How, you ask? Well, first, the Simpsons get castigated for not killing an alligator, then Springfield Elementary School thinks that girls can’t math, I mean, can’t do math. Talk about girls not being able to do math…. I’ll get on to why Arizona stinks in a minute.

This day in 2000 saw the episode which is considered one of the worst of the show by fans air – and it wasn’t even under Al Jean as showrunner – the one where Homer says Arizona smells funny and he runs over a town in Florida’s beloved alligator with a speedboat. Oh, my, God, so comedic. So the Simpsons go on the run and the sheriff catches them and then the alligator appears – it’s only been stunned, so the Simpsons are let go and can’t return to Florida again – because they hit a bloody alligator in some small town.

This day in 2006 also saw Lisa decide to dress up as a toilet – sorry, Jake Boyman, a boy, to access hard maths. After Principal Skinner is found to be incredibly chauvinist, saying girls are bad at maths, a new principal takes over and splits the school into boys and girls – where girls don’t do maths properly – they learn about the philosophy and magic of maths (no wonder Skinner said they were bad at it)….. anyway, so she dresses up as a boy to get into the maths class. Now, hypothetically, a “boy”, she has to act like one and ends up getting beaten up by Nelson. Bart sees her upset, and teaches her to act like a boy – which means beating up Ralph Wiggum. She receives an award for outstanding achievement in maths, and exposes herself on stage – as a boy, that is, and ends up hitting Martin Prince over the head with her award. OK, we’ve got the Lisa back from the Ullman shorts, then.

So, that’s two arguments to why America is weird – forcing a young girl to dress up like a boy to do math, and banning a family from a whole state because one town’s alligator was hit by their speedboat. Just, ????????

Talking about the Ullman shorts though, this day in 1989, we saw Maggie in peril! after Bart and Lisa neglected to babysit her properly and she ended up in a sewage pipe and falling down a waterfall, with a “To be continued” appearing then on screen stating the story would be continued next week. Which it is.

In 1995, there was another Lisa episode aired in which her idol, “Bleeding Gums” Murphy passed away, and Bart offered to buy her his last album using money he got as compensation for him accidentally swallowing the prize of one of Krusty’s cereals, a metal Krusty-O. Lisa convinces a radio station to pay the $500 album, whose antenna then gets hit by lightning allowing everyone in Springfield to hear it, before Murphy appears in the clouds, allowing Lisa to have one last jam session with the Jazzman.

On this date in 1926, Cloris Leachman, actress and guest star in “Three Men and a Comic Book” as malicious pensioner Alice Glick was born. On this date in 1933, Willie Nelson, actor and guest star in mockumentary episode “Behind the Laughter” as himself was born. And finally, Tom Poston, actor and guest star as the Capital City Goofball in “Dancin’ Homer” died on this date in 2007.

Well, that ends the final Throwback Thursday of April. See you next week to find out what happens to Maggie. (Or you can just look it up on Wikisimpsons) Bye!