart lived in the [[Lower East Side]]. One day, Marge says that she is awaiting another baby, with Bart imagines a new brother who he can use as a scapegoat for his own misbehavior. But as Marge is pregnant, she feels that the Simpsons are going to need a bigger house. Homer and Marge try to look for houses, including a houseboat that [[Horatio McCallister]] has until now. After unsuccessful attempts, the Simpsons find a house on Evergreen Terrace and buy it with a $15,000 down payment from the sale of [[Abe Simpson|Grampa's]] house (despite Homer's promise that Abe could live with the rest of the family, he was sent to the retirement home just a few weeks later).
+
In the Simpson house, the family are trying, unsuccessfully, to get [[Maggie]] to speak. [[Bart]] then asks what his first word was. [[Marge]] has a flashback to when a young Bart walked in on her and [[Homer]] having sex and said "[[Ay caramba!]]". Marge then tells Bart that she doesn't remember his first word. Marge then decides to tell the story of [[Lisa]]'s first word instead.
  
In 1984, the Simpsons move into their new Evergreen Terrace home, with the Flanders family as neighbors. [[Ned Flanders|Flanders]] has just bought a TV tray from the hardware store, and Homer borrows the tray from him for "a little while". (Years later, in the present, the tray is still in the Simpsons' living room.) Bart turns two years old, and for the first time, he watches [[Krusty the Clown]], as well as [[Itchy &amp; Scratchy]]. Krusty does a promotion for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games with his [[Krusty Burger]] chain, which is the "Official Meat-Flavored Sandwich of the 1984 Olympics." The promotion offers scratch-and-win game cards in which people can scrape off the name of the event from the game card, and if the U.S. wins a gold medal, that person wins a free Krusty Burger. However, the Soviet Union boycott the Olympics, and with this the U.S easily dominates every event, Krusty's accountant tells him he will lose $44 million due to the promotion. On air, Krusty angrily says he will personally spit in every 50th burger. Homer, however, finds those odds to be acceptable, and continues getting a steady supply of free Krusty Burgers from redeeming his winning game cards (as does the rest of the town).
+
In the Spring of 1983, Marge and Homer lived together with Bart in the [[Lower East Side]] of [[Springfield]]. Bart was a troublesome child, referring to Homer by his name instead of "dad", swinging on the clothes line naked, and demanding long bedtime stories. After Bart flushes Homer's wallet down the toilet, Marge tells Homer and Bart that she's pregnant and that Bart's going to have a younger brother or sister. Marge then tells Homer that they'll need a bigger house to live in. They left Bart with [[Patty]] and [[Selma]] and went looking for a new house.
 +
 
 +
After finding several houses that weren't great, they found a new house that they loved, [[742 Evergreen Terrace]]. However, it was out of their price range. Homer then went to [[Grampa]] to ask him for the money to buy the house. Grampa agreed to sell his house and give them the money, and Homer told Grampa that he could live with them. In the present, Homer told the kids that it was about three weeks after that they sent Grampa to the [[Retirement Castle]]. The family also keeps trying to get Maggie to talk, with Homer offering her cookies to speak. Every time, Maggie points out somewhere for Homer to look at and steals the cookie.
  
 
[[File:Lisas First Word.png|thumb|left|200px|Bart holding baby Lisa.]]
 
[[File:Lisas First Word.png|thumb|left|200px|Bart holding baby Lisa.]]
Bart is asked to give up his crib so it can become the new baby's. Homer builds Bart a new bed in the shape of a clown, but unintentionally gives it a frightening appearance, terrifying Bart into not sleeping. Marge thinks that the baby is coming, and she and Homer go to the hospital, leaving Bart with the Flanders family. He goes home and is introduced to his new baby sister, Lisa, with the first words Bart says to her being ''I hate you''. Everyone except Bart agrees that she is a beautiful baby and he worries he is being forgotten about (which isn't helped by Patty and Selma openly preferring the cuter Lisa). Later, Bart cuts all her hair off with scissors to make her not cute anymore then tries to get rid by sticking stamps on her, and sticking her through the Flanders' doggy door — and is punished. He decides to run away, telling Lisa she is to blame for his problems and leaves, until she says her first word, "Bart." Bart is amazed that Lisa can talk, and proudly shows her off to Homer and Marge who isn't surprised "Bart" is Lisa's first word as she clearly adores her big brother. Bart teaches her to say "[[David Hasselhoff]]", "Mommy", and "Homer" but not "daddy", much to her father's annoyance causing Bart and Lisa burst out laughing. After this, Bart holds baby Lisa for the very first time, and starts truly loving his sister.
+
Back in the 1980s, Homer, Marge, and Bart moved into their new house. [[Ned]] and [[Todd Flanders]] then visited to welcome them to the neighborhood. Ned told Homer that if there was anything that he could do to help to just let him know. Homer asks for Ned's new TV tray, and Ned begrudgingly gives it to him. Homer then reveals that he never gave the TV tray back to Ned. Shortly after moving into the house, Bart had entered his terrible twos and was giving Marge headaches. Meanwhile, Homer was watching television frequently. One advert for [[Krusty Burger]] revealed that a new promotion was happening with them where customers could win free burgers if the USA won events at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]]. That night, Bart was being made to sleep in a toddler bed rather than his crib, which he didn't want to leave. Homer then decided to make Bart a [[clown bed]] since Bart liked clowns. However, the clown bed scared Bart instead.
 +
 
