Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - Homer's Triple Bypass

Episode Date: November 16, 2016

Homer’s health problems get real in this week’s podcast, as the family deals with Mr. Simpson’s heart trouble. Join in and try not to stress out…

this week's talking simpsons is brought to you by quip and you listeners can save ten dollars on refills by going to tryquip.com slash laser time i heartily endorse this event or product. Ahoy, hoy, everybody, and welcome to Talking Simpsons, where the B is for bargain. I am your host, Bob Hippopotamus Oathmackie, and this is the Lazer Time Podcast Network's chronological exploration of The Simpsons. Who is with me today? Hi, everybody! Hi, Dr. Nick!

Where did that come from? Hi, I'm Chris Antisto. Dr. Nick is here. Awesome. So many guests. And I'm Henry Gilbert, and I'm Hatless. I repeat, Hatless. And today's episode is Homer's Triple Bypass, which aired on December 17th, 1992, and Chris

will tell us what happened on this mythical day in history. Oh my god! Holy shit, Bobby. This week in history, Eric Clapton's Unplugged is a smash hit. Speaking of MTV, MTV adds director's credits to their music videos for the first time. Elaine Bennis accidentally reveals

her nipple on a Christmas card to Mr. Seinfeld and Peo, creator of the Smurfs, Smurfs of a Smurf attack. He was Smurfity 1. I prefer Eric Clapton's... Oh, Jesus. I was going to say, I prefer Eric Clapton's earlier work about his dying children. Rather than his work about his dead children?

He totally turned that tragedy into a paycheck, didn't he? Here's a great Mr. Show sketch about it. Yeah, that's all I can think of now. Tears are nature's onions. Sad songs are nature's onions. Thank you. That is a classic seinfeld as well yeah but that's how that's how old this is i just can't believe it like when mtv

made a change to the music videos they played on their channel which yes i don't think they've i don't think they've done in 10 years and that class of of directors would go on to be the directors of the late 90s that everybody loved. Gary Gray, your David Finchers. Spike Junes. Spike Junes. Michael Romanek. Yeah, Romanek. So was that the Seinfeld where Elaine smashed George's face into her breast?

Here's your card! Here's your card, yes. That was when I think I first fell in love with Elaine. I'm like, she's not just 90% hair. There's a beautiful woman under that. I mean, she's still got it going there's a beautiful woman under that i mean she's still got it going on julia oh yeah yeah they gave her like a poodle face because i think that like everybody would just she'd be too hot to be like uh on the level of these four on three unfuckable

men yeah well canonically jerry did fuck her once but that was it did oh no they did they dated at one time and they also had the friends with benefits uh that's the one i'm sorry we'll start that later in life uh so yes this is the homer triple bypass i want to start off by saying probably uh this is one of the two greatest animated episodes in simpsons history with homer goes to college uh i would say the uh the other david silverman episode that i love that's number one for me is next season's halloween episode trios of horror four oh boy that is really great animation they're both silverman at the top of his game and this one I love that's number one for me is next season's Halloween episode. Treehouse of Horror 4. Oh boy. That is really great animation.

They're both Silverman at the top of his game. And this one. Is that, is that why Silverman is the key link here? He is the most talented animator director. All around. Yeah. Well,

he gets the Simpsons better than anybody. Yeah. And this episode gets away with a lot because the subject of a 36-year-old man having a triple bypass operation is so tragic, they needed to sweeten it up with some cartoony animation. You hit that on the head. Only afterward did I talk to people having heart operations on this level. And the idea that you would have this with a 9-year-old and a 7-year-old, this is really early. I didn't know the joke. I think that is part of the joke of this episode.

When I was a kid, I had an elderly neighbor who had a bypass operation. When you're that age, everyone who's old is just old. So seeing Homer get this done, I'm like, oh, he's an old guy. But now that I'm two years younger than him and now that I know a 36-year-old man

in real life, Chris. Hi. Yes. I almost died on a hike. How's it going? Yeah, Homer is so much fun in this and I think that is why he has he has to have Warner Brothers-y posing

in it It's so cool, dude, every frame of it Even tiny scenes that aren't as well-made as a heart attack like Homer chewing There's a great chewing scene in this episode Just these tiny touches that they can never get away with outside of the context of this episode. If you're somehow new to this episode, we are very entertained when The Simpsons behaves more like a cartoon and less like a player of Popsicle sticks.

Like a playmate of Popsicle sticks. Yeah. And this one is co-written by Michael Carrington, who would do random voices on the show. Whenever you'd hear a voice like, hey, that's none of the regulars. That's Michael Carrington, in most cases, like Sideshow Rahim. That's in the Valentine's Day episode,

Choo Choo Choose Me. We should say he's a black man. And also he is the drill instructor in Simpsons Tide. He's also in Homer and Apu. He's the stand-up comedian that talks about how white people and black people drive.

We're so lame. Is he really? Yeah. I've only heard this, I think I've said Is he really? Yeah. I've only heard this. I think I've said this on the show before. I've only heard this from the South Park creators, which they said, yeah, we're going to do all the voices ourselves. I'm like, well, you can't do Chef.

And they said, why? And like, because you can't be white guys voicing a black guy on television. How about the Harry Shearer? Yeah, apparently. He was grandfathered in as Carl. But that's why they have Isaac Hayes. Like, they're the biggest celebrity of the time. Well, you know, based on Bob's suggestion,

I listened to the Mike Reese episode of the Gilbert Gottfried show podcast. Really fun show, by the way. And he talks about how that episode is amazing because Mike Reese is so loose, he's swearing up a storm. He talks about how much he hates Harvardvard and how much he hated johnny carson and he talks about too why smithers was not black after the first episode they said like oh this is weird to have like this subservient black man to this rich white guy oh yeah you don't want to do that so he was supposed to be it was it was not an animation i always thought it was decided like nah he's white and gay now we'll just do it he

same deal he said about how when they were when they created the Quickie Mart and someone was going to go in there, he said, like, someone was going to talk to the cashier there. He said, not Indian. It's so racist. We don't want an Indian voice. Don't do it. And then Hank Azaria just did the Indian voice and everybody laughed so much. They're like, well, we're stuck with it now.

