Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - Brother From The Same Planet

Episode Date: December 7, 2016

This is one of the weirdest episodes of the fourth season, and secretly sorta about Tom Cruise! This is a classic episode of Bart getting his first replacement father. Learn all about Corey, the Big Ear Family, and how something can be even more painful then it looks on this week’s podcast…

this episode of talking simpsons is brought to you by geek fuel and if you go to geek fuel.com slash laser time you can get a free star wars item worth twenty dollars i heartily endorse this event or product. And that was Bart giving Milhouse the shinning. The shinnen. Yes, and I'm your host Bob Mackie, and I hope we can get married someday. And who else is here with me? Henry Gilbert in the last half hour is a real garbage dump. Oh, man, I got nothing. Chris Antise to the news guy.

And today's episode, by the way, this is the chronological exploration of The Simpsons only on the Later Time Podcast Network. And today's episode is Brother from the Same Planet is the chronological exploration of The Simpsons, only on the Laser Time Podcast Network. And today's episode is Brother from the Same Planet, which aired on February 4th, 1993. And Chris will tell us what happened on this mythical day in Simpsons history. Oh my goodness, Bobby! On this day, this week in history, Dr. Kevorkian helps two people die, new President-elect Bill Clinton addresses constituents for the first time over the radio airwaves. And most importantly, Stephen Urkel reads Harriet's diary on family members.

Wow. Yes. It's a violation of privacy. I don't agree with that. What is more offensive, that or Kevorkian? Hey, that just got legalized in Colorado, right? I made some jokes about that. My parents, we just had to deal with all the grandparents healthy and well until their bodies can literally hold out no longer.

Just a beating heart and a brain stem. But you can still be kept alive for another 15 years. Yeah. We saw Terry Schiavo in recent years. And they were like, yeah, no. So they registered with some Portland agency. My mom is like all set up to get killed and die instead of being a burden on me. Well, yeah.

That's what happened with my grandmother. She didn't want to go unnaturally i guess i don't know she she just decided the coward's way out for your 100 year old grandmom she was 83 but she just wanted she was like she's got liver cancer she's never gonna it's not it can't be fixed i give up but she she just wasted away to nothing she didn't end it fat but i was like you know for those last two months maybe just maybe just swallow some pills or something i guess there's an impulse in your in your brain somewhere that you can't control it's just like no live live yeah keep living there should be a place to like well maybe you don't blow your brains out on

christmas day uh in front of your whole family no funeral that's just the mess uh okay this episode oh boy for tom crew that's right what a revelation in the commentaries uh which were released like 12 years ago probably but this seems like a big deal that i they should probably be afraid to discuss before you know the commentaries came out yeah so they wrote this the they wrote this episode as their big tom cruise episode really he was going to guest star and be bart's bigger brother and uh he turned it down multiple times they they kind of thought they had it in you know james l brooks he'd worked with him and so yeah and tom was not into it and they heard that tom cruise no matter where he was filming would

have would order the simpsons shipped to him if there was a new episode like on vhs we could watch it in his trailer where he was filming man we're at the last, because he is the last movie star. Oh, for sure, yeah. And the last bit of like, oh, I can't do television. I'm a movie star. Maybe he interpreted something as a Scientology joke.

They had not made any of those yet. I don't think, he hasn't played anything on TV to this day. Nancy Cartwright's a Scientologist. That's another connection.

He should have given him the wink of like, yeah, come on in. Like, nobody talks about that. We got Phelans. We got Phelans. The Simpsons have paid for a lot of scientology yeah unfortunately i'm hoping for the day she leah ramini's and just leaves and is like because she can't actually like that's how leah ramini was able to leave too she's like she was the one non-closeted non-murderer that they they had no

they had no secrets on her so she could just leave and write a tell-all. So I'd have to think that Nancy has that same opportunity. I think it was Nancy who really crashed that helicopter on the Twilight Zone movie set. That's what they're keeping against her. That's why I wonder if she got mad in the episode with the Scientology dudes. The joy of sect. The funny thing is, weirdly enough, I just watched the episode and the commentary with the Scientology dudes. The joy of sect. The funny thing is, weirdly enough, I just watched the episode and the commentary with it

over the weekend, and they only mention Scientology once, and it's bleeped. You can tell they cut it out. And Matt says, no, no, no, we were making fun of S. And they say nothing else but Scientology. And Nancy Cartwright is not on the commentary, obviously. Was she too dim to understand that? She had to understand.

I would think she'd understand, and if she didn't understand, much like with Isaac Hayes, somebody would have told her, they're making fun of this. And either way, a job's a job. Yeah, a job's a job. There's a lot of Christians out there doing voices on this and that. And she donates a lot of money to them, so I don't think they want her to cause a stink. One more thing also comes up on the commentaries is that this is a notoriously hated episode by some staff members.

When David Merkin joined to be a showrunner in season 5, James L. Brooks sat him down to make him watch his episode and he said we want no episode like this. This is a bad Simpsons episode. And I think it holds up. It's not great of John Vitti, but what the episode John Vitti wrote it, Jeffrey Lynch directed it.

John Vitti is a great writer. He wrote Mr. Plow. This is the next episode after Mr. Plow. I'll tell you guys ahead of time, if you're waiting for discoveries from his Twitter account, unfortunately, I think this episode aired in... During Every Simpsons Ever, he tweeted out his stories, but I think this episode aired late at night when he was asleep,

so he didn't let it out. That marathon will still be happening? It might be, yeah. 600 episodes? Damn, I don't know when this is going up. But so, John Vini, he did take offense to it. I don't think...

This episode is the... We talked about how Monorail broke the show, but, like, this episode is filled with almost as much craziness and weirdness and cartoons.

It's filled with a lot of, like, was that a reference to this? Like, all of this is very clearly a reference to something. And when this is very clearly clearly a reference to something and uh and when you say this is tom cruise i'm like wow the main new character is highly overwritten or underwritten uh or he's not in the episode at all as much as you'd like to think he is like five lines tom is kind of like a mary sue like he can do no wrong he's

perfect in every way but i feel like you'd write for Tom Cruise. Had you someone of a celebrity stature here, well, one, this is the first real substantial role of Phil Hartman. Even though he has... Like episode-long role, yeah. It is. Lyle Landley was pretty big. You're absolutely right about that. Yeah.

But that just happened. Yeah, it did just happen. Yeah, it just happened. So we never referenced the chalkboard gags. I didn't want to bring up this one. It confirms that Skinner does have a toupee. And he was established from the beginning to have a toupee. But Matt Groening was like, we don't want to do the joke of a toupee falling off, someone losing their toupee.

But he has a rug. And that is established for this chalkboard gag. Matt Groening says, will that sustain 28 years in the year? And I have to imagine they at least made one toupee gag since I stopped watching. In the second issue of the 1996 simpsons comics oh they show him gluing his toupee back on i do not too cheap for that i have vague memories of that it's the one where bart goes to jail uh with sideshow sideshow bob oh wow bart is trying to rip off skinner's toupee with a vacuum cleaner and it fails and, and Bart's like, oh, I guess it's not a toupee. And then cut to Skinner gluing it back onto his head like,

this toupee glue's really great, Willie. So I guess Mac Rainey was not watching those comics, although he should have been, because he was writing Stan Lee-style intros and stuff. But look, he's a busy man. He's got a cash check. Lots of pies. Lots of fingers.

Can I say this before we forget about it entirely? The episode title is based on the movie Brother from Another Planet. Yeah. Which is a Blaxploitation movie starring Joe Morton, I believe. Yeah, I believe so. Joe Morton from Speed. He told Keanu Reeves, don't get that, Jack. Directed by John Steele.

Yeah, he's in Terminator 2. Yeah, he's the Cyberdyne fella. Cyberdyne. Oh, yeah. Yeah, okay. This is one of his early movies, The Brother from Another Planet. He's a mute alien. This is the first time we've seen Nelson's dad, maybe the last time.

It's one of the Phil Hartman roles nobody talks about. That's right. Phil Hartman is Nelson's dad. He's all over the damn place. Boys, it wasn't easy choosing only one of you for the free week at Pele's Soccer and Acting Camp. Let's all congratulate Nelson! Thanks, Dad! So it's a plot point in later episodes that Nelson's dad left,

but a much later episode explained where he went, one I actually watched when I was still watching the show. So Nelson's dad went out for cigarettes, and he planned to come back. He bought a candy bar with peanuts in it, not knowing that and he planned to come back. He bought a candy bar with peanuts in it, not knowing that. He's allergic to peanuts. He eats the candy bar. His head inflates because of the reaction. A circus guy finds him. He can't talk. He's captured by the

circus and he's sort of like this mutant man that people throw peanuts at. Because they throw peanuts at him, his condition never changes. So he's been kidnapped by a circus and he meant to come back. And that's why he doesn't sound like Phil Hartman in like 2001. I guess not. It was probably like 2006 I want to say. That's a lengthy Elephant Man

parody I want to say. Yeah. And yeah, I love the way Nelson says, thanks dad! Yeah, just to hammer it in about the nepotism involved. And we also have, oh sorry Henry. It was a long time before I saw Barton Fink. Oh, me too.

