Talking Simpsons - SF Sketchfest 2024 Live Show - Marge vs. the Monorail with Chris Wade

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

We have returned to San Francisco for a true classic ep, and brought the amazing Chris Wade from the awesome podcasts Chapo Trap House, And Introducing..., and Hell on Earth! Live for San Francisco Sketchfest 2024, we were joined by over 100 fans at The Gateway Theatre to discuss the fabled Conan O'Brien and Rich Moore half-hour that parodies The Music Man and The Towering Inferno in equal measure. Learn about every single reference from Nimoy to Robosaurus, plus a look at the legacy of the Monorail in this exciting night of podcasts! Support this podcast and get over 150 bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod!

This podcast is brought to you by patreon.com slash talking simpsons head there to check out exclusive podcasts like talking futurama talk king of the hill the what a cartoon movie podcast and tons more i hardly endorse this event or product Ahoi, hoi, San Francisco And welcome to the Talking Simpsons SF Sketch Fest live show Coming to you from the Gateway Theater in San Francisco Thanks for coming I'm one of your hosts, the best podcast thinking guy there ever was Bob Mackie, and this is our chronological exploration of the Simpsons Yes! Simpsons Homer Simpson

He's the greatest guy in history From the Out of Springfield He's about to hit a chestnut tree. And yes, I want to say up front, this is our fifth Sketchfest show. Our sixth Sketchfest show. Yeah, yeah, and our fifth year in a row. Yeah, yeah.

And our return to the Gateway Theater after five years from being here. So it's so exciting. Yes, we have done five live shows and have had five heart attacks. And to show you how much we care, we are planning for a sixth. But before that, let's bring on our special guest, Chris Wade, producer of Chapo Trap House and the host of his own podcast, and introducing, welcome to the show, Chris. Hello.

I'm happy to be here. I'm honored and privileged to be here. Can I do a bit to start off, please. Hello. I'm happy to be here. I'm honored and privileged to be here. Can I do a bit to start off, please? Yes. All right. So last week was my 36th birthday. Also last week, I went to the DMV because I just moved to California to renew my license. And I was getting the license checked out and I was going through all the information with the DMV worker and going through just confirming everything about me. And it was like, okay, so, you know, birthday looks good. You know, weight, that's right.

Eyes, green, hair, brown. And the DMV worker was like, I don't see much brown in there. I was like, oh, do I need to change that? But it was fine. And then like two days later, this poster drops. And I was like,

fucking confirmed. It is. It's time. But I do think that it is a very flattering illustration of me, but I will take this live appearance as the beginning of the Chris Wade Silver Fox era. We're bringing it in. And I guess over the next 90 minutes, we're going to decide, is

this episode funny? Lock the doors. Our normal process, though, we're going to decide, is this episode funny? Lock the doors. Our normal process, though, we first talk about the history. Yes, this episode originally aired on January 14th, 1993, over 31 years ago. And as always, Henry will tell

us what happened on this mythical day in real world history. Well, oh boy, Bobby. Bill Clinton is inaugurated. Look, he's celebrating with Fleetwood Mac right there. Wow. Who else is there?

Oh! Of those two men, who has the more tarnished reputation right now? Also, Future Simpsons joke From Fear of Flying Alive is released into theaters Have you guys ever seen Alive?

Is this movie any good? I mean this is pretty cool Oh shit By the way spoilers Oh and finally David Letterman officially announces He is leaving NBC for CBS.

I'm going to kick your ass. That's what I'm going to do, buddy. But when he leaves for CBS, who could possibly take his place on NBC? Nobody, I'm sure. He's got the cigar in the press conference. Man, entertainment

used to be fun you're still allowed to be a person when you do do stuff i think that even has a reference to larry bud melman when a talk show host could just have a weird old guy who would come on the stage with him i i have considered using the scene of michael higgins from late night late show uh or sorry the late night hbo movie but i was like no let's show the real thing but yeah i mean that's one of the crazy things in history that when letterman announced he was leaving officially uh his mbc show to go to cbs at 11 30 it would be it was the same week and same day as conan o'brien's episode of the simpsons, Marge vs. Monorail, and he would replace David Letterman 89 days later.

It's just planets aligning in the pop culture sphere, you know? Wait a minute, wait a minute. Famous podcaster Conan O'Brien was a talk show host? At one time, yes. Before he invented podcasts. I must have not been watching TV that night for 27 years. It comes for us all, the podcasting. It's really great to see him doing podcast ads now for like mattresses.

From the last weekend, I don't follow football at all, but I do follow podcast news. And from the last weekend of football, Travis Kelsey's brother, Jason Kelsey's team, you know, this is the end of his his run on on the eagles and there was a a photo of him on the sidelines after the team lost with him looking ashen and somebody captured it with when you realize that you're you are now a professional podcaster well yeah the bill clinton inauguration like you know was a big week-long stuff i I was trying to find I read that Hillary at one event that in 93 like saying a song with Kermit the Frog and you can find you can find like the Getty Images pictures of it but I could not find video footage of it anywhere so instead I had to go with the classic Fleetwood Mac reforming to sing their song at the inauguration.

We would not stop thinking about tomorrow. And then Michael Jackson just comes walking in. Hey guys, I'm here. We should get the guys obsessed with Hunter Biden's laptop to find the Kermit videos. I want to see those instead. You guys would know better than me because I know that when Simpsons first broke big, it was actually a genuine culture war issue of like is this cartoon destroying america's families or destroying a poisoning american children which is hilarious

to think about at this point but did any of the clintons ever take a side on that i know that like um al gore's wife you know was that was a big you know uh pmrc like yeah uh you know satanic messages and heavy metal music you know seems like she might have taken a, Tipper Gore, Tipper Gore, of course, might have taken a stand on anti-Simpsons hysteria. But was that ever a part of the 92 election? I think, this is not a joke, Barbara Bush once wrote a letter to Marge Simpson.

Yes, yeah. Like an open letter? Yeah, after the Waltons versus Simpsons thing that H.W. said said but I do think that like Bill learned to be the cool guy to know not to talk about the Simpsons I feel the Simpsons definitely made fun of Clinton a lot uh thanks in part to Schwarzwalder uh saying they said that Schwarzwalder would always tell them like oh yeah he's gonna be like hanging from a noose by the end of his term yes he foresaw a lynching yes uh yeah i guess i guess the republicans were taking swipes at

this in murphy brown in 1992 oh oh yeah filth talking about degred talking about you start with a wine from a teaspoon medicinal wine from a teaspoon you end with beer from a bottle but we'll get into that yes but but But so that, yes, that was what happened on the mythical day when Mars versus the monorail first aired 31 years ago, almost to the day that we're recording this podcast.

Yeah. Where were you? Born yet? Question mark? In school? But should we talk about the origins of this episode? Yeah.

I mean, this is, this is maybe one of the most famous Simpsons episode, if not the most famous and yeah it's it's also it's helped because it is written by conan o'brien it's not his first episode but it was his big one and on top of that it's also one like the most gorgeous episodes directed by rich more future oscar winner for zootopia uh yeah but he also directed wrecking ralph which i like more than zootopia and i guess the story goes is he was a new writer and they

said you know don't pitch too much at first. You know, get to know James L. Brooks. And he immediately pitches three episodes that are made. So he pitches this. He pitches Lisa's Rival, which he does not write. And Marge gets a job, which he also does not write. But it was just a solid three-peat of successful pitches. And I think he angered his bosses.

They told him when he came up with the monorail idea. Like, it was like his first, he says, he said in other interviews, first day idea. I wanted to do a mashup of two of his favorite things, which were terrible disaster movies and one particular musical. And they told him like, this is too crazy. James L. Brooks isn't going to sell it.

He won't like it. He wants it to be down to earth and with family stuff. And then like James L. Brooks instantly bought it. It't like it he wants it to be down to earth and and with family stuff and then like james l brooks instantly bought it it was like i love this and that his producers like look he looked at his producers like well it shows what you guys know but yeah it was you know when you're a young harvard train writer coming into an animation industry you know you have to be good but not too good you know you the expectations are you have to be right in the pocket uh you know but you can't be too in the pocket or else they look down at you you know well and conan was coming from saturday night live where he was used to like everybody trying to snipe you and take you down and then

having to work by himself so he found working on simpsons much refreshing by comparison so the big things form was one the early win allen disaster movies, specifically Poseidon Adventure, the Poseidon Adventure and the Towering Inferno. And then the other big one was his favorite musical since he was a child, The Music Man. The Music Man. So when they asked me to come on for this, I was like, oh, yeah, of course. I love Talking Simpsons. I love The Simpsons. And when they told me what the episode was, I was like, I love The Music Man.