It's so great and somewhat tragic that Apu is Indian because Hank Azaria wanted a cheap laugh. That's what created the character. But he became a beloved figure. They deepened his background much more. He's not a one-off joke. But I still, I would not be an SJW if I didn't say I can totally empathize and I agree with people who take offense at the character. Like having to realize this

oh yeah I grew up with Hindu friends Jesus why am I all of a sudden caring about it now? Don't ask questions let's just entertain ourselves. But that like they managed to make that person a human being with like I have outside interests and they're colored by this thing that you don't normally see on television, period.

Where am I going to see a Hindu, someone tell you the name of the Hindu god on television? Or be a computer technician. And yeah, all this. Yeah, it was, I think the immigration episode of the show was one that did him the most favors of deepening his character.

Okay. Yes. Let's go back to 1992. To when this, like, because this is like the third episode in a row to open with a really fucking on-the-nose parody. This only just became dated, but... Did it? Yeah.

Bad cops, bad cops. Love this intro. Bad cops, bad cops. Springfield cops are on the tape. But what do you expect for the money we make? That's not dated at all. Same condemnation, though. All right, boys. Time to bag us a cattle rustler.

What in God's name are you doing?'t this 742 evergreen terrace no that's next door close but no donut cops this is papa bear put out an apb for a male suspect driving a car of some sort heading in the direction of, you know, that place that sells chili. Suspect is hatless. Repeat, hatless. I'd like to point out that if you live anywhere in America, Wendy's sells chili. So it could be any direction in the universe.

There's a lot in there. Just like in New Kids on the Block, they got the address wrong. This time, 742 Evergreen Terrace is next door to Lovejoy. And Snake has very much settled in. He's a default criminal now. When they write a criminal does something, it's Snake, a.k.a. Jailbird. I like to think of it as Spicoli all grown up. Cops, the TV show, one of the first real reality shows is the longest running Fox show

besides The Simpsons after America's Most Wanted only just because it just barely got cancelled yeah 23 seasons on Fox moved to Spike in 2013

there are 987 episodes as of this recording more than The Simpsons a thousand episodes of Cops wow and they're all the same

it's all about skinny white guys getting dragged out from their couches yeah the same level of like unentertaining. Well, I feel just sad for watching that. It's depressing, yeah. Though it could be fun to watch, too.

I always liked it when it would be like, they're doing our city! It's our city! They never did my city. They only did like... Oh, that's where I play soccer in Tampa. They never did my city. But the best episode of Cops is still on the X-Files.

X-Cops is one of the greatest episodes. Listen to our X-Files podcast of Lazer Time we did to hear us talk about it. Voted in a recent poll people's least favorite. X-Cops? Yeah, I gotta say I don't have any responsibility for that one. It's reliance upon you knowing the X-Files.

But X-Cops is one of my all-time favorite episodes. And it is by the creator of Breaking Bad. I'm obligated to mention that there is a Duckman episode that is a Cops episode. And I'm sure when the writers are writing it, writing in the fact that it's all handheld camcorders. But they did the handheld thing. Yes. It's crazy to look at.

You don't have to know anything about animation during this period except that it had to be done by hand. They did a cop's first-person parody of death. I give it to Klaski Chupo for doing that. That was good. A lot of it's just the camera bobbing up and down, but there are first-person perspective shots of animation moving past the camera. It's amazing. When you watched as many sitcoms at the same time as I did then in the 90s, you come to see that every sitcom writer was experiencing the same thing at the same time yeah in the same year they all watch cops and then the next year a lot of them got vasectomies so that

we're thoughts about that on shows and then then they went to their first indigenous people's casino and so there was every show had at least one episode about i always assume it was a like a rip from the headlines thing but i guess you guess it's just probably the way people are experiencing life. I mean, Native American casinos are all over California. So is this the first mention of 742 Evergreen Terrace? Yeah, which, again, 742 Evergreen Podcast was up there in my top two titles for the show. So I don't know where the number comes from, 742, but Evergreen is a reference to Groening's alma mater, Evergreen State College in Washington.

I did not know that before looking it up, so that's why it's Evergreen Terrace. I don't know where the number comes from. Maybe you do. And Wiggum has never been stupider than in this scene. I mean, he'll get stupider, but he's... He's briefly smarter in the next episode exclusively, but that's it. Very briefly, but...

We'll get to that. And meanwhile, Homer is very unhealthy eating in bed. Yes. Honey, you really shouldn't eat so much in bed. It's not good for your heart. My heart is just ... Homie, what is it?

Just working the turkey through. All these facial expressions are like you. I don't know. Having a heart attack is less funny to me now than when I watched this as a kid. It really is. Thinking of that line about the thousand daggers of fire stabbing you in the heart, it's now slightly painful to me.

It used to be funny. I get it now. I take too big a hit off my vape, and I have to sit down for a while and hold my chest. It happens. Just working the vape through i mean this this this episode scared me more because uh well i am more unhealthy than you guys i had gotten in shape i had gotten in better shape and then i let go of it again depression whatever and so are you worse or better than you were when you started getting a show uh pretty much the same basically just do it again i was amazed how much do it yeah

i can do it and i i feel like do recent recent n-e-r-g-e-y on twitter i've heard i felt also like recent events in in politics have made me feel powerless in my life and i want to at least take control over me if you're really buff you could beat up a bunch of republicans i could i'm gonna put on weight because i want to die now so yeah let's all work on our own goals well it's one way or the other like but so and this made me think about it more too like eating in bed like just eating garbage all the time like that homer homer won't even eat oatmeal which is like mostly sugar oatmeal is mostly sugar it's barely even maple brown sugar this was a this was a period in time where it's like fat is bad for you, meat is bad for you, but really we learn carbs are the worst thing for you.

I mean, I think he's better off eating a bowl of oatmeal than bacon and eggs and cheese. I agree with you in terms of sheer calories. Homer is like rounder and happier than he looked in this episode. And oblivious. I keep hearing this horrible, irregular thumping noise. It's your heart, and I think it's on its last thump. I was afraid it was my transmission. Hey, where's he going?

