Testing 1-2-3

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References/Trivia

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	Season 38 Episode
← 813 "Treehouse of Horror XXXVII"	814 "Testing 1-2-3"	"The Kosmic Kruiser" 815 →

"Testing 1-2-3"

Episode Information Episode number: 814 Season number: S38 E5 Production code: 37ABF12 Original airdate: November 1, 2026 Guest star(s): Rachel Bloom as Annette Showrunner: Matt Selman Co-showrunner: Rob LaZebnik Written by: J. Stewart Burns Directed by: Matthew Faughnan

"Testing 1-2-3" is the fifth episode of season 38 of The Simpsons and the eight hundred fourteenth episode overall. It originally aired on November 1, 2026. It was written by J. Stewart Burns and directed by Matthew Faughnan. It guest stars Rachel Bloom as Annette.

Synopsis

In what she argues is not an attempt to get extra time on tests, Lisa has herself evaluated for three types of neurodiversity... which remind her of behaviors she's witnessed in Principal Skinner, Comic Book Guy and Homer. Perhaps these atypical behaviors aren't as atypical as we think.

Plot

At Springfield Elementary School, Miss Hoover hands out a standardized test for her class to complete. The test begins, and everyone starts engaging in distracting behavior, which means Lisa can't focus. Lisa looks out the classroom door and sees Hubert Wong in a nice room doing the test alone. Lisa uses Janey's drone to spy on him before leaving the class to see why he's alone in the other room. Willie explains to Lisa that Hubert is allowed to be in a quiet room alone and have extra time due to his unique needs. Curious about whether she would qualify for the same privileges, Lisa goes to the Humon Learning Center to ask to be tested. There, Annette takes Lisa into a room to give her tests to complete. While answering the first set of questions, Lisa begins to think about how Principal Skinner exhibits the same behavior.

Into the Neurodiverse

At Springfield Elementary, Principal Skinner is writing up a budget report in the cafeteria when it catches fire. Skinner doesn't realize there's a fire until after Lisa puts it out. Superintendent Chalmers is annoyed that Skinner didn't notice the fire and sends him to meet with the Springfield School Board. State Comptroller Atkins, instead of getting mad about the fire, praises Skinner's budget report and promotes him to principal of Springfield High School.

Skinner goes to his first day as principal of Springfield High School and meets Shauna, who sarcastically tells him that the students will love him. However, Skinner doesn't recognize the sarcasm. He soon starts to panic as everything is different to him. To get over his uneasiness, Skinner begins handing out weekend detention to students. The weekend comes, and Skinner has Shauna, Kearney, the Squeaky-Voiced Teen, a jock, and a rich girl in for detention. After a rough start in which they all begin fighting, Skinner gives the students a motivational speech about how they won't even think about their high school lives and will never see each other again after graduation. All the students then come together and have a group hug because Skinner's speech changed them. However, Skinner says that he hates change and quits to return to his job at Springfield Elementary.

Lisa finishes her first test, and Annette asks if she's ready for the second. Lisa asks if her answer is part of the assessment, which Annette says it isn't. She then writes down that Lisa is overly compliant when Lisa decides to move on to the next test without a break. The first question asks if she's easily distracted, which reminds her of Homer.

Attention Deficit Homer Disorder

At home, Homer weighs himself, but the scale says "outlook not so good." Homer decides to start eating healthily before he gets several messages from people, including one about a pop-up meat sandwich restaurant. Homer decides to take the family to the restaurant, despite having just decided to eat healthier. The family arrives at M. Bouef but finds a long queue. While they wait in line, Marge gives Homer activities to do and toys to play with to keep him occupied. When they get to the counter an hour later, Homer starts to plan his order, annoying the people behind them. Homer then decides to eat turkey legs at the Springfield Renaissance Faire instead, annoying Marge because they waited in line for nothing.

At the Renaissance Faire, Homer tries to get catapulted at a tent, but he breaks the catapult. He then decides to go to the leathercraft tent to make a new belt. Marge makes a new bag to fit Homer's toys in, but then notices that Homer has left the tent. Marge chases after Homer as he goes to the glassblowing booth and then the jousting field. Homer cheers on one of the knights before somehow ending up taking part in the joust. Homer gets knocked off his horse, and Bart decides to start role-playing as a pickpocket. After a trip to the medical tent, the Simpsons meet with Professor Frink, who is playing Leonardo da Vinci. He shows off da Vinci's flying machine, which interests Homer. Homer thinks he can finish it, but Marge tells him that he never finishes anything. Bart decides to go home but is arrested after breaking character. Lisa points out the inaccuracies of throwing tomatoes at people in the stocks, so she is also arrested. Marge is arrested, too, because she has outside food. All three of them end up in the stocks but think Homer will rescue them. Homer comes for them in the flying machine but gets distracted by the sandwich shop and goes there instead.

After this, the next question Lisa is asked is whether she gets upset if things aren't arranged in a particular way. This leads her to think of Comic Book Guy.

The Neatly-Arranged Adventures of O.C.D. Man

In The Android's Dungeon, Lisa finishes reading Malibu Stacy: The Movie About the Doll: The Comic and puts it back slightly askew. Comic Book Guy immediately comes along, straightens it, and kicks Lisa out of the store. Comic Book Guy becomes very strict with the other patrons, causing them all to leave. Kumiko then tells him that the store isn't doing well because they're losing customers. Kumiko suggests changing the layout of the store to attract customers, but Comic Book Guy rejects her idea without giving a reason.

One day, Comic Book Guy comes to his store to find that Kumiko has put plants everywhere. Comic Book Guy begins to get stressed and goes into one of his rituals to make himself feel better. Kumiko asks him if he's okay, and Comic Book Guy tells her that the force field protecting the store is down. Kumiko feels that her changes have made the flow of energy better in the store, but Comic Book Guy doesn't see it. Comic Book Guy imagines a meteor destroying the shop and begins to remove the plants. However, Kumiko imagines a tsunami destroying the shop. They realize they have the same issue of believing that the things they do prevent disasters from happening and become happy about opening up to each other.

Comic Book Guy and Kumiko begin singing "Neurodiversity" in their apartment and are then joined by Lenny and Carl singing in Moe's Tavern and Marge singing at home. Soon, the people of Springfield all join in singing about neurodiversity together. Lisa then wakes up at the Humon Learning Center, and Annette reveals that she fell asleep during the third test. Annette tells Lisa that she also fell asleep and that their time is now up. Later, Lisa returns to complete the test. Annette tells Lisa that she went to college and married her roommate's father.

Production

The episode will look at neurodiversity. Showrunner Matt Selman said "I think it’s terrific." and "We’re very proud of it." when talking about the episode.

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References

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