How many people in the audience have seen it? I'm a first-time viewer. I think Henry is as well. Yeah, I had never seen it. How many people in the audience got trouble, my friends? Right here in San Francisco. That's trouble with a D, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for bull. I assume many of these people have an issue of Captain Billy's whiz-bang in their pocket. Yes. Captain Billy's whiz bang in their pocket. Yes. Captain Billy's whiz bang.

We're bringing up the allegations against Captain Billy's whiz bang right now. He's been indoctrinating children. He's on some logs. We've seen them. Conan talked about how he'd grown up loving the music man and he'd always wanted to do a parody of it. And then on top of that, he also thinks monorails are dumb. So he's like this. It's a great combination of

things uh that that led to this episode and then though what really came up in so many things i read on the history of this like the vice did a really great oral history about two years ago where they interviewed everybody and it wasn't just the writing but it was rich more and his team directed it that like rich more says this is one of the hardest episodes they ever did and they worried that it taught the writers that they could do like a giant movie episode like every week like oh you guys can do a giant but he also was very proud of the work they've done yeah as he should be yeah but he said it was like design wise when he learned that like oh and then they're gonna go to north haverbrook for like you know for two minutes and so just design an entire new town and with people in it it's amazing like watching this episode again for

the first time in a long time it is amazing you know because you think about the animation from 30 years ago and even like being a big Simpsons fan you think about that era of the Simpsons and you do kind of remember it as kind of quaint but like every 15 seconds in this episode, something new, crazy in a new location is happening. There's so much going on every second of this episode. It was surprising putting it on again. It feels like this is the origin of at least five memes you see on social media. Yeah. We have some clips here that it's like just to see 80 seconds of it all together.

You're like, this was all in one minute of television where all these incredibly memorable jokes. But I mean, this speaks to this era because I threw this one on when you guys asked me to do it again. And I just kept being like, oh, this is the one with that one? With that joke? With that joke? With that joke? He's about to hit a chestnut tree. Something that's been burned in my brain for 30 years.

I mean, we should talk about the opening bit because I feel that... The way he crashes through the window of his car. After The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones, I feel like the obligation to remember The Flintstones was erased from existence. We no longer had to do that as Americans anymore. Remember when they did this joke here, it was like, oh, The Simpsons paying tribute

to the true kings of primetime animation the flintstones this is one of the last times that that mattered now the flintstones the flintstones was also on tv pretty consistently for 30 years but nobody thinks about it like you think that the simpsons is now 34 years on television yeah i mean i was just watching simpsons is like daytime cartoon network when i was sick or whatever yeah like being like what's this whole bit about water buffalo lodge meetings does it what is this joke about well then as you get older with the flintstones you realize like oh this is just the honeymooners yes exactly off and you you lose all respect you did and then when you and then when you uh watch like mad men later you're like oh this is what this show is really about

uh fred flintstone just being like a itinerant drunk at his construction job coming home like somebody should make that animated show you see i haven't seen much of the sopranos but it does remind me of the flintstones oh yeah i mean this is a this is a huge side tangent but what they they did an entire episode that harvey birdman show yes that's done yes it was i actually ripped something off. I'm sorry. They pointed out like, oh, actually, this is entirely the Flintstones and Sopranos.

They are the same show. But I could tell you the whole history of that. I woke up one morning, got myself a rock. I'll say, yabba dabba don't. Yeah, also,

another of my connection to this episode, too, is when in my previous life of working in video games, I got to go to the pre-screening of Wreck-It Ralph here in San Francisco at the ILM. They were screening it. And afterwards, I got to interview Rich Moore. And I was like, no, I have to be professional. This was when I cared about being a professional games journalist.

A stupid thing but i uh afterwards and i was like okay now that it's over let me tell you i know you directed the barge versus monorail and you're the greatest person ever and he's like oh okay thank you yeah yeah yeah big disney 3d animated movie that's gonna go on to be nominated for an Oscar let's talk monorail yes let's talk monorail he he said he would have signed my dvd if i brought it i forever regret that that i did not uh unprofessionally bring my dvd set there but well he must live in the bay area you know now these days these i think he well he was doing stuff with sony before i think he's still in la but the point of this panel is to dox rich more yes you got it if somebody knows where he is tell me we have things that need to be signed i've i

have a lot several simpsons people I've been stalking. I'm not him yet, though. But no, that Flintstones intro, too, is great because they laid it out perfectly from, like, the animators really cared to parody it. And apparently that the abrupt ending of Chestnut Tree, they wrote, like, a 30-second longer parody, the more of the lyrics.

And they're like, no, this is too long. And so they're just like, okay, he hits a chestnut tree like 15 seconds into the song and we just cut it i guess like two seasons earlier that would be the plot of the episode how will homer fix the car yes there'd be a scene of the family looking at bills around the table now we're in season four he can destroy the car in the first 15 seconds and we're fine and they're gonna be driving that car at the start of act two yeah let's say uh osmodeor fix the car but so yes after the flintstones opening which has nothing to do with the plot of the episode uh then there's a scene of them putting away the uh of lenny and carl putting away toxic waste which it's such a great like just american worker thing to be like you know saying where's this

going i don't know but i'm sleeping good tonight like they do not care i hear they ship it to a southern state where the governor doesn't care yeah the governor is a crook that they and that it could be any southern state like yes and then and then i also love that once they leave it's burns and smithers who do it They do all the work at the power plant. I guess the hired goons have standards. But yeah, they do it too. This episode made me, this and what happens when Burns get fined for this, made me start thinking about what the profit margins on a nuclear power plant were.

Like, you know, Burns obviously fills the role of megalomaniac, millionaire, billionaire of a city. But I'm like, how much does fissile material cost? What is your profit per kilowatt hour on a nuclear power plant? He owns all the electricity in town. He can turn it all off. So he's doing pretty good, Burns is. But Burns, when he says, that was a joke that as a kid did not land for me that much and when he says all those bald children are arousing suspicion he is giving children

cancer and it's annoying him that these cancer-ridden children are making people suspicious it would take until aaron brockovich about a decade later for people to understand the real implications of burns's actions not so funny now is it the springfield trees though are so resilient nine drums yes now that's another we have a clip later of them talking about how the ridiculousness of this episode they worried they went too far with a joke at the end but having a tree that has a laser-eyed squirrel in it and tentacles on it like this is as insane as anything i really like the laser laser-eyed squirrel in it and tentacles on it. I was like, this is as insane as anything. I really like the laser-eyed squirrel. The timing of the whole bit where the squirrel comes out,

focuses his eyes, lasers, sucks the nut in with its frog tongue is really great. Sucking that nut in. We love when the squirrel sucks the nut in. So, yeah, this Agent Malone guy, though, I forgot just what a minor character he is, but I want to see more of him. He's like a prototype for Rex Banner,

kind of like this Elliot Ness style Untouchables figure. It's also this great running gag we never realized until we were watching it this closely. Like the Simpsons, like the EPA is the most powerful government body in the Simpsons. Not only does the EPA arrest Burns here, but they also force them to not kill a

caterpillar and then they're the big the EPA is the villains of the Simpsons movie like I I think they see that the EPA is a not really important yes government thing but they make them the most evil so I was thinking about that because so there was a thing going around online this week about like what the actual like political outlook of the simpsons is and maybe we'll get into this more but i think that the thing that you're talking about here with the epa uh is a really good example because it kind of contains all their viewpoint of just like kind of pan skepticism about on all sides because it is both a joke about a government agency coming in to like hyper monitor something but it is also a joke about a government agency coming in to like hyper monitor something,

but it is also a joke on that the EPA would be like the most power, like, you know, an FBI level, like spook force that can come in. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure the running a sting operation against something, you know, rather than like two bureaucrats in Washington, like fruitlessly filing like requests to please stop doing this. Well, I'm sure the LA-based writers of this episode hated driving, but Conan O'Brien thought monorails are a stupid idea of the future. It's an outdated thing.

It's like the Epcot view of the future. But yes, after they get arrested, this is in our next clip here, Mr. Burns has his day in court. Mr. Burns, in light of your unbelievable contempt for human life, this court finds you $3 million. Smithers, my wallet's in my right front pocket. Who carries their wallet in their front pocket?

