Tales from the Public Domain

"Tales from the Public Domain"
The Simpsons episode
Lisa, as Saint Joan of Arc, getting burned at the stake. Executive producer and show runner Al Jean ordered director Mike B. Anderson to "not burn her", even though she is surrounded by flames.
Episode no.	283
Directed by	Mike B. Anderson
Written by	Andrew Kreisberg Josh Lieb Matt Warburton
Showrunner(s)	Al Jean
Production code	DABF08
Original air date	March 17, 2002
Chalkboard gag	"Vampire is not a career choice"
Couch gag	The Simpsons rushing to and sitting on the couch is animated in flipbook style, with the pages flipped by real hands.
Commentary	Al Jean Matt Selman Tim Long John Frink Don Payne Joel H. Cohen Matt Warburton Mike B. Anderson
Season 13 episodes November 6, 2001 – May 22, 2002 "Treehouse of Horror XII" "The Parent Rap" "Homer the Moe" "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love" "The Blunder Years" "She of Little Faith" "Brawl in the Family" "Sweets and Sour Marge" "Jaws Wired Shut" "Half-Decent Proposal" "The Bart Wants What It Wants" "The Lastest Gun in the West" "The Old Man and the Key" "Tales from the Public Domain" "Blame It on Lisa" "Weekend at Burnsie's" "Gump Roast" "I Am Furious (Yellow)" "The Sweetest Apu" "Little Girl in the Big Ten" "The Frying Game" "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge"
Seasons
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

"Tales from the Public Domain" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons thirteenth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 17, 2002. It is the third trilogy episode of the series, which had become annual since the twelfth season's "Simpsons Tall Tales", consisting of three self-contained segments that are based on historical stories. The first segment puts Homer Simpson in the role of Odysseus in the ancient Greek epic poem Odyssey. The second segment tells the story of Saint Joan of Arc, and the third and final segment lampoons William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet.

The episode was written by Andrew Kreisberg, Josh Lieb and Matt Warburton, and Mike B. Anderson served as the director. Show runner and executive producer Al Jean stated that the episode was "very fun for the writers" to do because it "allow[ed] them to parody great works of literature." On the other hand, Anderson stated that the episode was "much harder" to direct than others because, like with Treehouse of Horror episodes, the animators had to make as many character designs for one act as they would for one normal episode.

In its original American broadcast, the episode was seen by more than 4% of the population between ages 18 and 49. Following its release on DVD and Blu-ray however, the episode received mixed reviews from critics.

Homer is told that he has an overdue book from the library, which he checked out when Bart was a baby. He says that he had intended to read to Bart every day, but various things had gotten in his way. Before he returns it, he reads from the book, telling three stories.