Thread by @dailysimpsons

#OnThisDay #OTD April 25, 1991, "Lisa's Substitute" (S02E19) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: @_rich_moore. Wr: @jon_vitti. EP: @canyonjim, @simonsam & Matt Groening. Guest-starring Dustin Hoffman as Mr. Bergstrom. #TheSimpsons

@_rich_moore @jon_vitti @canyonjim @simonsam This was the first episode of the show to have the opening sequence start at the driveway scene.

Mr. Bergstrom was modeled on the physical appearance of longtime Simpsons writer and producer @MikeReissWriter.

@MikeReissWriter When Lisa arrives at Mr. Bergstrom's apartment building, a list of tenants can be seen. One of the names is J. Vitti, for the episode's writer Jon Vitti, and another is M. Kamerman, for then-animator Jen Kamerman.

@MikeReissWriter Here are some of producer Sam Simon's notes after he first screened this episode, courtesy of @ThatGuy3002. (Tweet is only viewable to those who follow him!)

https://twitter.com/ThatGuy3002/status/1121478285366525953

@MikeReissWriter @ThatGuy3002 Jon Vitti said this line was the maximum amount of the Charlotte's Web book they could feature in the episode without being sued. The staff contacted a relative of the author E. B. White, but she would not clear the use of the book.

More notes on that from @ThatGuy3002, which again, is only viewable if you follow his account.

https://twitter.com/ThatGuy3002/status/1134900381681618949

@ThatGuy3002 Some screen grabs from the production of "Lisa's Substitute" from @monkeyes' #TheSimpsons home movies (yet to be seen in public)

@ThatGuy3002 @monkeyes As usual for the time, the @TVGuide print ad for this episode focused on anything Bart, thus just advertising on the B-plot. (That opening tagline tho...)

@ThatGuy3002 @monkeyes @TVGuide This gag is a reference to the famous picture of former President Harry S. Truman holding up a copy of a prematurely printed edition of the Chicago Tribune that proclaimed "Dewey Defeats Truman", taken the day after his unexpected victory over Thomas E. Dewey in 1948.

@ThatGuy3002 @monkeyes @TVGuide In 2004,@nancycartwright said it is one of her top three episodes together with "Bart Sells His Soul" and "Bart the Mother."@YeardleySmith also named this one of her favorite episodes.

https://twitter.com/YeardleySmith/status/1198623982771154945

@ThatGuy3002 @monkeyes @TVGuide @nancycartwright @YeardleySmith Hoffman was not sure if he wanted to be identified with a cartoon show at the time and therefore used the pseudonym Sam Etic in the closing credits. Sam Etic is a play on the word semitic, alluding to the fact that both Hoffman and Mr. Bergstrom are Jewish.

@ThatGuy3002 @monkeyes @TVGuide @nancycartwright @YeardleySmith The episode references the 1967 film The Graduate, which guest-star Dustin Hoffman starred in and echoed his famous "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me" line. (video: Onikorp)

@ThatGuy3002 @monkeyes @TVGuide @nancycartwright @YeardleySmith Brooks' original note for "You Are Lisa Simpson" had an exclamation point, but Vitti did not notice the animation had a period until the color screening.

https://twitter.com/jon_vitti/status/502695475384823808

@ThatGuy3002 @monkeyes @TVGuide @nancycartwright @YeardleySmith Syndication promo for "Lisa's Substitute".