 +
When Marge's water broke and the baby was coming, Bart was left with the Flanders family to stay the night. Bart hated it in the house but decided that it was better than sleeping in his clown bed at home. At the hospital, Marge gave birth to Lisa and the family then went home. Bart got jealous of all the attention Lisa was getting from the family and decided to get revenge by playing up. He cut Lisa's hair off and tried giving her to the Flanders family. However, he got punished every time. Eventually, Bart decided that he wanted to leave home. Lisa went into his room whilst he was packing his toys and Bart started to shout at Lisa about how it was her fault. Lisa then says her first word, "Bart". Bart was shocked that Lisa spoke and took her downstairs to show their parents. The family then tries to get Lisa to say other words too. When Lisa calls Homer by his first name rather than "Daddy", she and Bart begin to bond some more.
 +
 
 +
In the present, Bart and Lisa are fighting once again. As Homer takes Maggie up to bed, he tells Maggie that he hopes that she never says a word because the sooner kids talk, the sooner they talk back. As Homer puts Maggie in her crib and walks out the room, Maggie says "Daddy", without Homer hearing.
 +
 
 +
== Production ==
 +
Showrunners [[Al Jean]] and [[Mike Reiss]] talked about how they wanted Maggie to say something. Reiss then came up with the idea of having Maggie say "Daddy" when no one else could hear it. Since writer [[Jeff Martin]] had written "[[I Married Marge]]", another flashback episode, they decided to give the episode to him to write.<ref name="Jean">{{Com|Jean, Al|Lisa's First Word|Fourth|(2004).|link=Al Jean}}</ref> Jeff Martin said that it's fun to make flashback episodes because you can look back to what was in the news that year to make jokes about.<ref name="Martin">{{Com|Martin, Jeff|Lisa's First Word|Fourth|(2004).|link=Jeff Martin}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
Originally, the episode came up too short. So some minor scenes, such as the vendor in 1983, were added to increase the length.<ref name="Kirkland">{{Com|Kirkland, Mark|Lisa's First Word|Fourth|(2004).|link=Mark Kirkland}}</ref> ''[[The Itchy & Scratchy Show]]'' episode and the long couch gag were also used because the episode was too short.<ref name="Jean"/> Younger Bart and Lisa were drawn with fewer spikes on their heads than their older selves.<ref name="Kirkland"/>
 +
 
 +
The clown bed is based on Mike Reiss' childhood, where his father built Reiss a clown bed. The song that Rod and Todd sing, "[[I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy]]", was put in because Jeff Martin had to sing the song at Bible camp.<ref name="Martin"/> Elizabeth Taylor had to say the "Daddy" line about twenty times because every time she said it, it sounded too "sexy" and not like a baby.<ref name="Groening">{{Com|Groening, Matt|Lisa's First Word|Fourth|(2004).|link=Matt Groening}}</ref> After the recording session, Taylor said "fuck you" to Matt Groening and walked out. However, this was said in jest.<ref>[https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1202112642975854592 Al Jean on Twitter - "Elizabeth Taylor swearing"]</ref>
 +
 
 +
== Reception ==
 +
In its original American broadcast, "Lisa's First Word" was watched by 28.6 million viewers.<ref>''{{W|USA Today}}'' "ABC's Tuesday lineup ends up rosy" (December 9, 1992)</ref> and was the most watched episode of [[season 4]]. It finished thirteenth in the ratings for the week of November 30 to December 6, 1992, with a Nielsen rating of 16.6.<ref>"Nielsen Ratings" - Long Beach Press-Telegram. (December 9, 1992)</ref>
 +
 
 +
Elizabeth Taylor's role as Maggie was widely praised, with it getting the #13 spot on {{W|IGN}}'s Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances list in 2010.<ref>[https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/01/04/top-25-simpsons-guest-appearances IGN - "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances"]</ref>
 +
 
