Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - The Otto Show

Episode Date: August 17, 2016

The legendary Spinal Tap appear on this week’s episode, inspiring Bart to try guitar and eventually leading to Otto moving in with the Simpsons in this week’s loose, musical episode…

Ahoy, ahoy, everybody! Welcome to Talking Simpsons, where we salute our half-inflated Dark Lord. I am your host, Bob Mackie. Who else is here with me? Christopher Antista, slagging off for the final time. Awesome. Not in public, I hope. I said slag off! And Henry Gilbert, it cost me a thousand Bazooka Joe comics to be here. Awesome. I have must-cheat.

This is the Lazer Time Podcast Network's chronological exploration of The Simpsons. Today's episode is The Otto Show, which aired on April 23, 1992. Chris is going to tell us what happened on this mythical day in real-life history. Oh my god! My goodness, Bobby, this Wayne's World soundtrack has propelled Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody back to the top of the charts after 17 years. And just a few months after Freddie Mercury's death, The Simpsons... I was going to ask if he was still alive to see that.

The Simpsons' Yellow Album is announced, although it won't be released until 1998. Pass. And, of course, this lovely week is capped off by the Los Angeles riots in the wake of the Rodney King verdict. Can't we all just get along? You can learn all about that on the episode one of the OJ. No, episode two of the OJ documentary. I'm trying to think if there are any LA riot jokes on The Simpsons because everyone was in LA at this point. No, next year they will be.

They talk on the commentary in season four, like in production, during the riots and being told like, hey, you guys should get out of here. There's going to be a riot. And they're like, nah, nothing happened. We've got cartoons to make here. Yeah. I mean, they also talked about how they, during the production on The Critic, Al Jean talked about how OJ's car was going to drive by them.

That's right. And they thought like, we should get somebody out there with a banner that says, watch the critic. They needed it. Even with that pre-home improvement. See if we can throw AC a shirt. Something.

Well, that show was killed by more mid-90s tabloid. The show was killed by Nancy Kerrigan. That's right. Oh, God. But the 90s, everyone. Bohemian Rhapsody was all... That was how i was introduced

to the song same here it's pretty nuts it was a music video that aired on mtv in rotation of all new songs and i didn't like why does this footage look so old oh wasn't it cut to the wayne's world it was it had wayne's world footage but it had i guess there's an original bohemian rhapsody archival uh footage yeah yeah the muppets parody much later. I love that parody. Do you think kids today, somebody saw the new Suicide Squad film and were like, oh, this song! I love this song! What is this?

Did you not notice that every song they used in the trailer was from Wayne's World? Ballroom Blitz. Ballroom Blitz, which wasn't in the movie. It was in the movie. Cassandra sang it. I've not seen this movie but I bet they used the sound of silence.

Did they? Actually, not though. What a show of self-control. They did use Fortunate Son though. Fortunate Son is one of the most inopportune.

I've seen that. I get irritated when they edit out the subversive lyrics and put it in patriotic Tommy Hilfiger commercials. Yeah, that's right.

And even more irritated here. This was just a show Killer Croc. It ain't me. Well, that's right. And even more irritated here, this was just to show Killer Croc. It ain't me! Well, you know, speaking of licensed music. Ah, this episode is heavy with it. And very expensive, right, Henry?

Very expensive. It's why they didn't replay this episode a lot. It didn't get re-aired very often because the licensing rights were just too much. And that it only, I remember remember it aired the first time i taped it but then the only other time i remember it airing it wasn't in syndication but it was on like they were doing a a rock block of reruns one night that was hosted by uh dennis leary oh i bet flemmy mose was in this yeah and they're just like yeah it's this one. But they license so many songs, including joke songs that aren't popular. It's crazy because this is...

My little guy's first rock concert. I hope the spinal taps don't play too loud. Oh, Marge, I went to thousands of heavy metal concerts and it never hurt me. I hear you. Come on, boy. I know you edited that, Chris, but I want someone to isolate Marge's audio because on the commentary they say she's saying some very funny things. We just can't hear that. Yeah.

I guess you were supposed to be able to hear some of it. They decided to turn it way up, the feedback, so you couldn't hear anything. But I want to know, did we know who the Spinal Taps were at this point? I took it at face value and my parents were like, that's a fake band. I never knew this was a fake band. I had not seen this as Spinal Tap.

And by the way, this is Spinal Tap. Fellas, I'm going to hit you with a phrase that has dogged you throughout your career. Washed up. Yet here you are among the top 105 concert acts today. What's your secret, guys? Well, after the Berlin Wall fell out, our record started selling on the dismal side of the Iron Curtain,

and naturally, that gave us a boost. We're very big in Bulgaria. And what's his name? Yadagaria? Hungaria? Yeah, whatever. I can't think of anyone who's benefited more from the death of communism than us.

Or maybe the people who actually live in the communist countries. Oh, yeah, hadn't thought of that. I bet you're right. Yeah, on the other hand, each of us just bought our own soccer team. How many Hungarians can say that, eh? So I would say maybe 80% of the first act is just a Spinal Tap sketch.

Yes. Before they are killed. But depressingly, like, I love Spinal Tap now. That movie is fantastic. It's great, yeah. It is awesome. I haven't seen it in a while, but I love it.

