History Recap / TheSimpsonsS5E14LisaVsMalibuStacy

-->'''Lisa''': Millions of girls will grow up thinking that this is the right way to act, that they can never be anything more than vacuous ninnies, whose only goal is to look pretty, land a rich husband, and spend all day on the phone with their equally vacuous friends, talking about how damn terrific it is to look pretty and have a rich husband!\\

* ImprovIsForImbeciles: One of the old Malibu Stacys left to rot in the bargain bin is "Live from the Improv Stacy," which the little girls reject in disgust.

** One of the talking Malibu Stacy dolls apparently has a voice box that was supposed to go inside a Franchise/SpiderMan doll ("My Spidey sense is tingling. Anybody call for a webslinger?"). This is a reference to an underground group that switched the voice boxes to some talking Barbies and talking G.I. Joes to make a point about sexism in toys.

* CreativeSterility: The absolute best the Malibu Stacy can think of for competing with Lisa Lionheart is adding a new hat to the same Malibu Stacy they have been selling for years. [[TheBadGuyWins It still gets sells like hotcakes]].

* BoringButPractical: An example in which it works against the heroes and the "boring" part is definitely supposed to be seen as awful: when the Malibu Stacy production team hears about Lisa Lionheart, they decide to pull an all-nighter to try to produce a competing Stacy doll. It is revealed one scene later that, [[CreativeSterility in their utter lack of inspiration]], all the corporation did was make more regular Stacy dolls but package them with a brand new hat. Even as Lisa tried to talk them out of it, the children of Springfield (and Smithers), with their die-hard obsession, performed as Big Corporation expected: by buying their doll and not Lisa's.

* BoringButPractical: An example in which it works against the heroes and the "boring" part is definitely supposed to be seen as awful: when the Malibu Stacy production team hears about Lisa Lionheart, they decide to pull an all-nighter to try to produce a competing Stacy doll. It is revealed one scene later that, in their utter lack of inspiration, all the corporation did was make more regular Stacy dolls but package them with a brand new hat. Even as Lisa tried to talk them out of it, the children of Springfield (and Smithers), with their die-hard obsession, performed as Big Corporation expected: by buying their doll and not Lisa's.

* CouchGag: The family sits and is crushed by the foot from the opening of ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''.

** One of the talking Malibu Stacy dolls apparently has a voice box that was supposed to go inside a Franchise/SpiderMan doll ("My spidey sense is tingling. Anybody call for a webslinger?"). This is a reference to an underground group that switched the voice boxes to some talking Barbies and talking G.I. Joes to make a point about sexism in toys.

-->'''Lisa''': I'm warning you, Mom. I may get a little crazy.
-->'''Marge''': I understand, honey. When I was your age, there was a--
-->'''Lisa''': Hey, horse face! Get your ugly pie-hooks off that Summer Fun Set!

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The premise was based on the controversy surrounding Mattel's 1992 "Teen Talk Barbie" doll, each unit of which contained a voice box programmed with 4 out of 270 possible phrases, one of which was "Math class is tough," which caused somewhat of a controversy as it was seen as reinforcing female gender stereotypes. The gag involving a Stacy doll who clearly has the voice box of a Spider-Man toy also can be read as a reference to the "Barbie Liberation Organization," a performance art group that claimed to have switched the voice boxes of 300 Teen Talk Barbie dolls with those of GI Joe action figures before replacing them on store shelves.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The premise was based on the controversy surrounding Mattel's 1992 "Teen Talk Barbie" doll, each unit of which contained a voice box programmed with 4 out of 270 possible phrases, one of which was "Math class is tough." The gag involving a Stacy doll who clearly has the voice box of a Spider-Man toy also can be read as a reference to the "Barbie Liberation Organization," a performance art group that claimed to have switched the voice boxes of 300 Teen Talk Barbie dolls with those of GI Joe action figures before replacing them on store shelves.

* SerialSpouse: Stacy has been married and divorced five times. Her former husbands are Ken, Johnny, Joe, Dr. Colossus and Steve Austin. Joe makes an appearance in this episode to win her back, while Dr. Colossus appears in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two]]".

* EarlyBirdCameo: One of Stacy's previous husbands she mentions to Lisa is a "Dr. Colossus". He would later show up in Part 2 of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr. Burns?]]" where he would help provide the TropeNamer for CartoonishSupervillainy.

* SerialSpouse: Stacy has been married and divorced five times. Her former husbands are Ken, Johnny, Joe, Dr. Colossus and Steve Austin. Joe makes an appearance in this episode to win her back, while Dr. Colossus appears in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr. Burns?]]".