 +
As of January 2021, the episode has an 8.7 rating on {{W|IMDb}}<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701160/ IMDb - "Lisa's First Word"]</ref> and a 9.1 rating on {{W|TV.com}}.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/the-simpsons/lisas-first-word-1354/ TV.com - "Lisa's First Word]"</ref>
 +
 
 +
== In other languages ==
 +
{{LanguageBox
 +
|de=yes
 +
|deName=Am Anfang war das Wort
 +
|deTrans=In the beginning was the word
 +
|es=yes
 +
|esName=La primera palabra de Lisa
 +
|esTrans=Lisa's first word
 +
|la=yes
 +
|laName=La primera palabra de Maggie
 +
|laTrans=Maggie's first word
 +
|it=yes
 +
|itName=La prima parola di Lisa
 +
|itTrans=Lisa's first word
 +
|jp=yes
 +
|jpName=シンプソンズ家の大事件
 +
|jpTrans=The Simpsons' Great Incident
 +
}}
  
However, back in the present day, the flashback ends and Bart and Lisa are fighting. Homer takes Maggie to bed, saying that "the sooner kids talk, the sooner they talk back", and that he hopes that Maggie never says a word. When he leaves her bedroom, however, Maggie removes her pacifier and says "Daddy."
+
== References ==
 +
{{Reflist}}
  
 
{{Images|ep=yes}}
 
{{Images|ep=yes}}
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[[Category:1992]]
 
[[Category:1992]]
 +
[[Category:Bart episodes]]
 
[[Category:Lisa episodes]]
 
[[Category:Lisa episodes]]
 
[[Category:Maggie episodes]]
 
[[Category:Maggie episodes]]

Latest revision as of 10:53, August 30, 2024

Season 4 Episode
068 "Mr. Plow"
069
"Lisa's First Word"
"Homer's Triple Bypass" 070
"The sooner kids talk, the sooner they talk back. I hope you never say a word."
Homer to Maggie
"Daddy."
Maggie (after Homer leaves)
"Lisa's First Word"
Lisa's First Word promo.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 69
Season number: S4 E10
Production code: 9F08
Original airdate: December 3, 1992
Chalkboard gag: "Teacher is not a leper"
Couch gag: Circus Line couch gag
Guest star(s): Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie Simpson
Showrunners: Al Jean
Mike Reiss
Written by: Jeff Martin
Directed by: Mark Kirkland
DVD features


"Lisa's First Word" is the tenth episode of season 4 of The Simpsons and the sixty-ninth episode overall. It originally aired on December 3, 1992. The episode was written by Jeff Martin and directed by Mark Kirkland. It guest stars Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie Simpson.

Synopsis[edit]

"While trying to get Maggie to say her first words, Homer recalls what happened a few years back when Lisa was born, when they first moved into their present home, and what Lisa said her first words."


Plot[edit]

In the Simpson house, the family are trying, unsuccessfully, to get Maggie to speak. Bart then asks what his first word was. Marge has a flashback to when a young Bart walked in on her and Homer having sex and said "Ay caramba!". Marge then tells Bart that she doesn't remember his first word. Marge then decides to tell the story of Lisa's first word instead.

In the Spring of 1983, Marge and Homer lived together with Bart in the Lower East Side of Springfield. Bart was a troublesome child, referring to Homer by his name instead of "dad", swinging on the clothes line naked, and demanding long bedtime stories. After Bart flushes Homer's wallet down the toilet, Marge tells Homer and Bart that she's pregnant and that Bart's going to have a younger brother or sister. Marge then tells Homer that they'll need a bigger house to live in. They left Bart with Patty and Selma and went looking for a new house.

After finding several houses that weren't great, they found a new house that they loved, 742 Evergreen Terrace. However, it was out of their price range. Homer then went to Grampa to ask him for the money to buy the house. Grampa agreed to sell his house and give them the money, and Homer told Grampa that he could live with them. In the present, Homer told the kids that it was about three weeks after that they sent Grampa to the Retirement Castle. The family also keeps trying to get Maggie to talk, with Homer offering her cookies to speak. Every time, Maggie points out somewhere for Homer to look at and steals the cookie.

Bart holding baby Lisa.

Back in the 1980s, Homer, Marge, and Bart moved into their new house. Ned and Todd Flanders then visited to welcome them to the neighborhood. Ned told Homer that if there was anything that he could do to help to just let him know. Homer asks for Ned's new TV tray, and Ned begrudgingly gives it to him. Homer then reveals that he never gave the TV tray back to Ned. Shortly after moving into the house, Bart had entered his terrible twos and was giving Marge headaches. Meanwhile, Homer was watching television frequently. One advert for Krusty Burger revealed that a new promotion was happening with them where customers could win free burgers if the USA won events at the 1984 Summer Olympics. That night, Bart was being made to sleep in a toddler bed rather than his crib, which he didn't want to leave. Homer then decided to make Bart a clown bed since Bart liked clowns. However, the clown bed scared Bart instead.

