"Bye Bye Nerdie" is the sixteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 11, 2001. In the episode, after Lisa becomes the target of a female bully named Francine, she discovers a scientific reason as to why bullies pick on nerds and demonstrates her findings at a science conference. Meanwhile, Homer goes into the childproofing business, causing baby-injury-related businesses to go in decline. John Frink and Don Payne wrote "Bye Bye Nerdie" and their original idea for the episode saw Lisa being sent to juvenile hall after accidentally punching Principal Skinner when she was attempting to punch Francine. "Bye Bye Nerdie" was the first The Simpsons episode directed by Lauren MacMullan, who also made the design for Francine. Actress and comedian Kathy Griffin guest starred in the episode as this new bully character. "Bye Bye Nerdie" has received generally positive reviews from critics and it was listed among "The Top Ten science moments in The Simpsons" by the editorial staff of Nature. Around 8.8 million American homes tuned in to watch the episode during its original airing, and in 2009 it was released on DVD along with the rest of the episodes of the twelfth season. Plot On an ordinary day at Springfield Elementary, Lisa attempts to make friends with a new girl, Francine, but Francine, who is much larger and tougher than Lisa, punches Lisa in the face, giving her a severe black eye. Even attempting to share an interest in Malibu Stacy does not work since the doll that Francine has turns out to be Lisa's, which she then ruins. Lisa attempts to hire the school bullies (Nelson and his friends Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney) to protect her, but they decline since girls fight dirtier than boys and boys tend to be more vulnerable to falling in love. It is up to Lisa to investigate by herself the reason why Francine is targeting her and the nerds. Meanwhile, Homer starts to fear that Maggie could die from touching things unsafe to her when he hears this from a childproofing saleswoman; and is alarmed when he learns of the cost of childproofing his house. As a result, he starts his own childproofing crusade, selling cheap but safe and effective products and making Springfield safe for children. However, this causes the