* IdiotBall: After Grampa gives the Simpsons an early inheritance of several dozen 1918 silver dollars, in ''mint-condition'', all four of the (talking) Simpsons collectively decide to go to the mall to ''spend them'', instead of Marge and Lisa knowing and/or pointing out that they should instead sell the coins to collectors. [[note]]There isn't actually such a thing as a '1918 Liberty-head silver dollar', with the writers likely combining or confusing the 1918 Walking Liberty silver dollar with the 1921-1928 Peace dollar, which featured a Liberty head. Also note that, as of 2023, a single mint-condition 1918 Walking Liberty dollar is worth $150-350, while a 1921 Peace dollar would fetch just under $200, meaning that even the ''smart'' Simpsons immediately decided to throw away anywhere up to $22,500 worth of coins by instead spending them as regular coins ''using their face value'', all for what would amount to less than $100![[/note]]

-->'''Smithers:''' But she's got a ''hat!''

* WritingAroundTrademarks: ''Malibu Stacy'' is an obvious parody of the ''Barbie'' franchise (which is known as Malibu Barbie).

* MyLittlePanzer: One of the toys the Simpsons purchase is a playSet base for a ''Franchise/GIJoe'' {{Expy}}, which is outfitted with ''real'' barbed (and ''electrified'') wire and ''exploding missiles''.

* InstantlyProvenWrong: When Lisa tells the Malibu Stacy tour guide that she believes the doll's voice is an airhead because the company executives are sexist, the guide denies it... and one second right after, a meeting room door opens and one executive asks the guide (a SexySecretary) to come into the room in a very sensual manner. The guide does, giggling like a ditz and giving a SexyWalk.

** Homer on the giant keyboard refers to the SignatureScene from ''Film/{{Big}}'', only instead of Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia playing the floor keyboard together to show that adults and kids can get along and that there's nothing wrong with adults getting in touch with their inner child, it's Homer performing a HollywoodToneDeaf version of "Rock Around the Clock" (and, at the end of the episode, a flawless version of ''The Simpsons'' theme) and breaking the keyboard.

* UnexpectedInheritance: Abe starts fearing death after seeing his idol Series/{{Matlock}} in person, so he gives the rest of the family his inheritance so he can see them enjoy it. He gives Lisa his lifetime of personal correspondence, but his main gift for the family is a box of mint-condition 1918 liberty-head silver dollars, prompting an immediate shopping trip to the mall.

* TheCollector: Waylon Smithers is revealed in this episode to have the world's largest Malibu Stacy collection.

* * RageBreakingPoint: Frustrated about the lines of the new talking Malibu Stacy, and Bart making a joke about it, Lisa rants about how potentially problematic it would have on the young girl demographic.

'''Lisa''': Millions of girls will grow up thinking that this is the right way to act, that they can never be anything more than vacuous ninnies, whose only goal is to look pretty, land a rich husband, and spend all day on the phone with their equally vacuous friends, talking about how damn terrific it is to look pretty and have a rich husband!\\

* RantInducingSlight: Frustrated about the lines of the new talking Malibu Stacy, and Bart making a joke about it, Lisa rants about how potentially problematic an effect it would have on the young girl demographic, before chucking the new doll out the window.
-->'''Lisa''': Millions of girls will grow up thinking that this is the "right" way to act, that they can never be anything more than vacuous ninnies, whose only goal is to look pretty, land a rich husband, and spend all day on the phone with their equally vacuous friends, talking about how damn terrific it is to look pretty and have a rich husband!\\
'''Bart''': Just what I was gonna say.

* BaitAndSwitch: At first, it looks like Lisa Lionheart is about to be a massive success, as a torrent of girls (and Smithers) are racing for her display. Unfortunately, the Malibu Stacy company pulls out their secret weapon: releasing a old Stacy doll (complete with a new hat) on the same day. The tide instantly turns back to the status quo, despite an impassioned speech from Lisa.

* CrossdressingVoice: For some unfathomable reason, in the Italian dub Stacy Lovell is actually dubbed by a male voice actor, doing an effeminate voice.

* RantInducingSlight: Frustrated about the lines of the new talking Malibu Stacy, and Bart making a joke about it, Lisa rants about how potentially problematic it would have on the young girl demographic, before chucking the new doll out the window.
-->'''Lisa''': Millions of girls will grow up thinking that this is the right way to act, that they can never be anything more than vacuous ninnies, whose only goal is to look pretty, land a rich husband, and spend all day on the phone with their equally vacuous friends, talking about how damn terrific it is to look pretty and have a rich husband!\\