Oh, and I'll take that Stat of justice too sold i i wanted to pause here real quick this was a new joke i realized burns is being wheeled out after he wins so he chooses to stay in the gurney and mask like that it means it wasn't them arresting him to do it he just for some reason chose to do that you know I bet after a while it's kind of comfortable gravity blankets or it's a thundershirt who wouldn't want to be strapped into a gurney and just wheeled around but it

is a 1920s thundershirt yeah but sorry there's more to this clip oh Andy Kemp you wife beating drunk oh there's going to be a town meeting to decide how to spend Mr. Burns' money. Oh, what a boon it could be for our underfunded public schools. Children, it's time for your history lesson. Put on your virtual reality helmets.

Mmm, excellent. Hello, Lisa. I'm Genghis Khan. helmets. Excellent. Hello, Lisa. I'm Genghis Khan. You go where I go. Defile what I defile. Eat who I eat. It's funny that that is just happening now. Yes.

Yeah. I mean, there was a recent chapo about that very idea. Yes, the VR in schools. It was going to be a metaverse. I looked up the article again. It was like metaverse VR for school choice. It was a New York article. It was, yeah.

I mean, it is very indicative about like this whole episode, as you just said, is like Conan making fun of past future obsolescence like the monorail is being like the idea the 60s idea of what a cool future will look like and then when you get to the 90s he's looking around being like you know what's dumb monorails is that like this is the 90s idea of like you know what a cool future would be like you put on 3d goggles in school and genghis khan like shows you how he like pillages the the Asiatic step uh but when we get there in the 2020s what it is is you put on goggles like if you see those new Apple commercials with the goggles on where they're using the Devo song the uncontrollable urge what it is is you put the goggles on and they match what your living room looks like and then you just send emails in a 3D

space like it's it's miserable. We've had 30 years to come up with this. Come on. You know, I stopped hearing about the metaverse after they reinvented Wii Sports characters and gave them legs. Yes. Oh, my God.

The Facebook Wii Sports, like, little, like, pair modules that, like, drop a lot. I mean... Yeah, it is. It's hilarious how much this episode, like, recreates the thing that it is mocking, basically. They were sending it in the future. And fucking later, Nimoy talking about,

you know, on Star Trek, those doors didn't automatically open. They just, we had stagehands sliding them apart. Reminds me of Elon Musk demonstrating robots on a big panel stage that's just a guy in a morph suit dancing around. No, it was hard in my notes not to just write about Elon Musk several times. Hey, this is a comedy show in San Francisco.

He could appear. Yes. Elon Musk, come on down. Yes. Also, as a kid, it didn't really hit me. The statement being made there that Mr. Burns is given a $3 million fine, which is nothing to him, and he literally buys Justice. That's such a great... Yeah, that's the statue of Justice. Again, in real life,

yes, that is, you know, when BP gets like a $3 billion fine even, it still is like, okay, that's the price of doing business. We made that yesterday, you know? Yeah. Also, I love any joke about Homer liking every bad comic strip like yeah yeah

though these days rex morgan md yeah but but then handicap i can't ever i know he's also mr hot fries but i'm more of a fan of the hot fries i just think of him as the wife beating drunk though these days he's he's more beaten by his wife so I wonder if she even gets to do spousal abuse anymore with her rolling pin on him when he comes home drunk. I have not stayed up to date with the handicap-averse. I bet it's like BoJack Horseman now. They're just supposed to be in therapy. Yes. Check in on Handicap 2024.

It's mostly about PTSD. It's about anxiety and depression he fought in the Falcon invasion I think I always love how until the hunt goes hmm yeah you do I eat hmm like just these he's so excited to share with her then Bart has a dream of having mechanical ants to kill people which is how the three

billion should be spent and this is when Marge introduces that she wants to do something practical with it, which technically makes her the hero of this episode, but by the third act, they forget that she's the hero of the episode. Homer wants a giant billboard that says, no fat chicks,

which was at one point in this cursed world a popular bumper sticker slash t-shirt, enough that it was referenced maybe three times on The Simpsons. And so then we go to the town hall meeting which is uh the like a consistent thing though this wasn't happening this i feel like again is them setting the tone for future simpsons like there's a town hall meeting like every other episode on simpsons after this like this on this viewing of this episode this really reminded me

about something that me and my uh lovely wife molly who's in the audience today did right after trump got elected is like part of that neurotic like pan anxiety response is like we need to get more involved in local politics and at that time we lived in brooklyn which meant going to like brooklyn local community board meetings and the which were hilarious but the main thing that i remember from that is how much time was spent with neighbors debating neighbors about what could be done in the interior of a ring of brownstone so you know you imagine the brownstones they face all of the uh outside and then in between all there's like that little like green area in the back of all of them which was called the sink and what we went in and saw was two hours of people asking to put Bill to shed in them

and two hours of the people behind the podium going, You must respect The Sink! They didn't have $3 million to talk about. Yeah, you couldn't throw around $3 million to build a Ferris wheel in your sink. It was clear who was Fern and who was Ginnett. Yes, exactly. So after Lisa prevents Quimby from stealing a million dollars of the three million, this is when another of like the eight million perfect jokes in this episode happens that I,

someplace far away. Here, I'll just show the clip. Hello, my name is Mr. Snrub, and I come from someplace far away. Yes, that'll do. Anyway, I say we invest that money back in the nuclear plant. I like the way Snrub thinks. And where did this come from? Pardon me, but...

Hold on. I just love that they really did capture pretty well, even perfectly of Mr. Burns, just like Vicki Vale, is wrapped around his hero as they leave. You know, I would say that is the best Mr. Burns costume, but I think I prefer his Jimbo costume from the PTA Disbands. Or is that from another episode? No, it's uh no it's uh

mr burns one oh okay yes it's rather corking yeah yeah no the way it's it also i i feel like i'm gonna assign every funny thing to like conan when other people could have written it but the way of saying someplace far away yes that will do that that sounds exactly like a conan o'brien bit i do hear it in his voice yes yeah i I love the way both Burns and Smithers really have to struggle to get out snrub. Yes, yeah. Which, when I was 17, I think that's when I felt like a genius

that I was like, wait, that's Burns backwards. That's the joke. Hey, look, now everybody watches everything with subtitles on, but it takes a little second order thinking to get that when you're just listening through the uh through the old crt screen it's funny too you can see that burns is regular henchmen even they're mad at him and like they're they're uh low blow i think is the one right next to him there but yeah so everybody's pitching

and it's funny that basically they have to like prevent several scams from happening before they finally do get scammed. Marge then stands up and suggests like this, I think is another like the politics of this episode thing that Marge is very common sense. She literally wants to invest the money back in Main Street to fix Main Street and invest it back in the community where people like Homer are intentionally destroying it by driving with pianos on top of their car.

It's not even their piano. I think he borrowed it to destroy the Main Street. I mean, chains on the tires too. Snow chains. Yes. I've still never lived anywhere where I also haven't had a car. Is anybody here ever engaged with anyone who has ever put a chain on their tire? We're seeing some hands.

We're going to need some ages from the people after the show. Yeah. Top. Okay. The Simpsons will be right back. Leonard Neboy puts Homer on the fast track. I'd say this vessel can do at least warp five. The Simpsons.

Today at 5.30 on Fox 32. How we use electricity can be smarter, cleaner, and greener. At Electric Ireland, we can help guide you there. You see, our new Net Zero Hub has all you need to know about smart meter plans, EV tariffs, solar panels, and much more. Making your usage clearer, your trips greener, your home cozier, and your world brighter. Find our Net Zero Hub at electricireland.ie welcome to the break everybody it's henry gilbert aka mr shrub and a big thank you to our listeners this week as well as chris wade and everybody else who came out for this year's live show at

sketch fest we got to do a big big show show about Marge vs. the Monorail. We had a whole lot of fun. I hope you can hear how much fun we had in this week's live podcast. And we super-duper appreciate Chris Wade from Choppo Trap House from coming down. You guys have got to check out all the awesome stuff that he produces. Not just the regular Choppo Trap house podcast that he produces and appears on but also the awesome bonus content they do like hell of presidents and hell on earth that he did with the awesome matt chrisman plus the podcast he co-hosts with his wife molly and introducing chris wade is

an awesome dude and we had so much fun hanging out with him in san francisco for this live show and you should know we're only able to do live shows like this one at SketchFest because of supporters like you at Patreon.com slash TalkingSimpsons. People who subscribe to our Patreon support us not just for all that cool stuff but also they get a ton of bonuses like monthly episodes of Talking

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and then you get our monthly What a Cartoon Movie podcast where we cover an animated feature film just as in-depth as we cover marge versus the monorail last month we covered bambi super in-depth bob read the original book and had lots of notes about the original bambi story that started it all at the end of this month you'll hear us talk about the studio ghibli classic porco rosso. It has a whole lot of interesting behind-the-scenes trivia, too. And you got to hear a little bit of what we do each month with the six-hour Incredibles podcast we posted on the free feed of Talking Simpsons. All of that, over five years of what a cartoon movie is covering for four, five, or even six hours.

