YMMV / The Simpsons S2 E19 "Lisa's Substitute"

• Ensemble Dark Horse: Mr. Bergstrom, Lisa's Cool Teacher who encouraged her to be who she was has gained many fans from his one appearance. Being portrayed by Dustin Hoffman (who was credited as "Sam Etic") certainly helped.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The mother-daughter conversation in which Marge rather implausibly compares her relationship with Homer to Lisa's First Love infatuation with Mr. Bergstrom, to Lisa's doubt ("Mom, are we gonna talk or are we gonna talk?") gets interesting in light of "That 90s Show," which deals with a Love Triangle between Homer, Marge and an attractive college professor who expanded Marge's mind just as Bergstrom does for Lisa here.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • Homer and Lisa don't have much of a relationship here, and Mr. Bergstrom, who realizes he's filling the paternal void in her life, urges Homer to step up to the plate on Lisa's behalf, telling him, "There is a wonderful girl's future at stake." The relationship between Homer and Lisa would go on to become a major theme of the show, with many episodes depicting Homer becoming a better father to her and the two of them developing a profound bond despite their differences.
  • No fewer than thirty seasons later, the episode "Mother and Child Reunion" would explore a possible future in which Lisa sets herself up as a Cool Teacher just like Bergstrom, reaching students who would otherwise slip through the cracks.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In the aftermath of the famously contentious 2020 U.S. Presidential election, Donald Trump demanded a recount in states which had not been called for him, including Arizona, insisting that thousands of votes for him must have been been lost, miscounted, or deliberately hidden. Arizona conducted a recount and established the exact number of Trump votes that had not been counted during the first round as... seven.
  Mrs. Krabappel: Would you like another recount?
  Bart: No.
• Memetic Mutation: The note Mr. Bergstrom gives Lisa is a common target for photoshops.
• Signature Scene: Mr. Bergstrom's farewell to Lisa.
• Values Dissonance: Mr. Bergstrom shows up to class not only carrying a revolver but using it to fire off fake gunshots. If he tried that stunt today, he would land himself in serious trouble.

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