All of those jokes are lost on you if you do not understand what Spinal Tap is. They are an example of a pathetic, like, what would you call them? Well, I mean, they are a metal band. They're like an early 80s metal band. Yeah, like a late 70s, early 80s metal band, but also not very good, but inexplicably popular, and they're really dumb. And you'll get none of that. I didn't get any of that, not knowing who they were.

No, definitely not. My mom knew who the Spinal Taps were. And she explained them to me. And I don't think I saw the Spinal Tap film until a few years later. Until it was re-released on DVD. And it is my favorite thing. I love Spinal Taps so much. Yeah, it's really good.

Like Shark Sandwich, Shit Sandwich. You, shit sandwich, like shark sandwich, shit sandwich. You can't put, they couldn't publish that now. Smell the glove. And we got to see it, I got to see it at the local Castro Theater. They had it on the big screen, and it was amazing to see it on the big screen. And to hear a whole audience laughing. But it's crazy. It's Rob Reiner's first movie as a director.

But it also created the style that Christopher Guest continued to do, the mockumentary style. It was a really early mockumentary, at least in America, an early mockumentary about this band that's like, they're not good, but they also wrote original songs for the band. And really performed them, which I think are pretty good. The songs are catchy. They are. Big bottom. I'll go about big buns buns my girl's got. Yeah, I think that Michael McKeon and Christopher Guestin, of course, if we didn't mention,

Harry Shearer is the third member of Spinal Tap and also a member of the Simpsons voice cast. It seemed, I guess, if you knew all that, which I did not, this was only a matter of time of getting Spinal Tap on the show. It was beautiful. And I loved having Spinal Tap on there. I bet the writers loved writing for Spinal Tap on the show. It was beautiful. And I loved having Spinal Tap on there. I bet the writers loved writing for Spinal Tap. I bet a lot of the writers on The Simpsons were partially inspired by Spinal Tap to get into comedy writing.

But as they say on the commentary, they say that, except we had one who was a difficult guest. They said, and the other was really keen. And then someone was a sheer delight yes i believe michael i'm sorry i believe christopher guest refused to say certain jokes so certain things are jokes that he created on the spot to replace existing jokes guy who can make up a joke he's really good but he also he's kind of a recluse he's really weird and i think he's also royalty. So I have to imagine he's a terrible lord.

He is a lord. He is a lord. So he's spoiled rotten, very talented kind of method. And on the spectrum they say too. Some of his friends have said that. And that Harry Shearer

is friends, according to his WTF interview, he is friends now with, he's still his friends with Gats, but not McKeon. McKeon, who seems like the nicest man in the universe. Based on his Twitter account, yes. His interviews. Better call Saul's for the kids, Michael McKeon. What a great performance.

And also, you know, they kind of did a Spinal Tap, they've done Spinal Tap reunions outside of this appearance too, and though they also would do a sort of one in The Mighty Wind because the three of them play a different band together. The Folksmen. The Folksmen, yes. Which I think they, not to get off on, I think they might predate Spinal Tap.

Oh, really? The three of them were performing as these characters for a while. And that's because they are actual comedians and actual musicians. So they ended up making up these bands back in the 70s. It's beautiful.

I just love, I do love Spinal Tap. Yeah, it's really good. I think on the Criterion Edition, they even do the commentary in character. They do both as the actors and the characters. And both fake bands are really just, you know, just setting up high concept fart jokes. Like A Mighty Wind and Break Like the Wind. It's just like, oh, you're just telling fart jokes. It's blowing you and me.

Yeah. So outside of Spinal Tap, Homer's tap can i get one more spinal let's see guys i wonder if you'd mind recording a couple of promos for us well like what uh maybe you could say nobody rocks like bill and marty on kbbo well we don't know that do we what if somebody rocks as good as you or better i mean we don't want to look stupid okay we can respect that how about rock-a-doodle-doo you're listening to bill and marty yeah sure that's good that doesn't break any ethical boundaries what i love about that too is hearing getting to hear dan castellanet improv with them like he's such a great improviser too to get to play with them i wish he did it more you know i

i love that oh so homer by the way homer has billy beer oh yeah i looked it up billy beer was a beer launched in 1977 promoted by jimmy carter's brother billy carter and uh closed in 1978 every southern president has like a weird hillbilly brother. Clinton had one too, right? I think so. Obama just has Joe Biden. So Billy Beer's slogan was, Brewed expressly for and with the personal approval of one of America's all-time great beer drinkers, Billy Carter. But the shameful secret is, in private, he drank Pabst. Seriously?

I wouldn't want to admit to that either. I don't know what a 20-year-old can of Billy beer tastes like, but Homer seemed to enjoy it. It had to be pretty skunky, man. But yeah, and I liked his concert jacket was like leather with all those fringes, like so stupid looking. Yeah, just it's crazy. This is the auto show. And every, I can't not remember the auto show,

but like half of it is just set up to make jokes at the expense of music and rock and roll. More than half of it, I would say. I forget how they got to Otto. It's like, okay, Spinal Tap, then Bart playing the guitar, and then that leads to Otto. He appears in the concert and has a line, and you wouldn't guess that he's the central character for the rest of the episode. And I did

like the joke when they arrived, so Bart and Milhouse get dropped off at the concert by Homer, and there were two. One, the mega dated joke where of, tour 92 t-shirts, $30, which one that's not an expensive t-shirt. No, not anymore. It's pretty common.