I did not, I didn't know. I thought they were talking about Bart Can Think. I thought they were making a Bart joke, because it happens like two seconds later. I thought it was sincerely a dirty movie until I knew about the Coens. It is so funny, this reference. Come on, Bart. We're going to go sneak into an R-rated movie. Let's call Barton Fink.

I can't. I told my dad I movie. Let's call Bart and Fink. I can't. I told my dad I'd wait for him. Bart and Fink! Bart and Fink! Bart and Fink! I don't have children, but when I do, I'm going to bore the shit out of them with a few movies. Bart and Fink will be one of them.

It is amazing. I didn't discover it until I was like 23. I love Bart and Fink. It's so great. I was in my mid-20s,s too and I just knew it from this episode What are they even saying? What does that mean? I caught the reference after I saw the movie

I'm like, that's fucking brilliant It was a movie that was probably out at the time of this episode Yeah, it was probably like 1991 John Goodman is incredible And Turturro Some of their best roles Him running down the hallway My favorite line is when the

The cops are interviewing Totoro About Goodman They're implying that they had a homosexual Relationship It's like did you guys have sex He's like what We're men we wrestle When I saw it for the first time

The DVD menus were spoiler themed. So something happens to a location in the movie that is different than the beginning, and that location is presented as it is in the end of the movie, in the DVD menu. I want to say what it is. I know exactly what you're talking about. Yes, so like when you turn on the DVD, it's like, oh, this location. Oh, fire everywhere. Yes.

Okay, well, we're not saying what caught on fire, but it's just like... No, Bob, I know exactly what you're talking about. You guys got, yeah, listeners, watch Barton Fink. No, well, we're not saying what caught on fire, but it's just like... No, Bob, I know exactly what you're talking about. You guys got, yeah, listeners, watch Barton Fink. No, no, watch every Coen Brothers movie. I mean, sure, yeah. I read reviews of every one, like, Hail Caesar's like one of the best movies of the goddamn year.

Shut up, all you Borg critics. I'm going to say, you've seen Lebowski, you've probably not seen Barton Fink. Barton Fink. Or Miller's Crossing. Or Raising Arizona. Or Hutt Sucker. Watch that. Oh, Hutt Sucker proxy's so good.

That's great. I watch it once a year. I definitely didn't get the Barton Fink joke as a kid. Here's a reference Or Raising Arizona. Or Hutsucker. Watch that. Oh, Hutsucker proxy is so good. I watch it once a year. I definitely didn't get the Barton Fink joke as a kid. Here's a reference I don't get. Okay, so at this point, Bart, and this is pretty devastating for a kid. I'm trying to, only now as an adult, watching this episode, trying to empathize from the view of a kid who's not been picked up. And my parents never would have done this to me. I could see myself doing this to my children.

This brings back some tragic memories because I had a deadbeat dad briefly and there were a few instances where this actually happened. Oh, like you don't get picked up? Yeah, from school.

Wow. Very rarely because he wasn't around very much. But I'm secretly wounded. What do you do at that point? Do you call somebody? Are there still people around? Well, you're six and you...

Is there like an adult who's not allowed to leave until the last kid is gone? I think think so you're six and you cry a lot until someone helps you and call somebody else like your grandma but uh i boy this this i cannot believe i turned on by the idea of you crying it hasn't happened in 30 years this uh this conversation makes me think back to like just brought back this fictional memory of my parents always were there to pick me up except there was one time my mom was like i think she had car trouble or something she locked her keys in her car and this was in like 1988 there aren't cell phones and so i'm just at the babysitter's place like and i was just like waiting and waiting it was like 5 30 and i was like having like

kid anxiety attacks like my mom's never coming back. The sun is going down. My mom is dead. I don't know what's going on. It's like when you lose your mom in a grocery store. You're like, okay, new family time. This is it. It's over.

My life is over. My parents were and are so attentive. I was arrested for shoplifting at Walmart. My mother showed up even though you have to pick them up from the juvenile detention facility. I'm going to drive behind. She drove behind the cop car and flipped me off the whole time. Wow. And waited until I was processed.

Was she driving with the middle fingers? It's one of my most visceral memories. My mother flipping me off behind the wheel of the cop car I'm in the backseat of. That's amazing. This is a reference I don't get, though. That could be dad, station wagon, luggage rack. I am woman, hear me roar,

and numbers too big to ignore, and I know too much to go back to bedevil. So I'm mentioning this because I never got this reference, and for some reason, Henry, you were over, Brett was over.

I played this in our house while we were waiting to record something, and this moment came on and both you and Brett sang the song word for word. I'm like, I don't get any of this. Why is there this woman who looks sort of like Homer? So there are two scenarios that I can think of.

One is that it's a non sequitur. It just happens to be that this very mannish woman looks like Homer and has the same car. She has a 5 o'clock shadow. Yeah. It could be a mean-spirited joke where it's like, this feminist is very manly, and that's why she looks like this. Oh, I never read it. So it's not a more specific reference to a musical or anything like that? No, I mean, it's a song by Helen Reddy

which was like a soft feminism song in the 1970s. I think option B is a little too mean-spirited for The Simpsons. I don't want to think that. What's option B? That it's an ugly feminist. And that's why Bart thinks it's Homer. So that song was popular in the early 70s. I looked this up here.

It was Helen Reddy was the woman who sang it, and I heard her give an interview about this on VH1 where she – It's all she'll be remembered for now, The Simpsons. Yes, poor woman. She talked about how this was a one-hit wonder. It was kind of like – it was a feminist song back when those weren't a big deal, or those were a big deal. I didn't think no, the phrase was

from a song, if that's the case. And it's her singing about how powerful women are, but she also talked about how she was part of the women's lib movement and that she was this, that she confused people by not being an ugly lesbian,

which apparently they all expected women in the women's movement to be, which by the way, that's perfectly fine. Ugly lesbians get lots of shit done. But I hope it's not that. So my reading of it always that, that was not that sinister.

It was, it's not sequitur joke that Bart is seeing somebody who thinks it's Homer because it's a, it's a woman who looks just like Homer because it's silly. And she's singing the song to confirm to the audience. she's clearly not a woman yeah i think that that's what i think i think in the construction of the joke is they're like if if the audience sees this and it's just a woman that looks like homer driving they might still think it's homer in drag yeah so then she has to sing a song that's like i am a woman this is still one of the most baffling

jokes henry you've made it make sense after 25 years it makes sense now it's it's the Simpsons this in the Simpsons movie joke where Homer falls down the grill says hey it looks like my luck is finally starting to turn and sticks his tongue out and eats a raw shrimp inside his barbecue with like a lizard tongue

right yeah and like that's so fucking out there for this show like I feel like it has to be based on something I'm not I don't know where that comes from. It could be just another non sequitur. But I prefer, like Henry, you made it make sense finally. I think it's underlining the woman's woman-in-anity. Yeah, that's what I'm trying.

I never had that reading before. I trust the writers of The Simpsons too much to not go there. Yeah, me too. But they were mean enough to make fun of wings. That's true. This is a mean episode. Also, what too. But they were mean enough to make fun of Wings. That's true. This is a mean episode. Also, what, like the third appearance of the rumpus room? Yes, and it is from Three Men and a Comic Book.

Is that reused animation? It is, yeah. So coming up next on Wings. Eh, who cares. So Duckman, I must mention Duckman. I hate to interrupt. Wings, Wings, Wings, and Wings. Exactly.

Duckman was in a made-for-TV movie about him grabbing a woman's ass, which was very similar to a Simpsons episode. We'll talk about it when we get to that one. Two years. They made fun of how USA was like a dumping ground for wings. And I remember Bernie saying, USA, are they on at night? Wings is one of the shows I endured a lot. Maybe it was the USA reruns for the most part.

But I feel like it was on for years and I've never heard anybody talk about this. Nobody likes this. It has no fans. What is the modern Wings like? It's on inexplicably forever and it's just omnipresent and just mediocre. I feel like when I go back to my parents' house

every hour of every day they're playing 30 Rock. So if you don't like 30 rock that might be but it got like critical acclaim it did never got critical acclaim but it's but it's fucking everywhere i think that shows you the health of sitcoms back then that like one that has no reason to exist that that at best has like three funny people in its ensemble? Oh, no. Everybody on that show is funny. Okay, Tom Satan Church is funny. Tony Shalhoub is funny. Steven Weber.

