The Ned-Liest Catch

Edna Krabappel is suspended from teaching by Superintendent Chalmers with full pay after Bart pulls a prank that leads Edna to slap him twice on the back of the head. Chalmers orders Edna to report to a rubber room where teachers spend agonizing days waiting until their fates are decided. Bart feels guilty about his behavior and helps Edna escape detention. When she uses a ladder outside the window to leave the building, it collapses but Ned Flanders winds up catching and saving her. Ned takes Edna out to lunch, and the two bond.

Ned and Edna start dating, and Edna is thrilled when Chalmers lets her return to teaching as long as she also does some weekend work as a prison guard. However, their relationship causes problems with Homer and Bart; Edna's constant visits to the Flanders home make it more difficult for Bart to ignore his homework, and Edna later chastises Homer over his rudeness to Ned. After she forces Homer to return everything he had taken from Ned but he did not return, Homer and Bart scheme to end their relationship. Using the Cinderella fairy tale, Bart tells Rod and Todd that Edna will likely become their "evil stepmother" and force them to constantly perform household duties, but Rod and Todd explain that they already do said chores and take the opportunity to mend Bart's clothes, much to his embarrassment.

Homer takes Ned to Moe's and when he sees that Ned truly does love Edna, he decides to support their relationship. Unfortunately, the other barflies then make references to Edna's extensive dating history, and Ned is surprised that she has been with many of Springfield's men, including Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer. This leaves Ned crestfallen, and when he meets up with Edna that night, he runs away in horror from her when he is reminded of the men she has dated. The next day, while Ned is on a walk, Homer - at Marge's insistence - follows him and convinces him to forgive Edna.

Ned tells Edna he forgives her, but Edna is appalled by his statement and accuses him of judging her. She then tells him that, if they are going to stay together, her past must never get in their way. The episode and the season ends on a cliffhanger with Homer and Marge giving a link to TheSimpsons.com and encouraging viewers to vote on whether Ned and Edna should stay together, with the results to be revealed at the end of the first episode of the 23rd season.[1]

On The Simpsons, when characters become couples, they usually break up at the end of the episodes. Executive producer Al Jean said in an interview that the writers decided it would not be interesting for them to do another episode where a relationship ended, and they thought it would be interesting "to see what people think, [...] the Internet certainly has a lot of opinion on the show, might as well have them have their say."[2] When asked why the writers thought Ned and Edna were the right characters for a cliffhanger like this, Jean said that "In life, unusual things happen. People couple together in ways you would not expect, and he's single and she's single. We thought it would be funny, the fact that they both have these connections to the Simpsons, but they never really met or if they have met it was minimal."[2]

The fate of the "Nedna" relationship being left to a public vote made this the second cliffhanger episode of The Simpsons.[note 2] The cliffhanger was resolved the 23rd season premiere "The Falcon and the D'ohman" by revealing Ned and Edna were still a couple, as the real-world poll overwhelmingly voted to keep them together.

In its original American broadcast, "The Ned-Liest Catch" was viewed by an estimated 5.25 million households and received a 2.5 rating/7 share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.[3][note 3] The episode stayed even with the ratings from the previous episode, "500 Keys".[3][4]

Reruns feature an alternate version of the episode's credits, with Marge informing the audience that it is now too late to vote. Homer then insults the show's viewers, but Marge corrects him, saying there is plenty for the fans to check out on TheSimpsons.com, and advises them to watch the next episode in order to find out the results of the Ned and Edna relationship.

Following the October 2013 death of Marcia Wallace, Fox paid tribute to her with a re-broadcast of "The Ned-Liest Catch" preceding the premiere of "Four Regrettings and a Funeral"; the latter's chalkboard gag consisted of a single "We'll really miss you Mrs. K".[5]

"The Ned-Liest Catch" was shortly followed by "Ned 'n Edna's Blend" the twenty-first episode of the 23rd season.

• "The Ned-Liest Catch" at IMDb
• "The Ned-Liest Catch" at theSimpsons.com