And in 1992, like them saying the year in the episode, like that really struck me like, oh, they're actually saying what year it is. Yeah, they rarely do that. And just, man, the concert shirts with the tour dates on the back, does that happen anymore? And then next to them was comic book guys selling bootleg t-shirts. And I miss when he do that. And just, man, the concert shirts with the tour dates on the back? Does that happen anymore? And then next to them was comic book guy selling bootleg t-shirts.

I miss when he did that. He stopped being the bootleg t-shirt guy. Comic book guy proper? He was kind of off-model. He had the voice. He was off-model. His beard was colored in for some reason. But we have another Homer joke.

One of many, I think, that substitutes sex for food. Where it's like some of the best times I've had were in the backseat of a car and it's him just eating a sandwich. Or like a hoagie or something. And I cannot believe how much I relate to that now. I would rather eat than fuck. Only 36. He brought all that food with him. It was impressive.

Yeah, I think my favorite one of those jokes is when Homer says like, I don't know, Ned. There's something about having two wives. Chop, chop, dig, dig. And then even Marge in his thing says, you know, two wives could do more things for know, Ned. There's something about having two wives. Chop, chop, dig, dig. And then even Marge in his thing says, you know, two wives could do more things for you, Homer. I hear chopping, but don't hear digging. But I also love the joke. The banter with the crowd that the tap does.

This morning, we were driving down Route 401. That's only four miles from my house. And we thought they knew how to rock in Shelbyville. But nobody rocks like Springfield. How much was the Shelbyville-Springfield rivalry brought up by this point? Not much at this point. It was another town. It was the only other fictional town they called out by, fictional town that they called out by name.

I mean, the first time they were in Shelbyville was for, oh, Brother Where Art Thou? And it wasn't a negative thing. It was just the next town over. I think this is the first time it was a competition. It's evolving. Yeah, and this was something I noticed in this episode and a lot

of episodes in season three where instead of having to think of just like a crazy side thing, they can just have a bunch of observational jokes about things in real life. The next episode will have a ton of observational stuff about being the first kid at school or the new kid at school. You know, in Homer the Bad, it was just observational jokes about playing softball or baseball jokes. In this one, it was like, what are concerts like? Great show, let's riot. The obvious pandering to the audience when things go

wrong. No bleeding splish splash show. Love that line. That's a great line. The half-inflated Dark Lord is beautiful. Isn't it weird that it is the devil that is the devil. It's the real Simpsons devil. that is the devil like the real simpsons devil it's the harry sheer simpsons devil i'm a devil i feel like that's like the official canonical

devil in the simpsons world yeah and also that they do the the way they do the joke about how like no at this they actually do have kids worship the devil at this rock pretty edgy for 92 a bunch of people giving throwing up the horns for the half-inflated Dark Lord. Now they go, oi! So there's a ton of songs that play in this episode, a lot of

Spinal Tap songs. A lot of songs just kind of played straight even though they're a little silly. Yeah, well this had baffled me forever because didn't we

discuss, I think in Bark Gets Hit by a Car, they used a Herp Alpert song. Was it T.O. on a Taxi? Yeah, because there's some connection with

the Simpsons production staff. Jay Kogan or... I think it's Jay Kogan. Yeah, it there's some connection with the Simpsons production staff. Jay Kogan or... I think it's Jay Kogan. Yeah, it's Jay Kogan. He is kind of like old Hollywood royalty, or his dad was, who just knows Herb Albert. Fucking love them. They're so good.

And so through his connection, he was able to get the license for it. And so that's, again, the case with Spanish Flea. It is this case with Spanish Flea, which this is the Herb Alpert version, but Homer was singing lyrics that I'd never heard before. There was a little Spanish Flea, a record star, he thought he'd be. He heard him sing, he was like, he knows the chipmunks he's seen on TV. Why not a little Spanish Flea? And so he did. And for years... Is that a donkey from Madrid?

For years that baffled me and then we, I forget where we were doing it on Lazer Time, but we discovered that somebody covered it like 10 years later and added their own lyrics.

That's the first time I've heard it was Lazer Time or one of the Lazer Time shows. Thank you, Blackbeam. Do we know who? I feel like it was a shame song, like shame songs that are older than you.

Yeah, that's our annual shame songs episode. It's by a band. Do you have the band, Henry? It is the Modern Heirs. The Modern Heirs. In the late 60s, they released their cover of it

with their... With lyrics. Can you do that? Can I write lyrics to Sandstorm and cover it right now? Only 50 years ago. At the end of their song, at the end of their

lyricized version of it, they talk about Herb Albert. They say like, and then the thing goes to talk about Herb Albert. They say, like, and then the theme goes to play with Herb Albert. Wow. It sounds like they're pitching a Hanna-Barbera show or something. And then they solve mysteries. The song was more popularized as the theme for the dating game.

