Trivia / The Simpsons S7 E5 "Lisa the Vegetarian"

• Creator's Favorite Episode: Matt Groening, David Mirkin, Mark Kirkland and writer Ian Maxtone-Graham listed this as one of their favorite episodes. In the DVD Commentary for the episode, Mirkin called the opening sequence at the petting zoo one of his favorite set pieces in the show's history. He thought it was "absolutely hilarious", and praised Kirkland for his animation. Mirkin also enjoyed the use of Apu in the episode, because Apu shows Lisa that "the way to get people to change is through tolerance and understanding". Groening considers the joke in which the family forms a conga line to be one of the "high-points" in the history of the show.
• Edited for Syndication: The "You Don't Win Friends With Salad" part is cut in syndication (free TV, not the reruns on the cable channel FXX) to remove Marge joining in and Lisa protesting, with Marge stating that she was only in the conga line because the song was catchy, not to take sides. So are two bits from the fairy tale park segment: Grampa sleeping in the littlest bear's bed and Bart sneaking onto the child train ride.
• Promoted Fanboy: Paul and Linda were both longtime fans of the show.
• Wag the Director: Paul and Linda McCartney appeared as guest stars under the condition that Lisa would convert to vegetarianism permanently, stating that not doing so would confuse viewers. (It also helps that the earlier episode, "Lisa's Wedding" stated that Lisa converted to vegetarianism at some point.) This remains one of the few permanent changes in a show that delights in Status Quo Is God. And the final nail in the coffin for the original creative team's mantra of striving for a timelessness between episodes, with the belief that they can be interchanged during broadcasting. This episode, alongside "'Round Springfield" and "Lisa's Wedding" helped usher in a new era of change, with every single character change from here on in from the Divorce of Milhouse's parents, to Lisa becoming a Buddhist, all stemming from this one episode.
• Write What You Know: The episode is based on writer David Mirkin's experience as a vegetarian and later animal rights activist.

---