Super in-depth classic films from Pixar, Disney, Warner. Lots of anime, everything from Akira to a goofy movie, Beavis and Butthead do the universe to Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse, our longest podcast ever, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, other great ones like End of Evangelion, South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut, the list goes on. Check it all out once more at patreon.com slash Talking Simpsons but yes after all of the suggestions like marge is selling everybody via Abe Simpson who his sarcasm is taken as reality and

they all agree on Abe's idea but this is when a certain person enters the show. All those in favor of Grandpa Simpson's plan for rebuilding Main Street, please. You know a town with money is a little like the mule with a spinning wheel.

No one knows how he got it, and dang if he knows how to use it. Mule. The name's Landley, Lyle Landley. And I come before you good people tonight with an idea. Probably the greatest... Oh, it's not for you. It's more of a Shelbyville idea. Now, wait just a minute. We're

twice as smart as the people of Shelbyville. Just tell us your idea and we'll vote for it. So there he is, Lyle Landley, the big star of the episode. Yes, inspired by the main character of The Music Man. And, I mean, Henry and I just watched it. I don't know your evaluation of it, Henry. Didn't win me over that much. I watched it. I don't know your evaluation of it, Henry.

Didn't win me over that much. I liked it a bit. But if you have four and a half hours free and want to see a movie about a sexual predator descending on Iowa like a vampire, I really recommend it. Oh, it's a classic slice of Americana. A scammer comes to town and wins the hearts of all the rubes in middle America.

I would personally cut out Shirley Jones, but this is wins the hearts of all the rubes in middle america i would personally cut out shirley jones but this is not the topic of this podcast oh man i yeah look i love the i think that the music man is a really great and insightful piece of lovely american pop culture we were talking about this yesterday about how great it is at the end of the whole production that it is revealed that he is has been scamming the town and the entire town is like we figured out your plan but we love you for trying yeah i mean shirley jones is like he lied to us through song i love when people do that it is marry me and it does like you know i saw i saw this a few years i mean i've seen it a while ago but i saw it a few years ago on broadway with the huge jacked man uh playing the uh wolverine himself huge jackman playing wolverine playing

wolverine playing uh henry hill henry hill right harold hill i think of the good fellas harold hill it does weirdly have like a hilarious like trump era rhyme of how much Americans love getting bamboozled and taken for a ride as long as they get one ounce of feeling like they're in on the joke at the end. Give us Hill, Hill. Yes. Also, let me just say, 76 trombones in this economy? Outrageous. They can't afford that. No, I really love Robert Preston in it.

He is spellbinding. I would buy 76 trombones from him every day if he asked me to. He's great. There were several times I was checking my watch through a few songs, and I was like, all right. Was it Shirley Jones' third song about being lonely? Maybe. Though I also do love Shirley Jones but then

they'll sing you know Shapoopy or the song the Beatles covered and it's just like wow that's pretty great that's uh but to to see then how Lyle Landley just is Robert Preston from from the movie is like he has sorry he has a similar too complicated plan which involves staying in the town as you're actively scamming them. In the case of Harold Hill, it's selling all the materials for a boy band, but then leaving before you can instruct them in the art of music. But I figured when the movie started, I was like, wait, he actually does give them the instruments? Like, just skip town and say, oh, yes, your trombones are coming real soon. Once you have the money, as this episode says, well, again, that that's the funny thing because he actually builds the monorail yes yeah he does

actually build it i conan's use of him for the uh the selling the monorail it's again he thinks monorails are stupid and that it would be sold by a con man like straight out of the music man but that they they draw him to look like uh preston as well and them being so mean to monorails it uh it it's always funny but i love i do love public transit i wish america actually had monorails everywhere every town should have a monorail uh let me bring up one counterpoint you've got one two three four five six pockets on a table and that makes the difference between a gentleman and a bum and that rhymes with a capital B and that stands for P and that stands for

pull. Okay, he sold me. We don't need monorails. You're right. No more. He's right. Those letters do rhyme. So yeah, Conan he just pitched it as the music man comes to town.

And when you see the scenes from the movie, which the movie was directed by the director of the musical, and with several of them, including Preston, who- Yeah, he originated the role. You're getting pretty much the real thing. It's not like seeing My Fair Lady or whatever that doesn't have Julie Andrews in it. But when you see them back to back, you can really notice what people have,

or what the directors pulled for the episode. In maybe the best song the show ever did. What's the competition against this one? Folks, listen. May I have your attention, please? Attention, please. I can deal with the troubled friends with a wave of my hand, this very hand. Please observe me if you will.

I'm Professor Harold Hill, and I'm here to organize a River City Boys band. Oh, think, my friends, how can any pool table ever hope to compete with a gold trombone? Remember, my friends, what a handful of trumpet players did to the famous fabled walls of Jericho. Oh, beard parlor walls come a-tumbling down. So yeah, that's the original one. And then... All right, I tell you what I'll do.

I'll show you my idea. I give you the Springfield monorail I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook And by gum it put them on the map Well, sir, there's nothing on earth like a genuine, bona fide, electrified six-car monorail What'd I say? Monorail What's it called? Monorail

That's right, monorail Monorail, monorail, monorail i hear those things are awfully loud it flies as softly as a cloud is there a chance the trap could bend not on your life my hindu friend what about us braindead slobs you'll be given cushy jobs were you sent here by the devil no good sir i'm on the level the ring came off my pudding can take Take my penknife, my good man. I swear it's Springfield's only choice. Throw up your hands and raise your voice. What's it called?

Once again. Morrill! But Main Street's still all cracked and broken. Sorry, Mom. The mod is spoken. Morrill! Morrill! Morrill! broken sorry mom the mod is spoken oh that's truly class yeah i mean uh there's there's other great songs in the simpsons but i mean this giant rich moore said that that was harder than the big action scene. Like of all the things in the episode, to time out a giant song where 40 people are dancing on the steps of the city hall,

that was the most difficult thing in the whole episode to animate. I also think it's the first song they did that is not just a performance within the reality of the show. It's an actual musical moment they're having. Which I love. Homer just rubs it in more of like, we should have written a song like that guy. They all instantly sing along no i mean everything about that song is is perfect that all the excuses and the conan talked about like him and jeff martin uh were writing it

together and that he just came up with everything is writing it down on a legal pad and then Vercona O'Brien it all came a full circle in 2014 now 10 years ago at the Simpsons play the bowl where he is asked to do the performance to fill in for well fill it that Phil Hartman originated as a in tribute oh why did he make it yeah you know he was yeah I think he was somewhere underground but let's take a little look at his Hollywood Bowl performance in 2014. Well, sir, there's nothing on earth like a genuine, bonafide, electrified six-car monorail. What did I say? Monorail. What's it called?

Monorail. That's right, monorail. I hear those things are awfully loud. It cries as softly as a cloud. Is there a chance the track could bend? Not on your life, my Hindu friend. What about a spring dead slob? You'll be given cushy jobs.

Were you sent here by the devil? No, but sir, I'm on the level. The rain came off my pudding cans. Take my ten nights, my good man. If Springfield's only trites, throw up your hands, raise your voice. Honoree. What's it called? Honoree.

One more time. Honoree. Whatever you want, sir. And you can see he's even copying the march of like Preston at the end here. So exciting. That's so exciting. That's the same, like, when you see Landley hopping down the steps,

it's the same steps they're doing. I mean, 76 trombones are really great. If you can afford them, they're pretty great. Yeah, you know, I'm sure a producer was coming in being like, can you get away with 48? And they were like, no! 76. Count them on screen.

Pause it on TV. You can see the trombone. All the trombones in this production end up on screen. I'm telling you. You know, a real surprise in that movie is young Ron Howard. Yes. Ronnie Howard. Yeah, credit as Ronnie Howard. And as cute as that kid is, if you look at the timeline, there is a not insignificant chance that he died

in Normandy. As cute as he is you can see in his eye the evil glint of someone who will go on to create the grinch yeah conan conan said that performance was one of his like top experiences in his whole life that he could remember in 1992 writing those lyrics on a legal pad while eating like chinese food alone. And now he's singing it on stage in front of thousands of people. And I think he said that he was asked to play Harold Hill, but he had a talk show for 27 years. I still, again... On Broadway?