Yes. Oh, you're right. The song sounds like the 70s for some reason, even though it's not from there. It's a beautiful song. I love just the trumpety. There's a ton of musical flourishes in the episode. I love Brockman.

Of course it would be wrong to suggest that this sort of mayhem began with rock and roll. After all, there were riots at the premiere of Mozart's The Magic Flute. So what's the answer? Ban all music? In this reporter's opinion, the answer, sadly, is yes. What was the line that kicked off the ride

like, goodnight, Springton, there will be no encore? I love that line so much. It is a great shorthand for like, this was a bad live thing you went to and it's over early.

And I was like, do I get clips of that? Everybody riots, but it is so inconsequential to this episode. It doesn't matter that there was a riot in Spinal Tap that didn't play that long Bart just gets the music bug for like a day

and I also do like how Christopher gets it medium setting medium setting it's pretty much to lead into Bart gets a guitar which doesn't lead into the actual plot of the episode either and we're like halfway in it's like a to lead into Bart gets a guitar, which doesn't lead into the actual plot of the episode either. And we're like halfway in.

It's like a relay race and he hands it off to Otto. It's Otto's show now. I've been thinking about what Bart said. If he's really interested in being a musician, maybe we should buy him a guitar. Well, that's a waste of money. We already have a guitar. I meant a real guitar. This is real.

Wow. It's a real guitar. This is real. Wow. That's a weird joke. And it came with a free instruction book. Love that book. Oh, boy, we spent a lot of money, so you'd better get real good real faster. Pow! Homer. Hey, I thought I was supposed to encourage him.

It took me a long time to convince my parents to get me a guitar, only to give up. I think every white suburban boy has a guitar for at least a year and has that dream. It seemed like my ticket out of here, man. Yeah, see, I didn't get the guitar bug. My little brother did, though, and he took about a year of lessons. I did until the person giving me lessons says, I'm not going to see you anymore because you're not taking this seriously. That's what my instructor said.

I learned how to play a lot of Weezer songs i probably still can a lot of bass lines on my guitar oh i mean the ones who stick with it they don't become professionals they become the guy at the party who plays a sublime song like guys the guys yeah and of course this this also leads to one of my favorite part uh visions of his Bart, you've got to go on. Slag off. You've changed, man. It used to be about the music. I said slag off.

Cool. I love how every dire Bart flash forward ends with him thinking it's cool. It's awesome. It's awesome to fail. Mayor, run me out of town. Cool. It's beautiful. It's something I have to That was a mayor run me out of town. Cool. It's beautiful. It's something I have to look forward to once the bottom falls out on this little career. I want to see Wasted Rocker Bart and Gambling Hag Lisa together in their own future dark timeline.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention the act break ended with Milhouse being injured. And I think that's the first time, though, hardly the last, that they'll get comedy out of Millhouse being hurt. Was the line my glasses, or was it something else? No, it was, help! Yeah. Help! He's just under a bunch of chairs.

Yeah, he's just very hurt. And then after all this, all this, that's when we finally get to Bart bringing his guitar on the bus, which is, I guess, the point of the episode, is so he can auto, oh, begin making that guitar, man. So Bart's not doing well at it. And I did like the bit where Lisa is playing her saxophone and finally getting to show off and make Bart feel less for something.

And then also just the line, well, it sounds Polly Wolly crappy. Ha ha, burn. Love that. Otto plays another expensive song in this episode. Yeah, really? I can't imagine they didn't have to pay for this. Was this a stereotype at this point in history? Yeah, Freebird was.

By 92, Freebird was a stereotype. I wasn't aware of it. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is where I learned about Freebird before I knew what the song sounded like. Even though I had heard the song, I just didn't know that was called Freebird. I mean, it's still a joke that persists at concerts, and I think there's one band out there that will actually play the whole song of Freebird if people scream it, just to be a dicks. Both of those prospects are annoying.

Maybe it's like, I forget who it is, actually. The commentary is a rare commentary with James L. Brooks on it. Really? And you're hoping, when I first listened to it, I was hoping, like, oh man, they're going to drop some big knowledge here. But they're quiet for lots of it and maybe there was stuff edited out because sometimes you just hear silence. No, the fucking boss

is in the room. You can't talk. You can't speak freely. They get silent when he starts, before he starts to play Freebird. And then when it cuts back to Otto playing Freebird, then he goes like, oh man, this is such an expensive song. And then he realizes like, oh man, this is such an expensive song. And then he realizes like,

what a terrible commentary this is that all of this is just us complaining about licensing songs. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Although I'm sure I will receive a severe wedgie from my busmates, I must remind you we should have been at school 10 minutes ago.

Uh-oh. Better fasten your seatbelts, little dudes. We don't have seatbelts. Uh, well then, uh, just try to go. Uh-oh. Better fasten your seatbelts, little dude. We don't have seatbelts. Well, then, just try to go limp. Need a little shortcut. The writers admit that this show killed Otto, but this has the best

Otto lines of any Otto episode. Any episode with Otto in it, I think. I think they saw that they kind of like, oh, we did everything we could. Yes, in one episode. He's so one-dimensional that you can't do much with him yeah it wasn't i mean there's a lot of like first three seasons people who they get all they're gonna get out of them and then they kind of like fall to the

background for one joke thing like barney or edna kind of mr largo yeah mr largo but then by season four they're like oh we think Lenny's funnier. Hey, what's Apu doing? Or then they just turn to lesser-used characters. Yeah, I love the try-to-go limp. And I also love when they're driving through the stuff. One, they drive through the tire fire, which is a great history thing. And then they kill Spinal Tap.

