Reception
In its original broadcast, "Lisa's Substitute" finished forty-third in the ratings for the week of April 22–28, 1991, with a Nielsen Rating of 11.1, equivalent to approximately ten million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. Hoffman has been praised for his guest appearance as Mr. Bergstrom. Entertainment Weekly named it one of the sixteen greatest guest appearances on The Simpsons. In 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times listed his performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive review from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood said, "Despite a scene-stealing performance from Ms Krabappel, this is Lisa's show. Mr Bergstrom's last message for Lisa is a delightful touch and adds the finishing touch to a wonderful episode." Former TV Squad blogger Adam Finley named "Lisa's Substitute" as one of his top fourteen most touching The Simpsons episodes, and The Simpsons Archive webmaster Jouni Paakkinen rated the episode as his third favorite. Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide said that Lisa episodes "tend to be goopy", but "Lisa's Substitute" seemed like "a good show, however". He went on to say, "The show offered many other good moments, and it helped expand the Lisa/Homer relationship neatly. The Bart’s election subplot punctured any sappiness that otherwise might have occurred. 'Lisa's Substitute' offered a fairly solid program." The episode's reference to The Graduate was named the 20th greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film's Nathan Ditum. Ditum also ranked Hoffman's performance as the 16th best guest appearance in the show's history. Todd VanDerWerff of Slant Magazine picked the episode as the show's second best, praising its emotion and Hoffman's performance.
"Lisa's Substitute" also received positive reviews from cast and crew members of the show. Bart's voice actress, Nancy Cartwright, said it is one of her top three episodes together with "Bart Sells His Soul" and "Bart the Mother", while writer Al Jean said the episode was his favorite sentimental episode. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer, named it his favorite episode of the show together with "Simpson and Delilah" and "Homer the Heretic". Executive producer James L. Brooks said he thinks "Lisa's Substitute" stands out because it is The Simpsons' "best show" with a message behind it.
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