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"Last Tap Dance in Springfield"

Episode Information Episode number: 246 Season number: S11 E20 Production code: BABF15 Original airdate: May 7, 2000 Chalkboard gag: "I will not dance on anyone's grave" Couch gag: The living room is a jungle. Marge, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie swing in on vines gracefully, like Tarzan. Homer, swings too far and crashes, like George of the Jungle. Showrunner: Mike Scully Written by: Julie Thacker Directed by: Nancy Kruse DVD features

"Last Tap Dance in Springfield" is the twentieth episode of season 11 of The Simpsons and the two-hundred and forty-sixth episode overall. It originally aired on May 7, 2000. The episode was written by Julie Thacker and directed by Nancy Kruse.

Synopsis

"After seeing "Tango de la Muerte" at the local theater, Lisa is inspired to learn the art of the dance, tutored by former child actress Lil' Vicki Valentine. Meanwhile, Bart and Milhouse cause devastation at the Springfield Mall."

Plot

At home, Homer sits close to the TV, watching The Cyborganizer, struggling to see what's happening. Marge tells him she's taking Bart to the mall to buy supplies for his upcoming camping trip. At the mall, the family visits Eye Caramba, leaving Homer there while they shop. Bart doesn't want to shop because he finds it boring, so he threatens to throw a tantrum until Marge agrees to get everything for him. Back at Eye Caramba, Homer has his eyes tested and finds out he needs glasses. Unable to decide on any, he opts for laser eye surgery instead. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa finish Bart's shopping and notice Tango de la Muerte playing at the Springfield Cinema in the mall. They decide to watch it.

In the film, Eduardo chooses Lisabella to be his dance partner, which interests Lisa because Lisabella is similar to her in many ways. After the film, Lisa decides she wants to become a dancer. Soon after, Marge and Lisa visit Lil' Vicki Valentine's School of Dance, where Lisa is pressured by Vicki Valentine to enroll in a tap dancing class, despite wanting to do tango dancing. When Marge tries to speak up for Lisa, Vicki tells her not to live through her child.

Outside Springfield Elementary, the kids prepare to go to camp. On the bus, Nelson tells Bart and Milhouse he'll spend the whole week pounding on them, so Bart and Milhouse get off the bus before it leaves. Realizing their parents think they're at camp, the two decide to do whatever they want. They go to the mall and stay overnight. They enter the mall just before it closes, hiding in the vents until it's shut down for the night. The two then find a candy store, where they gorge themselves. They wreak havoc in multiple stores, leaving a trail of destruction. The next day, Chief Wiggum demands the mall be shut down to deal with what they think is a giant rat.

Meanwhile, Lisa struggles in her tap dancing class, disliking the teaching method and constantly falling. She asks Lil' Vicki what she's doing wrong, but Vicki only tells her to stop falling. The next day, Lisa tries to tell Homer and Marge she doesn't want to dance anymore, but they're so proud and supportive that she decides against it. She then watches one of Lil' Vicki's older films, where Vicki dances with Bojangles and her cat, Powder Puff. Lisa gets annoyed that even the cat dances better than she does.

At the mall, the police set traps for the giant rat, but Chief Wiggum gets caught in one. Meanwhile, Lisa finds out she's excluded from the dance recital due to her inability to dance well. Professor Frink overhears and takes Lisa to his lab, showing her a chip that can make her tap shoes self-tapping. Back at the mall, the police release a mountain lion to catch the giant rat. The mountain lion finds Bart and Milhouse, chasing them until it gets distracted by balls of yarn. It eats one and returns to the police, who think it ate the giant rat.

Lisa dances on stage alongside Lil' Vicki.

Just before the dance recital, Lisa tells Vicki she can dance now, but Vicki refuses to let her join. When Ralph, the lead, can't perform due to eating plastic candy, Vicki decides to take his place in the show. She opens the curtains, taking away Lisa's one job. As Vicki and the kids dance to "On the Spaceship Lollipop", Lisa's shoes start tapping, pulling her onto the stage. Vicki sees this and, thinking Lisa is trying to upstage her, dances harder. Lisa's shoes keep up until the audience applauds the pair. The applause causes Lisa's shoes to malfunction, sending her off stage and scaring the audience. Homer trips her to stop the shoes, bringing her to a halt. Vicki is shocked to learn Lisa used self-tapping shoes, but tells her she understands. Professor Frink then says the shoes weren't actually on, meaning Lisa danced on her own, but Homer points out the switch was set to on. Frink gets annoyed at Homer for trying to spare Lisa's feelings.

Lisa apologizes to her parents, saying she won't be the "Broadway baby" they imagined, but Homer reassures her she can still write a depressing Broadway play. Just then, a weasel-and-ball toy rolls across the room, causing Frink to panic. Homer dismisses it and goes to play with it, but ends up getting hurt.

Production

According to the DVD commentary, episode writer Julie Thacker came up with the story when she started enrolling her five daughters into dance classes during the summer. She noted that she didn't particularly like the teachers' methods and the other children's rude parents.

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