It's just like such a... That was them saying fuck you that's why there was never another spinal tap movie because they died in this episode there was another spinal tap movie i just i really i have to remember it no but there wasn't okay there wasn't but christopher guest directed a couple honda commercials so only his character is in like playing guitar on top of a honda it's it's it was like 10 years ago but they just like it's such a fuck you to them blowing them up and then they said that on the commentary too they said that christopher guess was watching him with his kid and his kid said like so dad did they kill

you like i guess they did like which by the way that kid i think is the one who grew up to be the giant fighting game yeah that gets jam Jamie Lee Curtis to Evo. Oh, that's how that happened. They got it through him. She loves those things anyway now too. That's why you see the pictures of Jamie Lee Curtis as Vega. Her as Vega.

And Christopher Guest as Dr. Farts-a-Lot from Kit-Tek 3. Oh, I forgot. He cosplays too. He can be somewhat anonymous, but like Jamie Lee Curtis, she'll be wrecked. Got to say, by the time you hear this, Laser Time is probably doing some fun stuff with True Lies.

That movie is really, really underrated. Even with Tom Arnold. Yes, it's really fun. 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. Have you ever been on Talking Simpsons, Elston?

Yeah, a couple times. Yeah? Yeah. You remind me a lot of Otto. He is the subject of this very show. Yeah, I'm sorry. How is that? You have the same haircut.

The headphones you're wearing right now are a key giveaway. All the years as a bus driver and burnout. And Otto gets kicked out of his house in this episode. I remember this. And it's probably a good thing because you know what he had? A terrible mattress. I'm sure. If only Otto had heard

of Casper mattresses, man, I'm probably going to get sued for doing a Simpsons voice staring in the head. But Talking Simpsons today is brought to you by Casper mattresses. And if you don't know what Casper mattresses do, they combine high density memory and premium latex foam to create a sleep surface that contours to your body no matter how Otto

like and keeps you cool and balanced. Even if I had to take the mattress and sleep in a garage in the floor. Or a dumpster brand dumpster. Yeah, I wish a dumpster brand dumpster. And guess what? Talking Simpsons listeners can get $50 towards any mattress just by going to caspertrial.com slash

lasertime. And price is important here, people. Some of us, yeah, we drive a school bus. At least I, as a podcaster, make about the same salary. I can't afford a thousand dollar mattress. And how much do you think Casper mattresses go for, Elston? Thousands of dollars. Stop it! They start at just

$500. I don't know why I keep going so high. I know, and they're available in sizes ranging from twin all the way to California King. And as a further incentive to try it, you do not have to drive a school bus or even have a car because they will ship the mattress directly to you. Again, as Otto is emphasizing, a place to sleep is very important, so why not try out a Casper mattress for yourself because there is a risk-free 100-night trial, Elston.

It's so long. Exactly. And within that 100-day period, you don't like it, call Casper. You'll get a full refund, and they'll come pick it up from you for free. Whoa. I don't even have a car, so they'd have to. You don't have the car. Now you drive the school bus.

Man, Fox is so going to sue us. But it doesn't matter. I'm that excited about Casper, and you should be too. And if you want to get $50 towards any mattress at Casper, you can go to caspertrial.com slash lasertime

and get $50 towards any mattress. I know I repeated myself. You like laser time shows then you might like bonus time laser times weekly bonus show exclusively on patreon.com slash laser time here's

a taste of what you've been missing last week I was in on the bus when a girl was almost robbed and I didn't do anything partially because it's like it's nothing happens for on you like

yes literally that's why so this was the day that we did capture for the randy savage video so i'm on the bus and as they're getting off the bus uh one of the guys behind me tries to grab this girl's phone he he fails at it so like they just all run off the bus anyway personally i, I'm like, I wouldn't have done anything. Because what if I go and try to do something, which I wouldn't because I'm a chicken shit. But if I would have, then my bag is open for that kid to run off. There's all your Macho Man DLC on that. Yeah.

You know how much that fetches in the black market. A lot. No, it's the Hogan DLC that's worth money. Get bonus time, laser times weekly, full-length, uncensored, and ad-free Patreon-exclusive podcast, as well as weekly full-length movie commentaries, wrestling and cartoon video commentaries, physical rewards, the first season of Talking Simpson, and more at patreon.com slash lasertime, starting at just five bucks. You'll help us live, and we'll do our best to help you never be bored again. auto uh wrecking the school bus he's suspended oh it's a miracle no one was hurt

oh i stand on my record 15 crashes and not a single fatality. Let's see your license, pal. No can do. Never got one. But if you need proof of my identity, I wrote my name on my underwear. Oh wait, these aren't mine. Well, that tears it. Until you get a license and wear your own underwear, mister, you are suspended without pay. Who's gonna drive the bus?

