{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Good article}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = Lisa and Nelson.jpeg | caption = [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] and [[Nelson Muntz|Nelson]] on a picnic date. | season = 8 | episode = 7 | director = [[Susie Dietter]] | writer = [[Mike Scully]] | production = 4F01 | airdate = {{Start date|1996|12|15}} | blackboard = Lisa writes "I will not be a snickerpuss" during the episode. | couch_gag = The living room is upside down, and after the family sits down, they fall off.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=http://bbc.adactio.com/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season8/page7.shtml |title=Lisa's Date With Density |access-date=March 28, 2007 |last1=Martyn |first1=Warren |author-link1=Gary Russell |last2 = Wood |first2=Adrian |author-link2=Gareth Roberts (writer) |year=2000 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> | commentary = [[Matt Groening]]<br />Josh Weinstein<br />Mike Scully<BR />[[Nancy Cartwright]]<br />[[Yeardley Smith]]<br />Susie Dietter<br />[[Alex Rocco]] | prev = [[A Milhouse Divided]] | next = [[Hurricane Neddy]] }} "'''Lisa's Date with Density'''" is the seventh episode of the [[The Simpsons season 8|eighth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on December 15, 1996.<ref name="book">{{cite book |last=Groening |first=Matt |author-link=Matt Groening |editor1-first=Ray |editor1-last=Richmond |editor1-link=Ray Richmond |editor2-first=Antonia |editor2-last=Coffman |title=[[The Simpsons episode guides#The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family|The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family]] |edition=1st |year=1997 |location=New York |publisher=[[HarperPerennial]] |lccn=98141857 |ol=433519M |oclc=37796735 |isbn=978-0-06-095252-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/simpsonscomplete00groe/page/218 218] |ref={{harvid|Richmond & Coffman|1997}} }}</ref> It was written by [[Mike Scully]] and directed by [[Susie Dietter]].<ref name="book"/> The episode sees [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] develop a [[Puppy love|crush]] on [[Nelson Muntz]]. When they start dating and Lisa is unable to reform him, she ends their relationship. In the subplot, [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] uses an autodialer in a telemarketing scheme that annoys all of [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]]'s residents.
==Plot== [[Superintendent Chalmers]] visits [[Seymour Skinner|Principal Skinner]] at Springfield Elementary School to show off his newly purchased second-hand [[Honda Accord]], only to discover the car's [[hood ornament]] has suddenly gone missing. Skinner orders a search of every student's locker which reveals that [[Nelson Muntz]], the [[Bullying|school bully]], is the culprit. As punishment, Nelson is forced to return all stolen items found in his locker to their owners and perform janitorial work with [[Groundskeeper Willie]].
[[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] is caught staring at Nelson during band practice and unwittingly causes a commotion among the band students, earning her [[School discipline#Detention|detention]] during which she is forced to [[Writing lines|write lines on the chalkboard]]. After Nelson recommends using an aid for writing [[musical notation]] to get through her punishment faster, she realizes she has developed a crush on him. She asks [[Milhouse Van Houten|Milhouse]] to pass a love note to him in class, but Nelson, thinking Milhouse wrote the love note, beats him up. After Milhouse is taken to the hospital, Lisa confesses to Nelson that she wrote the note and soon she spends more time with him, inviting him to her house and even visiting Nelson's own.
At [[Marge Simpson|Marge]]'s suggestion, Lisa decides to turn Nelson from a troublemaker into a sweet, well-behaved young man like how Marge had done with Homer. Lisa compels Nelson to start dressing more sharply and then takes him to the Springfield Observatory for a date. To distract Lisa, Nelson kisses her, but finds he has fallen for her in the process. However, the influence of his friends [[Jimbo Jones|Jimbo]], [[Dolph Starbeam|Dolph]] and [[Kearney Zzyzwicz|Kearney]] prevails when they convince him to [[Vandalism|vandalize]] Principal Skinner's house later that night. After Skinner calls the police, the four boys flee; Nelson gains refuge in the Simpson house by telling Lisa that he is innocent, which she believes at first. However, Nelson accidentally admits his involvement the next day, and Lisa gently breaks up with him after realizing that he hasn't changed at all. On her way home, she runs into Milhouse, who is delighted to hear that she's no longer seeing Nelson.