Okay, Steven Weber, sure. The woman who was in Problem Child, eventually. Amy Asbeck. Amy Asbeck. All of them were funny. The original voice of Superman. But what I bet it was is that there were more people watching Wings than watching The Simpsons. And Wings was being played more places.

That could be it. And there was an episode of The Critic uh they want satan to renew wings and he's like tell him there are limits to even my dark powers i mean the show is running off fumes and even lowell left the show like top saint church was like i don't need this tony shalhoub uh that was one of his first non-terrorist acting roles i was yes i was so happy for him when he finally got to be monk and not got in and that he got to be monk and he got to be more famous than wings. And not like Crazy Foreigner. I think he gives like an award to

people of Arab descent who do not play terrorists. Like, thank you for not playing a terrorist. Here's an award. He's maybe played more aliens than terrorists. This is a great sequence that's hard to show you in audio form. Oh, the flying nun joke is really easy to move. Every one of them. This nun joke is really every one of them this isn't funny

every one of them is great uh the i'm on my way every time someone we're doing a show and like you guys coming and i just send you the wheel of fortune picture of i'm on my way uh that's how i tell people i'm about to be there but uh like all of it the drab true crab like crab puce yes it's all great. I told you to stop writing on the walls. And the only reason I'm playing this clip is because, uh, Phil Hartman's in it.

After 16 glorious seasons, the green Bay faithful bid farewell to Brian Bartlett star. I keep thinking I'm forgetting something. Can't think with all this noise. Bart! Bart! Bart! Bart! Bart! Bart! Bart! Bart! Bart! Can't think with all this noise. I love this sequence. I really do. I can identify with Homer as not noticing something.

I've been there too. I forget things constantly, but what's happening is I'm working really hard on other things. I'm not watching Wheel of Fortune in a farewell salute to a football player I've never heard of. Bart Starr actually retired in the 70s. Oh, that's a real person? That's a real person.

Actually, the episode in season nine where Homer coaches Bart's football team is called Bart Starr. The episode itself. So there you go. Fuck. And you know, the Trap You Sip line, that was actually one I didn't see the shining, but the shitting from the halloween episode that's the one that then told me oh that this extended shining reference reminds me that that one in brother from another planet is a shiny i didn't get that either especially with the uh

lisa simpson twin peaks uh reference the backwards yeah Yeah. Jesus. But this might be my line of the show. It made me laugh so much for years every single time. Oh, wait, wait, wait. Bart! That Homer finally gets the revelation that he left Bart behind while in the tub. Bart! Dad, hide your shame! Hey, homie, I can see your doodle.

Shut up, Flanders. There go the last lingering threads of my heterosexuality. Yeah, but just not the first time this season he's run naked. But there's just two different PG words for dick that I've never heard before. I can see your doodle. Doodle and shame. Yeah, hide your shame. And so Homer must have gone back into put-on clothes,

because he picks up Bart when he's wearing clothes. I think if you're Homer Simpson, you have a change of clothes in your car. And also, though, that line, Ned saying that is another of those time filler lines. There's a few in there of like, pause the screen and somebody off screen says something. If you've read about like comedians who do punch up work on DreamWorks movies, that is, And this, to me, is one of the funniest jokes ever. Some of my favorite Simpsons jokes are someone screaming from offscreen. They work sometimes. Not all the time.

Someone said, like, that's when I punch up a DreamWorks blue sky script. That's Patton Oswalt, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah, it was. Totally was. That's a great bit.

But that's what it is. It's like people shouting things offscreen to make another joke. Yeah. Because you can't animate new stuff. No, no, no. That's expensive. Your joke might be funny, Because you can't animate new stuff. That's expensive. Your joke might be funny, but you can't bring in 19 animators to render it. Bruce Valancius thrown in to say, check, please.

For five figures. I can see your doodle. I feel like that was the callback when Bart says, won't they see my doodle in the movie when Homer challenges him to skateboard naked. Won't they see my doodle? I feel like they only said doodle because Ned says doodle here. And saves Bart. Yeah, and sees Bart's doodle. But he says penis when he sees Bart's penis.

And they were watching these when they were writing the movie. Yeah. I feel very certain of that. Oh, man. This makes me so happy. The next part. Because this is where Bart sees the commercial. So Homer picks him up and Bart hates him more than anything.

His simmering anger. As a kid, I had felt that anger at my parents. Though likely not anywhere near as justified as Bart's. Now I want a hug. Mine is the most white privilege one ever. They bought my sister a though likely not anywhere near as justified as Bart's. No, I bought a hug. Mine is the most white-privileged one ever. They bought my sister a car and not me. Because I had to buy my own car and it died. And my sister,

who's younger than me, who got great grades, was a great person and did great things, whereas I did none of that shit. I constantly got in trouble, got kicked out of schools. She bought a car and I decided I'm not going to speak to my parents for four months. Wow. And it was the most angry we've ever been at one another.

Wow. So that's what this reminds me of. Is there some kind of crude sign language or note-passing system? I don't know, because they still fed me. And it's like, I'm not talking to you. I'm too cool. But I, well, I do remember. Not driving around in your Volvo.

Get out of here. I do remember my dad pretending that he, like, or just trying to get past an argument like Homer does of, eh, we were both wrong, or who's to say who's wrong? Let's just move on. Let's just forget it. That is one of my favorite clips. Did he bring you ice cream? Marge not mad at me.

He called you a bad father. Marge, when kids these days say bad, they mean good. And to shake your booty means to wiggle one's butt. Permit me to demonstrate. No! This is old, old animation. I love that line, but that scene was so distracting. It's like season two, right?

Early season two. It almost, Homer is so rounded and it's all these. The colors are different even. Yeah, it's really distracting. I wonder what the original line was yeah inserted in there someone find us these scripts like the the first draft or the table we're gonna want to know they've got to be out there right no they're not some of them are but only in like season three they were more comprehensive with their dvds like the season after this yeah they had tons of uh

actually i had one of their script versions uh of theusty is cancelled episode. I'll talk about that in that episode. I'm going to really reveal some secrets there, but speaking of meanness, this is some cruel shit to SNL. But written by people who never worked on it.

But Al Jean and Mike Reese did this stuff. They bothered to distance itself by calling it Tuesday Night Live. But Al Jean and Mike Reese did this stuff. They bothered to distance itself by calling it Tuesday Night Live. Yeah. Although Krusty references Lauren in like...

It's G.E. Smith is there. I'm growing up. I'm getting woke comedy wise and watching SNL every... Me too. I thought G.E. Smith was a part of every... G.E. Smith is such

a small part of SNL. It's what I remember most. I know, but that's when we came up. I was 11. You came up. I was 11 watching SNL, and I'm like, this is so funny. But then The Simpsons had this bit, and I'm like, am I supposed to not like SNL now?

They asked me to host the show. I said, Lorne, why me? I mean, I did just star in my first movie with Marvin Hagler and Tova Borgnine. Yeah! So I did look this up. Marvin Hagler was the middleweight champion from 80 to 87. Yeah, I love Marvin Hagler's great.

He's starring in a movie with Krusty the Clown. After boxing, he went on to star in Italian action movies. Wow, really? And Tova Borgnine is Ernest Borgnine's wife when he was alive. Wow. I didn't know marvin hangler acted marvin the story of marvin watch a documentary on the story of marvin hangler versus sugar ray leonard because marvin hangler chased sugar ray leonard his whole life then sugar ray wouldn't give him a match, retired. Marvin Hagler won the title, and then he tries to deny Sugar Ray a win, or deny him a match.

Then when they finally have a match, it's one of the closest boxing matches of all time where when you watch it, they say you could say either side won. It's incredible. It's a great documentary. I hate sports. I love boxing documentaries. It's amazing. Because's a great documentary. I hate sports. I love boxing documentaries. It's amazing.

Because most of you, in terms of games, you play like 1.5 times a year. Because your body will die. Yeah, it defines you for decades, though. For decades. So the SNL stuff, yeah. Yeah, I want to talk about this. John Vitti wrote for it, as did George Meyer. He said he had a very unhappy year there, John Vitti.

Conan O'Brien, John Schwartz Welder. Conan O'Brien had a different experience. No said he had a very unhappy year there, John VD. Conan O'Brien, John Schwarzwelder. Conan O'Brien had a different experience. No, he had a good time. They loved him there, yeah. But George Meyer and Schwarzwelder, they hated it. They hated it. And I think, like, Schwarzwelder did a couple years and then left to do, like, advertising. The way people describe working in SNL is the way a lot of people describe working in Amazon now.

