Lisa's Substitute
[1] In the episode, Lisa's teacher Miss Hoover takes medical leave due to what she thinks is Lyme disease.
Lisa finds the teaching methods of the substitute teacher, Mr. Bergstrom, inspiring and discovers a renewed love for learning.
When Miss Hoover returns to class, Lisa is devastated to lose her most positive adult role model.
Eventually, she realizes that while Mr. Bergstrom was one of a kind, she can find role models in other people, including her father Homer.
Dustin Hoffman, using the pseudonym Sam Etic, guest stars as Mr. Bergstrom, who was modeled on the physical appearance of Mike Reiss, a longtime writer and producer on the show.
The episode features cultural references to Mike Nichols's film The Graduate, which starred Hoffman, and the novel Charlotte's Web by E. B.
Lisa's teacher, Miss Hoover, announces to her class that she has Lyme disease, and is taking a leave of absence for the rest of the year.
When Mr. Bergstrom shows up for his first day teaching Lisa's class, he is dressed as a cowboy and pretends he is in Texas in 1830, and asks the students to name three historical inaccuracies on his costume.
Finding Bart seething over the election result, Homer comforts him by pointing out that being class president would have involved extra work with little reward.
Vitti said the episode was "very controversial" when it was being made because it "came at a point when the staff were just beginning to realize the comedy potential of the show, but we were trapped with these love stories, and just as the staff were starting to get frustrated with the love stories, along came 'Lisa's Substitute': the biggest, huggiest, warmest and fuzziest of them all.
Hoffman was not sure if he wanted to be identified with a cartoon show at the time, like many early guest stars on The Simpsons, and therefore used the pseudonym Sam Etic in the closing credits.
[4] The Simpsons writer Al Jean said he remembered when the audio track came back, Hoffman's voice was too low on the singing parts.
[2] When Bart unexpectedly loses to Martin in the class president race, a picture of Martin holding a copy of The Daily Fourth Gradian with the headline "Simpson Defeats Prince" is taken, which in turn ends up on the front page of The Daily Fourth Gradian under the headline "Prince Beats Simpson".
Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, authors of I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, said "Despite a scene-stealing performance from M[r]s. Krabappel, this is Lisa's show.
"[11] Emily VanDerWerff of Slant Magazine picked the episode as the show's second best, praising its emotion and Hoffman's performance.
[20] Executive producer James L. Brooks said he thinks "Lisa's Substitute" stands out because it is The Simpsons' "best show" with a message behind it.
[21] Long time director Mark Kirkland named the episode as his favorite during a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" chat.