Billy, remember that old Plymouth we just couldn't fix? We're going to sell him to Mr. Nicopopolis? You're a dull boy, Billy. I could love blue-collar Bronson in Hank Azaria's eyes. we're going to sell him to Mr. Nicopopolis? You're a dull boy. You're a dull boy. I could love blue-collar Bronson and Hank Azaria's. One, what did you think of the first? No, not the first. It's maybe the second gratuitous mole man death in a while.

Featuring the home of Edgar Allan Poe. Actually, you know what? No, I did look this up. Based on his appearances appearances the order of his appearances this is the first time he has died or he's like exploded he's been in many episodes before in hans wall man but i go down it they weren't as into violence against him yeah until that one and and yeah the birthplace of that grounde, that's pretty funny too. It's still funny. It's a family guy-ish thing now of, well, not family guy. It's just, it is a token joke you see everywhere of the place, a thing bursting into flames

when it shouldn't. Yeah, okay. You see that a lot. The birthplace of like famous people. One of my favorite movies is L.A. Story where Steve Martin constantly goes to visit the grave of William Shakespeare in L.A. Like, it's something I never got as a kid, and I watched it as an adult and I'm like, this is great.

Show us over Shakespeare. And Burns is at peak Burns. I feel like it's been a long time since we've seen Burns. He was not in the last episode. I had to isolate it and throw it wherever I wanted. He was not in the last two episodes. What self-control they showed. They were so in love with Burns.

Well, at that point they they had had the sea captain and so they could feel it. They were like, we're scratching our sea captain itch now. But now they're back to Burns though, very lightly. We're still at peak Burns though. Look at that pig stuffing his face with donuts in my time. That's right.

Keep eating. Little do you know, you're drawing ever closer to the poison donut there is a poisoned one isn't there smithers uh no sir i discussed this with our lawyers they consider it murder damn they're oily it's one of my favorite my favorite clips ever with his hate of lawyers he really does hate lawyers that that has the great scene of homer just chewing like just indulging and eating a donut. Even a small, like, just a mouth moving looks better than it ever has before in this episode.

Well, then Homer, you know, even in my unhealthiest, I don't buy a box of donuts and just eat them. Like, that's really bad. I've told this dumb story. I had to, like, eat donuts. I wasn't poor, but my parents didn't give me any money. And, like, I had to, like, basically dance for rich kids by my parents didn't give me any money and like i had to like basically dance for rich kids by eating as many donuts every lunch that i could wow uh for money to buy a genesis so like i am traumatized against donuts i know they taste good but they feel like

shit when you eat more than like let's say you had to eat six to entertain a bunch of preppy kids so they give you five dollars towards your genesis happened to me i think we're forgetting homer already ate breakfast too like just an hour ago and and yeah a pile of bacon and eggs which i did like bart's when i always love the line dad there's a bug on that he eats it but the when i watched it this time i was like there's there's genuine concern on bart's face like they meant to they drew that in there like dad there, there's a bug on that. Well, if I can say it now before later that we talked, shit,

the Poison Pugo episode. What's the title of that episode? One Fish, Two Fish, Red, Blue Fish, Blue Fish, Blue Fish. Yeah, but that was the episode where like we were little kids and we all agreed,

well, at least Hank and I did, that we thought Homer was going to die. I was sure he was going to die. This time I didn't believe, I don't think I believed it. But I think The Simpsons was so outlandish and like

it was like nothing anyone had seen before that people did believe when they promoted it as Homer's going to get poisoned and die. Everybody watched that episode. I remember that episode. Everybody talking about it. That episode in here there's a chance and that episode there's like no you're gonna die. Here's a timer. Yeah. Like there's a ticking clock in that episode. I think that gave them the

mandate to do that again. I think that's what this episode is. You're supposed to be convinced Homer might die. I feel like there's way less emotion. It's more played for comedy than that episode. There's a couple of really heartfelt moments here. At least one. At least one, yeah. The Homer's, well, the open heart surgery thing on the dad

on the show, I mean, it was a sitcom staple then, too. Well, I don't want to say staple, but wait, Family Ties, that's the one with Michael J. Fox, right? Yes. Okay. On Family Ties, they had a very special episode. There was a two-parter where the dad had a heart attack and he had dangerous surgery and they weren't sure he was going to make it.

It was one of those Emmy grab episodes. I remember they advertised it so heavily. Maybe that's make it was one of those like emmy grab episodes i remember they advertised it so heavily maybe just as much as they did the one where like alex p keaton's best friend dies and he can't deal with it like oh yeah this actor had never been on the show before but oh yeah it's his best ah he's my best friend and the show becomes a one-act play yeah essentially yeah with the with a therapist but yeah so i think this this was a pitch by james l brooks to have it homer dealing with his heart attack uh but it feels like taken out of the very special episode thing even though this episode is not a very special episode no but this next scene uh it's too bad you can't see it but i just listening to it i think it's like it's like burns reading from a child's joke book that's

what it feels like this scene is like very vaudevillian, very obvious. There's one extra joke in here that it's time filler. Of being terrible. Yeah. A grave for. Relax, Simpson. I just brought you in here for a friendly hello. And goodbye. You're fired.

But wait. Perhaps I'm being too hasty. You are highly skilled. And goofing off. Now don't worry, Homer. You're the kind of guy I could really dig. A grave for you. It's so corny.

And this is inefficacious. That means you're terrible the animation Mr. Burns I think he's dead oh dear send a ham to his widow mmm ham back in his body no wait he's alive

oh good cancel the ham no I'm putting Henry on the spot one of those drawings needs to be the cover art No, wait. He's alive. Oh, good. Cancel the hymns. No! I'm putting Henry on the spot. One of those drawings needs to be the cover art for this episode. All right, it will be. You can't ignore it. It will be. His facial expressions in that are like,

there's no other episode where those are recreated. No, because that felt like Silverman just drew it all. They released his poses. They were his drawings, and the picture in picture on the heart too was great and i'd only seen it in the grinch at that point it reminds me of like family dog or something like that where there there are models but they can break from time to time to be more expressive and i was like i had a dream like what if every episode looked like this maybe this

one wouldn't be a special but god i just wish there was this much animation you would never see homer ever look like this yeah on the show now or even in the show 15 years ago you wouldn't be a special but god i just wish there was this much animation you would never see homer ever look like this yeah on the show now or even in the show 15 years ago you wouldn't see that that's true and yeah it's so creative david silverman is so great it is not a surprise that he would soon take over as the supervising director on the entire show and he'd come back and forth on the show he worked pixar in the late 90s and into the 2000s yeah that's right monsters inc yeah where he brazenly just stole from the um chuck jones cat cartoon the cat the big dog mark anthony the mark anthony cartoon he just steals from that where if you've seen him if you haven't seen that cartoon, but you've seen Monsters, Inc., where Sully thinks that Boo is dead and his reaction like, he stole that bit.

