Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Lisa's Pony" finished 35th in the ratings for the week of November 4–10, 1991, with a Nielsen rating of 13.8, equivalent to approximately 12.7 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. "Lisa's Pony" was released with the episode "Treehouse of Horror II" on a Video Home System (VHS) collection in 1999, called Best of the Simpsons. Homer's voice actor, Dan Castellaneta, received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992 for his performance in the episode.
Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called the episode "good stuff" and praised the "nice flashbacks to Lisa as a baby." Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict said "Lisa's Pony" is a "priceless part" of the show because of its "meshing of old storylines with new experiences, combined with some of the best jokes in the series." Gibron gave the episode a perfect score of 100. Cinema Blend's Bryce Wilson called "Lisa's Pony" one of the best Lisa episodes, and added that the only words to describe it are "funny as hell." Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed gave the episode a 5/5 rating, praising it for its references to The Godfather and 2001: A Space Odyssey that "film buffs will find uproarious." Meyers added that Homer and Lisa's relationship is "the heart of the episode, showing Homer to be more than just a brute." The episode's reference to The Godfather was named the seventh greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film's Nathan Ditum. The Star-Ledger named this episode's reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey one of their favorite references to Stanley Kubrick on The Simpsons.
Niel Harvey of The Roanoke Times called the episode a "classic bit of Simpsonia," and The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Valkenburg named it one of the "truly classic" The Simpsons episodes. The Guardian's David Eklid said episodes such as "Lisa's Pony" and "Stark Raving Dad" make season three "pretty much best season of any television show, ever." In addition, Molly Griffin of The Observer commented that "Lisa's Pony" is one of the season three episodes that "make the show into the cultural force it is today." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson, however, gave the episode a less positive review, commenting that episodes "in which Homer has to redeem himself to others aren't a rarity, and 'Lisa's Pony' falls in the middle of that genre's pack. Homer's escapades at the Kwik-E-Mart definitely add life to the proceedings, and some of his other antics make the show good. I like 'Lisa's Pony' but don't consider it to offer a great program."
According to Greg Suarez of The Digital Bits, "Lisa's Pony" is considered a fan favorite. In a list of the show's top 10 episodes, compiled by the webmaster of the fan site The Simpsons Archive and published by USA Today, this episode was listed in seventh place. Paul Cantor, a professor of English at the University of Virginia, utilized "Lisa's Pony" as an example that The Simpsons does not promote negative morals and values, which some critics have criticized the show for.
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