Separate Vocations

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Separate Vocations
Season 3 Episode 18
Production Code	8F15
Original Airdate	February 27, 1992
Written By	George Meyer
Directed By	Jeffrey Lynch
Show Runners	Al Jean & Mike Reiss
Special Guests	Steve Allen as Bart's Warped Courtroom Voice
Blackboard Text	"I will not barf unless I'm sick. I will not barf unless I" - at cutoff

"Separate Vocations" is the 18th episode of the third season. The episode title is a play on the 1986 film Separate Vacations.

Plot

After taking career aptitude tests (which were scored by a malfunctioning computer), Lisa discovers that the occupation she's best suited for is homemaker while Bart is pegged as a future police officer. Each takes the opportunity to explore their options as Lisa spends the day doing chores with Marge and Bart goes on a ride along with the police. Lisa hates her role and rebels by becoming a troublemaker at school. Police life fits Bart like a glove and he becomes a hall monitor, handing out demerits to his classmates for minor infractions. When Lisa secretly steals all of the teachers' manuals, it's up to Bart and Principal Skinner to figure out who did it. Realizing his sister is the culprit, Bart takes the rap and returns to his life as a bad student and detention regular, while Lisa goes back to playing her saxophone.

Continuity

Bart imagines himself as a Mafia narc who is shown with Steve Allen's voice. Allen would appear again in "'Round Springfield". Dr. Pryor would not speak again until "Lisa's Sax".

The episode features the first reference to Principal Skinner having fought in the Vietnam War. This would later become an important character trait. His Puma Pride belief would be seen again in the later episode "Pokey Mom". The Puma was also used in early stories for Simpsons Comic Books. Ralph's paste eating habit is mentioned again as well.

Cultural references

When Principal Skinner is questioning Lisa about her newfound sense of irresponsibility, he asks "What are you rebelling against?" She responds "Whaddaya got?" like Marlon Brando in the movie The Wild One. Meanwhile, Bart imagines he is a drifter who is thrown out of a town by a sheriff, just like Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo in First Blood.

trivia

Nancy Cartwright won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance.[1]