Mr. Bergstrom

“I'm Mr. Bergstrom. Feel free to make fun of my name if you want. Two suggestions are Mr. "Nerdstrom" and Mr. "Boogerstrom".”

―Mr. Bergstrom^[src]

“I'm sorry, Lisa. It's the life of the substitute teacher. He's a fraud. Today he wears gym shorts, tomorrow he speaks French or runs a band saw or God knows what.”

―Mr. Bergstrom^[src]

“Goodbye, Lisa, honey! It'll be okay. Just read the note!”

―Mr. Bergstrom's final words to Lisa^[src]

Mr. Bergstrom was Lisa Simpson's substitute teacher for a period of time.

History

Mr. Bergstrom took over for Ms. Hoover after she believed she had Lyme Disease and Lisa immediately took to him because he was the kind of male role model she needed in her life, but he had to leave Springfield after Ms. Hoover returned. A distraught Lisa ran to stop him, and Mr. Bergstrom gave her a note saying "You are Lisa Simpson" before moving to Capitol City, where he said he got a job near the government housing projects. His final words to Lisa were "It will be okay Lisa, just read the note!"^[1].

When Lisa was sad because Maggie was smarter than her, Marge gave Lisa a paper that said "You are Lisa Simpson" and then Lisa says, "I already have one of those," referring to Mr. Bergstrom's note^[2].

Mr Bergstrom made a non-speaking cameo on "The Kid Is All Right". Marge informed Lisa her food was getting cold. When Lisa stated her raw vegetables are supposed to be cold, Marge stated "someone who loves you" was adding hot butter to her food. Marge is shown thanking Mr. Bergstrom and stated she would inform Lisa that he came by.

Personality

Mr. Bergstrom is an intelligent, sophisticated, dedicated, loving, and charismatic teacher who really does care about the students more than romantic relationships, his closest relationship being with Lisa. He becomes a giant inspiration on her.

Trivia

Mr. Bergstrom has no immediate romantic interests and cares more for his students. This is made evident by his quote, "I'm sorry Mrs. Krabappel, you're very nice, but it's the children I love".
Oddly, the surname "Bergstrom" is neither Swedish, nor Jewish; although Swedish has the word Bergström, there exists the word "Bergstrom" in German without an umlaut. In German, "Bergstrom" means: "Mountain stream", i.e. a downhill stream at the source of a river.
Dustin Hoffman was credited under the name "Sam Etic" for voicing Mr. Bergstrom. "Sam Etic" is most likely a play on the word "Semitic", which can reference Judaism (as well as a number of other Middle Eastern ethnic groups).
Mr. Bergstrom is named after a geometry teacher who taught writer Mike Reiss.
He is one of two characters to only appear in two episodes, with the first being mainly about them. The other is Sophie Krustofsky.

Behind the Laughter

He, like his voice actor, Dustin Hoffman, is Jewish. He is an artistic, liberal teacher who tries to inspire his students, even though that means some will make fun of him, by drawing a picture of him with his guitar and naming him "The Singing Dork". Instead of being offended by this, however, he laughs and asks Lisa if he may keep it. Lisa says she did not draw it, although his praise of the art makes her wish she did. Mr. Bergstrom also encourages the students to patronize the Springfield Museum of Natural History, as it will soon be going bankrupt. This inspires Lisa to visit, and Homer is grudgingly made to chaperone her. Mr. Bergstrom encourages Homer to think more highly of himself, for he is the only man in the world who is Lisa's father.