I drove an old terrain vehicle into Nang. I think I can handle it. They're really playing up the Skinner Vietnam stuff. They found it episodes ago, and now they're really falling in love with it. Every episode now, since they introduced it very lightly in separate vocations, they've been hitting it so hard every episode, and the next episode even harder. We're going to see flashbacks soon, but this has some great skinner stuff, like the auto, that's one palindrome you won't be hearing

anymore. Where's auto? Auto. That's one palindrome you won't be hearing for a while. Off we go! Hail to the bus driver, bus driver, bus driver, hail to the bus driver, bus driver man.

He drinks and he crosses, he stinks up the buses. Hail to the bus driver, bus driver man. He drinks and he cusses, he stinks up the buses. Hail to the bus driver, bus driver man. But I like that Skinner is too timid to do it, like that he won't push his way in and seemingly keeps the kids in the bus all day. I can't imagine having to be a bus driver to both pilot a vessel and be a babysitter to 30 children who do not respect

you. They have so much sympathy for bus drivers in this episode. They imply that being a bus driver is worse than being in Vietnam. Totally. Because Skinner can't handle it. He was in Vietnam like a prisoner of war. And he's just like, I can't do this. My favorite parody of a bus driver or a sketch about a bus driver,

was the UCB one of the woman who will then sit on the kid. I'm going to sit on you. I just had a vivid memory of trying to finger my rare girlfriend in high school on a school bus as if I could do that anywhere else and that would be appropriate and I could get away with it. You want to do it somewhere with a lot of mirrors. I'm one of 40 kids that this person has to watch while they're driving. Like, the poor bus drivers. Jesus Christ.

Otto should be in jail. He really should. The cops should have arrested him. He's driving without a license, wrecking the bus. He gets off pretty easy. But he gets kicked out of his house. But, hey, at least he can stay with the Simpsons. I don't understand this. Why can't you stay with your parents with the Simpsons. I don't understand this.

Why can't you stay with your parents? The Admiral and I don't get along. Please let me stay here. I've got nowhere else to go. Forget it. Deadline didn't work for my dad, and it's not gonna work for you. Dad, Otto's going through a real tough time. Can't he stay with us for a while? I know we didn't ask

for this, Homer, but doesn't the Bible say whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me? Yes, but doesn't the Bible also say thou shalt not take moochers into thy hut? Please, Dad, if you let Otto stay, he'll help around the

house and chip in a few bucks whenever he can. All right, he can stay. But I get to treat him like garbage. Well, what's the catch there's so much great auto stuff like anything from the vampire's point of view yeah uh so a couple things there too that he he mentioned the admiral i love that when he got married oh that paid off right yeah the admiral was there like his wow his high-ranking naval father but that by the way he didn't respect him still i mean my my grandfather was an admiral was there like his wow his high-ranking naval father but that by the way he didn't

respect him still i mean my my grandfather was an admiral that's a really high-ranking officer his his dad must suck well sorry they couldn't be not suck but couldn't be more different from otto's personality that is like the stereotype the more straight-laced and successful the parent the more burnout the child usually i i because i had an admiral and i didn't realize until now how disappointed he constantly was with everything i said or did he was very nice but like i did talk to his son finally at his funeral i'm like he was mystified by you he didn't understand you at all i i also did love otto's terrible performance at dry at the driving test and how he insulted Patty immediately like, you were a bored man, right? Hey, you can tell me

I'm open-minded. I was avoiding controversy by not getting that clip. Otto was not hateful. He was curious. And ignorant. But not hateful. And also did this teach you guys that Dumpster was a brand and not a trash company? Is that true? I'm sleeping in trash co.

Yeah, no, it's a brand and not... Is that true? I've been sleeping in trash co. Yeah, no, it's a brand. And actually, very recently, it was AP Style or Chicago's Some Important Style Guide made it official that you can now lowercase d dumpster now. Thank God. Because it used to be like it is a brand. You would write

it was the same kind of rule of like Kleenex is a brand. It is not... And Band-Aid and Coke, they're all brands. So it used to be that way too, but now it's. I always say adhesive strips. But yeah, then a dumpster bag. I legit did not know that. Well, that just sort of leads us into my line of the show.

Yeah. That's the joke. Hey, how come you never play your guitar anymore? I'll tell you the truth, Dad. I wasn't good at it right away, so I quit. I hope you're not mad. Son, come here. Of course I'm not mad.

If something's hard to do, then it's not worth doing. You just stick that guitar in the closet next to your shortwave radio, your karate outfit, and your unicycle, and we'll go inside and watch TV. What's on? It doesn't matter. I love that. Again, more season three continuity. They're really caught up in continuity.

We have the karate outfit being referenced, which was, was that season three? Two. Well, okay, production two. Production two. That was when Flanders failed, right? Yeah. I thought so. But also, I definitely internalized that lesson as a kid.

I thought it was funny, but then around that same age, it was when I tried things and it wasn't easy immediately, so then I just stopped. I had everything Homer mentioned. A shortwave radio, a karate gi, and a unicycle I begged my father for the $20 to buy from a trailer park garage sale. I think I just tried every sport and was like, this is not for me. Moving around outside, no thank you. I'm not going to do this anymore.

