YMMV / The Simpsons S34 E3 "Lisa the Boy Scout"

• Broken Base: The episode has been polarizing, to say the least. Some found it to be a hilariously-subversive formula-breaking experience, while others thought it was little more than a tiresome meta No Fourth Wall joke stretched into an entire episode despite wearing out its welcome within the first minutes.
• Misaimed Fandom: While many of the clips are presented as terrible ideas that would have killed the show, the one with Martin actually being an undercover cop named Reggie has gained traction by fans who legitimately like the idea and wish it was real.
• Spiritual Successor: According to writer Brian Kelley, the episode grew out of Matt Groening's suggestion for an updated version of "22 Short Films About Springfield," a classic episode consisting of minute-long sketches exploring the lives of secondary characters.
• Spoiled by the Format: The writers themselves have joked that a big giveaway that the episode is not actually about Lisa joining the boy scouts is that the episode actually opens with that plot thread being introduced in a straightforward manner, as opposed to the show's usual affinity for the Halfway Plot Switch.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The writers admitted that the "Lisa joins the boy scouts" idea was taken from the very bottom of their episode ideas list, chosen because it was a plausible enough episode concept to draw people in but boring and generic enough to not disappoint them when the episode turns into something else. Nonetheless, they did get a few replies from fans expressing that they would like to see the actual "Lisa the Boy Scout" episode.

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