Yeah. Yeah, if you can't hack it, leave. Like, I remember Bob Odenkirk on the Mr. Show commentary saying, like, you're spending too much money on sets, and why is every sketch a talk show? Like, not every, sorry, sketch has to be a talk show. Yeah. Bob made it, he quoted a price on that. Like, why is every set $20,000?

Like, they can't make you an episode of the show for $20,000. And then Bob Odenkirk is like, he is key to the era they're mocking in here. He was one of their top writers. So this is like the frat boy era of SNL, right? We have like the Sandlers and the Spades. It's right upon that.

But this is them mocking 86 to 92. It is. It's mocking a lot of the stuff Dana Carpenter, like I thought of Head Wound Harry. Yeah, I was going to say what is the big air family what is mad about shoe or man with no depth perception yeah i thought of it's pat and uh no as a kid i love those things driving cat i love toonsies it made me fall in love with comedy. Ever. It's time for another episode of the Big Ear Family. Honey, I'm home. Oh, I got wax in my ears.

Better clean them. Huh? Huh? This goes on for 12 more minutes. But I think that criticism of SNL is warranted. Yes. But also, that's why they're better than you. You don't try untested things on the air.

You focus test things to death. Simpsons is doing ADR reuse animation right now. When an SNL sketch works, it is perfect. It's a miracle. It changes. It can change society or change the American society with catchphrases and shit. And when Harry Shearer was on the show in like 85, I think, on SNL. No, it was like 79.

He wasn't on that early, was he? He was. I thought it was early 80s. No. Dick Aebersol took over in 81. He's got a great story about that. Lauren didn't tell him he wasn't hired on as a performer. Or he did tell him he was hired on as a performer.

But didn't allow him to perform. I just heard his WTF interview again. And I remember... It's great because, like, he's a sour dick, okay? Harry Shearer sucks in some ways. But he was right. He goes into SNL.

He has TV producing experience. And he's like, you're running the show wrong. The way you're running the show sucks. Like, this show was set up to run on cocaine. Yes. And we're not doing that anymore.

It still is. We need to have more preparation. We don't need to be writing at three in the morning. And he was just mad about that. And he's right. It should not be written like this anymore,

but it still is. It's just an institution that will never change. But I like that. We admire, I admire how South Park is written. You don't have to love South Park to admire, like,

you have five weeks to put this all together. I think a lot of that is just, like, false populism. Like, we're just like you. We don't even care. And it's just like, they can put anything on the air. No, I think, I think a lot of that is just like false populism. Like, we're just like you. We don't even care. And then it's just like

they can put anything on the air. No, I think in order to make a comedic fictional piece that responds exactly to something happening in the news, in those days, you have to take those chances.

I appreciate it because I feel like no one will ever do it again. And SNL, I love that SNL existed. Like, you can't work there as an old person. Only Lauren.

No, no, no. You have to be, I couldn't do it now. It's been my dream to work on the to work i don't know how daryl hammond hung in there well i think he's called in to do one sketch every six months yeah so it blew my mind here watching it again was like the phil hartman who is currently he's currently a cast member he goes the big air family he's he knows what he's making fun of he should be very aware of what he's making fun of with that line. I especially did love the line. I thought the most savage line

was, actually, the last half hour is a real garbage dump. No, because if you're a comedy nerd, it's where everything awesome launches. That is where the Dr. Poop sketch was. I can't help you, but I can do the robot. The last episode I watched was Kristen Wiig hosting, and there's

a sketch, a cat-based sketch with her and Kate McKinnon. It is the greatest thing I've ever seen. I think I have seen that, yeah. And it's dumped at the end. And Wayne's World was dumped at the end, too. The first Wayne's World was. Buster Poindexter. The most insulting thing is Bart saying,

I miss Joe Piscopo, implying that Joe Piscopo, who sucks super hard, is better than this era of SNL, which is so wrong. You watch how you talk about the governor of New Jersey. When are we recording this? The mugging of G.E. Smith to the camera is perfect, too. Brett and I will just cue that music, and it makes us crack up.

Like 1993 to 1995 era SNL. Like a relentlessly noodling guitar solo. With saxophones. It's Saturday Night Live. It's really mean to Saturday Night Live, but they're like correct things, and yet as a kid I couldn't reconcile those two things because I was watching Comedy Central Saturday Night Live reruns all the time.

All the time. To say, if I had to say The Simpsons, which I don't, they make 90 times the material than you do with 6% of the staff. There's like 0% curation. We just need content on the air and musical acts and that's it. It's a variety show that has an expiration date.

I love that about it. Always will. The Simpsons will be right back. Thank you guys so much for listening. Wanted to tell you that this episode is brought to you by Geek Fuel. Geek Fuel premium delightful mystery box featuring six to eight items and an exclusive shirt. We always refer toekFuel like a birthday present you give yourself or as a gift to a loved one every single month. Because GeekFuel is all about brightening up your day once a month with cool goodies featuring your favorite stuff. Like Marvel, DC, Nintendo, PopFig, Zelda, Halo, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Futurama. The list goes on and on, ranging from pint glasses, cards, posters, shirts, comic books, and

each box is guaranteed to contain $50 worth of stuff, and Geekboxes start for as little as $14 plus shipping and handling. If that weren't enough, you can go to geekfuel.com slash lasertime and receive a bonus Star Wars item worth $20 absolutely free. If you're looking to put a pep in your

geeky step, consider Geekfuel, and if you want that free Star Wars item, head to geekfuel.com slash lasertime. When you really care about someone, you shout it from the mountaintops. So on behalf of Desjardins Insurance, I'm standing 20,000 feet above sea level to tell our clients that we really care about you. Home and auto insurance personalized to your needs. Weird, I don't remember saying that part. Visit Desjardins.com slash care and get insurance that's really big on care. Did I mention that we care?

Are you already tired of 2016? Jump into the past with 302010, our weekly pop culture time machine podcast. Here's something you may remember from 1986. The final episode of Star Wars Ewoks. I hate this song. I've never heard this. There's two seasons. One of the theme songs.

This is awful. I'm sorry, is this Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds? I was going to say Tone Loke, but that's... It does sound like the Tone Loke Ferngully song. It's such a downer. I don't want to go on an adventure. I just want to nap now. That's 3020TED, a weekly look at what happened in pop culture 30 years ago, 20 years ago, and 10 years ago, every Thursday right here on the Lazer Time Network.

302010! but as is the case in these gina reese episodes watching tv introduces a plot point it does introduce the uh the big i didn't even get it the the big brother because i don't the big brother commercial yeah i love the narrator that's like no he's not coming no he's not coming back uh but that that bart can can get back at Homer for being a shitty dad by getting a new one. A brilliant thing. I wish I was a little younger because I probably would have done this to get revenge on my parents. I don't know why Tom and Peppy weren't hooked up with before. Yeah.

Well, because... Remember... No, no, no. Why was she being so selective? She's like, finally, a white kid who needs help here. I've been saving Tom just for you. Homer did want a white version of Peppy. Yes, he did.

He wanted a blonde one. But we get to meet Tom, voiced by Phil Hartman. I've been saving someone special for a case like yours. Bart Simpson. Yo. I'm Tom. Let's ride. Dude, I was going to ask all of you why this sounded so...

Simpsons hasn't made a real 80s reference, and the music here gets really 80s. I think it is like... If it were Tom Cruise, it's very Top Gun-y. It's Tom Cruise from Top Gun. Yeah. And he also is a fighter pilot. They're making the musical references that would make more sense if we heard Tom Cruise's voice.

Yes. And his name is Tom. I didn't even understand. And I like how in the commentary Mike Reese just says, you know, screw you. Because he deserves it. Like, they made you a Simpsons episode. The least you could do is do like 10 minutes of voice acting. That's it.

Yeah. What are you so good with, Tom Cruise? In 92, he thought he was going to win an Oscar for a few good men. All right. And he was just pulling back. Is that it? I'm too good for The Simpsons. But this is also when we get introduced to the B-plot of the Corey hotline.

The B-plot, I'll say this, hot take, is more memorable for most people than the rest of the episode. I hear more references to the Corey hotline. So they're referencing Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. Corey Haim is dead, unfortunately. Jesus, this show is so old. I do recommend Corey Feldman's autobiography, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say. It's called Choreography.

It's great. I've heard it's a real bummer. Is it called Alacory? I wish Alacory was in there. But, okay, yes, like Henry says, it's a real bummer. Is it called Alacori? I wish Alacori was in there. But okay, yes, like Henry says, it's a real bummer because a lot of the book is about a pedophilia ring in Hollywood that people are aware of that he was passed through and Corey Haim was passed through. And this still happens. Children are groomed and turn into actors and molested by powerful men. It wasn't you this time, Chris. Okay, thank you. But apparently this man is still doing what he did,

and that is one of the reasons why Corey Haim's life went off the rails, because of sexual abuse. I'm sorry to bring this down, but it's important to know that you should read choreography. And that he had to, like, befriend Michael Jackson to not be abused. Yes, exactly. That is the craziest thing, but it makes sense if you read his book. When Michael Jackson is your sanctuary against molestation.

