text: lisa the greek " lisa the greek " is the fourteenth episode of the simpsons ' third season . it originally aired on the fox network in the united states on january 23 , 1992 . in the episode , homer begins to bond with his daughter , lisa , after learning her unique and convenient ability to pick winning football teams , but , secretly , uses her ability to help him gamble . when lisa finds out homer 's secret , she refuses to speak to her father until he fully understands her . " lisa the greek " was written by jay kogen and wallace wolodarsky , and directed by rich moore . the episode was designed to satirize the simpsons staff members ' " love affair with gambling , particularly on football . " " lisa the greek " references both the super bowl and the national football league ( nfl ) . it aired only a few days before super bowl xxvi , and correctly predicted that the washington redskins would win the game . since airing , the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics . it acquired a nielsen rating of 14 . 2 , and was the highest - rated show on the fox network the week it aired . plot lisa complains to marge that homer never pays any attention to her or gets involved with her interests . marge suggests that lisa take an interest in something her father does , so she decides to join homer on the couch while he is watching football on television . after being ripped off by betting advice hotlines , a desperate homer turns to lisa to pick a winner . she picks the miami dolphins , prompting homer to call moe 's tavern to place his $ 50 bet . in the end , the dolphins win , and homer and lisa celebrate . meanwhile , marge suggests that she and bart have a mother - son day shopping for new clothes since lisa is spending time with homer . bart claims he doesn 't need new clothing , but it 's seriously undermined when she sees how damaged his clothes are . at the mall , marge 's excessive mothering embarrasses him more when she buys clothes from the clearance rack and ignoring his disgust by making him try out the clothes she picked for him . bart remains hiding in the car , while the bullies taunt him to come out and marge takes no notice of it , believing the bullies to be his friends . lisa becomes adept at choosing winners of football games , and homer declares every sunday during football season daddy - daughter day . lisa remains perfect in her picks for eight weeks , earning her father more and more money as the super bowl approaches . with his new money , homer starts buying expensive presents for the family and treating them to fine dining . when lisa asks homer if they can go hiking the sunday following the super bowl , he tells her that he is instead going bowling with barney and that daddy - daughter days are over until next football season . lisa realizes that all homer really wanted was to exploit her prognostic abilities to help him gamble . she dreams that she grows up to become a chain - smoking , thrice - divorced , casino - hopper . completely heartbroken , lisa gives away all the toys homer bought for her . at night , marge berates homer for using lisa 's gift for his own purposes . homer realizes he needs to make amends with lisa , but she is too hurt to even talk with him . homer briefly cheers her up by inviting her to watch the super bowl together , but shows that he still only wants to win a bet . heartbroken , she agrees to tell homer who she thinks the winner will be , but she fears that she may be so distraught that she subconsciously wants homer to lose his bet , leading her to a cryptic prediction : if she still loves homer , washington will win ; if she does not , buffalo . homer bets with washington , while the others go with buffalo . as a nervous homer watches the game at moe 's tavern , washington scores at the last second to win the game . homer becomes happy at this blessing and bart tells lisa that she still loves homer , with which she agrees . homer cancels his bowling date with barney and — on the sunday after the super bowl — makes good on his promise to go hiking with lisa despite not being in good shape . production the episode was written by jay kogen and wallace wolodarsky , and directed by rich moore . according to show runner al jean , it was designed to satirize the staff members ' " love affair with gambling , particularly on football . " kogen , wolodarsky , jean , george meyer , sam simon , and james l. brooks were all frequent gamblers . many of the staff members were also football fans , particularly kogen and wolodarsky . in " lisa the greek " , the writers wanted to further develop lisa 's character , and so they decided to make it about lisa 's relationship with her father . kogen commented that lisa and marge episodes " tend to be the better episodes " , because they are more thought - out and have more emotional depth to them . however , they are harder to write than other episodes because they are " less jokey . " the writers therefore made the decision to replace marge 's role with homer , who tends to be funnier than marge . jean commented that because he has a daughter , homer – lisa episodes are easier for him to write and he " always want [ s ] to work on them . " moore said they are his favorite episodes to direct , because " the two most opposite characters in the cast finding some kind of common ground [ ... ] that was always interesting . " in one scene , homer makes lisa sit on the end of the sofa so that she will not interrupt the game . yeardley smith , the voice of lisa , recalls that many people at the table - read thought homer was " too harsh " in the scene , but it ended up being included in the episode anyway . cultural references " lisa the greek " references both the super bowl and the national football league ( nfl ) . the episode aired only a few days before super bowl xxvi , and correctly predicted that the washington redskins would win the game . when a repeat of the episode re - aired the following year only days before super bowl xxvii , the staff redubbed the episode to mention the dallas cowboys instead of the washington redskins . the cowboys won , making the episode accurate once again . it has continued to be accurate in later years when it has been redubbed ( the last redubbing came on the week before super bowl xxix to reflect an all - california super bowl , with the san francisco 49ers in place of the redskins and the san diego chargers in place of the buffalo bills ) , and jean commented that he would always bet against lisa 's predictions , causing him to think " why didn 't i take lisa 's advice ? " when he lost . as lisa studies football at the springfield library , she goes through the card catalog and finds an entry on phyllis george , an american sportscaster . the title of the episode is a reference to the american bookie and sports commentator jimmy " the greek " snyder . the duff bowl advertisement that airs during the super bowl halftime show is a reference to the bud bowl advertisements for anheuser - busch 's budweiser family of beers . in addition to the football references , the episode parodies the 1979 film apocalypse now . homer tells moe , who keeps his wallet in his shoe , " i used to hate the smell of your sweaty feet . now it 's the smell of victory , " a play on a line from the film . in a commercial for his new television show , celebrity troy mcclure says that he plays " jack handle , a retired cop who shares an apartment with a retired criminal . we 're the original odd couple ! " , referencing the television show the odd couple . with his gambling winnings homer buys marge a bottle of perfume by meryl streep . the perfume is called versatility and the bottle is shaped like an academy award . the globe and mail 's liam lacey commented on the similarities between the 2009 film imagine that and this episode in a review of the film . he said the " message in each case is about the dangerous confusion of love and money . naturally there 's a turning point [ ... ] where the child begins to wonder whether her father really loves her or just her profitable talent . " reception in its original american broadcast , " lisa the greek " finished 27th in the ratings for the week of january 18 – 24 , 1992 , with a nielsen rating of 14 . 2 , equivalent to approximately 13 million viewing households . it was the highest - rated show on the fox network that week . lisa 's voice actor , yeardley smith , received a primetime emmy award for outstanding voice - over performance in 1992 for her performance in the episode . " lisa the greek " is one of the simpsons cast member dan castellaneta 's favorite episodes along with " lisa 's substitute " from season two . since airing , the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics . john carman of the san francisco chronicle called it his favorite episode of the show . the authors of the book i can 't believe it 's a bigger and better updated unofficial simpsons guide , warren martyn and adrian wood , wrote that " it 's nice to see [ homer ] and lisa getting along so well for once . " nate meyers of digitally obsessed gave the episode a 5 / 5 rating and commented that " any football fan will love this episode , but the reason why it is so good is the relationship between homer and lisa . the two truly are a father and daughter to one another , causing both laughter and touching emotion in the audience . " bill gibron of dvd verdict said " lisa the greek " is " a chance for homer and lisa to bond under less than ideal , but always amusing , circumstances . oddly , for a show relying on actual events like the super bowl to guide its plotline , it doesn 't have [ a ] retread feeling . dvd movie guide 's colin jacobson , however , did not think the episode developed lisa 's and homer 's relationship , but it " tosses in some good pokes at the nfl and the culture that surrounds the sport . " jacobson added that although the episode " echoes the neglectful father theme seen not long ago in ' lisa 's pony ' , the show doesn 't feel like just a retread . [ ... ] it 's not a classic , but it remains an above average program . " the san jose mercury news 's daniel brown said nfl gambling " seems to be a crew - wide addiction , which is why ' lisa the greek ' is filled with sophisticated gags about point spreads and bookies . " the pittsburgh post - gazette named it seventh best episode of the show with a sports theme .