Girls Just Want to Have Sums

Season 17, Episode 19, Aired
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Episode Summary

The family attends "Stab-A-Lot: The Itchy and Scratchy Musical." The musical's director is a graduate of Springfield Elementary and Principal Skinner puts his foot in mouth when he makes sexist comments about her education and that of women in general. He tries to make the situation better, but only buries himself deeper and deeper until he is fired and replaced by Women's Educational Expert Melanie Upfoot. The first thing she does is split the school into girls and the boys. Lisa dislikes the way girls are being taught math and she ventures over to the boy's side of the school in search of a challenge. Disguising herself as Jake Boyman she starts attending the boy's school but while she finds the math problems more interesting, it is being a boy that is a greater challenge.moreless
8.7
out of 10
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Fan Episode Reviews (37)

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  • Stereotypical yet highly enjoyable

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By tigerdude22, Jan 29, 2012 Report Abuse
    The family attends "Stab-A-Lot: The Itchy and Scratchy Musical." The musical's director is a graduate of Springfield Elementary and Principal Skinner puts his foot in mouth when he makes sexist comments about her education and that of women in general. He tries to make the situation better, but only buries himself deeper and deeper until he is fired and replaced by Women's Educational Expert Melanie Upfoot. The first thing she does is split the school into girls and the boys. Lisa dislikes the way girls are being taught math and she ventures over to the boy's side of the school in search of a challenge. Disguising herself as Jake Boyman she starts attending the boy's school but while she finds the math problems more interesting, it is being a boy that is a greater challenge. I thought that this was a superb episode of "The Simpsons". Only thing making my score a little low was that some parts in this episode were a little boring and I didn't like Nelson punching poor Jake Boyman (a.k.a. LISA disguised as a boy). There were some pretty funny parts to really keep me entertained though and I found the "Circle of Knife" thing in the Itchy and Scratchy musical near the beginning of the episode to be funny and clever. This episode will most likely be stereotypical to girls or women though and I can tell by some of the reviews of this episode that people were offended. But yeah, the episode is just all-around very good and funny. Overall, a superb episode of "The Simpsons". 9/10moreless

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  • Weird episode

    1.7
    "Abysmal"
    By Spongeyfan, Dec 04, 2011 Report Abuse
    This is one of the weirdest episodes of the Simpsons the only good thing was the Circle of Knife thing on the beginning all of them say girls are'nt any good at math and are worser than boys strange boys can be worse at math so can girls and the school is turned into whole different schools i mean look at me i'm not any good at math i can only do some and i'm a boy so Lisa disguises as a boy to learn boys math names herself Jake Boyman and is called toilet she then cries in her room and worries that she'll never learn boys math so she practices how to be like a boy and then admits that it was her and at the end she beat Martin Terrible episode all though it proves Lisa is trying to be a tomboy which is good but this is one of the examples why this show is going downhill any minute man this is not the Simpsons i knew ages ago it's like it's a spin off.moreless

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  • perfect

    10
    "Perfect"
    By futuramarama, Jul 02, 2011 Report Abuse
    Skinner gets in trouble after making sexist comments at an Itchy and Scratchy musical, leading to a new female principal, who split's the school in half. Lisa thinks she is being deprived of education, so Marge disguises her as a boy.

    Good episode. I liked the Itchy and Scratchy musical, "I got hit by boy Lisa AND Girl Lisa", the ending of the episode, amongst other things. I don't see why people liked the "27!" joke, but otherwise I see why people liked this episode as a whole, because it is very funny and has a good plot. A+ episode, definitely, one of my favorites from season 17.moreless

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  • Best

    8.5
    "Great"
    By smpsnkki, Jan 30, 2011 Report Abuse
    Right; let me start by saying that this episode could have come from season 7, and that makes it a classic. A very good episode.

    At stab-a-lot, the itchy and scratchy musical, principal Skinner makes a sexist comment about boys being smarter than girls at math. He is demoted to assistant groundskeeper, and a new female principal is installed. She splits the school in two, one for the boys and one for the girls. Lisa is at first happy with this, until she finds that the girls school is more intent on building self-esteem than actually learning. With Marge's help, she disguises herself as a boy named Jake Boyman, and pretends to be a new student at Springfield Elementary. However, she discovers that while the boys school is more serious about math, it is more difficult to pass herself off as a boy. With Bart's help, she manages it, and ends up getting popular. When she wins the award for something like most outstanding math student, she reveals herself as a girl and everybody realizes girls are just as smart as boys. Very good episode, although I have to agree with one of the reviews below me: In the end, the girls school and the boys school are still separate and Principal Skinner is not reinstated. While this doesn't really make sense, as in the next episode things are all back to the way they were, I feel Lisa hitting Martin on the back of the head with a chair was a very funny way to end this episode.moreless

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  • Stereotypical.

    1.9
    "Abysmal"
    By Vozlezhaschikh, May 29, 2010 Report Abuse
    First of all, this episode perpetuates the stereotype that boys are wild and reckless, dumb, and don\'t give a damn about learning. It also says that girls are smarter and that they are more anxious to learn. Besides that, did anyone else notice that things did not go back to normal in the end? At the end of the episode, the school was still divided and the school still had a different principal.

    The newest episodes of Simpsons are all issues, and this one addressed it worse than others.moreless

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    1 14
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • The song featured during the end credits is "Thick as a Brick" from the rock band Jethro Tull. Edit
    • The song played on the radio after the girls get off of the bus is "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest from their 1980 album "British Steel". Edit
    • The song being played as Lisa gets into her Jake Boyman disguise is "I Know What Boys Like" from the rock band The Waitresses. Edit

  • Notes

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    • This episode was nominated for the 2007 WGA Award (TV) for Animation. Edit
    • Blackboard Joke: None. Couch Gag: The family comes into the living room to find a variety of supporting characters around the couch and yelling "Surprise!" It results in Homer collapsing from an apparent heart attack. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Homer: (laying on the couch) Well, I won't be lonely. I can always cuddle with the dog. (to the dog) At least everyone knows I'm smarter than you. (Scene cuts to Homer sleeping outside in the doghouse) Homer: Oh, how did THIS happen? Edit
    • Otto: All right, I'm gonna open this cage. But no biting! Nelson: You're not the boss of my teeth. Edit
    • Marge: Women are as smart as men. Why, a woman invented Liquid Paper. Homer: Well, you know what a man invented? Actual paper. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Julie Taymor Julianna, the director of "Stab-A-Lot," is based on Julie Taymor who won two Tonys for Direction and Costume Design of the original Broadway adaptation of Disney's The Lion King. Edit
    • Five Guys Named Moe Moe's musical, One Guy Named Moe is a parody of the Broadway musical Five Guys Named Moe. Edit
    • Jesus Christ, Superstar The song Itchy and Scratchy perform in their duet during their Broadway show is a take off on the number "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from the musical Jesus Christ, Superstar. Edit

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