Yeah. And then Michael Jackson shut Corey Feldman out of his life because of stupid reasons. Because he tried to mimic everything he is? That might have been part of it. This is the Corey Hotline introduction. Homer, do you have an explanation for the spell? Oh, it's that record club. The first nine were only a penny.

Then they jacked up the price. It's not fair. It's not fair, I tells you. No, no. Someone made $300 worth of phone calls to something called the Corey Hotline. $370. That seems more. I pay $150 a month.

Well, I'm paying off my new phone. There's no porn subscription that costs that much. Poor women. I'm thinking of like $4.99 a minute probably divided by that number of dollars. And we did a whole Laser Time episode about and the prices match up about 900 numbers. And not just 900 numbers.

Like, call me. I'm a sexy lady. Like, no, call and hear Sting read the news to you from WWE or Freddy Kruegeranta claus wants to talk to you yeah or call the call the freak he's this weird thing on television i'm the freak and it really like it was a celebrity early was one of those people just calling leaving a voicemail like hey fans love you uh i'm touring here later and then like they would pay five dollars it was a fucking vine yeah but you had to pay like 99 cents a minute that's a great analogy yeah it was insane

it was like pay-per-view vines this is even legal i do love that like the last two episodes are flawed lisa lisa being able to be a young lady lisa was tripping on acid in the last episode she is she is going through drug withdrawal she's also behaving badly in the one fucking uh addiction allegory we have in the simpsons the first one at least is lisa is lisa trying to break through i i know that yardley smith had had as she talked about how she didn't like lisa having a crush on on a boy because she's eight and she thought it was too young for that and so her being a girl like it feels like more of a tween thing yeah there's i think for me the spiritual the spiritual sequel episode is the bob's burgers where where Louise can't help but be attracted to a boy band member.

That's true. And is so angry about it. And she only wants to slap his face. Yes. She just wants to hit him so much. I love that episode. So great. No, it's not boys for now.

I'll never be able to understand lady sexuality, especially not at this age. But there's no good outlet for it. And so I can see a Corey hotline being as I remember it grew up in the New Kids on the Block period yeah yeah and that was a merchandising

sensation based on little girl sexuality I feel like the Corys in 92 were probably going off the cliff at this point I mean they were more like late 80s I associate them with it should have been

Jordan or Joey or Danny or Danny I don't blame the Simpsons writers for being out of touch with what 10-year-old girls find sexy. I mean, this is

Marky Mark's time to shine, if anything, right? 92, yeah. Corey was definitely out at 8 by 93. You want to hear Lisa saying the words good vibrations? Is that what you want, Bob? Yeah. I was happy enough with Bobby Sherman. Yeah. When I was a girl, I had a crush on Bobby Sherman. The point is, I want you to stop making these calls.

All right, Mom. I promise you will never be billed for another call. Bobby Sherman? It's like the second time. I love Lisa belittling Marge trying to relate to her. If it was Bart laughing, I'd be like, how does Bart know who Bobby Sherman is? But Lisa's smart enough. I'd go like, all right, she might know.

I mean, this is the first time. I looked him up for the first time. I figured he was like a pop idol. Yeah. But I looked up his most popular songs. I never heard them before. That's right. I never heard them on the radio.

And I feel like if you were a one-hit wonder from 1950 to 1990, I've heard your song. But I didn't recognize any of his music. He's very goody-goody, very Donny Osmond. All the links on his page are to the Monkees. And I think he was supposed to be like, well, what if Davy Jones was a solo act and did Pappy Shith written for him by a studio? And that's who Bobby Sherman was. But he's such a dweeb that doesn't even have at least yeah like you say it's like the osmonds except with the osmonds like donny marie they was like when are they gonna fuck he's like the osmonds

with less bite with yes with donny marie you at least had the excitement of a boy and a girl singing and toothy and it's like you were toothy. They at least had that. But meanwhile, Bobby Sherbert is just like, I like nice things and I'm Bobby Sherbert. A very inoffensive adult male. I want to play more Cory Cole, but I have to get this baseball game clip out because then it sets up the episode where Tom hates Homer.

Your dad ever take you to baseball games? Nah, his game was blackjack. He bet our life savings on a single hand. If I ever meet your dad. The start of the game will be delayed, so we can introduce the recruiter for the Springfield Communist Party. Another example of Springfield setting people up to fail. This is the real-life Gabby J.

Yay. Yay. Though, I like this joke, but here come the pretzels is a funnier lie. It's a funnier version of this for some kind of saturday though i just associate here come the pretzels like brett uses that as his analogy all the time me i do i my line is uh sometimes you're waddy ford sometimes you're the pretzel it just happens it's here come the pretzels aside like an analogy for someone turning on something or the crowd turning well i something? Well, I mean, comments perhaps.

Brett and I had a job where you get to announce things and wait for people to react poorly. So here comes the pretzels. We're like, well, here it comes. Here it comes. I forgot that joke about Hibbert with the mash coloring button. Which he just takes with him. He takes it. It's such a good joke.

He's laughing at it as he walks away. But this is the Corey hotline. I love it so much. Hi, But this is the Corey hotline. I love it so much. Hi, you've reached the Corey hotline. $4.95 a minute. Here are some words that rhyme with Corey. Glory. Story.

Allegory. Montessori. I can tell he had problems with Montessori. I've never seen this word before. Montessori. I don't even know how to define Montessori. Yeah. And I think, like, I remember in an earlier episode that we talked about, I forget which one it was, but I think it was Lisa's Pony where Lisa and Janie were talking about, like, Lisa had a dream about marrying Corey at a pony ranch. Yeah.

It's always taking his shirt off. Yeah. Man. That was in Radio Bart. Oh, Radio Bart. Yeah. That's right. So I am way drunker than I should be doing this show, I'm going to say right now.

But I do, I also want to say, I can't convey how much, I fell in love with The Simpsons first. Yeah. That was, like, my first, like, I'm going drunker than I should be doing this show. I'm going to say that right now. But I do. I also want to say I can't convey how much. I fell in love with The Simpsons first. That was like my first like I'm going to record this and watch this every week. And then Ren and Stimpy came along. And I was like I don't need The Simpsons anymore. You're like I only need to record eight episodes. That's all there are. And then after a year of like I think four episodes.

Like the last two didn't air for months. Yeah. So I want to say this episode... So I would have stuck with Ren and Stimpy if they produced episodes. I never would have watched them. I never would have cared as much about the Simpsons. Bob, let's talk about that timeline.

Yeah. So I was going to say, this was probably approved when John Crick Felucy was still working on Ren and Stimpy. He was fired in August of 92. And if this aired in January of 93... For sure he was still on the show. Yeah, production...

If this aired in January of 93, so production-wise, it must have been like March. They've always said it's like nine months or over nine months from air to creation. The reason I know John Kay was still on the show when this happened is because they had a Ren and Stimpy animator do the layout for this parody.

It looks great. And it's not even a parody. It's just like we're just going to do a scene, and it's an advertisement for Ren and Stimpy. And I think it was actually Chris Riccardi who directed a lot of episodes. It looks really, really good. This meatball soup is delicious, Stimpy. That's not meatball soup.

That's my collection of verb walls and stomach acid. You idiot! You're trying to kill me, man! I can't say how pivotal it was to see my favorite show reference my favorite show. To watch Bart Simpson laughing at Ren and Stimpy was very validating for me as a kid. It was crazy.

I want to say that Matt Groening and John Kay were friends then. I assume they still are because he did some really shitty couch gags for them. They're terrible. They're ugly. It's the worst animation you've ever seen in your life. He turned on John Kay so hard. At this point, he had people holding him up because he was untalented, but he got this made and it was great.

He's very talented. He's just ridiculous to work with. He's somewhat talented, but he got this made, and it was great. He's very talented. He's just ridiculous to work with. He's somewhat talented, but he's got mental illness, and he's going to treat it. But he was kicked off the show by 93, right? August of 92 was when the firing happened. The timeline for me was like Ren and Simpy was the greatest show for what felt like years, but was like a year of being awesome. Yeah. Okay, so I said he was untalented.

I take that back. You should. He's a great artist. He's a shitty animator. And a lot of your favorite things around Stimpy are from other people, not him. So don't give him all the credit.

