The Old Man and the Lisa

Mr Burns loses everything thanks to bad financial advice and turns to Lisa for help.

This is a strong comedy with good character moments.

The build up to Burns' loss of money is very fun, particularly the portrayal of "yes men" which is something recognisable in people who gravitate towards rich, powerful individuals, albeit maybe not as extreme as this.

From then on we see him struggling with ordinary life and trying to rebuild his fortune in a humorous arc that ends with a very ironic concept that wouldn't be out of place in a Halloween special. As ever the writers use Mr Burns very well to make evilness funny.

Easily the best part is the brilliant final scene involving Homer.

The Old Man and the Lisa is a great Simpsons episode with a well written storyline and plenty of very funny scenes. It's enjoyable, it was certainly nice to see one focusing on Lisa and Mr. Burns, something the show had never done until now, it's fun to have them interacting to each other, as they are very different characters with extremely different objectives, this is shown quite well and they made a great, unlikely duo. I felt the episode should have had Lenny taking control over the Power Plant as a side story, it is shown very briefly and mentioned throughout, but I would have liked to have seen Lenny ruling the Plant and going made with power, it would have really helped the episode to have another story that ties in to it. There are many funny moments, seeing Mr. Burns trying to live a life of an average elderly man had me in stitches, particularly the ketchup scene, and Homer's reaction at the end was certainly the highlight, terrific parts that we have all come to expect from this highly entertaining series. It may not be the highlight of the eight season, but the Old Man and Lisa is still a fun and enjoyable episode.

After Burns loses his entire fortune, he seeks Lisa's help in order to get it back, which she uses as an opportunity to help the environment.

Montgomery Burns goes broke from trusting his yes men. But Lisa Simpson shows him that be doing things that are good for the world he can bring himself back up from the depths. Of course, we know this isn't going to end well. Like so many cliches in the movies, the Simpsons are doomed to never move up. The ending is so unsatisfying.