Lisa Goes Gaga  "Lisa Goes Gaga" is the twenty-second and final episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated sitcom "The Simpsons". It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 20, 2012. In the episode, American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga makes a visit to Springfield, where all of its residents are in a state of depression. Main character Lisa Simpson is arguably the most depressed person in the city, prompting Gaga to go out of her way to teach Lisa the meaning of happiness. The episode was written by Tim Long and directed by Matthew Schofield. Gaga guest-starred in the episode, portraying an animated version of herself. A fan of the show, she was brought on by showrunner Al Jean, who wrote a script after James L. Brooks saw an interview of her on "60 Minutes". The design team conceived eighteen outfits to complement Gaga's eccentric persona, which satirized several of her outfits including her meat dress. Recording sessions for "Lisa Goes Gaga" took place in Los Angeles, California over four days in August 2011. Critical responses to the episode were mixed to negative; critics looked down upon the episode's concept and general execution. According to the Nielsen ratings, the installment attained 4.79 million American viewers upon its original airing, making it notable as the lowest rated episode of "The Simpsons" up to that point. Lady Gaga passes through Springfield via train while on her way to a concert. Seeing how low the city's self-esteem is, she takes it upon herself to cheer up the whole city. However, no one in town is more depressed than Lisa, who was voted as the most unpopular student by her peers. Lisa tries to reverse her status as one of the least popular girls in school by ghostwriting positive things about herself on the school blog under the heading "Truth Teller". When Bart finds out her secret and reveals it to the school, her social ranking plummets to a new low until a psychic force tells Lady Gaga that Lisa needs her help immediately. After much soul searching and yelling at Lady Gaga for trying to help, Lisa realizes that her outburst helped her because she is finally expressing her anger instead of bottling it up inside her, in effect making Lady Gaga's mission successful. Lisa catches Lady Gaga just before she leaves town to apologize, and after being forgiven she and Lady Gaga perform a duet together. With Lady Gaga's assistance, Lisa and the entire town of Springfield realize that being oneself is better than being like anyone else.