Reception
In its original broadcast, "Lisa the Simpson" finished 19th in ratings for the week of March 2-8, 1998, with a Nielsen rating of 10.7, equivalent to approximately 10.4 million viewing households. It was the second highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-Files.
Todd Gilchrist named the episode as one of his favorites of the ninth season in his review of the DVD boxset, and authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, thought well of the episode, saying, "A terrific episode, with a good mix of pathos (Lisa's farewell to the Springsonian and her favourite jazz club are inspired) and fun (her Homeresque 'woo-hoo') which comes together to make a refreshing and exciting look at Lisa's life."
Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein greatly enjoyed the episode and thought of it as a great final episode that they ran. On the audio commentary, writer Ned Goldreyer stated, "I think this might have been the best episode ever produced." He then jokingly added, "certainly ever written."
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