Yeah. It's funny, though, that they worked on this and in like eight episodes, there will be a very cruel written Stimpy joke, though not wrong. didn't you write an article about that for later time they hated animated feuds that you see yeah in the cartoons

they the writers i won't say graining but the writers on the simpsons definitely hated that he said they remembered is as john crick full is he saying the simpsons is great in spite of its writers yeah yeah and that john k was very much against writers who can't draw shouldn't be writing anime. We just talked about that on Bonus Time that John Kay was like, writers are given a lot of importance in animation. And we've even talked about here how on the commentary they refer to animators as the elves who do the things that we like. Yes. That is true. But John Kay was like, well, if you can't draw,

then you can't write for our cartoon, period. And if you don't draw, you're not allowed in the writer's room. I love the way he did his show. I do like, because I can see myself

like full-heartedly trying to embark on the same termite terrorist thing. Right. I don't know. How long are we going to get into this? Well, if you want to listen to the entire story

of John Crick Felucy, I tell it on the Creators Fired episode of Blazertime. It takes about 20 minutes, but you will learn why. John Kay is great, but Bob Camp is the secret sauce that made Ren and Stimpy work. He is. He made Stimpy's invention happen. If you like that cartoon, then you love Bob Camp.

That is my favorite Ren and Stimpy. He basically storyboarded it from start to finish, and that was his cartoon. And it was also weird hearing Dan doing both voices. Pulling Billy West duty. Couldn't they not, could they not get Billy West? Like, was it, that was a union thing or something.

Well, I don't know the rule. I don't think you can just, like, Robot Chicken is the only thing that defies this. You can go on another show and voice a character. Well, that's a cable show, so it's a non-union show.

That's kind of the thing. Well, you can go on another show and voice a character that you voice on something else. I don't really think that's a thing you can do. It's pretty rare, except for Robot Chicken. And I will say, we brought it up, I think, in the Monorail episode that they do a Flintstones parody.

And when The Simpsons came out the first three years, it couldn't be mentioned in an article without talking about The Flintstones. And when Ren and Stimpy premiered, that changed. You had to talk about The Simpsons and Ren and Stimpy changing animation. And so seeing this really authentic Ren and Stimpy thing in the middle of the Simpsons was mind blowing we can agree this is not a parody this is not making fun of Ren and Stimpy it's like no we like it here's a Ren and Stimpy scene for 20 seconds

I honestly don't know where they stand on it because it's so accurate to what Ren and Stimpy like the fact the only thing like well he should have hit Stimpy there instead his eyeballs twisted in a circle and exploded which is also very Ren and Stimpy yeah I mean there's nothing that would not be on ren and snippy on a normal episode and again like you said drawn by one of the top dudes at the games animation like john k would not let a simpsons animator draw ren and snippy for sure yeah no i'm surprised he probably was like i'm

too busy to do this but i can't let a simpsons animator and it's funny because i think i knew like who was buttering his bread or who would get him exposure because when there was renin-snippy comic book he was like none of my people can work on this i i put my foot down none of my animators can draw this comic book but on the simpsons he had one of his animators do the scene so i think he knew that would get him a lot more like basically like an agreement yeah oh i don't know yeah i i love after this is the show and tell scene i love love the show and tell scene. The neural disruptor. For too late. I don't have it, but I have this one.

Hi, this is Corey. I hope you and I can get married someday. That was my intro. In the, at show and tell, I like, I feel like I've definitely been the millhouse in things. I'm like, this is my horsey. I like that he essentially destroys Martin. I've never had a neural disruptor, but I also never did show and tell in the fourth grade.

That never happened. I laughed so hard at, thank an unprecedented eight-year military buildup. Oh, my God. I laughed so hard at that. What a fantasy world that is now. Only eight years of military buildup. Yeah, Eggie Nixon.

Oh, good God. Who. This is, man, a couple of sequences in this episode see every single character acting really hard like they're about to get an Emmy nomination. So this is Homer, I think, imitating Richard Burton from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Wow.

It's also like him acting to the fucking rafters. Yeah, I mean, him having a drink in his hand definitely underlines the Virginia Woolf reference they're doing. Hello, son. Where have you been? Playing with Milhouse. No, you haven't. You've been out gallivanting around with that floozy

of a bigger brother of yours, haven't you? Haven't you? Look at me. Dad, it just kind of happened. You're taking this too hard. How would you like me to take it? Go ahead, Bart. Have your fun. I'll be waiting for you. I'm sorry. I can't do it.

Well, what are you going to do? Oh, you'll see. Yeah. This does feel like unfettered craziness from the writers. Yeah, like this made no sense to me until I watched Forbidden Wolf. And I'm like, I totally get it. You should watch the movie, by the way. It's Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton arguing with each other drunk for 90 minutes.

It's great. Which is great because that was one of the worst couples in Hollywood filmdom. Yes, a real couple in real life. Not only a real couple. Jesus. I went to a wedding. I just watched Night of the Iguana, which is where they met. And I went to the place where they consummated their affair.

And there are pictures of them all over the joint. Sorry. Is that in Florida? No, it's in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Oh, okay. Which Night of the Iguana was shot. Also, famously, Predator. Wow.

The movie Predator was shot in the same place. So Homer decides he's going to get revenge. That's Homer finding out that Bart is cheating on him with another father. I don't like this allegory, but that's what they're writing. It is. It's very sexual. Homer's going to get his revenge by pleading revenge. And what are your reasons for wanting a little brother?

Don't say revenge. Don't say revenge. Don't say revenge. Revenge? That's it. I'm getting out of here. Welcome aboard, Mr. Simpson. She checks off revenge. That's one of the six check marks.

That works. His brain leaving is great, though. It started in the last episode. It's going to continue. His brain keeps... Though, it's not as good as when his brain leaves at the cider place and he just falls to the ground. Is that Burns Baby Burns? Yeah. And I like...

Yeah, but I get some cider. The movie has the end of that with the monkey where he puts the cymbals down and points, listen to your fucking wife, asshole. It's a great end of that joke. But this is another character on the simpsons action to the raptors gigantic they're great he's supposed to be cute wait before you play this clip i want to say this joke defines skinner's relationship with his mother

before she was like a sweeter lady and she was very important to him but this is like the negative relationship starts based on a cycle reference i think this calls him spanky yeah that's it there's too many hitchitchcock references swirling around Skinner at this point. And so him looking at Norman Bates' house and yelling at his mother is just so apt. And so on the nose.

And I'm saying that as in the Simpsons, up to this point, were very subtle. And having never seen Psycho, that's a psycho reference because you're telling me a thousand percent clear it's a psycho reference. Oh, that's a Psycho reference because you're telling me a thousand percent clear it's a Psycho reference. Oh, there's Mother now. Watching me.

What, that Mother? Well, I have a right to be here. It's school business. Mother, that sailor suit doesn't fit anymore. I think we should go. Lisa got caught dialing the 900 number again. Yeah, I think they defined his relationship with his mother in this episode for real. Because in the Halloween episode, like you said, Chris, he got in trouble for calling a girl or something. He had to ride the bus with Bart.

They make it clear. She was right to do it. Yeah, exactly. This re- Well, Edna does say his mommy won't let him come out to play when she says she won't get with him. But it's weird. This is like the only pop culture reference for like a sadistically controlling mother at this point.

They loved that at the time. But it was, I also like that Marge and Lisa are just like, we should go. We'll figure out a punishment later. Let's both get out of here. Let's just leave. But this reference, I didn't understand, but it goes into like, it's not my out of here let's just leave but this reference uh i didn't understand but it

goes into like it's not my line of the show it's my favorite joke period of like almost the whole season um your son bart sounds very bad oh he is son i just want you to know i love you very much Shut up. Mmm, grapefruit. I just press this button, and the door opens like magic. Why does it stop there? Because it's a stupid piece of junk! All of this is what's missing on Modern Simpsons. Because framing Homer destroying the garage door from the inside... Yeah. Just for a bit, yeah.

All you see is a triangle form. The metal is just being reshaped by his fist. It's the funniest fucking visual animated joke that's ever existed. It doesn't exist at all on the show. I love that joke. I forgot that joke too when I saw it. I was like, oh shit. It's so funny.

And I can see myself... I'm laughing as a little kid. I can see my dad laughing as an adult oh shit it's so funny and like i can see myself i'm laughing as a little kid i could see my dad laughing as an adult like and it's the animation that does it yeah homer's noises makes it good too yeah but that's that's part of animation and they did it well in the grapefruit scene is actually a reference to the james cagney 1931 movie the public enemy where he smashes the grapefruit into his girlfriend's face. So that I could tie a bucket to you and sink you. Maybe you found someone you like better.

There he goes in. Smash. It's not a cartoon, so that was just like, you just punched her with a grapefruit. Yeah, you just punched her with a grapefruit. But I never knew that. Bart is wearing the striped pajamas. That's like the one visual part of the scene. I never would have got

that. This is an insane sequence. So people mix up James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson a lot. What are you talking about, Bob? James Cagney is like, you dirty rat. And Edward G. Robinson is like, yeah, man. What are you talking about, Bob? So never mix them up. They're different. Well, that's all you need to know is that

Edward G. Robinson is... Not Quimby. Jesus Christ. Wiggum. Yeah. That's Wiggum. Exactly. Ah, boys.

