DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson felt that "[The episode] helped establish the show's reputation as a master lampooner of pop culture. The introduction of cable into the home allowed [the writers] to mock many different movies and other media outlets, and this helped make the episode very entertaining. It also worked in many other ways and offered a fine show." Writing for "MacLean's" magazine, Jaime J. Weinman described "Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment" as "the first truly great episode — the one that established The Simpsons as the funniest and most multi-layered sitcom around. The story of Homer stealing cable was an excuse for dozens of parodies of early 90s cable TV, but it was also a story about Homer and his daughter and an examination of how we rationalize little acts of theft in our daily lives." The authors of the book "I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide", Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called the episode a "skilful demonstration of a moral dilemma that must have plagued millions since the inception of cable TV". Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and "Rolling Stone" contributor, wrote that "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" is "one of the many demonstrations that while ["The Simpsons"] may have pushed the censorship envelope for its day, it remained moral to its core. The running satire of cable programs is also quite amusing." The episode won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour). It was the second episode of the show to win the award. It was also nominated in the "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special" category.