In the subplot, [[Chief Wiggum]] arrests a [[confidence trick|scam artist]] for [[telemarketing fraud|fraudulent]] [[robocalling]]. [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] witnesses the arrest and retrieves the discarded [[autodialer]] from a trash bin. He uses the machine for a telemarketing scheme to persuade everyone to send him money under the name "Happy Dude". His phone calls annoy the whole town and Chief Wiggum catches him. Instead of confiscating the autodialer and taking Homer into custody, he shoots it and asks Homer to bring it to his court hearing, lest the charges be dismissed for lack of evidence. In the closing credits, the repaired autodialer plays Homer's new, court-ordered message asking residents to forgive him; he ends the message with yet another money beg, this time to "Sorry Dude".<ref name="BBC"/><ref name="book"/>
==Production== The idea of Lisa dating Nelson had been around for a while, with several different versions being pitched.<ref name=Scully>{{cite video |people=Scully, Mike |date=2006 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Date with Density" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> The writers wanted a "silly" Homer story to balance the episode out,<ref name=Scully/> and the idea of using the telemarketing scam for this had also been around for a while.<ref name=Weinstein>{{cite video |people=Weinstein, Josh |date=2006 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Date with Density" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> By this time, the show had begun to have episodes revolving around secondary characters. This was the first episode to revolve around Nelson, and was done to partly explain why Nelson acts the way he does.<ref name=Weinstein/> The words to Nelson's song were contributed by [[Mike Scully]]'s daughters.<ref name=Scully/> The scene in which Milhouse passes Lisa's note to Nelson was written by [[Bill Oakley]],<ref name=Scully/> with the line, "He can't hear you, we had to pack his ears with [[gauze]]", being [[George Meyer]]'s line.<ref name=Groening>{{cite video |people=Groening, Matt |date=2006 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Date with Density" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> There was a debate as to how injured Milhouse should look without it looking disturbing, and the drop of blood coming from his nose was decided to be enough.<ref name=Weinstein/> Milhouse liking [[Vaseline]] on toast was based on a child from [[Josh Weinstein]]'s school days who everyday would get onto the bus with a piece of toast, which had Vaseline on it.<ref name=Weinstein/>
==Cultural references== A majority of the story is a reference to the film ''[[Rebel Without a Cause]]''.<ref name="BBC"/> Lisa remarks that Nelson is "like a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a vest", a reference to "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma"; this was [[Winston Churchill]]'s opinion of Russia at the outbreak of [[World War II]].<ref name="BBC"/> The episode title's use of the word "density" to mean "destiny" is a reference to a line from the film ''[[Back to the Future]]''.
==Reception== In its original broadcast, "Lisa's Date with Density" finished 63rd in ratings for the week of December 9–15, 1996, with a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 7.4, equivalent to approximately 7.2 million viewing households. It was the fifth-highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following ''[[The X-Files]]'', ''[[Melrose Place]]'', ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]'' and ''[[Party of Five]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=NBC rides tall again in ratings |work=Rocky Mountain News |author=Bauder, David |page=16D |date=December 19, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/71234770/four-top-tv-networks-attack-nielsen/|title=Four Top TV Networks Attack Nielsen Ratings|date=December 18, 1996|work=[[Pharos-Tribune]]|page=10|publication-place=[[Logansport, Indiana]]|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref>
The authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', [[Gary Russell]] and [[Gareth Roberts (writer)|Gareth Roberts]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv51/garyrussell.html|title=Gary Russell: From Peladon to Placebos|author=Preddle, Jon|date=June 1997|magazine=Time Space Visualiser|issue=51|access-date=20 August 2020|publisher=The New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club|quote=I've just done my first non-fiction book, Oh No It's A Completely Unofficial Simpsons Guide for Virgin, co-authored with Gareth Roberts which has, to be frank, been more of a nightmare than it needed to be [the book was published as I Can't Believe It's An Unofficial Simpsons Guide, with Gary and Gareth writing under the pseudonyms Warren Martyn & Adrian Wood].}}</ref> called it "impressive" how "even after Nelson has beaten [Milhouse] up for apparently making a pass, [Milhouse] will still do anything for uncaring Lisa."<ref name="BBC"/>
[[Josh Weinstein]] called it one of the most "real" episodes, commenting that every character in the episode, from Superintendent Chalmers to Lisa, acts like a real person throughout.<ref name=Weinstein/> The medic's line "He can't hear you now; we had to pack his ears with [[gauze]]" is one of [[Matt Groening]]'s favorites.<ref name=Groening/> Marge's line "When I first met your father, he was loud, crude and piggish. But I worked hard on him, and now he's a whole new person", is one of [[Susie Dietter]]'s favorites, as it explains why Marge is still married to Homer despite his actions.<ref name=Dietter>{{cite video |people=Dietter, Susie |date=2006 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Date with Density" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>
[[Yeardley Smith]], the voice actress of Lisa, has mentioned this episode is one of her favorite ''Simpsons'' episodes of all time.<ref>{{cite tweet|access-date=2019-11-24 |user=YeardleySmith|number=1198623982771154945 |title=It's #SimpsonsSunday! Today I attempt to answer the impossible — but ubiquitous—question: "What's your favorite episode?"|date=2019-11-24 |author=Smith, Yeardley }}</ref>
This is also one of several episodes that has been performed live by the cast in front of an audience.<ref name=Groening/>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_8#Lisa.27s_Date_with_Density|"Lisa's Date with Density"}} {{portal|The Simpsons}} *{{snpp capsule|4F01}} *{{IMDb episode|0779669}}
{{The Simpsons episodes|8}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisa's Date with Density}} [[Category:1996 American television episodes]] [[Category:The Simpsons season 8 episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes written by Mike Scully]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Susie Dietter]]