The final episode of season twenty-three had the always zany, occasionally entertaining (Machete Kills, anyone?) Lady Gaga as a guest star. Now, more times than not these days, guest stars on The Simpsons are pointless, mind-numbing cameos no one really cares about. Rarely do we get a Dustin Hoffman, or even a Gary Coleman, sort of crossover. Lady Gaga might have worked, however. She's already a cartoon character come to life in a way after all. So in "Lisa Goes Gaga" we had an, albeit slim, hope that her guest spot might go well. Even our low expectations failed to be met. "Lisa Goes Gaga" is probably up amongst the worst episodes of the series ever, and was certainly one of its worst finales. The plot, in a nutshell, involves Gaga trying to cheer up the people of Sringfield, and its most depressed citizen, Lisa. While the show got it right in for once using a guest star in a key role, rather than a "look who's here this week!" sort of spot, and while Lady Gaga's performance was actually decent, the episode itself was, frankly, one of the most uninteresting around. "Psychic powers" tell the pop star that Lisa needs her help. She has over a dozen outfits throughout the episode (a meat dress spoof with Homer was a given, but that's a bit much). She has a custom train. The episode would have been better suited had Gaga played a key role in an episode about the Simpsons, rather than the episode becoming practically about her, with constant nods to her real life persona. It's a thin line to walk, and easy to blow - and the show definitely blew it.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