You're anybody but Chuck Jones. You stole my cartoon. That's great. The most generic looking Looney Tunes character ever. That cartoon is amazing. It's the greatest. Well, eat it, Mark. Come on.

Oh, God. I'm tearing up thinking about it right now. That's great. Silverman pointed out, too, that he made sure Homer's ghost, a single toe or his foot, is still imposed on his body. So he's not completely dead. I mean, it's important we give him credit, though, because I think he also, like, is a writer on the show sometimes. He's listed as a producer on some seasons, which means he writes jokes. And they talk about some jokes he came up with, not that are not just animation.

I wonder if he put his foot down and said, like, I am making up jokes in the animation. Like, I am adding jokes to this. I am a producer. Yeah. He talked about Ren and Stimpy and how that imploded because it wasn't written by writers. It was written by animators.

Well, this might be that one episode of The Simpsons where, like, that person held sway over the Harvard Lampoon writers. Until eventually they're just like, nah, it's a machine, just do what we say. No, no, no, no need to score this. Just trace these guys.

Just do a parody. Hibbert in this is so fucking funny. The waiting room jokes were cute, by the way. Homer's heart attack might be the art image of it, but I think I will have the secondary art be Wiggum's mouth just open and lose fist in it. That is my Skype icon. And I have to tell you, I was interviewing Don Bluth over Skype.

This is relevant. I was interviewing Don Bluth over Skype. And he was complaining about how animation is not as important anymore. And he was like, people like to watch that thing on your screen, that thing that's your character. And he's referencing Chief Wiggum. He was dissing The Simpsons because apparently he hates it. But that was my avatar on Skype, dude. I'm sorry.

Wow. I mean, I love Don Bluth more than anybody. He's the greatest. Ah, come down. Okay, not more than anybody. But he is so – he deserves all the respect in the world. But to be that – We will be talking about an American tale on this week's 302010.

So to be that out of touch, to be like that thing, that new thing. Like, The Simpsons is. Hey, he is the best theater director there is in Wisconsin right now. Yeah, there's also that. And like, look, dude, I know you want to make Dragon's Lair the movie, but you can't. Like, you're not gonna. I kind of wanted to tell him that, but I didn't have the heart to. Is it like, have you talked to anybody who wanted maybe the people want it i loved on blue that american tale if you

haven't watched never mind 30 2010 this thursday everyone uh laser 10 podcast.com let's let's listen to hibbert please yes mr simpson i'm afraid you've just had a mild heart attack but i'm out of the woods now right i mean whatever doesn't kill me can only make me stronger. Oh, no, quite the opposite. It's made you weak as a kitten. Look. This is so funny. Come on, quit it. Coochie, coochie, coo.

Stop, please stop. Oh, you swing like a girl. Come on now. Please have mercy. Got your nose. Not funny. How about this little bee? Oh!

Remember your hippopotamus oath. He's just like playing with Homer's cheeks. What about this little bee? But when Marge tells him to turn around, that's a great visual gag. His knees are on the bed as he's playing with Homer's face. This is the meanest Hibbert's bee at this point. I did like Homer's remembrance of his life, too. He was the youngest we'd seen Homer in the trip through his life,

and him singing. The singing is the best. All Dan, though, right? Yeah. What a voice! Young Homer's going to make me a millionaire! Oh, my! Be mine!

Hey, my voice just changed. Oh, nice! When Christ was born! Dagnabbit! Homer's going to make me a millionaire in that field of white solo gospel acts. I bet he loves that. Everybody loves that. We love those. The castrati industry is booming, Chris.

Or at least it was in the 60s. Homer's jiggling fat test is still fun to me. Homer, this is a new body fat analysis test. I start your jiggling and measure how long it takes to stop. Woo-hoo! Look at that lover fly given that my line of the show

I don't know why but like that's the joke I remember that in the ads for the episode yeah it was great yeah

there's also one of several oh good lords in this that was more of a Kelsey grammar I'm sorry but it was when they we didn't detect the die yet

oh good lord and I also like Homer's lack of shame like some people would be like oh good Lord. And I also like Homer's lack of shame. Some people would be like, oh, my God, am I this fat? But Homer's just like, look at that butterfly. I'm so impressed. Embracing your body image.

My blubber can shake longer than yours. He's body positive. So for Homer to get his open heart surgery, it's $30,000. I love the straight talk. Homer, I'm afraid you'll have to undergo a coronary bypass operation. Say it in English, Doc. You're going to need open heart surgery. Spare me your medical mumbo jumbo.

We're going to cut you open and tinker with your ticker. Could you dumb it down a shade? Doctor, we'll do whatever it takes to get my homie well. Good. I must warn you, though. This procedure will cost you upwards of $30,000. I'm afraid it's now $40,000. Just so you know, $30,000 is how much it costs me to get a health care insurance for two years with no pre-existing medical conditions.

I was going to say, without insurance, that is probably the cost of a broken limb. I looked up the cost of an open-heart surgery without insurance, and it was $117,000. Rough estimate. Wow. Meanwhile, 30... You better be rich or you're fucked, people. Trump's coming for you. $30,000 in 1992 is $52,000 today. So, wow.

That's such... They said it was... Dumb it down a bit. Tell me how many PS4s it's worth. They said $30,000 was the accurate number at the time, and they did do the research. As comes up multiple times in the commentaries, the writers sometimes have anger at Al Jean for telling him, like, no, do the research. There was no internet then, too.