Yeah, on Broadway. To fill in, I think. Not for a whole month, three months. As much as I enjoyed seeing the huge Jackman doing it, I would like to see it. As much as I enjoyed seeing the huge jack man doing it, I would like to see it. We were talking about this before, but how do high schoolers perform You Got Trouble? It's an insane song.

How could anybody sing that song? I mean, a lot of musical theater in this day and age seems like it was white people's attempt to create rap on their own, but leaving many mutant offshoots that it never quite got there. But yeah, the top one of like, look, I've listened to Trouble like 500 times over the last week preparing for this show, and I couldn't even get through that one line about the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 pockets on the table. I know.

Yeah, Harold Hill's science is tight. Yes, it is. Also, the pudding can thing always confused me as a kid because by our youths in 93, pudding cups were in the much safer tabs you just pull off instead of the

slice you up pudding can. Pudding can no longer draw blood. Other references to Monorail, or sorry, to Music Man in that, it feels like, too, the way they go, like, they're kind of going like, Monorail, Monorail, to the tune of, like, the railroad. That feels like the opening song. Oh, the beginning, yes.

Oh, God. That's so good, too. Yeah, it's called Rock Island, which I didn't know that, but I had looked that up. It's a celebration of various terrible places in the Midwest. The best thing about Gary, Indiana is the song Gary, Indiana from the musical Music Man. Is that also, that's where Letterman came from too, right? Yes, and Michael Jackson.

Oh, yes. Wow, two people we saw already in this podcast. But yeah, so they go out on Homer not knowing that the song is continuing, which is also, again, another incredible, incredible joke. Perfect Homer beat. Every second of that monorail song is so great. Again, watching it is just like the efficiency of the show at its prime, the pacing, how they get a billion jokes in a minute, but every line has space to breathe,

and all the perfect timing of his like oh no it's more of a shelbyville it's just like being able to let those things go rather than and get so much in rather than just like put you know pump joke after joke after joke it's it's it's it's an art it's it's it's beautiful the layout of that shot, too, that you can see him waiting for Quimby to stop him, that he's like, hmm, you know, and then he does, like, and he knows he's got him. It's laid out perfectly. Yeah. So then after they head home,

and Homer's reflecting on how Marge should have written a song, then we cut to the classroom where Miss Hoover is almost Shirley Jones in this one scene. I like to think off screen that he was having a romance with her. She had a lot of less interesting songs she was singing, let's say. I'm really coming down hard on Shirley Jones.

Thank you for coming, Mr. Landley. I'm Miss Hoover. Miss Hoover? That is hard to believe. Oh, you. Now I'm here to answer any questions you children may have about the monorail. Me! Me! Can it outrun the Flash?

You bet. Can Superman outrun the Flash? Sure, why not? Hello, little... Now, of course, guys, we all know that in the history of Superman versus the Flash, that they were, you know, in the Golden Age, of course, they were kind of equal in speed. But in the Silver Age, they, Silver Age, Superman's very overpowered. But of course, then once Flash gets into the Speed Force,

he actually is much faster than Superman. You know, we are barely into Act 2 of this episode. I think we can't settle this right now. Oh, all right. Well, I'll save this for another day then, I suppose. Talk to us after the show. Yes, I can tell you why the flash is definitely faster than Superman once uh the nuclear apocalypse or and or climate change or some

combination of them have come to pass and all of human society has devolved into two different large language uh learning models just talking at each other like two howls put against each other uh the sum total of all human culture will just be those two blinking lights going who's faster the superman or the flash who's faster superman or the flash there is an answer to this and i have it but we only have you'll go to the grave we have the place still same with like if somebody asks like, well, who could win in a fight, Hulk or Superman? I'd be like, I have a definite answer for that at Locked and Loaded. Put away your phones.

Don't look up Wikipedia. Yes, no. Some of those wikis get it wrong. Okay, anyway. Look who edited those wikis. But I love that Lyle Landley, I was like, sure sure why not like he's just he doesn't you know it feels like he's a writer in the simpsons writers room where they're actually having this conversation like sure why not yeah superman can outrun the flash sure this is also where lisa even she gets bamboozled by by him and

complimented on being the smartest one in class like it shows lyle landley is a powerful guy that he can even defeat lisa incredible classic toxic male behavior of her of her bringing up a legitimate point of being like why would you i don't know if you have this clip but it was like why would you want to create a mass transit system for a small community with a centralized population he's like i know the answer and i know you know the answer but if i it, we'd be the only two people in this room who knew the answer, so why even bother? And Lisa just, she's like, yeah, you're right.

I'm smart. She lets it go. We'd be the only two people, including your teacher. It's great. It's perfect. And then comes another, it's actually maybe the weakest joke in the episode

and they only do it for time filler, but it actually has an amazing story behind it. Yes. So this is the worst joke in this episode, and I think you all probably forgot it. It's the Trekkasaurus the movie joke, starring Marlon Brando as John Trekkasaurus. What is lost to time,

and I'm so happy to present this to you folks tonight, is this is a reference to Steel Justice, which was an NBC made-for-TV movie from 1992 starring the inspiration for Trekkasaurus, Robosaurus. And I will quote Wikipedia, it's centered on a cop with the magical ability to turn his deceased son's Robosaurus toy into a real fire-breathing robot to help him fight crime.

And it's all on YouTube. Spoilers, Robosaurus appears one hour and 10 minutes into a one hour and 20 minute movie. And if you're wondering... We're not gonna get to the Robosaurus appears one hour and ten minutes into a one hour and twenty minute movie. We're only going to get to the Robosaurus factory. It is a long drive to the Robosaurus factory and if you're wondering what Joan Chen did after Twin Peaks it was the Robosaurus film. So here you can see the Simpsons parody and the reality. Coming soon it's Truckosaurus the movie starring Marlon Brando

Is that the Simpsons car that Truckosaurus is eating? Yeah it's Truckosaurus, the movie. Starring Marlon Brando as the voice of John Truckosaurus. Is that the Simpsons car that Truckosaurus is eating? Yeah, it's just reused footage from the episode Barbed Reef. Celebrity voice impersonated. But yes, there's the real deal Steel Justice cover. But I don't think he's called a Robosaurus. What's he called? Robosaurus. Ha!

Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha! We have ourselves a transformation! In an egg! So yeah, this was made presumably to promote the actual Robosaurus you could see at a monster truck show. But it's not as simple as Robosaurus fights crime. The pitch starts with, a child dies, dot dot dot. And that is Steel Justice. Steel Justice, sometimes called Robosaurus,

but yes, you can get it. It's all on YouTube. I love that that has the knockoff Cameron blue lighting, fire, steel, James Cameron type early 90s photography. And that was only sold as a movie because it was a pilot that was not picked up.

They thought that could be an entire TV show where you wait for him to summon Robosaurus at the end and save the day. I mean, that's basically what Power Rangers was. You wait 17 minutes and then the Megazord shows up and fights for two minutes, and then you're done? But the Robosaurus cannot move like the Megazord. Yeah, the Megazord did move. There was a lot of camera tricks there to make you see that the Robosaurus can really just blow fire and move its arms slightly.

But afterwards, this is when Homer sees an important commercial. As so many times on the show a commercial tells them what the next plot point is are you stuck in a dead end job? maybe. Are you squandering the precious gift of life in front of the idiot box? what's it to ya? Are you on your third

beer of the evening? Does whiskey count as beer? Well maybe it's time you join the exciting field of monorail conducting by enrolling at the Landley Institute. Actual institute may not match photo. Mark, I want to be a monorail conductor. Homer, no. It's my lifelong dream.

