Our take
A thoughtful Christmas episode about belief and commerce, and the one that made a lasting change to a main character. The church-turned-billboard satire is broad, but the heart of it is a child choosing her own faith and a family learning to live with it. It is gentler than its premise. Lisa's conversion stuck: she is still a Buddhist decades later, which gives this one more weight than most holiday half-hours.
What happens
Homer accidentally wrecks the church. It is rebuilt with corporate money, and the new church is plastered with advertising, with product placement creeping into every part of church life. Disgusted at seeing her faith turned into a sales pitch, Lisa goes looking for a belief that speaks to her and finds her way into the Buddhist temple, where she meets Lenny and Carl among the worshippers and Richard Gere, voicing himself. She tells the family she has become a Buddhist. The rest of the family are thrown, worried about how they will cope with a Buddhist in the house, especially at Christmas, and Lisa has to work out whether she can keep her new faith and still enjoy the Christmas she loves.
Can the kids watch it?
Fine for children from about seven, and a good starting point for a talk about different faiths.
Cast and crew
Starring
- Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson
- Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson
- Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson
- Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson
Writer
- Bill Freiberger
Director
- Steven Dean Moore