Like, that's Quimby. And James Cagney's saying Yankee Doodle Dandy poorly. Yankee Doodle Dandy. Sorry. But it brings up the good topic about dames. What are we going to do about them? You can rub grapefruits in all their faces.

Make some laws. Tie buckets to their heads. My mom loved the learn it joke. She liked that quite a lot. gonna do about them uh rub grapefruits in all their faces my make some laws my buckets of the heads my mom loved the learned joke she liked that quite a lot and uh she had to explain to me that that is the correct way to say it learned makes more sense i like the different cowboy constellations that's jerry the cowboy alan these are all great sequences yeah it's already they're hard to get clips of well so lisa has to resist till midnight to call the thing which it's a good ticking clock and it's a nice sequence it almost made me think that they were going to cut it's all in one shot and i think i wonder if they

planned on interspersing a little more throughout the episode but they realize like if it starts at seven and ends at midnight yeah days can't pass in the Homer and Bart story. Because, look, the B-plot ends with, like, multiple sequences left in the main story. Yeah. And I also think, though, I don't know, I don't think a fix to addiction is, hey, you made it past midnight this whole time. Yeah, like cold turkey. You did it. You're done.

Well, maybe for Lisa's addiction. It's a phone addiction. But the director, Jeffrey Lynch, who I think is one of the most talented non-first string directors. He did the entire scene himself, and he was afraid he went too far. But people loved it. Yeah, and he directed some great visual episodes like The Curse of the Flying Hellfish. That was his. And I think he did the first Who Shot Mr. Burns?

Or maybe the second. Yeah. And also he went on to be the visual animation director for the Spider-Man films the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films the least best no way they're better than Amazing I'll watch well

I'd watch Amazing 2 before I watched Spider-Man 3 but I'd watch Spider-Man 1 and 2 before watching Amazing 1 and 2 I just again I want to point out the dated nature of the time and temperature phone number, which we all... Oh, true.

So when I was a kid, I think when you're a kid, you just delight in having agency over something. And I loved calling that number. In fact, I know it by heart. It's 747-1411 in my area code. You have so many internet-connected devices that have an atomic clock or a connection with a major clock. This is our only connection

was to call the phone company. Why is my VCR five minutes off? I gotta call the phone company and know what real time it is. But like I said, as a kid, I didn't have anyone to call, of course. I had no friends. I was like three, but it's like, if I call a number, this guy will save the time. And that's like a

great feeling. I have control over this. I'm mad because I'm spending money. I was like three. But it's like if I call a number, this guy will save the time. And that's like a great feeling. I have control over this. And my parents won't get mad because I'm spending money because I'm not. It's fine. And when you had young semi-gay relationships with friends and no women and you wanted them to call you on the phone, you'd call that number and just call in between the hours of – like beep in between 12 so my phone doesn't ring. I did not have this arrangement. Me and my buddy Steve did. I would call that number and wait for him to beep in. Otherwise, the phones would ring and wake up the whole house.

That's smart. And so I spent so much time on the phone with time. We called it time and temperature in Florida. It's not a thing. It's not a thing. It is amazing to think of a time when a phone call would wake up the entire house and people didn't have private lives. The one phone is ringing. Yeah.

Someone's dead. You would call it to like, we got to set up this computer. What time is it really? I'm not going to trust my VCR or my stove or my grin for the clock. I'm going to call time and temperature. We have not met Pepe yet. He's in this episode. But I want to say that he is based on the comic strip character Dondi.

And you might be saying, who's Dondi? I don't know either. But apparently he was an Italian war refugee child. And there was a comic from... When you really care about someone, you shout it from the mountaintops. So on behalf of

Desjardins Insurance, I'm standing 20,000 feet above sea level to tell our clients that we really care about you! We care about you! Home and auto insurance personalized to your needs. Weird, I don't remember saying that part. Visit Desjardins.com slash

care and get insurance that's really big on care. Did I mention that we care? From the 50s to the 80s, there was a Dondi comic, sort of like a little Orphan Annie style character. I had never seen this comic in my life. With giant eyes. Yeah.

That was Dondi. And so, yeah, they just wanted a pitiful kid. Papa Homer. Yeah. But then meanwhile, like, so when Bart finds out about it, first off, Homer gives away a skateboard, which actually was very nice. Yeah. It's kind of a dick move. But then Bart does a Harry Met Sally.

I also did like Homer's line, you're not the only one who can abuse a non-profit organization. Charity-based revenge. This is the filthiest joke to date. Hey, Homer, have you seen my skateboard? I gave it to Peppy. Who the hell is Peppy? He's my little brother.

That's right. You're not the only one who can abuse a non-profit organization. Who needs you? Tom's a better father than you ever were. Come on, Bart. We had our fun. Remember when I used to push you on the swing? I was faking it.

Liar! Oh, yeah? Remember this? Higher, Dad. Higher. Whee! Whee! Push harder, Dad.

Come on. Higher. Higher. Faster. Stop it! Stop it! I harder, Dad. Come on. Higher, higher, faster. Stop it! Stop it! I'll have what he's having. Bart looks sad at the very end.

He's like, oh, I went too far. Because Bart's smarter than his father. I do remember my sister laughing at that joke, and I was like, well, I get why it's funny to me, but she's laughing a lot harder than I am. I don't know. She's older to me, but she's laughing a lot harder than I am. I don't know. She's older than me. Talking to my sister, she faked childhood orgasms for our family to make them happier. That's an amazing parlor trick.

I never would have thought to do that. I never cared about my parents' happiness. She did. She did. She did numerous things to make everybody happy. That's what she does. So then we get to the finale. They go to SeaWorld.

So first off, over with the dolphin. I want to hear that clip. Yeah. Come and get it. Come and get it. Stupid dolphin. It always makes me laugh. I love when he's restrained by the employees.

I thought I remembered him punching the dolphin, but he doesn't. But they mentioned it in the commentary, and I double-checked this. This is a reference to a short. I thought so, yeah. It's a reference to a Tracy Ullman short called Zoo Story. If you look it up, that's where you found it. I watched this 10 years ago, and I'm like, why is his face doing that yeah his eyes are just pointing different directions because they were that is they're they go to the zoo bart wants a peanut homer won't share it with him it's very you watch

i re-watched a lot of those bart is the main character constantly talking to the audience and it also has this weird like kind of kid againstworld spirit to it that feels very grainy. Oh, yeah, like really life is hell. Life in hell, sorry. In the zoo episode, Bart is like, I don't want to be at the zoo. Can I have a peanut? Homer won't share the peanut because he's a jerk. And then he's taunting a gorilla. And he's like, oh, you want a peanut?

No. He pulls it back. And every time he pulls it back, he then laughs with the same facial structure as in this one. That's why it's so specific when he's taunting the dolphin because it's the same. It's very weird.

If you're not watching this episode you don't know why this scene is so jarring. But I remember it. I had to ask you guys I think two years ago like what the fuck is up with this scene?

He's not like no boy these are my peanuts. I'm more from a half one. But his face is all over the place in it because his face was so wacky in the original version the punch line there is literally he gets shit thrown in his face and i think like oh yeah yeah but you could say it's dirt for for the censors but like he clearly got shit for this update fox no but i think when

you're talking about Brooks sitting people down, this episode is too all over the place. This is a very obscure reference. Yeah. And the obscure reference lies in season zero of the show, which even me, I don't know if I've seen everything. I think arguably the twister mouths are a Tracy Ullman reference. When the head twists on the jawline.

Is that still your profile picture on Twitter? Oh, yeah, yeah. Bart saying, blood. Yeah. I think I did a good audio approximation there. Yeah, you need to, like, detach your jaw from your face, though. Twist your mouth. And then Homer happily is like, oh, I'm the drunken gambler.

He meets Tom. The drunken gambler. Come on, Bart. You know better than to talk to strangers. For your information, I'm his father. His father? The drunken gambler? That's right.

And who might you be? Homer proudly identifies as a drunken gambler. One of my favorite jokes that doesn't work in audio form is, one, Homer throwing starfish as ninja stars. Yeah. And two... And Tom going, there you go. There you go.