Your lifelong dream was to run out on the field during a baseball game, and you did it last year, remember? Oh, yeah. That's a happy memory for homer he's also uh to be a very particular pedant about this this is the first time homer has called something a lifelong dream he called it a boyhood dream to eat the world's largest hoagie but this is the first lifelong dream which is is it's also called a lifelong dream when he goes on the gong show so important distinction in this running gag but uh well also though in this sequence too you can tell they changed the line because homer he was going to say something else about beer because you can see that there's like four beer bottles next to him on the on the uh

couch but instead he says the classic does whiskey count as beer so homer's just been drinking straight whiskey but that's a that's a weird joke for me because other than that hard liquor doesn't really exist in the simpsons it's it's rare that they they uh well uh mac reigning the real mac reigning in the 138th episode spectacular he drinks whiskey straight straight i think it's tequila he's doing tequila shots it was tequila yes yeah but uh but they to get in the new scene they actually reuse some old animation which i always love being able to point this one out of the evening does whiskey count as beer well maybe it's um bar's birthday's coming up see we want to ruin the show for you too yeah they were so lazy they just recycled clips and

thought you wouldn't notice hey anyone shout out to uh shout out to flintstones from the beginning of just like recycling background animation you know yeah we're still waiting for rich moore's address because we're going there afterwards uh but uh yeah it again it's so great that homer homer ruining the pennant for them is a happy memory for him i i just love that but we then see a quick shot a bit in the monorail school where 60 minutes is asked to leave and they just choose to they're like okay we'll leave like uh and you would you you want yes i just like would you uh phil hartman we haven't complimented him up like he's the greatest in this episode but he always is if you if you look up up until his last episode phil hartman is in 25 of simpsons episodes like it's he he was in it much more than than you might he really is

it's the thing that i always love about the phil hartman voice is it is like the definitive like joke authority guy voice of you know and he it is solidified through all the simpsons of him doing you know like troy m McClure and stuff like that. But it is like what I always imagine when, you know, when I am thinking of, oh, what do you, what do you want from, from somebody who's an ad, a boss, a, somebody who's trying to convince you something. Hi, I'm here to tell you about what I want. You know, it's even like thinking about like what, uh, uh, Will Ferrell was doing for Anchorman.

It's basically like a version of Trevor. Hi, I'm, uhrell was doing for Anchorman. It's basically his version of Truman. Hi, I'm the Anchorman. It's like that is what that archetype was. He really just set that forever. Yeah, I feel like he was born too late to narrate 50s instructional films. Yes, exactly. He had to find comedy. That's the link that he has brought to the present of being being like the 50s announcer through phil

hartman and now that is just what everybody has in their head when they're imagining a commercial telling them about something you know but uh this is when homer takes the mcat test and uh he coins he quite which obviously that's a real thing and not in the monorail one but he it's also when he coins the term hoju for bart and i just love like the kids can call you hoju so uh they stuck something in there but um but then this is where we get maybe the funniest like 80 seconds in the whole show like every every moment of this is uh is fantastic so then mono means, and rail means rail. And that concludes our intensive three-week course.

Hey, wait, man. Who gets to be conductor? Oh, right, that. Well, I've been monitoring your progress closely, but this gentleman here clearly stands out above the rest. Who, me? Yeah, sure. Woo-hoo! After an exhaustive search,

Springfield has found its monorail conductor, Homer Simpson. This is the snack holder where I can put my beverage, or if you will, cupcake. Wow, Dad, you really know your monorails. Homer, there's a family of possums in here. I call the big one buddy. I'm going to see Mr. Landly. Mr. Landly? Mr. Landly? How much did you see?

Nothing incriminating. Good. Well, bye. I don't know why I leave this lying around. You know, I assume how you can see a spike in girls' names like Bella and Ariel. For about five years, there probably was a spike in bitey for pets. It's so that Marge, what an amazing like exchange because Marge is just concerned like a family of possums should not be living in your brand new monorail.

And then Homer's only response is, I call the big one bitey. And Marge knows to not even argue with Homer anymore. She just goes like, I'm going to go talk to Lyle. Also, when you're snooping around and seeing into something you find sinister and you find the guy that you find sinister there and he says, how much do you see? And you say,

nothing incriminating. He's like, good. Yeah. Good response if you're ever in a stressful situation. Hey man, nothing incriminating. I also just love Homer's steepled fingers like, well, yeah. Good response if you're ever in a stressful situation. Hey, man, nothing incriminating. I also just love Homer's steepled fingers like, well, cupcake. He's really proud of himself figuring out a cupcake.

Yeah, I mean, that whole clip is a great example of what I was talking about earlier. It's like every, there's like in that 80 seconds that you said, right? There's like four different scenarios that are each a perfect like four line sketch in a different location with a different set of people in them. It's amazing.

I mean, mono means one and rail means rail. Just perfect. That basically is the think system of the music as well. And, of course, Homer gets a job because Homer has to get a new job. That's the point of the show. The POV shot of him, like gesturing broadly at the whole room. Yes.

No. Also that they've done a million file photo jokes, but Homer having the record of the most cigarettes in his mouth possible. That's the best one. Yeah. It's, it's better than him boxing the dog. I think it's a good one, but yeah,

I, uh, God, this, I often forget. It's like, that's from monorail too. Like it's,

it's just like how Homer is shocked that it all comes from the same magical animal all these wonderful meats the same same with this Monorail episode Marge decides she's gonna head to North Haverbrook to check it out which they again fill for time they also have the bit of them in bed together

and they also fill time there what if I talk like this 10 seconds of darkness over it that uh where he sings the riddle song which it's a really funny thing on the commentary because rich moore is talking about this this 20 year old 24 year old commentary now but rich moore is complaining like this was really hard and you guys just want to talk about conan but then when they take when they take a cheap out of showing black on screen for just nothing on screen for 10 minutes 10 seconds then mike reese goes

like you're gonna bitch about this like it's march heads to north haverbrook this is when she finds out the truth that is the crappiest train ever built we meet cob who i actually do really like love that line like some of my favorite bits in this are the lines that are not overt jokes about that. It's like that German guy be... Honestly, the German guys made me my favorite part of this being like, and here it is, the graveyard, or the final end of the crappiest train ever built. It's just like looking at a crash train. It's great that Hank is...

Sorry, it's Harry Shearer. He just invents a wacky scientist thing. Conan did say he wished he wrote a different type of wacky scientist. Yeah, apparently this guy is based on Max von Sydow. But they can't remember what movie this is parodying, where he plays a scientist who has been through one disaster. Again, just as broadly, German scientist. It's fine.

That he is given wild hair to freak out Marge for one shot, and it's to pay off a joke like five minutes later. That is my actual favorite joke in this episode, just cram-packed of amazing jokes of them arriving just after the train goes crazy, and Marge being like, oh we've come we've come too late and the scientist being like oh no i shouldn't have stopped for that haircut but uh but they find out like okay they're in trouble it's a race to against the clock and this is when it turns into an erwin allen movie and again conan is writing these perfectly so if you don't know like the

if you never seen like the toweringferno or The Poseidon Adventure, a big thing about it is that it's just random celebrities. Basically, they got every celebrity who could say yes then to who's like, okay, I'll be underwater for like 30 seconds to film something. And like parody movies that are more popular now, like Airplane, that was a parody of those 70s films. Yeah, of the wonderful Airport 76.

But so this is when the celebrities are appearing, and this is where they get to take a few shots at some celebrities, one who will be on the show in three months after this. Here's one of those lovable high schoolers from TV's Springfield Heights 90210. He's cool, he's sexy. He's 34 years old. Let's hear it for Kyle Darin. And here's country singing sensation Lurleen Lumpkin, fresh from her latest stay at the Betty Ford Clinic.

What you been up to, Lurleen? I spent last night in a ditch. How about that, folks? Now I'd like to turn things over to our Grand Marshal, Mr. Leonard Nimoy. I spent last night in a ditch. I don't like this pot shot at Lurleen. Now I'd like to turn things over to our Grand Marshal, Mr. Leonard Nimoy. I'd say this vessel could do at least warp five. And let me say, may the force be with you. Do you even know who I am?

I think I do. Weren't you one of the little rascals? Well, I did some boring math, and Luke Perry was 26 in 1992. Yeah. Well, now I'm very far away from 34, and that joke, it hurts more now. The animation when he reveals his wrinkles very much gets me. Again, Luke Perry's going to be on Crusty Gets Cancelled, like his sideshow Luke Perry just like four months after this so it's very mean to a future guest star but uh but yes

I mean the big guest star right here Leonard Nimoy Mr. Spock himself yes and uh they wanted somebody else somebody who had been on the show before who they were tight with uh Mr. Sulu himself yes but why didn't it happen well why don't we let Conan tell you? Because we're talking about Leonard Nimoy. He was not our first choice. The first choice was George Takei. George Takei, who'd been on the show. We said, all right, let's bring him back.

He's great. And I did a passable George Takei impression, which I used to wheel out all the time. And George Takei turned the episode down. We said, why? He goes, I don't make fun of monorails. I think they're very serious. I don't want to make fun of them.

He was on the transportation board in San Francisco, and he didn't think someone should. We went to the only actor in the world who took monorail seriously. And he was like, no, we can't do it. So then I thought, we're screwed. And then Leonard Nimoy said, I want to do it. I was like, I'll, Leonard Nimoy, Spock outranks George Takei. That is trading up.

