Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Lisa the Iconoclast" finished 70th in the ratings for the week of February 12 to 18, 1996. The episode was the sixth highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-Files, Melrose Place, Beverly Hills, 90210, Married... with Children, and Fox Tuesday Night Movie: Cliffhanger.
The episode received positive reviews from television critics. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson lauded it for the focus on Lisa, commenting that "Lisa-centered episodes tend to be preachy, but I suppose that’s inevitable given her character. I like the fact Lisa takes the high road here, though, as she proves she doesn’t always have to be right. Homer’s turn as the town crier brings mirth to a solid show." In addition, John Alberti praised the episode in his book Leaving Springfield as "an especially cogent example of the narrative fissuring and disruptive disclosure...Lisa spends the entire episode uncovering the truth about Jebediah and courageously defending her findings against a phalanx of authority figures...a symbol of honesty, integrity, and courage. All in all, a spectacular episode revealing the truth behind our society." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, thought it was a "clever" episode, and highlighted Lisa's fantasy of the fight between Sprungfeld and George Washington as "fantastic". Dave Foster of DVD Times thought Sutherland offered a "memorable" guest appearance. Total Film's Nathan Ditum ranked Sutherland's performance as the 14th best guest appearance in the show's history. Michael Moran of The Times ranked the episode as the eighth best in the show's history.
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