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Summer of 4ft2

Lisa finds out on the last day of school how unpopular she is when nobody cares enough to sign her yearbook, while Bart makes people feel grateful that he signs theirs. Meanwhile, Ned Flanders offers the Simpson family the use of his beach house in Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport over the summer, though Homer makes Ned work on his faulty septic tank before he agrees. Marge likes the idea and suggests that Bart should bring Milhouse and that Lisa should bring a friend too. However, Lisa has no friends to bring and decides to change her image as a result, deliberately leaving behind her un-stylish wardrobe. After reaching the beach house, Lisa lies to Marge that she forgot to pack, so they go shopping for new clothes. Lisa buys a new set of clothes that she believes will make her look "cool", and goes to look for some likeminded people her own age. Marge, now feeling left out, decides to focus her parenting on Maggie, who looks worried. Homer, in the meantime, buys a large firework to celebrate Independence Day, only for it to backfire due to a fast-burning fuse; he initially throws it in the fridge, but changes his mind when he remembers the beer inside and instead chucks it in the dishwasher, causing it to rupture a pipe.

When Lisa succeeds in making friends with a group of local children (in particular a girl named Erin), Bart becomes jealous and complains that they should be his friends. He tries to steal her new friends from her with a skateboarding display, but they find his effort pathetic and shun him, which Bart blames on Milhouse. Lisa is then spending more time with her new friends, to the point where they hold a beach party to celebrate the 4th of July. Bart then decides to take revenge by showing her friends the yearbook and all of Lisa's deeply nerdy real pastimes. As her new friends stare in shock at Lisa's nerdy hobbies, Lisa runs off in tears.

The next morning, Lisa is furious with Bart for exposing her true self. She is about to pour maple syrup in Bart's eyes when Marge tells them about a carnival happening later that evening. They all go, but Bart and Lisa continue to bicker and fight, right up to when they ride the bumper cars and Bart rams Lisa's car out of the arena. Feeling dejected, Lisa decides to leave, concluding that she was probably never meant to have friends, and Bart feels guilty for hurting Lisa. When Lisa returns to the beach house, she finds her friends in the act of seemingly vandalizing the Simpsons' car. Thinking it's some sort of cruel prank, she simply tells them to finish it and leave, but it's then revealed they were actually decorating the car with sea shells in her honor, at which point they tell her they don't care that she's smart because she's a good person and they learned stuff from her. Lisa is thrilled, but Homer shows up and screams in horror at how his car got messed up. Before leaving Bart presents Lisa with her yearbook, which now has wonderful messages from her new friends and even Milhouse. He reveals he felt guilty for hurting her, so he explained his behavior to her new friends and asked them to sign her yearbook. Lisa forgives Bart, while Marge tells Homer that the kids should've cleaned out the shells before gluing them to the car, as the Simpsons are followed by seagulls trying to eat the mollusks inside.


The Canine Mutiny

When Bart complains he never gets any mail, Marge gives him the family's junk mail. One piece contains a credit card application, which Bart fills out under the name of his dog Santa's Little Helper, whom he claims to have the occupation "butt doctor". The company misreads the name as "Santos L. Halper", and the credit card application is approved. Before long, Bart receives a credit card. Bart goes on a shopping spree, buying the family some very expensive gifts from a mail order catalog: Vancouver smoked salmon and a radio-frying pan for Marge, a golf shirt with corporate logo for Homer, "Trucker's Choice Stay-Alert Capsules" for Lisa and many things for himself. The item that Bart anticipates the most is a finely-bred, pre-trained collie. Not letting its US$1,200 purchase price stand in the way, Bart promptly orders one. Upon its arrival Bart learns the dog's name is Laddie, who has been trained to perform a wide variety of tasks. The rest of the family fall in love with the new dog, while Santa's Little Helper goes unnoticed.

Bart fails to pay off "Santos L. Halper's" credit card bill, and it is not long before he gets a call from a debt collection agency demanding payment. When the calls and collection letters persist, Bart enlists Laddie to help him bury his ill-gotten credit card. Later, repo men arrive to take back all of the things Bart has purchased. Lisa demands an explanation, and Bart is forced to admit the truth. When a repossessor demands the $1,200 collie be returned, Bart identifies Santa's Little Helper as the dog he purchased. The greyhound is herded into the truck and Bart sadly watches as it drives away. Noticing that Santa's Little Helper is gone, the family begins to bond with Laddie, except for Bart, who fears for Santa's Little Helper's fate. When an exhausted Bart gives Laddie yet another walk, the collie saves the life of Baby Gerald. At the ceremony honoring Laddie's heroism, Chief Wiggum decides that Laddie would make the perfect police dog. Bart gives him to the Springfield police force and is forced to explain why the family now has no dog at all, while sobbing. Homer instructs Bart to do whatever it takes to get Santa's Little Helper back and he goes hunting around the town, trying to find his old pal. Bart eventually learns from Reverend Lovejoy that the dog was given to a parishioner named Mr. Mitchell.

Bart visits Mr. Mitchell, who is blind and lonely, and asks for his dog back, but when he sees how the man and Santa's Little Helper have bonded, he grows heartsick and leaves. Still determined to get his dog back, Bart makes a late-night visit to Mr. Mitchell's home in hopes of retrieving Santa's Little Helper. The pair are reunited, but Bart traps himself in a closet. Mr. Mitchell calls the police and demands that Bart be charged with burglary, but Bart explains that Santa's Little Helper was his dog and that he wants him back. To solve the problem, Bart and Mitchell let Santa's Little Helper decide where he wants to go, with him choosing Bart. Chief Wiggum arrives with Laddie, who immediately sniffs out a bag of marijuana in Mr. Mitchell's pocket. Bart and Santa's Little Helper head home, leaving the police to "finish up" with Mitchell, as more officers arrive with women and beer.

Neither of these are stellar, but at least Summer of 4ft2 has a strong Lisa-centric storyline.

Summer of 4 ft 2 is awesome.