George Takei, yeah. That is trading up. Yes, there is George Takei right there when he was re-elected to the board in Los Angeles on the Muni thing. So, yeah, he really is a big believer in public transit. I assume he still is. Yes, yeah, he really is a big believer in public transit. I assume he still is. Yes, yeah, he still is. Not only was he... When they say San Francisco, I did research, like, okay, what was it?

But they're misremembering. He was on the Los Angeles board. But at the... On the? Oh, yes. But here's... Sorry. When you see Nimoy in the episode making his announcement about how good it is,

I swear they are parodying this specifically. The Southern California Rapid Transit District. Public transit boldly goes where it's never been before. This morning, we dedicate this fleet of 30 methanol-powered buses. Look how happy he is. George K. Burning methanol. And here he is at the Tamperan Bart around here for a memorial for the internment camp.

Oh, and this is how much he loves public transit. I'm Mr. Sulu of Star Trek. When I'm out in space, I use the Starship Enterprise to get around. When I'm here in Milwaukee, I ride the bus to save time and

money. A $5 weekly pass is a great buy. Your bus tickets, the greatest. Take it from a man who knows, your Milwaukee County transit system is

really out of this world. Come ride with us on the bus. You know, Mr. Sulu has the entire galaxy at his fingertips, but he often rides the bus in Milwaukee. George Takei,

an incredible real one, and I know that it stems from his real oneness that this happened, but it is very sad to see that his public persona turned into like a lib uh content farm over i blame whoever talked his agent into giving them their his twitter account but it is one of the most more bizarre ones uh of seeing somebody turn into a you know an octogenarian like tv actor turned into a a news content farm yeah he's always sending me videos of dogs against

trump that's not him no i would be look if it was actually him running all that stuff that would be one of the most mind-blowing story like news content stories of this year for me but i i just love seeing how much he loves public transit like it's just so beautiful i i don't know he just is so invested yeah it was for it was uh 75 to no sorry 78 to 84 he was on the southern california rapid transit district board he was and he was still a friend of them even like when they uh opened up the one of the very few train stations of the system in los angeles in the uh little tokyo he was at the dedication for it and was just like beaming with with pride i mean that's one of the funny things about this episode is the um you know the the

essential pitch is done in the most goofy way possible but you know i keep thinking about when barty says what about us brain dead slobs you'll be giving cushion jobs yes that's one of the good is done in the most goofy way possible. But, you know, I keep thinking about when Barney says, what about us brain-dead slobs who'll be given cushion jobs? Yes, that's one of the good things about a public transit program. Jobs for people who might need them to do something that is good for people moving them around the city. It's awesome. Brain-dead slobs need jobs too.

Yes, they do. I'm not saying that everybody who works for the public transit is a brain-dead slob, but, you know, people need jobs. Now we have podcasting. Yes, exactly. Even Matt Groening says he dislikes that this episode got him fans who hate public transit. He's like, look, I love public transit, too. But obviously this is a classic episode.

But it's hard not to be like, you know what? Like, I'm glad that that sulu stuck by his his beliefs on this one but uh equally as glad as i was that well like what what the director of one of the biggest movies of like three years ago was like yeah i'll do i'll take that gig sure whatever yeah but yeah that uh namoi like i knew him from spock i'd i'd uh as a kid i'd at least seen the star trek movies but i didn't know like he was funny. And this was and this was full of like references to things other than Star Trek in it. But that I do wonder if that's like a reference to Beretta that he's saying, like, weren't you one of the little rascals?

The the Robert Blake. Oh, he was. Yeah. That if if that's who he's getting him confused with. And I thought he was talking to Mo's who he's getting him confused with. He thought he was talking to Moe. Yes, that's right. He was one of the he was smelly.

Then we get to see that in this parody of the Music Man, the Lyle Landley, he is not won over by the small town and is getting out of town as fast as possible as instead. Harold Hill sticks around. Mr. Ladley, aren't you going to ride the monorail?

Little lady, I'd love to, but I have to catch a plane. But the ride only takes a minute. Yeah, well, my plane leaves in less than one minute. This is in the era where you could just walk right up to the gate with two suitcases full of cash. Just let you ride on. Sell dumb break. We're too late!

I shouldn't have stopped for that haircut. Sorry. And then it's the party with all the celebrities. Actually, you see, the doors on Star Trek were not mechanical. We had a stagehand on either side who would pull the door open when he saw you approach. Uh-huh. God, it's so great that the jet like that what a great idea for the joke that he isn't bored by people asking him star trek trivia he is happily giving star trek trivia anyone who

will listen unsolicited star trek trivia yeah there's a little bit of look well in how they write uh namoi in this i think yeah the adam west pilot that conan wrote right before moving to simpsons but you know this scene of them partying on on the monorail it's a very specific reference to they have these scenes in both the poseidon adventure and the towering inferno of the celebrities partying right before everything goes wrong and you're supposed to just go like oh look look at all the famous people on screen and, but somebody's coming in to tell them, oh, it's about to go wrong.

The inferno's starting. Is this what caused the boat to go upside down? They party too hard. Yeah. New Year's on a cruise. It's made me contemplate a very specific vibe. Then when the monorail goes all wrong, it explodes, and they can't even make one stop.

We see the municipal powers fighting over, too. I always love a Wiggum-Quimby battle over who is in control of what. I think it's the most pitched battle they have. I think it might end around this time, because eventually Wiggum becomes too dumb to be invested in in this battle the struggle he can't even do that and also an amazing shot of the

them measuring the speed of the monorail by Homer screams he says it's almost 200 miles an hour monorails cannot go more than 45 a fast monorail is 45 so this is season 4 episode 8 the monorail it says the monorail is almost going 200 miles an hour but most monorail is 45. So this is scientifically correct. In season four, episode eight, the monorail, it says the monorail's almost going 200 miles an hour, but most monorails,

even an out-of-control monorail, simply couldn't go 90, maybe, but 100, ridiculous. But the bit of Wiggum and the mayor arguing over the town charter, I had forgotten how much time they had taken to do that little skit with them, but him being like, ah, it says here the town constable gets one pig a month.

And, yeah, and a comely lass of virtue true as well. Two comely lasses of virtue true. Oh, yes, right, yes. But then comes another. I could see people taking this one the wrong way, that they think that The Simpsons somehow is against solar energy. But it's such a perfect, perfect joke like oh when will people learn we can just shut off the power no such luck it's solar powered solar power when will people learn a solar eclipse the cosmic ballet goes on Does anyone want to switch seats?

Why? What strange influence does the moon have on the behavior of man? So that's what they were referencing. You can just feel the deep shag under your feet when you see this opening. Magic and witchcraft. Missing persons. A solar-powered monorail public transit system is like literally utopia. Yes, yeah.

That is the space communism. Yes. It's still better than Hyperloop, whatever they're building here, whatever that's called. No, the Hyperloop can have like 10 cars a day, Bob. Don't ask what happens if a car crashes but but yeah so him explaining the the the eclipse it's specifically a reference to in

search of which if you didn't grow up in the 70s like the conan o'brien and other writers you never even heard of the show like it basically was out of like recirculation by the time we were kids but yeah it's it's the framing device for the springfield files if you're wondering why he's at that desk in the beginning and the end of the show that's why but yeah they also said uh the commentary that they don't think in their script they gave to him that they had a guy saying anyone who want to switch seats they think they saved that for the rewrite to put in a little meaner thing that he might not have approved of but but this again another one of my like favorite lines in the entire series right after this is they try to solve the problem folks this is your captain oh sorry no first here's what really would have happened to professor

harold hill in in uh or what uh a saturn flight to tahiti will be making a brief layover in North Haverbrook. North Haverbrook. Where have I heard that name before? Oh, no. Oh, no! There he is. Z3F. So he's lynched to death. Yeah.

The lampshading of how stupid it is that they would know that he was on a plane doing a layover and that the gang of rubes would know what seat he is on is very funny to me. They had the power of a board with a nail in it. Yes. Oh, God. No, and I, yeah, in Conan's parody of the Music Man, it's like, no, when they took Henry Hill to the courthouse,

sorry, now I'm doing it. When they took Henry Hill to the courthouse at the end of the movie, he doesn't leave it alive. But yes, then comes one of the greatest lines again in the series. Krusty wants out.