They're on phones. Like, hi, how much is health care, heart surgery? Hey, you can thank your lucky stars we don't live in Paraguay. I mean, that's why they know so much about foundation repair. It's why they know so much about the legal system. Dude, all those jokes hold up a lot better because of how specific they are. It helps that Mike Reese's dad was a doctor, and he was sort of their medical consultant. Wow, I hope he gets residual.

Well, I think he's dead now. In a country with somewhat socialized health care, this is not a problem now for Homer. But this has also made it kind of a bummer episode just thinking about how people had to choose to be broke or dead on this stuff. That's the problem with it. The food you sold me on my television are murdering me, and I have to go in tremendous debt to fix myself. Or be dead.

Or be dead. Great. I love this country. I need money, too. Okay, okay. We need $40,000. Now, how much do we have in the checkbook? $70.

Have we deposited any $40,000 checks that haven't cleared yet? No. Don't you have health insurance at work? Well, actually, we gave it all up for a pinball machine in the lounge. Oh! Don't worry, Mark. America's healthcare system is second only to Japan, Canada, Sweden, Great Britain,

well, all of Europe. But you can thank your lucky stars we don't live in Paraguay. Isn't that where Amber Dempsey's eyelashes come from? Was that Uruguay? Uruguay or Paraguay? You are gay. You are gay. You know, I actually, I meant to look it up before.

Who didn't look up healthcare in Paraguay? I guarantee it's Kevin Armstrong. No, I didn't. It was one of the rare jokes I did not look up. I meant to look up where America ranks in the world healthcare thing. Oh, it's way low, baby. Probably where... Well, actually...

It's the most expensive. Neither Canada or America is in the top 25. Wow. We... Canada is at 30. We're at 37. Below Costa Rica, Dominica, Denmark, Chile, Austria, Finland, Canada, Morocco, Israel. Number one, France, followed by Italy and San Marino.

That's a good for inventing those delectable fries. So, yeah, we are below Paraguay. We also don't have a dick ton of religion like this anymore. Now, I know I haven't been the best Christian. In fact, when you're up there blah, blah, blahing, I'm usually doodling or mentally undressing the female parishioners. Well, anywho, can I have $40,000? Now, I know I haven't been the best Jew,

but I rented Fiddler on the Roof, and I will watch it. Anyway, can I have $40,000? Now, I know I haven't been the best. Oh, watch it. Anyway, can I have $40,000? No, I know I haven't been the best. Oh, forget it. Homer will soon love Yentl in A Delirious Fever, but I want to point out this is the last appearance of Sajruddin Mubaradad. Really? He will never appear again. He was referenced in Blood Feud, The Unsinkable, Sajruddin Mubaradad.

He was on the TV in Camp Krusty, and this is his final appearance, so dicks out for Subdruden. That cannot be our salute. I skipped over real quick, but it's really wrong that you don't get healthcare work. That's really bad. It's a professional,

high-level skilled job. We have a whole show of bonus time where I'll go off on healthcare all day. I hope that wasn't Adam's family pinball table. No other pinball table will be worth your health care. Come on.

The Simpsons will be right back. 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 are you already tired of 2016 jump into the past with 30 2010 our weekly pop culture tabasheed podcast here's something you may remember from 1986 tv this week yeah uh the late late breakfast show which was a uh kind of a weekly From 1986. TV This Week. Yeah. The Late Late Breakfast show, which was a kind of a weekly, I don't know, talk show in the UK, was cancelled after a stunt gone wrong during rehearsal. So fortunately it didn't air. But a stunt gone wrong killed a stunt person. And it caused the show to be cancelled.

And there's an actual announcement saying, like, show's cancelled forever because of this. Bye. This is BBC One. Because of the tragic accident involving Michael Lush while preparing for tonight's edition of The Late Late Breakfast Show, the BBC has decided to cancel this and all further editions of the programme. So tonight, in place of The Late Late Breakfast Show and Every Second Counts, we're now showing the feature film One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing. Oh, God. Guys, I'm in dying.

That's 302010, 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! on the Lazer Time Network. I'm down and running. 30, 20, 10. Since this episode is all about healthcare people, we thought it'd be a good time to refer back to our buddies at Quip. That's right. Superior Oral Healthcare.

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That's fine. Because Quip, the teams at Quip have sought out the guidance and advice of oral care professionals. So their brushes, from handle design to the vibrations of the brush heads, focus on health over height, people. Quip offers metal or plastic handles, easy-to-use wall-mounted holsters, and a travel case and more. Better still, you can take solace in knowing that worn-out bristles will be replaced on time every three months, so you don't have to think about it. The electric toothbrush set starts at just $25, with refill plans beginning at $5. But guess what? But once again, you listeners can save $10 on the refills.

Listeners can go to tryquip.com slash lasertime and get a free $10 refill, which includes brush heads and Quip's own toothpaste. Don't think too much about brushing your teeth anymore. Let the maintenance of better oral care come to you. That's Quip, baby. And tryquip.com slash lasertime will save you $10. You like Laser Time shows? Then you might like Bonus Time,

Lazer Time's weekly bonus show exclusively on patreon.com. Here's a taste of what you've been missing. There should be no mistaking what our views are. You're right, and I did. I was, of course, being obnoxious on Facebook on Friday, Saturday night, and I just said to a couple right-wingers, like, I'm sorry you don't like the way I feel, but unfollow me.

It will get worse in the next 72 hours. But instead, what I did was I channeled that, like, I could yell on Facebook all day long. I could share all the memes. I even captured footage from a new Michael Moore movie to, like, annoy everybody. And so instead of doing that like the option came up like why don't you volunteer for the the hillary campaign and i'm like that's great i can shut my

mouth and do something a little more worthwhile and dial strangers and bother them uh but i volunteer for the campaign here's here's my biggest mistake and i did not i i said oh what what should i wear and heidi's like oh you can wear your Make America Ape Again shirt that you got at the Planet of the Apes movie. That is the red shirt with the Make America something again font with the Planet of the Apes font in the Statue of Liberty. And I did finally hit home like nobody gets this. And not only does nobody get this, this could convey something even worse. It's bright as day and I'm walking through Hillary headquarters a shirt and

everybody fucking hates me and then I go to the mall and it's like I have now visual proof that we need a plan of the apes education program for female Asian teenagers because the the amount of disgust on these these these teenage girls faces they hated me. And I couldn't...

