"They Saved Lisa's Brain" is the twenty-second and penultimate episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on May 9, 1999. In the episode, after writing a thoughtful letter to the Springfield Shopper, Lisa is invited to join the Springfield chapter of Mensa. When Mayor Quimby later flees Springfield, the group takes control of the town, hoping to improve the lives of Springfieldians through the rule of the smartest. Meanwhile, Homer poses for a series of erotic photos. "They Saved Lisa's Brain" was directed by Pete Michels and written by Matt Selman, although the idea for the episode was pitched by former staff writer George Meyer. It featured the first official appearance of Lindsey Naegle and was the first episode in which theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking guest-starred as himself. The Simpsons staff wanted Hawking to guest-star because they needed someone who would be smarter than all of Springfield's Mensa members, and because they had heard that he was a fan of the show. The episode features references to Star Trek, painter Vincent van Gogh and architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and mentions the theory of the universe being toroidal, meaning shaped as a doughnut. At the end of the episode, during the Gracie Films logo, Homer yelled, “Larry Flint is right! You guys stink!” In its original broadcast, "They Saved Lisa's Brain" was seen by approximately 6.8 million viewers, a very low amount for the series.
Plot A low-fat pudding, Grandma Plopwell's, is the sponsor of a Springfield gross-out contest that promises a luxurious trip to the winner. Many Springfield residents enter the contest, but things do not go well when one of the judges, Rainier Wolfcastle, declares himself the winner for "being seen with you freaks". The contest ends in a riot and Lisa is hit in the face twice with pudding. She denounces Springfield for its anti-intellectualism in an open letter published in the Springfield Shopper. Whilst it is ignored by most of the town, it impresses the Springfield chapter of Mensa. Lisa joins the local Mensa chapter, alongside Principal Skinner, Comic Book Guy, Dr. Hibbert, Professor Frink, and Lindsay Naegle. After being bullied out of their reserved gazebo at a park by drunks and Chief Wiggum, they fear that Springfield's quality is poor because the city's stupidest residents have power over their civic institutions. The Mensa group goes to confront Mayor Quimby about the gazebo incident, causing him to escape the city when he mistakenly believes the group has evidence about his corruption. The town's charter states that in the absence of the mayor, the town is to be governed by a council of learned citizens. Now in control of Springfield and governing the town as a geniocracy, the group hopes that things will become much better. Their implemented ideas, including the adoption of metric time and the removal of green lights from stoplights to ease traffic congestion, elevate Springfield above East St. Louis on the list of America's 300 Most Livable Cities. However, the group allows power to go to their heads and the members begin to fight among themselves. Various schemes and their wildly unpopular plans, aired at a public meeting, including the banning of certain sports and the imposition of limits on procreation similar to the act of pon farr from Star Trek, further expose the rifts inside the group. The Springfield townspeople, wishing power would revert to idiots, surround the intellectuals in an angry mob and bring an end to Mensa's rule. Stephen Hawking appears to see what the Mensa group is up to and makes it clear he is unimpressed. However, he saves Lisa from being seriously injured by the mob. In the end, Hawking and Homer go to Moe's Tavern for a drink. In the episode's secondary storyline, Homer steals a gift certificate during the post-contest riots and has erotic photos taken of himself as a gift to Marge, who is at first impressed, but becomes distracted by the interior design Homer did in their basement.
Production "They Saved Lisa's Brain" was written by Matt Selman and directed by Pete Michels. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 9, 1999. Although the episode's first draft was written by Selman, the idea for the episode was pitched by former staff writer George Meyer. In the episode's setpiece, Homer and Bart participate in a gross out contest, while Marge and Lisa are in the audience. According to Selman, the writers took inspiration from real gross out contests, which were "sweeping the nation" at the time. Before the contest in the episode, the spectators are given free samples of a pudding called Grandma Plopwell's. The name of the pudding was inspired by a brand of pies called Aunt Freshly, which the Simpsons writers usually ate at the time.
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