Editing Lisa's First Word (section)

==Production==
[[File:Elizabeth Taylor36.JPG|thumb|200px|[[Elizabeth Taylor]] provided the voice of Maggie in this episode.]]

"Lisa's First Word" was written by [[Jeff Martin (writer)|Jeff Martin]] and directed by [[Mark Kirkland]].<ref name="bbc"/> [[Mike Reiss]] and [[Al Jean]] were discussing having an episode where [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] would say her first word and Reiss thought it would be cute to have her say "daddy" when no one could hear her.<ref name="Jean">{{cite video |people=Jean, Al |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's First Word" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Martin was assigned to write the episode because he had done "[[I Married Marge]]", another [[Flashback (narrative)|flashback]] episode.<ref name="Jean"/> Martin was excited to do another flashback episode because he thought it was fun to check out old newspapers and go back and see what was in the news back in 1983 and 1984.<ref name="Martin">{{cite video |people=Martin, Jeff |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's First Word" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Martin felt it was a good way of finding a new set of things to make jokes about.<ref name="Martin"/> The extended couch gag was added since the episode was about thirty seconds too short to air.{{sfn|Reiss & Klickstein|2018|p=95}}

In the episode, [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] builds a scary clown-shaped bed for [[Bart Simpson|Bart]]. The scene was inspired by Mike Reiss, whose dad had built him a clown-shaped bed when he was younger, and just like Bart, Reiss was scared of sleeping in it.<ref name="Kirkland"/>{{sfn|Reiss & Klickstein|2018|p=68}} As the flashback begins in 1983, a young Homer strolls down the street, singing [[Cyndi Lauper]]'s song "[[Girls Just Want to Have Fun]]", which was released that year.<ref name="variety"/> The idea for this sequence came from [[animation director]] [[Chuck Sheetz]], who suggested it because the length of the final version of the episode was too short.<ref name="Martin"/> The [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] [[Censorship|censors]] wrote a note concerning Homer's line, "Bart can kiss my hairy, yellow butt!" after [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] tells Homer that Bart might be jealous of baby [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]], citing that the line is considered "coarse", due to the fact that Bart was two during the flashback.{{sfn|Turner|2004|p=20}}

Maggie's first word was provided by the [[Academy Award]]-winning actress [[Elizabeth Taylor]], who would also voice herself in the season four finale, "[[Krusty Gets Kancelled]]".<ref name="Martin"/> While promoting the episode, the producers initially did not reveal who the voice of Maggie would be, prompting speculation as to the identity of the actress.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://ew.com/article/1992/03/20/article-99/ |title=Face to Face: Maggie Simpson |access-date=2008-01-19 |first=Lisa |last=Schwarzbaum |date=1992-09-11 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012212310/http://ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C311750%2C00.html |archive-date=2007-10-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Although it was only one word, the voice came out "too [[sexual arousal|sexy]]" and Taylor had to record the part numerous times before the producers were satisfied and thought it sounded like a baby.<ref name=nyd>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/film-fest-de-niro-lashed-picture-show-article-1.248605|title=In the Fox family, they live in fear of a Bart attack |first1=George|last1=Rush  |first2=Joanna Rush |last2=Molloy  |name-list-style=amp|access-date=2008-07-31 |date=2007-05-04 |work=[[New York Daily News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106074442/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/film-fest-de-niro-lashed-picture-show-article-1.248605?pgno=1|archive-date=2012-11-06}}</ref><ref name="Groening">{{cite video |people=Groening, Matt |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's First Word" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref> Several sources, including John Ortved's ''[[The Simpsons]]'' history article "Simpsons Family Values" in ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', have reported that after Taylor had been made to repeatedly record the line, she said "fuck you" to series creator [[Matt Groening]] and stormed out of the studio.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/08/simpsons200708 |title=Simpson Family Values |access-date=2012-05-26 |first=John |last=Ortved |date=August 2007 |work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |archive-date=August 27, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827213908/http://www.vanityfair.com./culture/features/2007/08/simpsons200708 |url-status=live }}</ref> Groening recounted this event on a 1994 appearance on ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'',<ref>Groening, Matt, Interviewed by Conan O'Brien, ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', Episode 250, October 7, 1994.</ref> and was also quoted by the ''[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]'' in 2007 as saying "We did 24 takes, but they were always too sexual. Finally, Liz said, 'F— you,' and walked out."<ref name="nyd" /> However, Groening later denied the story in the DVD commentary for the episode "[[Gump Roast]]",<ref name="Gump">Groening, Matt. (2010). Commentary for "Gump Roast", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> while Jean stated in a piece after Taylor's death in 2011 that Taylor had said "fuck you" in jest and in Maggie's voice and did not storm out.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/2011/03/24/elizabeth-taylor-simpsons-al-jean/ |title=Elizabeth Taylor: 'Simpsons' exec producer Al Jean remembers the film legend's one-word turn as baby Maggie -- Exclusive |last=Snierson |first=Dan |date=2011-03-24 |access-date=2021-01-15 |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |archive-date=November 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121111552/https://ew.com/article/2011/03/24/elizabeth-taylor-simpsons-al-jean/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet |first=Al|last=Jean|author-link=Al Jean|user=AlJean |number=1202112642975854592 |date=4 December 2019 |title=Yes, the truth is her swearing was completely a joke, she did not storm out and she was a lot of fun. Anyone who was there could verify. |access-date=September 8, 2024}}</ref> [[Yeardley Smith]] supports the latter as well, tweeting she "didn't storm out but she did take exception to being asked to say 'Daddy' 20 times & she let us know by saying 'fuck you' when she was done."<ref>{{cite tweet |first=Yeardley|last=Smith|author-link=Yeardley Smith|user=YeardleySmith |number=1202245492245024769 |date=4 December 2019 |title=Yes, indeed, this is more accurate. She didn't storm out out but she did take exception to being asked to say "Daddy" 20 times & she let us know she by saying "fuck you" when she was done 😂. She also brought her little white dog to the session & one of her giant diamond rings.|access-date=September 8, 2024 }}</ref> [[Nancy Cartwright]] also mentions the incident in her book ''[[My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy]]'', but states Taylor jokingly ad-libbed "fuck you Daddy" as an initial sound check for [[Sam Simon]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Cartwright |first=Nancy |author-link=Nancy Cartwright|date=2000 |title=[[My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy]] |page=122 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|isbn=0747547483 }}</ref>