Blame It on Lisa

"Blame It on Lisa" is the fifteenth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. In the episode, the Simpson family goes to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in search of a Brazilian orphan named Ronaldo whom Lisa has been sponsoring. Lisa used to receive a letter from Ronaldo every month, but that recently stopped and according to personnel at the orphanage, he is missing. As the Simpsons search through Rio de Janeiro, Homer is kidnapped and in order to free him the family must pay a ransom of $50,000, which they do not have. Lisa soon discovers that Ronaldo has been working in a flamingo costume on the children's television series Teleboobies, which is the reason he left the orphanage. Ronaldo finally meets up with the Simpsons and gives them the $50,000 they need to rescue Homer.

Written by Bob Bendetson and directed by Steven Dean Moore, "Blame It on Lisa" features several references to popular culture, including a parody of the Brazilian children's television host Xuxa and an allusion to the film A Trip to the Moon. When it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 31, 2002, it was seen by around eleven million people. In 2010, the episode was released on DVD and Blu-ray along with the rest of the episodes of the thirteenth season.

"Blame It on Lisa" was controversial in Brazil because of its inclusion of clichés and stereotypes, and because the Brazilian culture was inaccurately mixed with the cultures of surrounding Latin American countries. Riotur, the tourist board of Rio de Janeiro, planned on suing Fox for damaging the international image of the city, which they thought was incorrectly portrayed as having rampant street crime, kidnappings, slums, and a rat infestation. James L. Brooks, executive producer of The Simpsons, soon issued an apology to Rio de Janeiro.