One guy campaigning for a senator who I didn't vote for, was like, love this shit, bro! That's so great! Get bonus time, laser times weekly, full-length, uncensored, and ad-free Patreon-exclusive podcasts, as well as weekly full-length movie commentaries, wrestling and cartoon video commentaries, physical the first season of talking simpson and more at patreon.com slash laser time starting at just five bucks you'll help us live and we'll do our best to

help you never be bored again and homer trying to scam uh life insurance uh out of merry widow insurance which i love that that's another great animation animation yeah tug of war over the signature and homer like policy and the camera turn yeah there's like a Matrix camera move and like a scene with two people talking. It's great. It's all great. It's one of the things that I think Simpsons lacks as a cartoon

and you're not going to like this. Family Guy does it all the time. They do it all the time. They animate things painstakingly and add in music. Yeah, absolutely. They rotoscope old movies sometimes. No, but they really they really do

change the angles and move the camera those characters will be drawn by in one angle there's a ton of music in here that I don't see in the modern that's that's sure I mean I'm sure it's just like a

result of the budget growing I don't think they have there is no end to the well for Simpsons budget here's a thing not happening the more they pay the voice actors I think the less is there is

there to be spread around for music animation. You're the only one who knows better than me, both of you. So then Dr. Nick enters the frame. Hello. Hi, everybody. Are you looking for a way to slash the cost of your medical expenses? Boring. Wait, this might be the answer we're looking for.

I will perform any operation for $129.95. Come in for brain surgery and receive a free Chinese finger trap. Okay, Fred. You tried the best. Now try the rest. Call 1-600-DOCTORB. The B is for bargain. Oh, Marge, we could do worse.

How? Some dog could do the operation. Operation? What are you talking about? Kids, I have something to tell you. Oh, homie, I don't know. This might upset them. Nothing you say can upset us. We're the MTV generation.

We feel neither highs nor lows. Really? What's it like? Well, you kids are old enough to know the truth, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it. We're the MTV generation. We feel neither highs nor lows. Really? What's it like? Eh. Well, you kids are old enough to know the truth, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it. So the tiny aorta fairies will take Mr. Legvane on a long trip to get married to Princess Left Ventricle. Dad, are you trying to tell us you're getting a coronary artery bypass graft? Uh, yeah. Oh, no.

What if they botch it? I won't have a dad for a while. That's my line of the show. Alright, Bobby, I'll throw it out too. Thank you. I love so many things about this. One, just the validation of, you don't know who's

hot in the Simpsons universe. The Simpsons has done enough to feed Marge is hot. You have to acknowledge it. She's desirable. She's desirable according to Simpsons universe in a land of unattractive yellow people. Even with her giant hair.

Please don't pull that quote out of context and use it against me. I was thinking that is probably the first joke on record about millennials. That's what I thought. The most ill-defined generation. We were the MTV generation and then we were Generation Y. Now we were the generation to grow up with the internet which i wasn't until

i was like 14 yeah so i mean it's very ill-defined but i'll still but that that is proof positive that every generation older than you doesn't feel like you're feeling as much as they are yeah yeah about everything well you we don't like we haven't been alive enough to have content exactly it's not a young thing it's not a young thing it's not like it but you blame mtv in like now they'll blame the internet or facebook i do feel news differently now than i did when i was 20 totally you know it's it's different and yes where cnn story can move me to tears whereas before before i was just like there's so much else to do i'm the most jaded also the a the Aorta Fairies were Jeff and Akbar from Life and Hell.

The gay couple from Life and Hell. But going back to Dr. Nick, one, I love Dr. Orb. Dr. Orb is so great. Dr. Orb. I do love Dr. Nick, and this is a very Dr. Nick episode. He's not introduced here. Can we clarify that? No, no.

That was Bark It, Sit By Car. Yeah. nick and this is a very dr nick episode he's not introduced here can we clarify that no that was uh barca bar gets hit by a car yeah and but this is the first time we've seen him outside of an infomercial since that episode and it reminded me too that i was kind of i'm still kind of annoyed that they didn't he died in the simpsons movie but he's come back since they put him back in the show and i really wish they would just let's make this guy dead they made a light small big deal out of him dying in the Simpsons movie they did they not like we killed someone in the movie

to show that there were stakes and then they didn't but whatever it's a cartoon about the phone number based on the commentary I want to believe it was originally 1-800 or 1-900 because they said it was a real number and then they had to change it after the first airing because they didn't know it was a real number, and then they had to change it after the first airing because they didn't know it was a real number.

So I'm guessing it was like a 900 or 888. We have a whole Later Time episode about 1-900 numbers. Oh, that's great. It's something... Because the last two years, I got sling. There's all these things like, call us in the middle of the night. We're up and horny and waiting to talk to you,

Bob Mackie and Henry Gilbert. Some of them were just like, why is this woman crying call and find out just why i guess i'm a creep like they were out of those they had to be creative like urls with the 900 numbers there were so many and it was such such a booming business wow continuity wise though how did the kids not know homer had gone to the hospital like four times yeah times? You don't ask where your dad is when he's not at home. Maybe they were in school, I don't know. If my dad, like, even if they were just day trips to the hospital, if my dad had like four heart attacks, I feel like

I'd have some idea. I bet you'd be oblivious. I bet you'd be Balls Deep and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. I'd be like, yeah, I'm trying to watch Tiny Toons here, Mom. Quit crying. I don't know. I love Flanders.

Flanders philanthropy. Bed goes up, bed goes down. Bed goes up, bed goes down. Bed goes up, bed goes down. Bed goes up, bed goes down. Homer Simpson. Well, if that don't put the dink in the winky dink. Flanders, what are you doing here?

I'm having a kidney and a lung removed. Who are you donating them to? First come, first serve. What are you in for? I got a bad heart. If I could give you my heart, Homer, I would. Shut up, Flanders. Even if you want to give up that stuff, you should save it for if somebody you love needs it.

