They Saved Lisa's Brain

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The Simpsons episode
"They Saved Lisa's Brain"
Episode no.	225
Prod. code	AABF18
Orig. Airdate	May 9, 1999
Show Runner(s)	Mike Scully
Writer(s)	Matt Selman
Director	Pete Michels
Chalkboard	"No one wants to hear from my armpits"
Couch gag	As the family sits on the couch, an iceberg's tip causes them to sink with the couch. Only Maggie floats, and she turns on the TV.
Guest star(s)	Stephen Hawking as himself
SNPP capsule
Season 10 August 23, 1998 – May 16, 1999
Lard of the Dance The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace Bart the Mother Treehouse of Horror IX When You Dish upon a Star D'oh-in in the Wind Lisa Gets an "A" Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble" Mayored to the Mob Viva Ned Flanders Wild Barts Can't Be Broken Sunday, Cruddy Sunday Homer to the Max I'm with Cupid Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers" Make Room for Lisa Maximum Homerdrive Simpsons Bible Stories Mom and Pop Art The Old Man and the "C" Student Monty Can't Buy Me Love They Saved Lisa's Brain Thirty Minutes over Tokyo
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"They Saved Lisa's Brain" is the twenty-second episode of The Simpsons' tenth season. The episode aired on May 9, 1999.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cultural references 3 Quotes 4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

A low-fat pudding, Grandma Plopwell's, is the sponsor of a Springfield contest that celebrates stupidity. Many Springfield residents enter the contest, but things do not go well, and the contest leads to a fight among participants. Lisa denounces Springfield for its anti-intellectualism, and writes a letter that impresses Springfield's population of intellectuals, particularly their Mensa chapter, which Lisa joins after she brings a pie.

She joins Mensa alongside Comic Book Guy, Dr. Hibbert, Principal Skinner, Professor Frink, and Lindsay Naegle. They fear that Springfield's quality is down because of the less brilliant having power over their civic institutions. The Mensa group goes to confront Mayor Quimby, until he escapes from the city by plane when he thinks the group wants to arrest him for his acts of corruption. They now have control of Springfield, and hope that things become better in town.

However, at a meeting, the members disagree on their ideas for a plan. A riot breaks out and continues on until Stephen Hawking comes in to end the fight. He and Homer have a friendly talk, until Homer imitates him in an attempt to make him pay the tab, and is punched.

Meanwhile, Homer attends an erotic photo session and gets pictures for Marge done.

[edit] Cultural references

• The episode title is a joke off the odd Brazilian science fiction movie, They Saved Hitler's Brain.
• The scene where the Mensans decide to hold a Renaissance-themed meeting in the park, in costume and in character, is possibly based upon the Society for Creative Anachronism: a historical reenactment group devoted to studying the Middle Ages. SCA members not only have a strong reputation for being intellectuals, but their gatherings are often held in public parks. This can and does lead to the occasional conflict with a 21st-century lout who adopts a hostile towards the group's presence and activities -- such as when Lenny and Carl refuse to give up the gazebo.

[edit] Quotes

• Frink: You should all do what I say. My IQ is 199! (falls backwards and bumps head) 198...197...

• Lisa (speaking aloud as she types) : An open letter to the people of Springfield:
  Today, our town lost what remains of its fragile civility, drowned in a sea of low-fat pudding. We are a town of low-brows, no-brows, and ignorami. We have eight malls, but no symphony. Thirty-two bars, but no alternative theater. Thirteen stores that begin with "Le Sex." I write this letter not to nag or whine, but to prod. We can better ourselves!
  [Bart, butt naked, rides a pig through the hallway]
  [to herself] Well, most of us.

• Homer: Lisa, I got runner-up prize!
  Lisa: You won second-place?
  Homer: No, but I got it! (exits, then pokes his head back around the door) Stealing is wrong.

• Moe (getting a jury duty invitation, zazzed with comic book themes): "You have been invited to join the Justice Squadron along with eleven other members. 8 AM Monday at the Municipal Fortress of Vengeance." Oh, I am so there!

• Carl: Let's make litter out of these literati!
  Lenny: That's too clever, you're one of them! (Lenny punches Carl, the townspeople begin to riot)

• Stephen Hawking (after the townspeople start rioting): Time for this hawk to fly. (presses a button, an automated toothbrush starts to brush his teeth) Wrong button.

• Stephen Hawking: Your theory of a donut-shaped universe is intriguing, Homer. I may have to steal it.

• Homer: (referring to Stephen Hawking) Larry Flynt is right!

• Skinner: I think what Dr. Hawking is trying to say is...
  Hawking: Silence! I need no one to talk for me...except this voicebox.

• Hawking (to Skinner): If you are looking for trouble, you found it!

• Moe: Okay, it's closin' time. Who's paying the tab?
  Homer (imitating a robot voice): I am.
  Hawking: I didn't say that.
  Homer (still in robot voice): Yes, I did. (Hawking hits Homer with a spring-loaded boxing glove) D'oh.

[edit] External links

• "They Saved Lisa's Brain" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
• "They Saved Lisa's Brain" at the Internet Movie Database