Episode 5F20
Written by Jane O'Brien
Directed by Dominic Polcino
Also starring: Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Maggie Roswell, Russi Taylor
Special guest voice: Lisa Kudrow (as Alexis Whitney)

Premise: While Lisa feels put down and shut out by popular new-girl-around-school Alexis, Homer discovers that there's a fortune to be made in lard, without realising that it's already very big business.

Features: Skinner, Miss Hoover, Milhouse, Martin, Nelson, Sherri and Terri, Uter, Lewis, Wendell, Ralph, Janey, Snake, Apu, Spotty Boy.

Couch: As the family sit, Nelson Muntz pulls the couch away from beneath them. Ha-ha!

Trivia:

• The girls shop at Dingo Junction.
• Groundskeeper Willie is apparently from Killtown in Scotland and washes with Ajax and Brillo pads. Ouch.
• Marge sings her own, unique, version of C & C Music Factory's 1990 hit Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now).
• Acme Grease later rename themselves Acme Grease and Shovels, just to scupper Homer's plans.

Homage: The title comes from the 'modern' hymn 'Lord of the Dance' (but you knew that). More recently it has become synonymous with Irish dancer Michael Flatley. Alexis, nodding to Lisa Kudrow's more famous role, tells Lisa, 'don't be such a Phoebe' (the dippy character Kudrow plays in Friends).

Look out for: Visual gems such as Milhouse's lowering of his eyebrows (he's got two lazy eyes, y'know) and Homer's hosepipe wagging like a dog's tail. Also, listen out for Krusty's take on a Speak and Spell machine, and Skinner's bizarre denial that he ever agreed to a school dance.

Notes: The idea of Lisa being unpopular in the light of a new girl in the school hallways is not new (see Lisa's Rival) but it is done here with such class. Alexis is very different to Allison, and it is her trendiness that makes her the enemy. Heck, she even has a mobile phone! Again, although Homer looking for new ways to make money from other people's waste isn't new, once more, this is an episode which shows that even he can find interesting ways to do things.