Maybe don't just give away your lung. Shrimply pitbulls, for if somebody you love needs it. Maybe don't just give away your luck. Shrimply Pipples, you're going to wait for him? I don't know. He could have saved Maude, is what Henry's saying, I think. No, she's dead. Krusty also visits him in the hospital. Oh, God. Great. This is the greatest. Why are you here?

It's part of my public service for my glug glug vroom vroom thump thump. Oh, well, I could use a good laugh. Well, there's nothing funny about what you're about to go through. I know. I'm in the zipper club myself. You seem okay.

Yeah? Well, I got news for you. This ain't makeup. Okay. That's important. It is. It's a big cannon. It is. Please continue, Chris. But the sounds of the't makeup. Okay. That's important. It is. To Krusty Cannon.

It is. Continue, Chris. But the sounds of the lighter cracked me up. Oh, yeah. How fucking, just how much they emphasize them. The continuity there is that there's two continuities there. That Krusty, yeah, I've had heart surgery before. Which is important to the first season. Yeah, it is a plot.

His pacemaker is a plot point in the mystery of who framed him. And then after that, you would explain that better than me. I'm thinking about his skin color. Yeah. He is not wearing makeup. In fact, when he disguises himself as Rory B. Bellows in season seven episode Bart the Fink, he puts on flesh-colored makeup to disguise himself as a regular human. Because of just this joke.

Yes. Because of only this joke yes and that only this joke and that they made sure he had flesh color makeup like that's what i loved about the simpsons the more nerdy i got into the show that they cared enough to know yeah his face is that's not makeup also to their credit that joke from the way later episode is still funny yeah whether or not you knew this yeah i mean you don't need this scene to explain it, but it pays it off even more. It pays off being a fan. That's such a cool thing about The Simpsons.

And speaking of great animation, just the hand motions of his explanation. Drink, drink, glug, glug. He's holding out his arm. Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom. Thump, thump. So he's killed someone. Yes, and if you want to know

if David Silverman worked on this scene or an episode, look for finger animation. Like twiddling fingers, fingers moving. It's just like that's a David Silverman twist. He loves fingers. He loves moving the fingers. We skipped over a line I like when Dr. Nick says, the coroner. I'm so sick of that guy.

I'm so sick of that guy. It's such a great line to say he's killing people all the time. I would skip over this. This line I think might be my favorite of the show. It says something. It's not that it's so funny. It's so dark. It says something terrible about Homer's dad.

They say the greatest tragedy is when a father outlives his son. I've never fully understood why that is. Frankly, I can see an upside to it. That's so cruel. It implies that Abe's hated Homer his entire life. And he wants to see him dead. And that he has, like, I can, yeah, I could see myself preferring him dead. If I had to.

Yeah, and also that, oh, the zipper club thing, by the way, they got that from Jerry Lewis. He would say the zipper club for open heart surgery. Anything that man can't pioneer. Also, that's why God causes train wrecks is a pretty great line, too. I wish they'd explain that. But maybe you're right. Maybe this is a throwaway sequence. I thought they were pulling on the same heart strings they were for the Poison Poo Goo episode.

Yeah, this is the one emotional payoff. Again, this is a complete Jim Brooks pulled this out of his hat when they needed a scene like this. He just wrote it and gave it to them and that was it. I want to give you some words to remember me by in case something happens. Let's see.

I'm no good at this. Kids whisper in his ear. Bart, the saddest thing about this is I won't get to see you grow up because... I know you're going to turn out great, with or without your old man. Thanks, Dad. And Lisa? I guess this is the time to tell you

you're adopted and I don't like you but don't worry because you've got a big brother who loves you and will always look out for you oh dad so really close to crying on this episode as that until the joke came it's a sweet uh scene I think it feels out of place in this season in this episode like I joke came. It's a sweet scene. I think it feels out of place in this season, in this episode. I feel like season four

is when the absurdity really ramps up. This is more of a season two scene. Season two entry moment. And it also, I like it a lot, by the way. I feel like James L. Brooks, he wasn't stealing from himself, but if it wasn't James L. Brooks

who did it, I'd say they're kind of referencing Terms of Endearment, the James L. Brooks scene, a film where she's talking to her kids and telling them, like, you're going to hate me and you're going to hate yourself and don't do it. And I know you love me like that. Oh, God. It's a really good movie. It kills me.

Also, People Who Look Like Things is one of the greatest one-off gags ever. I love it so much. And I was talking to Henry on the way over here. I want to believe that that pumpkin guy was based on Ted Cruz. Is this from this episode or from another episode? This is it, yeah. Someone taped over the end of this.

Yes, People Who Look Like Things is an unsung bit. They all look so ridiculous. It's like a fucking plug-in coffee pot. That typewriter. Isn't there a broom man as well? Yes. Broom man coffee pot.

I love it. But Dr. Nick, he has a bunch of great moments here. This is from his introduction to the surgery. Hi, everybody. Hi, Dr. Nick. I've never seen one of those surgery domes. Do they exist? They exist in real life, but they exist more in, Dr. Nick. I've never seen one of those surgery domes. Do they exist? They exist in real life, but they exist more in sitcoms.

Yes. Because how else would comedic surgeries happen? It's a junior meet. I've never seen it. It's how they all watch these things. Yeah. To be witnesses for it. I feel like those audience things are mainly for students.

They really are, yeah. But Dr. Nick does his thing. I know I'm supposed to cut something, but what? And where? Hey! The incision in the coronary artery must be made below the blockage! Below!

Thanks, little girl! The kneebone's connected to the something. The something's connected to the something. The something's connected to the red thing. The red thing's connected to my wristwatch. Uh-oh. Great fucking joke.

We missed the plot thread about Lisa really getting into the science of heart surgery and telling Marge, oh, they're going to stop Dad's heart. I'm a bleeding heart who's going through things especially with his health care uh and just the idea that like it was dr nick like this vision of the future if like we don't publicize health care you'll have i'll do any operation like that would be great i don't have that option at all he went to hollywood upstairs medical college so uh if i had someone i could pay200 to go and see just to get my medication. Did we get a price? Did we get a Dr. Nick price on this surgery?

I don't think we did. $129. Oh, wow. Five. Yeah. And Andre guy just like, this is Andre. Like, my husband is still alive. I don't.

