Moaning Lisa

Season 1, Episode 6, Aired
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Episode Summary

Lisa meets a new friend, Bleeding Gums Murphy, a jazz musician who helps her cope with the blues. Meanwhile, Bart and Homer duke it out in video game boxing.
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Cast & Crew

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Fan Episode Reviews (33)

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  • Lisa's plot was okay, but Homer and Bart's plot was fantastic.

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By jmbsonic555, Oct 17, 2011 Report Abuse
    The episode starts with a sad Lisa staring at herself in the mirror in the bathroom while Homer pounds on the door waiting for his turn. Later in the kitchen before work Homer searches for his keys, while Bart and Lisa eat breakfast before school. Lisa finds the keys still in the front door. Marge only has two cupcakes for Homer, Bart and Lisa; Lisa defers the cupcakes to Homer and Bart, she is clearly depressed. During band practice at school the band plays terrible while Lisa jams away expertly with her saxophone much to the dislike of the band teacher Mr. Largo. At lunch during a food fight Lisa does nothing but sit and look sad. During gym class while playing dodge ball Lisa doesn't move and gets pummeled by dodge balls, all while looking sad. After school in the living room Bart and Homer play a boxing video game called Super Slugfest. Homer suffers his 49th loss at the hands of Bart while Marge walks and shows Homer a note from school about Lisa.

    Overall, Lisa's plot was okay, but Homer and Bart's plot was fantastic.

    6.0 out of 10moreless

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  • Lisa has the blues. Homer and Marge try their best (at least Marge does) to lift Lisa's sprirts, but their efforts are in vain. However Lisa finds help and friendship in a fellow sax player named "Bleeding Gums" Murphy.moreless

    8.0
    "Great"
    By meathead704, Sep 13, 2010 Report Abuse
    Over the twenty plus year season run of "The Simpsons" one thing that the show does well is introduce recurring characters. The episodes in which those characters are brought in are memorable and well written. This episode is one such example. There are laughs through out this episode. Another high point is Lisa's jams with "Bleeding Gums" Murphy. They make beautiful music together. I must also mention the hysterical subplot involving Homer vs. Bart in video boxing. Between the video fights and Homer's nightmares, the subplot is a total knockout. After more than twenty seasons, "Moaning Lisa" still stands out.moreless

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  • Underrated Episode

    8.0
    "Great"
    By fenway98, Aug 11, 2010 Report Abuse
    A lot of people don't like this episode, probably becuase it has a lot of emotion, and not much humor. But I don't really mind that, becuase I thought it had a lot of humor.

    Lisa starts feeling depressed, so she starts playing jazz on the saxophone. But the music teacher dosn't approve of it. She soon starts feeling even more depressed, until she meets a man named Bleeding Gumps Murphy. She starts playing her feelings with him. Marge dosn't approve of this, and she tells lisa to smile. But when she sees people at school walking over her, she tells Lisa she can do whatever she wants.

    Meanwhile, Homer and Bart start playing video games together, and Homer just can't stand losing. So he starts training at the arcade.

    This was a pretty good episode. There were a few funny moments, but I liked Homer and Bart's B plot better.

    Overall Grade:80%/B-moreless

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  • Moaning Lisa: When Lisa fells blue she finds hope in a Jazz musician.

    6.5
    "Fair"
    By Sabrespongebob, Jul 13, 2010 Report Abuse
    Review for Moaning Lisa:

    This episode for me anyway is not bad far from it. I just find it very very VERY boring. Lisa is a good character (I feel for her because I have the same personality and interests as her) But this episode didn't seem very good to me anyway. The Bart and Homer story seemed kind of a filler and didn't have many jokes (More than the main plot but still few) The ending was good but still didn't really make up for the episodes quality. This is my second least favourite of Season 1 but it's still not bad.

    Score for Moaning Lisa: C+, 3/5, 6.5/10, Adequatemoreless

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  • lisa got the blues and bleeding gums helpe her out and died

    8.0
    "Great"
    By cube2k8, May 04, 2010 Report Abuse
    in this ep lisa has the blues and is feeling down alot latly and she comes acrross a man in a hospital by the name of bleeding gums murphy her and bleeding gums play music togther all the time latly and bart and homer are playing video game and fighting against each other and so bleeding gums and lisa are having a good time they play over the bridge togeather at night they made some good music togeather and homer and bart are still going round aftr round and bart keep punching homers head off . and lisa meets murph at the bridge and they play musice in the night when the moon is out and stars are out so it was a good ep.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • Some of the video games that can be seen at the arcade: Time Waster, Freeway, Pac-Rat, Eat My Shorts, Nuclear Disaster, Robert Goulet Destroyer, Escape from Grandma's House, Itchy vs. Scratchy. Edit
    • Lisa brushes with Glum Toothpaste. Edit
    • Bleeding Gums Murphy and Lisa are playing their saxophones on the same bridge that Homer tried to kill himself on in, episode 1-3 "Homer's Odyssey." Edit

  • Notes

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    • According to Matt Groening the opening title sequence for the series is an homage to the opening sequence for The Mickey Mouse Club. The changing chalkboard and couch gags were inspired by the changing opening where Donald Duck would hit the gong, and his reaction would change every week. Edit
    • The original idea for this episode came from Jim Brooks who wanted to do this episode clear back in the days of Taxi. The idea was that Alex would be sad for some unknown reason, but the script never came to be. Edit
    • First Appearance: Jacqueline Bouvier, "Bleeding Gums" Murphy, Ralph Wiggum Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Homer: Where the hell are my keys? Who stole my keys? Come on, I'm late for work! (Lifts Maggie and looks underneath) Marge: Oh Homer, you'd lose your head if it weren't securely fastened to your neck. Bart: Did you check the den? Homer: The den! Great idea! (Homer heads into the den with Bart following him and Homer begins to pull couch apart.) Bart: Warm. No, cold. Colder. Ice cold. Homer: You know where my keys are? Bart: No, I'm talking about your breakfast. (Laughs) Homer: (Growls) Edit
    • (Lisa and Bleeding Gums Murphy have a little jam session.) (Lisa plays a jazz tune on her sax.) Bleeding Gums Murphy: Now, now low b-flat. (Lisa plays some lower notes on her sax.) Bleeding Gums Murphy: Okay, Lisa. "Altissimo" register. (Lisa plays very high notes on her sax.) Bleeding Gums Murphy: Very nice. Very nice. I once ruptured myself doin' that. Lisa: Thanks, Mr. Murphy Bleeding Gums Murphy: My friends call me Bleedin' Gums. Lisa: Eww. How'd you get a name like that? Bleeding Gums Murphy: Well, let me put it this way. You ever been to the dentist? Lisa: Yeah. Bleeding Gums Murphy: Not me. I suppose I should go to one, but I got enough pain in my life as it is. Edit
    • Bleeding Gums Murphy: You know, you play pretty well for someone with no real problems. Lisa: Yeah, but I don't feel any better. Bleeding Gums Murphy: The blues isn't about feelin' better. It's about makin' other people feel worse and makin' a few bucks while you're at it. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Life In Hell The referee in the boxing game is a drawing by Matt Groening. In quick tribute to his comic strip Life In Hell, the referee is designed to look like Akbar or Jeff. Edit
    • Mike Tyson's Punch Out The video game that Bart and Homer are playing has sound effects similar to the video game, Mike Tyson's Punch Out. Also, the controllers they are using are very similar to Atari's joysticks. Edit
    • "Blind" Lemon Jefferson The character of Bleeding Gums Murphy was loosely based off the personality and name of blues musician, "Blind" Lemon Jefferson. Edit

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