15 Worst Episodes Of The Simpsons (And What They Represent)
3. Lisa Goes Gaga
What It Represents: Too many guest stars.
Many people probably expected Lisa Goes Gaga to be top here, but that’s actually part of the reason why it isn’t. It has such a notoriety around it that you go into it with the worst expectations, and such is the hyperbolic nature of Simpson fans, Lisa Goes Gaga can’t possibly live down to those expectations.
Lady Gaga is actually used pretty well, and even if a lot of the jokes don’t land, they at least hit targets like her famously eccentric dress style with Homer cooking and eating her meat dress. The ‘Lisa Simpson: Superstar’ song isn’t terrible either.
The overly positive moral with nothing to cut through the treacle isn’t what the show was built on though. Gaga kissing Marge comes a little out of nowhere too.
It’s become the typical example held up to demonstrate The Simpsons’ overuse of guest stars. Though the fact it was built around Lady Gaga is better than random walk ons (Steph Curry having a couple of throwaway lines in 22 For 30, to name one of many examples), many still weren’t impressed.
It swung too far the other way and became ‘The Lady Gaga Show’ for a week.