And I think still today, 24 years later, that joblessness equals watching Price is Right shirtless. Still, yeah. I mean, it's Drew Carey now, but it's still the Price is Right. I have a job. My line of the show is actually Homer's brain saying, I want some peanuts. I want some peanuts. I will do all that.

That's better. I mean, this was close, too, when Otto goes back to get his driver's license from, was it Patty or Selma? It's Patty. I don't know about this, Bart dude. Your dad is right. I am a bum.

He didn't call you a bum. He called you a sponge. Sponge? Does this look like something a sponge would do? I'll show you who's a sponge. Still so baffling that that would offend him on that level. I love how arbitrary the difference between bum and sponge is. There is really no difference, but it's like, sponge!

Because bum means you're worthless. This just accuses you of mooching. You've all done. I like, it hurts my hand seeing him make the marks in the wall. Cracks a government building with his bare hands. But when he's living with them, too, when he tells

that story to Lisa, he's even holding an old-timey candle i love that little touch but the story of the ex-wielding maniac in the back seat we did miss uh i mean when when otto met patty and she was explaining the pens i like when she's like we won't be needing this i just misspelled bus i had to consolidate and i love when he they find a natural bond. They have a common enemy, and her laughing at the end, I love it. Well, if it isn't Wee Willie Washout.

I want to take the test again. Why? So I can staple my license to Homer Simpson's big bald head. Really? Well, here's your written test. I'll get you started. B-C-D, A, B. Homer had a piece of food in his face for three days.

It wasn't little either. It was a chicken wing. Wing. What was that? I do love wing. And then she said, let's go get some margaritas. I'm buying. You know what's funny, though?

They have to do it to not have the connection. But Bart is right outside. But he doesn't go in with them. Because if he had gone in, then Patty would have said, Bart, what are you doing here? Or couldn't talk as much shit about it. You feel like Bart would want to go in just to pursue this curiosity. Like, what the fuck is he going to do next? Maybe as a kid kid all kids want to go to the dmv well it's like auto just like beat up a building what's he gonna do now maybe as a kid i thought like oh you're not

allowed in the dmv it's like a bar or whatever oh no kids allowed type thing uh you know there was uh one of my favorite lines was way back there where Bart plays his imitation of Marge like, Yeah, sure I can. I meant to grab that. It's beautiful. Do I really sound like that? It wasn't me. I don't sound like that.

Everybody says that when they hear themselves. Yeah. And it was just a great thing. And they talk about it on the commentary, too, that everybody who works on the show has a bad Marge impression. All Homer. All Homer. They just had Nancy do her bad Marge impression

and do it live. That was great. So then when Otto gets his job back, it is a pat if cute ending. I do like it. I wish we could close the show if we don't work like that, but I love this clip.

Hail to the bus driver, bus driver, bus driver. Yes, hail to the bus driver, bus driver man. I like the guitar in there to signify Otto's rise back to his current position. I love Skinner's line.

I love the reprise. And I love that it... Oh, this is the rock show. You forgot about that because it's been all Otto for like eight minutes. And it is kind of... I mean, we barely even talked about it here too, but Otto has a talent, which is guitar,

but he doesn't do anything. I think he's just too much of a stoner to pursue it or just too aimless to pursue it. Yeah, he's really good at guitar, but I feel like this is a really short episode of talking simpsons but i feel like as we get towards the end of the seasons things get punchier and more frivolous yeah they're less concerned with like like tying things up in a neat little package they want to just have fun and be sloppy and messy and be kind of mean and this is what this episode is yeah that line of

the show is is there because it's like one of the first times they use very sincere music to create an insincere joke. Yeah. And that it is like a, that was a sitcom dad talk but saying all the wrong things. Very Danny Tanner moment. Yeah. Saying all the wrong things in the right

way with the right music behind it and teaching Bart a lesson that will ruin him for life just brought up when flanders failed and that's like a very like on the nose sitcom ending where they literally all get together and sing and everyone knows when to chime in yeah and in this episode i feel like it's it's bad that auto has his job back he really shouldn't yeah and it was only because patty hates homer is that that's how he got his job back that's the only reason why his anger didn't make him a better driver.

No, no. In fact, we saw him doing poorly, just like running over every pedestrian sign on the road test. And also, yeah, there was the joke that his license put his name on it, which is Auto Man. That's right. And that was the animators who chose to do that. They thought of having his name be Auto Mechanic

because it is a real-ass name, Mechanic, that some people have. But the animators were like, that's man. That's the first time they would perform such a joke. And also, until the second time I watched this, I never noticed it before, but when Skinner watching Auto drive away, he drives through past the stop sign. He does not stop at the stop sign. Oh, I did not see that. That's awesome. He drives right through it at a four-way stop.

