History YMMV / TheSimpsonsS8E7LisasDateWithDensity

** Marge's speech about women working hard to change men is an awfully toxic message to send to her daughter, and more widely to the audience. [[ValuesResonance Fortunately]], neither Lisa or the episode takes it seriously.

* JerkassWoobie: Nelson is a brutish thug who tries to lie and manipulate Lisa just to stay in a relationship with her, but it's easy to still feel pity for him given the episode strongly implies he suffers from a dysfunctional home life, and admits he lied to her [[BecaseYouWereNiceToMe because he simply hasn't experienced having someone treat him well before]].

* HilariousInHindsight: When Lisa breaks things off with Nelson, he asks her if this is goodbye, and she responds "Let's just call it...[[[BorrowedCatchphrase smell ya later]]". A [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E17BartToTheFuture later episode]] reveals that "smell ya later" replaced "goodbye" as a standard greeting in the future.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Skinner says his mother makes him pay for the food he ate as a child. This actually happened to author, Ernest Thompson Seton whose father presented him with a bill on his 21st birthday for all his childhood expenses including the doctor delivering him.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: We see Homer’s auto-dialer call the Flanders several times. Is it malfunctioning, or did he somehow program it to irritate his neighborino?

** By the same token, Nelson giving Milhouse the beating of his life, causing him to get taken away in an ambulance, because he thinks [[MistakenForGay Milhouse sent him a love note that was actually from Lisa]]. This is far more likely to be seen as a MoralEventHorizon-crossing offense to a modern audience, verging on or constituting a hate crime, whereas at the time it was simply of a piece with Nelson's BullyBrutality elsewhere.

** By the same token, Nelson giving Milhouse the beating of his life, causing him to get taken away in an ambulance, when he thinks [[MistakenForGay Milhouse sent him a love note that was actually from Lisa]]. This is far more likely to be seen as a MoralEventHorizon-crossing offense to a modern audience, verging on or constituting a hate crime, whereas at the time it was simply of a piece with Nelson's BullyBrutality elsewhere.

** By the same token, Nelson giving Milhouse the beating of his life, causing him to get taken away in an ambulance, when he thinks [[MistakenForGay Milhouse sent him a love note that was actually from Lisa]]. This is far more likely to be seen as a MoralEventHorizon-crossing offense to a modern audience, verging on or constituting a hate crime, whereas at the time it was simply of a piece with Nelson's BrutalBully behavior elsewhere.

* FanPreferredCouple: Plenty of people prefer Nelson and Lisa's OppositesAttract dynamic to the Milhouse/Lisa relationship that would get more emphasis later.

** Marge's speech about women working hard to change men is an awfully toxic message to send to her daughter, and more widely to the audience. Fortunately, neither Lisa or the episode takes it seriously.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:

* ValuesDissonance: Jimbo says [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "That is so gay!"]] when commenting on Nelson kissing Lisa. Back in the 1990s, it didn't raise any problems. Contrast that with the 2008 "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS20E4TreehouseOfHorrorXIX Treehouse of Horror XIX]]" story that had a giant pumpkin attacking the schoolkids during a Halloween dance, Nelson's line "The Grand Pumpkin is super gay!" was met with backlash from anti-gay defamation groups who set out to stop people from using the word "gay" as an insult for something considered "weak" or "stupid". Of course, in this case, the use of the word as a generic insult is part of the joke in that there is nothing less gay than a heterosexual kiss.

* WhatAnIdiot: The subplot involving Homer engaging in tele-panhandling using an auto-dialler:
** It starts with how Homer acquires the auto-dialler. While leaving the Kwik-E-Mart, Homer sees Chief Wiggum arresting a panhandler.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Wiggum to maintain possession of the auto-dialler as evidence against the scammer.\\
'''Instead:''' His crew throws it in a dumpster which Homer witnesses. Homer takes it with him and starts a panhandling scam of his own.
** One of the Springfield residents that falls for Homer's "Happy Dude" scam is Abe.\\
'''You'd expect:''' For Abe to recognize his own son's voice and to either hang up or call his son and ask why Homer is asking people for money.\\
'''Instead:''' Abe (along with Jasper, who also knows Homer) sends money. He doesn't feel any happier, however.
** Late one evening, Homer has left the auto-dialler on to call residents who weren't home before, hung up or hadn't been called yet. The calls continue into the early morning hours, and it disturbs many people from their sleep… including Ned Flanders, who repeatedly gets up to answer the phone, thinking it's his mother.\\
'''You'd expect:''' Ned to either unplug the phone or--knowing Homer's voice, since he has listened to enough of the message to decipher who it is--to go to the Simpsons' residence and request that Homer stop calling.\\
'''Instead:''' [[HonorBeforeReason Ned keeps the phone plugged in, certain that his mother may be trying to call him]].\\
'''Even better:''' Homer doesn't seem to get that the reason Ned's telephone (and his complaining) is disturbing the peace is probably because of his auto-dialler calling the Flanders' residence repeatedly.
** In the final act, when Chief Wiggum cites Homer for his telemarketing fraud.\\
'''You'd expect:''' A competent cop to do the same thing Wiggum did with Jimmy the Scumbag, the machine's previous owner: arrest him for fraud and, having obtained a warrant, seize the auto-dialler.\\
'''Instead:''' Wiggum (1) shoots the machine (causing damage to evidence); (2) fails to take Homer into custody; and (3) (and most glaringly) tells him to bring the auto-dialler with him on his court date. "Otherwise, I got no case, and you go scot-free, you know," says Wiggum rather sheepishly.
** Homer's court date, where…\\
'''You'd expect:''' Homer would have destroyed the evidence (since he was allowed to keep his auto-dialler), or at the very least erase the "Happy Dude" message.\\
'''Instead:''' Homer apparently brought it to court -- unseen in this episode -- because he is ordered by the judge (who apparently has let him off easy) to record a new message apologizing to Springfield residents. Once he says, "I'm sorry" (in an apologetic tone), he then ''[[AesopAmnesia asks for more money]]'' [[HereWeGoAgain through his new "Sorry Dude" scam]].

