Plot
Lisa wakes her brother Bart to remind him that her birthday is nearing, and that he neglects or forgets it every year. Bart promises to get her a present this year. Meanwhile, their father, Homer, discovers that all of his white shirts have turned pink because Bart put his red hat in with the laundry. Homer has no choice but to wear a pink shirt to work and as a result, his co-workers poke fun at him. His boss, Mr. Burns, suspects him of being a "free-thinking anarchist". Homer is sent home with a 20-question psychiatric quiz that he has to fill in so that Dr. Marvin Monroe can assess his sanity. Homer is too lazy to finish the quiz on his own and lets Bart fill it in. When Dr. Monroe sees the results, he determines that Homer is insane. Homer is sent to a mental institution, and is put in a cell with a large white man who seems to believe he is Michael Jackson, and who introduces himself as such. Apparently having never heard of Michael Jackson, Homer believes him.
Homer's wife, Marge, comes to the institution and is able to convince his doctors that he is not insane. Homer bids farewell to Michael, who reveals that he is only in the mental institution voluntarily. Homer therefore decides to let him stay in his home. He calls and tells Bart that he is bringing Michael to stay for a few days. Against Homer's wishes, Bart tells his friend Milhouse and soon all of Springfield turns up outside of the Simpson family's home to see Michael. The level of excitement is deflated when Homer introduces Michael and they realize he is an impostor. The townspeople become angry at Bart and leave. At the same time, Lisa comes out of the house and is upset with Bart because he has yet again failed to acknowledge her birthday, because of his excitement over Michael Jackson's arrival.
After overhearing Lisa write a letter that she is disowning Bart as a brother, the faux Michael convinces Bart to let him help. Together they write and perform a song for Lisa's birthday called "Happy Birthday Lisa". Lisa is thrilled and hugs her brother, saying that he has given her the best present ever. Seconds later, Michael reveals that his real name is Leon Kompowsky, and he is a bricklayer from Paterson, New Jersey. He explains that he had been very angry for most of his life, but found some peace in pretending to be Jackson because talking in Jackson's voice made everyone around him happy. Kompowsky bids farewell to the Simpsons and walks off down the road, singing Lisa's birthday song to himself.
Read more about this topic: Stark Raving Dad
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“There comes a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given him to till.”
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