Lisa on Ice
"Lisa on Ice" is the eighth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It was the first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on November 13, 1994. In the episode, Lisa discovers that she possesses a skill for ice hockey. A rivalry between her and Bart ensues. The episode was written by Mike Scully and directed by Bob Anderson. Anderson's passion for hockey is what inspired the plot. It features cultural references to films such as Rollerball and The Pope of Greenwich Village. The episode was well-received by critics and acquired a Nielsen rating of 11.6. Plot Principal Skinner gathers Springfield Elementary School students at an assembly to announce which subjects they are failing. To her horror, straight-A student Lisa discovers she is failing gym class. When she appeals to her gym teacher, they reach a compromise: Lisa will get a passing grade if she joins a sports program outside of school. She attempts to join several, but fails, which devastates her self-esteem. Later, the family watches Bart play hockey for his team, the Mighty Pigs, coached by Chief Wiggum. After the game, Bart ridicules his sister for being poor at sports and uses his hockey stick to pelt her with litter. After watching Lisa deflect the litter and catch hockey pucks, Apu, the coach of the Kwik-E-Mart Gougers, thinks she would be a natural and makes her his team's goalie. Lisa excels as goalie and leads her team to its best season ever. Encouraged by Homer playing favorites, a sibling rivalry develops between Bart and Lisa. It peaks when the town learns that the Gougers will face the Mighty Pigs at their next match. The game is viciously fought, with Bart and Lisa playing their best. With four seconds left, Bart is tripped by Jimbo, giving him a penalty shot against Lisa that will decide the game. As they face off, Bart and Lisa remember the good times they had together when they were younger. After they throw aside their equipment and hug, the match ends in a tie — much to Marge's pride and Homer's distress. Dissatisfied with the outcome, the residents of Springfield riot and trash the arena. Production The idea for the episode came from The Simpsons writer Mike Scully, who wanted to do an episode involving ice hockey because of his passion for the sport. Bob Anderson, who also had a small interest in hockey, directed the episode. To better familiarize himself with the sport, Anderson ordered a batch of VHS highlight tapes, watched the NHL playoffs for the first time, and made several trips to scout youth games, taking notes on how players looked stickhandling and shooting. In his original draft of the episode, Scully had written cameos for Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky but, he explained, "they wound up falling out of the story, because we had such a good story with the family." Gretzky eventually ended up appearing in the Season 28 episode