They need to bring that guy back. I thought this was a really fun episode. And then the last bit with Dr. Nick, the Dr. Seussian moment of Mr. McCraig was so great. With a leg for an arm and a lung for a leg. Is that a direct reference to something? I mean, it's a Dr. Seuss type exchange. Yeah.

It seems like in a different show, it would have been the man from Nantucket. I mean, you can't literally do that. Like, it's not a thing. No. Well, it's also the ridiculousness of the show growing. Like, the next episode just breaks reality completely in Simpsons. This is close. It made Bob cough

I mean like breaking reality sorry I've been very sick I know you have I know you have but we're at the end and I do love the hard ending because I like it when

whoever scores the Simpsons whenever they get some work they don't usually that's that was really fun for me. It's a nice, cute ending. And I think we have some... This is the only, or maybe one of the two episodes on this Season 4 DVD set that actually has deleted scenes. It does. They really have deleted scenes next season.

And we're debating over whether to capture every one of them for you, or just some of them. Some are deleted for a reason. Yeah. These are all kind of boring. Some of these are just, like like tags on the end of scenes. Like season 500 will have every deleted scene. Some of them are good. This one, I think there's one where Wiggum is in a cafe and...

And they just leave without paying. Yeah. He's a bad cop. He's condescending to the waitress. He's like, you don't know how this works, do you? Why did this episode have... You know the other episodes had deleted scenes. I want to feel like they didn't keep them.

Oh, they have said that they did not keep them. Yeah. They chucked them when they were gone. And they might have kept them for this one just on accident. They could have found them, yeah. And the one... The joke I really liked was that they showed Sideshow Mel in the cannon, and the cannon goes off in the scene,

and they implied that there was another clown below Mel in the cannon and the cannon goes off In the scene and they Implied that there was another clown Below Mel in there Right and also the Original ending was less Fun and musical it was a callback To Homer eating the pizza And them not knowing how he got pizza Yeah it wasn't as

Heartwarming it was more of a like kind of just Kind of you know blackout joke ending Well so Homer definitely seems weak And on the mend but Yeah, it wasn't as heartwarming. It was more of a kind of blackout joke ending. Well, so Homer definitely seems weak and on the mend, but... The look on his face is like... If you've ever seen your dad come out of an operation, I didn't realize, because my dad hadn't... It hadn't happened to my dad until that point, but the look on his face, like...

When you see your father, and probably mother, but father, the guy... Let's think of fathers. Well, the guy you think of to be the strength of your, your, your household. And like, I didn't see that until it was like 30,

like when he had a neck operation and just, but just like, he can barely open his eyes. Like, I love you guys. Like just signaling to you, like a weary smile. It hit me really hard.

Yeah. Like only in this viewing, never before. And Homer would need probably months of recovery for open heart surgery. For bypass surgery. And your lifestyle would be changed completely. Yeah. They cut open your chest and your leg for that.

It's not an easy surgery to go through. And yeah, for Homer to... He literally says how it's done. They take the ventricle from your leg. That still seems like science fiction to me, but I know it happens every day. It happens. Bob, we can talk about it on the show. They're going to do their first head transplant soon.

Oh, my God. I've seen Re-Animator. It's a bad idea. But yeah, Homer. Don't judge all your views in the future on Jeffrey Combs. That's real science. Homer in real life would have to completely change his diet, lose weight.

Like, getting open-heart surgery does not fix you or put you back to normal. It just stops you from dying, but you need to recover and make major lifestyle changes and homer didn't do any of those things and they later becomes just a joke of like in the in the carnival grifters episode with uh they they go they say homer you can't take go on this thing you've had a heart attack remember he's like no he just gets on the right anyway they made a joke of it on the show that homer forgets his heart attack isn't there one joke that's like correction

three heart attacks at some point yeah yeah uh i did like that line too like oh i thought you meant brain hemorrhages right well um it's funny because like i want to think this is just like part of the continuity but there would not be a new episode for a month in 92 to 93, so I feel like that was Homer's time off in recovery before he became a monorail operator. It makes sense to me. It's coming up next, but thank you for listening. This is a mercifully short, maybe under an hour

episode of Talking Simpsons. I've been your host, Bob Mack, and you can find me on Twitter as BobServo. I also write for SomethingAwful.com and Fandom.com, and that's powered by Wikia, and you can find my other podcasts, Retronauts, at Retronauts.com or USGamer.net. It's a classic gaming podcast. I think you'll like it if you like hearing my voice, and of course you do. Where can we find everyone else?

I'm H-E-N-E-R-E-Y-G on Twitter, and you can also find my writings on Fandom.com. And follow me on Twitter, you know, if you can take it. If you can take my misery. I'm trying to calm down with it just a little bit. But it's hard, man. It's hard. But also, I am on tons of Lasertime podcasts, including, I believe, this week, Bob and I will be on Vigigame Apocalypse. Yeah.

And not only that, but I am on all the classic Talking Simpsons episodes, like the first season, which you can only hear if you are a subscriber to patreon.com slash Lazer Time. Also the home to our many special episodes. It's true. And a weekly exclusive episode where lately you can just watch a few libtards cry into their microphones. Yes. I feel somewhat punished. Their tears are yummy and sweet, aren't they? I feel somewhat punished. Their tears are so yummy and sweet, aren't they? I feel somewhat punished.

Remember in 2012, we recorded a podcast that was mostly us gloating like Obama won, Republicans are done. We did it. Did we? I don't remember doing that. We are part of the problem. That is when we got a bunch of responses from people who were just like, I'm unsubscribing. I cannot take the glad-handing liberals anymore. I'd like to. If you made it this far, we kept that out of this episode.

Maybe they'll say it out of the we kept that out of this episode. Maybe it'll stay out of the next one, which will be hard. This is our first episode since America died, and so it's been good. So, yes, please join us for our next episode about a seething mob mentality. Yes. And a monster who tricks the world into

spending a lot of money on something they shouldn't do. Not the world, just North Haverbrook. But he's played by a level of Phil Hartman RIP. So stay tuned for Marge Ritzel's Monorail next week on Talking Sixes. Wow. Infotainment.