Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade

Plot

Homer buys a satellite system with over 500 channels, and he and Bart become addicted to it. Bart does not study for an important achievement test, while Lisa prepares extensively. At a school assembly, Principal Skinner announces that Bart failed and is demoted to third grade, while Lisa aced the test and is promoted to third grade. They meet their new teacher, Audrey McConnell.

In class, Bart performs well on tests because he memorized the answers from his previous year in third grade, while Lisa struggles to adjust. After Bart answers a trick question he had seen before, Audrey clamps their desks together, believing Lisa needs Bart's help. Bart later gets an A on a map test while Lisa gets an A−; he recites all the answers to Lisa, which he memorized from last year, and Lisa accuses him of cheating, but the teacher does not hear and tells Lisa to stop being jealous.

On a field trip to Capital City, Bart and Lisa are made partners under the buddy system. They learn that the state flag for Springfield is an embarrassment because it contains a Confederate flag despite the state being from the North, and their teacher assigns homework to design a new flag. Lisa calls Marge while designing her flag, which says "To Fraternal Love," and complains about Bart, unaware that Bart is overhearing on another phone and becoming angry.

The next day, the third-graders hand their flag designs to the Governor. When the Governor sees Lisa's design, she cries, and the flag now reads "Learn to Fart." Lisa is appalled, while Bart innocently admonishes her for making the Governor cry.

Release

The episode debuted on Fox in the United States on November 17, 2002, reaching about 7.47 million homes. It earned a Nielsen rating of 7.0 and tied for 44th place that week with new episodes of Becker and Boomtown. Despite this, it was Fox’s top-rated show of the week, outperforming King of the Hill, 24, and Malcolm in the Middle. On December 6, 2011, the episode came out on Blu-ray and DVD as part of The Simpsons – The Complete Fourteenth Season.

The DVD commentary track featured Al Jean, Tim Long, Ian Maxtone-Graham, John Frink, Kevin Curran, Steven Dean Moore, Mike B. Anderson, and Michael Price. Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide criticized the episode, noting its opening TV segment closely resembles the Season Two episode “Homer Vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment” and that it “doesn’t get much better from there,” calling it “a wholly mediocre episode.” In contrast, Aaron Peck of High-Def Digest described it as “memorable.”

Did You Know?

• American singer Tony Bennett is credited as guest starring, though his lines were taken from archival audio.
• The episode was part of the fourteenth season of The Simpsons (2002–03).