When Marge's water broke and the baby was coming, Bart was left with the Flanders family to stay the night. Bart hated it in the house but decided that it was better than sleeping in his clown bed at home. At the hospital, Marge gave birth to Lisa and the family then went home. Bart got jealous of all the attention Lisa was getting from the family and decided to get revenge by playing up. He cut Lisa's hair off and tried giving her to the Flanders family. However, he got punished every time. Eventually, Bart decided that he wanted to leave home. Lisa went into his room whilst he was packing his toys and Bart started to shout at Lisa about how it was her fault. Lisa then says her first word, "Bart". Bart was shocked that Lisa spoke and took her downstairs to show their parents. The family then tries to get Lisa to say other words too. When Lisa calls Homer by his first name rather than "Daddy", she and Bart begin to bond some more.

In the present, Bart and Lisa are fighting once again. As Homer takes Maggie up to bed, he tells Maggie that he hopes that she never says a word because the sooner kids talk, the sooner they talk back. As Homer puts Maggie in her crib and walks out the room, Maggie says "Daddy", without Homer hearing.

Production[edit]

Showrunners Al Jean and Mike Reiss talked about how they wanted Maggie to say something. Reiss then came up with the idea of having Maggie say "Daddy" when no one else could hear it. Since writer Jeff Martin had written "I Married Marge", another flashback episode, they decided to give the episode to him to write.[1] Jeff Martin said that it's fun to make flashback episodes because you can look back to what was in the news that year to make jokes about.[2]

Originally, the episode came up too short. So some minor scenes, such as the vendor in 1983, were added to increase the length.[3] The Itchy & Scratchy Show episode and the long couch gag were also used because the episode was too short.[1] Younger Bart and Lisa were drawn with fewer spikes on their heads than their older selves.[3]

The clown bed is based on Mike Reiss' childhood, where his father built Reiss a clown bed. The song that Rod and Todd sing, "I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy", was put in because Jeff Martin had to sing the song at Bible camp.[2] Elizabeth Taylor had to say the "Daddy" line about twenty times because every time she said it, it sounded too "sexy" and not like a baby.[4] After the recording session, Taylor said "fuck you" to Matt Groening and walked out. However, this was said in jest.[5]

Reception[edit]

In its original American broadcast, "Lisa's First Word" was watched by 28.6 million viewers.[6] and was the most watched episode of season 4. It finished thirteenth in the ratings for the week of November 30 to December 6, 1992, with a Nielsen rating of 16.6.[7]

Elizabeth Taylor's role as Maggie was widely praised, with it getting the #13 spot on IGN's Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances list in 2010.[8]

As of January 2021, the episode has an 8.7 rating on IMDb[9] and a 9.1 rating on TV.com.[10]

In other languages[edit]

Language Name Translation
Germany.png Deutsch "Am Anfang war das Wort" In the beginning was the word
Spain flag.png Español "La primera palabra de Lisa" Lisa's first word
Hispanic America.gif Español "La primera palabra de Maggie" Maggie's first word
Italy Flag.png Italiano "La prima parola di Lisa" Lisa's first word
Flag of Japan.png 日本語 "シンプソンズ家の大事件" The Simpsons' Great Incident

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jean, Al (2004). Commentary for "Lisa's First Word", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Martin, Jeff (2004). Commentary for "Lisa's First Word", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Kirkland, Mark (2004). Commentary for "Lisa's First Word", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season.
  4. Groening, Matt (2004). Commentary for "Lisa's First Word", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season.
  5. Al Jean on Twitter - "Elizabeth Taylor swearing"
  6. USA Today "ABC's Tuesday lineup ends up rosy" (December 9, 1992)
  7. "Nielsen Ratings" - Long Beach Press-Telegram. (December 9, 1992)
  8. IGN - "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances"
  9. IMDb - "Lisa's First Word"
  10. TV.com - "Lisa's First Word"


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Lisa's First Word".
Season 4 Episodes
Kamp Krusty A Streetcar Named Marge Homer the Heretic Lisa the Beauty Queen Treehouse of Horror III Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie Marge Gets a Job New Kid on the Block Mr. Plow Lisa's First Word Homer's Triple Bypass Marge vs. the Monorail Selma's Choice Brother from the Same Planet I Love Lisa Duffless Last Exit to Springfield So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show The Front Whacking Day Marge in Chains Krusty Gets Kancelled