Well, the world needs laughter. Are we going to die, son? Yeah, but at least we'll take a lot of innocent people with us homer homer yeah homer there's a man here who thinks he can help you batman no he's a scientist batman's a scientist it's not batman

ah oh so good batman is a scientist he can do but i just love. It's Julie Kavner's delivery of, it's not Batman. It's so good. Just to say Batman's a scientist when Batman comes up in any conversation. It's a perfect reply. I guess he's a police scientist, right? He's probably got the equivalent of a master's in forensics. Yeah, of course. I mean, the bad computer can do anything.

Yeah. Do you think that Batman can run DNA tests on his own? How do you think he does that? Does he have a Chinese company that he outsources to? Well, if we're talking about in the new 52 Batman, I think he can hack into... We have 10 minutes left. Sorry. No, okay.

We have five work clips. Yes. Okay. We have five more clips. Yes. No, no. Okay. So, Homer then realizes he needs an anchor. After choosing not to kill Bart and throw him out of the... Think harder, Homer. He then conveniently finds a cowboy on the monorail as well,

which is another perfect joke. And this is when Homer saves the day with his old pal of fried bread. Separating Sammy's twins is a long and costly procedure. Ah, you call that an anchor? I love that Homer's monorail. anything they can't do dad you're a hero yes son i'm the best mono thingy guy there ever was well my work is done here what do you mean your work is done you didn't do anything didn't i sorry i was interjecting too early but i love that homer's monorail uniform is essentially

like a darth vader uniform including a cape with the cape yes i it's like colonel sanders from space balls yes but but yes that teleporting away is such a perfect joke like it's it's not only like out of look well where look well's told you didn't do anything, but now they top it even more that it almost feels like it's a Star Trek 4 parody that he is Mr. Spock who went back in time to save the day and change history somehow. But they were very concerned about this behind the scenes. They assumed that James L. Brooks would leave the set of what, I'll do anything? Yes. To personally kill Conan O'Brien.

Here's how concerned they were. When Leonard Nimoy zapped out on the monorail episodes. I know. Beamed out. I remember we were thinking, we're crossing the line here. Yeah, yeah.

I remember that. Being a real... I remembered thinking, I remembered hearing... I remember thinking, you ruined everything. Yeah, I remember... Time to go into my own shop.

I felt like Gilligan. Like, yeah. I remember wanting Leonard Nimoy to beam out and people saying, no, that's not going to happen. Matt's not going to let that happen. The word's going to get out. It's not going to happen.

And then it happened and forever ruined the show. I mean, it just seems perfect that he teleports away. But when you think about how originally the show is inspired to be like, no, this is a real family with real like they they have a family budget. They count. The people just can't like teleport away. But instead, I know Leonard Nimoy teleports away. Yeah. Real people can't teleport away.

But Leonard Nimoy can teleport away. He was in Star Trek. He can do that. This is this episode broke all kinds of rules where people can teleport away. He was in Star Trek. He can do that. This episode broke all kinds of rules where people can teleport away, cars can magically fix themselves after hitting chestnut trees. So it's bookended by outlandish events.

Yes, yeah. And then the final joke too is like, oh yeah, these are three other insane things. And that was the only folly the people of Springfield ever embark marked on. Except for the popsicle stick skyscraper. And the 50-foot magnifying glass.

And that escalated to nowhere. Rich Moore, Wes Archer, and David Silverman. All being murdered on the screen. I love you. Like the credits rolling over. Just those perfect. Oh, I do wonder if that was a joke about the animators complaining like you are killing us with this show.

Here we'll kill ourselves on screen. I guess it could have been anyone like Hans moment, but no, it is the artist of the show being murdered. It's perfect that it's just randos and not like essential Springfield characters. And again, like Rich Moore at the start there, he was so good at this episode.

Like this is why they hired him to. He isn't on season five of Simpsons because he is the lead director, series director for The Critic because they're like, oh, you can do, if you can do this, we'll parody movies all the time and have people teleport away every episode in the critic that's the the end of the episode but the monorail has a very long tail with the simpsons yes believe it or not the writers recognize people seem to like this monorail thing and so between 10 to 20 years later they did start

bringing it back for references they finally when when they did the simpsons movie they were scared like we've talked about the simpsons movie many times where they say like well we didn't want to have like say you know a reference to max power hank scorpio because we want this to be mainstream this isn't just for simpsons nerds now in the last like six years they're like no this is for simpsons yeah you're gonna see homer backing through a bush you're gonna see all your favorites and that includes uh here's three recent uh references to the monorail on the show. The monorail, it's alive. I've heard nothing.

No more Neboy! This is the snack holder where I can put my beverage, or if you will, cupcake. Wow, Dad, you really know your monorails. Homer, there's a family of possums in here. I call the big one Bitey. Yes! We all call him Bitey. Dude, dude, what if Homer was drunk during monorail?

Yeah! Come here, dude. Yeah! Well, over the years, I've had hundreds of jobs. At one point, I was even a monorail conductor. What a stupid idea that was. Actually seems like kind of a nifty idea to me. No, it's a terrible idea. Let's do the exit interview, huh?

All right, sure, nerd. Oh, no, I mean, that was from Conan's last week of doing TBS, before he conquered podcasting. Watching recent clips of The Simpsons has the uncanny feeling of, like, if your grandmother got, like, Back to the Future to you, and you, like, got to meet them as a young woman or something. Like, just seeing, like, an old friend in a bizarre and unnatural circumstance, you know? The danger they have of reanimating old scenes is that when you see that they can draw it like they used to then you

become an annoying simpsons fan like me will say draw like that all the time the fact that the possum in the newer clip looks like the old possum that doesn't look like a possum instead of like a cgi rendered perfect possum just do the old the old possum is funnier look like a possum instead of like a CGI rendered perfect possum. Just do the old, the old possum's funnier. It's funnier when it looks like a series of triangles and not like a real animal. But that treehouse is my favorite of that episode of Treehouse because it's about how Simpsons fans are annoying

and won't let them escape their past to do anything new. But I mean, it does, like the whole thing does feel like a transmission from a certain kind of hell where you, like a Sisyphusian task where you must roll the Rock of Simpsons up to the top of the hill over and over for your entire eternity as a punishment while the bird of animation technology eats your liver out over and over, getting better and better and more efficient and more sleek and technologically advanced every time it does it but at least these sisyphus get paid yeah someone is also stuffing their pockets with money yeah it's pushing the rock a lot harder exactly the money goes a long way to getting that rock up that hill so we do have one final clip before we go

milwaukee was lucky enough to have mr sulu himself be a spokesperson for their mass transit now the bay area bart's been around for a very long time and we were also lucky enough to have Mr. Sulu himself be a spokesperson for their mass transit. Now, the Bay Area, Bart's been around for a very long time, and we were also lucky enough to have an even larger celebrity for our spokesperson. Let's see who it is. Hello, friends. I'm Henny Youngman. I solved a parking problem in San Francisco. I bought a parked car. Say, if you drive your car across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco, don't.

Some people save $1,800 a year using BART. Say, with no savings, you can fly a family and go on a Hawaii round trip and have a few bucks left over. Say, if you're single, you can make four-round ad trips. Don't fiddle around. Take your BART. Please. I'm just getting a text here, folks. It seems that there's a 20 minute delay on the Richmond line Henny Youngman just threw his wife in front of a train he wasn't kidding

he hates her take the bar please so please you know if you come away from this with any message take the bar you better take the bar home tonight after this I don't want the response to that video being who Henny Youngman folks You better take the barn home tonight after this. I don't want the response to that video being who?

Henny Youngman, folks. But no, even if you drove here, leave your car, take the barn home. Or his ghost will visit you tonight. And he still has his violin. Very irritating. But thank you so much for coming out, folks. We have been talking Simpsons. You've been staring at our plugs all night.

They're right there. Chris Wade, thanks for coming out, too. Please let us know where to find you and your wonderful podcast. I produce a little show called Chapo Trap House. You can find that wherever you get podcasts. I'm on Twitter or X, formerly known as Twitter, at Say What Again. You can find, I plug most things there. I also produce several

extra podcasts, some history stuff called Hell on Earth, Hell of Presidents. Thank you guys. And I also produce two shows with, again, my lovely wife Molly, who is hereidents. Thank you guys. And I also produce two shows with, again, my lovely wife, Molly, who is here somewhere. One is called And Introducing, and it's about music. And one is called Infinite Cast,

where Molly has read the entirety of Infinite Jest to me, and we talk about it, and now we're on to Inherent Vice. Those are all the shows that I do. You can find them anywhere you find podcasts. Great. Thank you so much for coming out, and we hope to see you next year yes thank you so much everybody thanks guys Wow. Infotainment.