The Simpsons/Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington

Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington
Season 3, Episode 2
Airdate	September 26, 1991
Production Number	8F01
Written by	George Meyer
Directed by	Wes Archer
← 3x01 Stark Raving Dad	3x03 → When Flanders Failed
The Simpsons — Season Three

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Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington is the second episode of the third season of The Simpsons, and the thirty-seventh episode overall.

Starring: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria

And: Harry Shearer

Also Starring: Joann Harris, Pamela Hayden (Milhouse Van Houten), Tress MacNeille, Maggie Roswell, Lona Williams

Plot Overview

Lisa wins a Trip to Washington;D.C. with her Essay on what a great Country America is.Her,and the Family are flown to Washington where they get a tour of the City.The happiness Lisa is experiencing is wonderful,until she overhears a conversation with a Senator that she met earlier with a Man who wants to cut down Trees to make way for a crooked enterprize.Lisa is devastated,so much so that when she is to present her Essay about why America is great,she changes it to an Essay on what a filthy city(figuratively speaking)D.C. really is by exposing the crooked Senator,and crooked Business Man she overheard talking at the Jefferson Memorial.Listening are many reporters,who report the speech,and Honest Politicians.Asting operation is quickly set up which nails the crooked Business Man.Lisa does'nt win but her courage in exposing the crooked Senator has earned her praise from her fellow Contestants.

Notes

Title Sequence

• Blackboard: "Spitwads are not free speech."
• Couch Gag: The Simpsons all jump onto the couch and Homer pulls Santa's Little Helper out from his couch cushion.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Springfield: The letters that Homer throws out at the beginning of the episode are addressed to a fictional Springfield in a fictional state. They read "Springfield, T.A. 192005". Additionally, during the montage of speeches, Springfield is shown briefly on a map. Before the map fades to Lisa, you can clearly see the letters "NT" in the corner. During the graft scene, a developer later shows a map of Springfield with a huge national forest to the southwest of the city.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: The title of this episode is a reference to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the Jimmy Stewart movie about a charming and idealistic governor who is appointed to the US Senate when the sitting senator dies in office. When Smith arrives in Washington, he inadvertently winds up intruding on a corruption scandal that nearly ruins him. The Washington D.C. scenes of this episode are loosely based around the plot of the movie.

• Mark Russell: On the day of the speech competition in Washington D.C., the scene opens with a man playing a piano and singing a ragtime song about the deficit. This is meant to be a parody of Mark Russell, a political satirist who specializes in comedic political songs. Bart's hatred of the songs mirros the feelings of the writing staff.