"I Love Lisa" is the fifteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons.

Al Jean, show runner of the episode, came up with the idea for the story when he remembered that he had received a valentine from a girl in third grade that read "I Choo-Choo-Choose You".

The episode features cultural references to songs such as "Monster Mash" and "Break on Through", and to the cartoon character Droopy.

Ralph invites Lisa to come with him and his father to the taping of Krusty the Clown's upcoming 29th Anniversary Special, and Chief Wiggum blackmails Miss Hoover into giving Ralph the part of George Washington in the school's President's Day pageant, in which Lisa plays Martha Washington.

When Krusty starts interviewing audience members, Ralph takes the opportunity to declare that Lisa is the love of his life and that he intends to marry her.

Ralph proves to be a remarkably effective and eloquent actor, gaining the approval of the audience and even reducing Groundskeeper Willie to tears.

Lisa approaches Ralph on the swing set after the performance and gives him a new card with a picture of a bee on it, reading "Let's 'Bee' Friends".

Ralph laughs at the pun and happily accepts the offer of friendship as Wiggum fondly watches them from his car.

[4][3] Mula had previously worked with Simpsons executive producer Sam Simon at another Gracie Films show.

He told writing partner Mike Reiss about it, and they thought it could be an idea for an episode where Lisa could give such a valentine to Ralph Wiggum, who would then take it too far.

[6] Principal Skinner's flashback is based on Apocalypse Now (1979), with Laurence Fishburne and Frederic Forrest's characters visible in the background.

During the re-enactment of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at the school pageant, Bart, playing John Wilkes Booth, says "Hasta la vista, Abie!

[8] The positioning of Krusty's hands on his face as he watches the movie is an homage to a similar scene in Taxi Driver (1976).

[10] He added that in the scene where Bart runs a videotape in slow motion to show Lisa how "you can actually pin-point the second when [Ralph Wiggum's] heart rips in half", the audience does not really know "whether you're shedding tears of laughter, empathy, or both—you just know that it's damn good any way you slice it.

[12] Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, said their favorite scenes from the episode include Principal Skinner's flashback to Valentine's Day in Vietnam, the scene in which Chief Wiggum chases a duck to get his badge back, and the one where Bart and Milhouse play John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln respectively at the school pageant.

[15] When Principal Skinner tells the children at school that Valentine's Day is not a joke (due to Bart fabricating candy hearts with mean insults), he has a flashback in which he is sitting in a PBR somewhere in Da Nang in 1969.

[5] Cutting back to the present, Skinner repeatedly calls out Johnny's name in anguish, to which a perplexed Bart states "Cool!

"[6] The staff ignored the letter and, as Wes Archer pointed out, the scene was "an obvious" reference to Apocalypse Now[5] even featuring characters that resembled Chef (Frederic Forrest) and Mr. Clean (Laurence Fishburne).