* ValuesDissonance: Jimbo says [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "That is so gay!"]] when commenting on Nelson kissing Lisa. Back in the 1990s, it didn't raise any problems. Contrast that with the 2008 "Treehouse of Horror" story that had a giant pumpkin attacking the schoolkids during a Halloween dance, Nelson's line "The Grand Pumpkin is super gay!" was met with backlash from anti-gay defamation groups who set out to stop people from using the word "gay" as an insult for something considered "weak" or "stupid". Of course, in this case, the use of the word as a generic insult is part of the joke in that there is nothing less gay than a heterosexual kiss.

'''Instead:''' Homer apparently brought it to court -- unseen in this episode -- because he is ordered by the judge (who apparently has let him off easy) to record a new message apologizing to Springfield residents. Once he says, "I'm sorry" (in an apologetic tone), he then ''[[AesopAmnesia asks for more money]]'' [[HereWeGoAgain through his new "Sorry Dude" scam]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Lisa, in the sense that [[DracoInLeatherPants she still likes Nelson and seeks to make him her boyfriend even after he brutalized Milhouse and sent him to the hospital.]] She doesn't even get mad at him, and is more upset when Nelson lies to her about pranking Skinner. It's kind of hard to take her interest in Nelson seriously when he almost murdered Milhouse because he misunderstood Lisa's note, since Nelson's behavior is blatantly homophobic. And even if it ''hadn't'' been, it was still DisproportionateRetribution.

* In Season 8, "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E7LisasDateWithDensity Lisa's Date with Density]]" features a subplot involving Homer engaging in tele-panhandling using an auto-dialler. Several examples of stupidity abound:

* WhatAnIdiot: The entire subplot of Homer tele-panhandling using an auto-dialler.

'''Instead:''' [[HonorBeforeReason Ned keeps the phone plugged in, certain that his mother may be trying to call him.]] '''Even better:''' Homer doesn't seem to get that the reason Ned's telephone (and his complaining) is disturbing the peace is probably because of his auto-dialler calling the Flanders' residence repeatedly.
** In the final act, when Chief Wiggum cited Homer for his telemarketing fraud.\\

'''Instead:''' Uh boy--what police incompetence here. First, neither Wiggum nor any of the other officers took the auto-dialler with them (for evidence) when Jimmy got arrested; instead, the auto-dialler is kept in the trash, allowing Homer to take it for his own scheme. Later, when Homer is charged with the same crime, Wiggum (1) shoots the machine (causing damage to evidence); (2) fails to take Homer into custody; and (3) (and most glaringly) tells him to bring the auto-dialler with him on his court date. "Otherwise, I got no case, and you go scot-free, you know," says Wiggum rather sheepishly.

'''You'd expect:''' Homer having destroyed the evidence (since he was allowed to keep his auto-dialler), or at the very least erase the "Happy Dude" message.\\
'''Instead:''' Homer apparently brought it to court -- unseen in this episode -- because he is ordered by the judge (who apparently has let him off easy) to record a new message apologizing to Springfield residents. Once he says, "I'm sorry" (in an apologetic tone), he then ''[[AesopAmnesia asks for more money]]'' [[HereWeGoAgain through his new "Sorry Dude" scam.]]

* ValuesDissonance: Jimbo says [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "That is so gay!"]] when commenting on Nelson kissing Lisa. Back in the 1990s, it didn't raise any problems. Contrast that with the 2008 "Treehouse of Horror" story that had a giant pumpkin attacking the schoolkids during a Halloween dance, Nelson's line "The Grand Pumpkin is super gay!" was met with backlash from anti-gay defamation groups who set out to stop people from using the word "gay" as an insult for something considered "weak" or "stupid". Of course, the entire point of the joke is that there is nothing less gay than a heterosexual kiss.

* ValuesDissonance: Jimbo says [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "That is so gay!"]] when commenting on Nelson kissing Lisa. Back in the 1990s, it didn't raise any problems. Contrast that with the 2008 "Treehouse of Horror" story that had a giant pumpkin attacking the schoolkids during a Halloween dance, Nelson's line "The Grand Pumpkin is super gay!" was met with backlash from anti-gay defamation groups who set out to stop people from using the word "gay" as an insult for something considered "weak" or "stupid".

** One poster in Nelson's room has the caption "Bomb the Arabs and take their oil," which is pretty much what the War in Iraq in 2003 was accused of being about.