Throwing him in the tank to live again and be eaten by sharks and giving him great dough. And he says dough. It's so good. And you know, when you say that's supposed to be Tom Cruise, there's no entertainment out of Phil Hartman saying dough. It's Tom Cruise saying dough. That was the joke. This is an over-the-top crazy fight that feels like they were like, let's just do the nuttiest fight we can and it's very clearly from a certain film that i only watch because they identify in the commentaries then i finally

watched it in like 2005 the quiet man yeah i never saw i never watched actually i i'll though i doubt i would have ever agreed with them politically that doesn't mean you can't enjoy an artist i disagree but anyway uh john ford and john wayne made a bunch of amazing movies together though i really had only seen their westerns this one is not a western it's actually a comedy they did where john wayne is an american but who goes back to his family ancestral home in ireland because like a rich relative passed away and he's going to inherit the place. And so then he meets, he meets all the people in this small Irish town and they hate him like, get out of here, Yankee.

And including this guy who's like this drunk older brother of Maureen O'Hara, who she then falls in love with John Wayne. And the older brother hates him and they get in a fight for it's basically like 30 minutes long where they fight through the entire town uh Al Jean talks about how they filmed a lot of it at this castle in Ireland that when he went on his honeymoon with his second wife that they play it every day at the at the castle because they're like, you're in this place. And it's such a funny, crazy, stupid long fight where these guys are just

beating each other up for a ridiculous amount of time. I didn't grab the clip. The news is talking about it, which would make a lot more sense than a modern version of this fight scene. The Quiet Man is tons of fun. I liked it a lot.

But by the way, it was made 70 years ago, so you will see things that are politically wrong. They're not cool. No, I'm putting you on the hook for that, Hank. You recommend it. It's a problematic fave. There is one five-second scene, which is a direct parody of the Street Fighter 2 opening. Yes! And here's the thing.

In the Street Fighter 2 opening, you might not have seen it before. It's the arcade opening opening it's an unnamed white guy punching out an unnamed black guy it features two unknown who now have histories oh they do? do they have wiki pages? no no officially by the company officially by the company they have character

bios now and I watched the clip of the intro it's not that close but exactly that totally kick ass what's it cheap not that close but exactly that totally kick-ass uh what's the cheap trick ripoff soundtrack okay well um so i imagine like it's what the animators remember seeing in the game they don't have direct reference of that footage because it's arcade only weird they can't emulate it or watch it on youtube it's not it wasn't on super nintendo it wasn't no they cut that out yeah yeah wow but it was well i never made that connection it's when tom punches homer out no

you're obviously it you're totally right yeah that's like the the first um the first the first very specific video game reference outside of mike tyson's yeah the punch out ones really when you see them roll into the ravine and then roll back they fight up the gorge yeah i love that joke but you can totally see why james approach will be like what the fuck are we doing but there's a great there's a great why am i working on great, there's a great scene. Why am I working on a cartoon? There's a great scene where they fight into a, I think it's a china shop?

Yeah. And Homer just is like in there breaking things. Gah! Gah! Oh, right. And Tom has to be like, come on, let's go.

I just, I didn't think the end would work for me as well as it did, but I'm, I have way too much shit to do. I need to get out of, I need to fly out of here.

And this, that ending hurts. This is even more painful than it looks. Getting punched over a hydrant with a jamming into your back. This is even worse. I thought Homer was crippled by that. I think when I watched it originally, I think the whole family watching it,

we all gasped. Does his head crack the pavement too? His head touches the pavement. He's doing a backbend with no arms over a fire hydrant. There's great foley in that scene too. It cracks. You hear it crack. He gets on a gurney and Pepe and Tommy.

I'm glad Pepe got a happy ending. But I thought it was more funny. This is sweet. Where Homer teaches his son how to be a fucking coward in a fight. Like start fights and then finish it like this. Dad, remember when Tom had you in that headlock and you screamed, I'm a hemophiliac? And when he let you go, you kicked him in the back? Yeah.

Will you teach me how to do that? Sure, boy. First, you got to shriek like a woman and keep sobbing till he turns away in disguise. That's when it's time to kick some back. And then when he's lying on the ground, kick him in the rib, step on his neck

and run like hell. Step on his neck. I love it when Bart gets to be a little kid. And it's all terrible. That's when it's time to kick some back. It's so great. So I have a theory about this. Like a woman totally turns away and disgusts.

Yeah, disgust your enemy and they kick them in the spine. So my theory about this episode, I was thinking, Henry and Chris, like, listen to the commentaries. I get the sense that mid-season four production, everyone was leaving. Al Jean and Mike Reese were writing The Critic at this time. While doing post-production on these episodes, they were doing other stuff. So I feel like if this was a season three episode, they could not get Tom Cruise,

they would scrap it. But they needed an episode. Like the Prince episode, they scrapped because they couldn't get Prince. But I feel like they just needed content. I think you're right. I mean, yeah. I feel like the season four and onwards

was kind of like the midpoint, was like anything goes because everyone was leaving. There was a new staff coming in. Algena Mankreis was going to be doing the critics soon. And I feel like this kind of got through. But I like it. I mean, I don't think it's as bad as James L. Brooks thought. I loved it as a kid.

I like it now. I didn't remember Tom Cruise being – I've listened to the commentary. I didn't remember that because I'm drunk and dumb and I forget everything all the time. But I didn't remember that. And knowing that I'm drunk and dumb and I forget everything all the time. But I didn't remember that. And knowing that now means like this is the A-plot. It is horribly underserved. And I think a lot of those visual and audio references would make more sense if Tom Cruise was doing the voice. It would absolutely make more sense.

Especially even if why he was more rare. But I would guess they had to play it down. I wonder if they even animated it or like just in case. Like he might show up and we could get him to do the fill it in. It seems very weird. I want to assume the character would look more like him if it was actually Tom Cruise. Because that would be like a huge get for that show at the time. It would have been their most famous person to that point.

Outside of Ringo. He's bigger. I hung it on me wall. Okay. I'd say in 1992 Tom Cruise was not bigger than Paul McCartney. But he is bigger than Ringo. Oh's bigger. I hung it on me wall. Okay, I'd say in 1992, Tom Cruise was not bigger than Paul McCartney, but he is bigger than Ringo. Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, Ringo was in Chinatown Station then, correct? Exactly. Once Paul

dies, we'll be going to see the Beatles live with Ringo and a couple of other people. Oh boy. Well, I mean... Ringo and the rest of the Beatles! This will happen. I'm predicting the future. Ringo famously does his all-star band where he just, like, tours with good music. Sorry, Ringo. I love you. Play

Octopus's Garden again, please. I have to go pee. You guys have to close. Let's have a chat, Henry. So, good episode. What if Tom Cruise was here? I just can't keep I keep thinking of that. Ever since I heard these commentaries, like, oh my god, we missed the Tom Cruise episode. Though I do think

of, I think of this in regards to season 5 where if this was what he was told not to do then you watch season 5 like no season 5 is wacky town like it really is and Homer's just meaner yeah yeah I don't know if James L Brooks was as attached to the show in season

5 but I feel like a lot more things were crazier than this yeah like compare this episode to, Homer going into outer space and his face transforming into Popeye, for example. Or the Thelma and Louise one. But even a season four episode like Cape Fear was like total senioritis. Any joke can go. We're leaving the show.

Who cares? And some people resented them for that, and we'll talk about that when we get to that episode. But, yes, this has been Talking Simpsons. Chris has left us to pee, but I am still Bob Mackie holding in my pee for the sake of you listeners. And you can find me on Twitter as Bob Servo. And you can also find me on my other podcast, Retronauts, the classic gaming podcast. Find that every Monday at retronauts.com or usgamer.net.

And I also write for Fandom. Go to fandom.com. Read my features every day of your damn life. Henry. Now that you work at Fandom, it saves me time explaining that And I also write for Fandom. Go to fandom.com and read my features every day of your damn life. Henry. Now that you work at Fandom, it saves me time explaining that I work with you at fandom.com.

What's it powered by? Wikia. Of course. And you can see our wonderful writing on fandom.com. I just oiled the Wikia machine today. And I'm also on Twitter at H-E-N-E-R-E-Y-G.

And I'm still a part of the Lazer Time family as well. You can hear me on other podcasts. But most importantly, this is brought to you by supporters like you who support Lazer Time via Patreon at LazerTime at Patreon.com slash Lazer Time. $5 a month will get you access to a ton of great exclusive content, including the first season of Talking Simpson

and the season 2, 3, and 4 specials, and a bunch of other great stuff. The advertisers are afraid of this show, and we need this to live, and my only observation is that my pants stink. Eat shit, Casper. My pants stink, because they were rained on yesterday,

and I didn't put pants on until you guys came over, and I'm wearing wet pants from last weekend. You're asking for a Bonobos sponsorship. I need pants! Get this man some pants. Give me some pants. I'm looking at you, Vice President Mike Pants.

Oh, wow. Help me out here. That's his name, all right. We'll be back. I don't read a lot. We'll be back next week with I Love Lisa, a classic. See you then. Wow. Infotainment.