Just a dangerous thing. His first thing is this thing. We're at peak Simpsons where there's all those visual jokes that you miss out on. I totally missed that joke until you just said it. Yeah, that's amazing. It's good to know there's jokes I can still miss in these episodes. No, there's still, I mean,

even when we're watching it with a fine-tooth comb, there's still more jokes to find. And yeah, you know. This is a cute episode that is half a Spinal Tap crossover and then half a pilot for the auto show that doesn't go. So RIP auto, you'll show up every 10 episodes

with one joke in the background. Now my shoes are talking. It's Flegman false advertising. I think by season 7, I'm like, oh, he can be our pot joke machine. It becomes a real Barney, I think by season seven, I'm like, oh, he can be our pot joke machine. Because he is that. He becomes a real Barney, I think. But it's weird that that metalhead

entry-level worker thing, that is pervasive in Florida where I'm from. My friend said, we were really high, and he just turned and like, all metalheads are painters. I'm like, what the fuck are you talking about? Go watch somebody, any white dude painting something, what the fuck are you talking about? Like, go watch somebody, like any white dude painting something,

like an Albertsons or like a construction building, and then when they take off their smock, it's a metal shirt every time. And he's totally right. Totally right. So many of them. I mean, it is a real life. The auto type.

White trash heshers grow into that job. Or auto mechanics, actual auto mechanics. Things, you know, just the kind of jobs you fall into, I guess. But Otto just became the stoner joke guy, especially in the episode where pot became legal and Homer smokes it, that he just hangs out with Homer all the time. And there was a funny joke about, like,

they call them fingers, but they don't fing. No, wait, there they did. So he can be funny, but he really but I think the next time he'll have a major episode is when the start of the episode is him getting married. It's like season 12 or 11 or something. I don't know if I've seen that. And his wife-to-be is voiced by Mighty Wynn co-star Parker Posey. Really? Oh, wow.

So all back around to Christopher Guest in the Guestiverse, which I miss. What is Christopher Guest doing? He had that failed HBO show that was not great. Oh, that's right. Family Tree. Yeah. Oh, well. He'll find more work sooner or later.

So this has been Talking Simpsons, everybody. I've been your host, Bob Mackie. You can find me on Twitter as Bob Servo. I also write for SomethingAwful.com and USGamer.net. You can check out my other podcast, Retronauts, at Retronauts.com and usgamer.net. You can check out my other podcast, Retronauts, at retronauts.com or usgamer.net.

Every week, it's a new classic gaming topic. All these guys have been on it. It's really fun. I love doing it. So please listen.

Chris, what can we find? I just used something I cut into a dumb Facebook Talking Simpsons promo, but it occurs to me we have streamed almost every Simpsons game

on our YouTube channel, youtube.com slash LazerTime, including multiple attempts to tryed almost every Simpsons game on our YouTube channel, YouTube.com slash LazerTime, including multiple attempts to try and complete the Simpsons game, the last console Simpsons game, which is pretty terrible in hindsight. It's really slow. But it's insane. The joke is it's a bad game, everybody.

Get it? Kind of, but it's funny, and there's like two episodes worth of content in there. It's weird. The Wii and the DS versions are unique as well, with unique jokes and unique levels and settings and things like that. They went all out there. They even got Harry Shearer, which who knows what amount of money they had to give. He's the one I remember because I played the DS version and all of a sudden in the museum,

Harry Shearer of the loudspeaker goes, the sun is a mass of incandescent gas. It's a really deep reference. Hey, I like this DS game, and it sucks. A big thermonuclear furnace. He says the whole thing and I thought that was great. If you get it, then you'll like the game. Maybe you'll like

Simpsons Wrestling or Simpsons Skateboarding, which is infuriating to play. Again, I have footage of that in a brand new video about bad licensed games. I did a, in my old job, I did a play. Again, I have footage of that in a brand new video about bad licensed games. I did a, in my old job, I did a list of like, I worked on a list of ranking every Simpsons game, and I said,

there are three good Simpsons games, and then you're just like, you're ranking different levels of shit. In my old job, I played and wrote about every Simpsons game. I went up there. The blogs are still there. People look for them.

Bart Man versus Radioactive Man is an abomination. I think Escape from Count Deadly is worse. Is it? Well, it's a Game Boy game. Yeah, I haven't revisited it in a while.

It had even less money behind it. Oh, it gets a lot worse than that, trust me. But also, you should listen to the Laser Time podcast that I was on this week where we,

or last week, where I was back on the show talking about Suicide Squad. Yeah, that was a couple weeks ago, and even right after that, I'm using a Simpsons clip to talk to, as a springboard, to talk about the Olympics. Because I've never cared much about the Olympics, and it'll be over by the time you hear, the Olympics will be over by the time you hear this, but the Simpsons is the only thing that informed me as to the history of this massive thing that happened

amongst nations in the olympics and it's just a throwaway joke for most of one episode of the simpsons yeah i uh i never knew it taught me that that the russians left the 84 games i didn't know that because because we did that first again i'm just i'm telling people to go back and listen the olympics episode because i know you're not interested, because I wasn't really either, but this shit is insane. Oh, and there's also the first season of Talking Simpsons is all on the Patreon, because this was brought to you by the Lazer Time Patreon. Patreon.com slash Lazer Time Network.

We're not going to do it together? Slash Lazer Time Network. Oh, Lazer Time, you're right. Just fucking that up. Confusion. I'm fired. And, yeah, if you go there and you scroll back, if you sign up for $5 a month or more of support, you can just scroll back through the post and you'll see Black Smithers and he'll be

welcoming you to not only the first season of Talking Simpsons, but our Season 2 Wrap-Up Spectacular. Are we going to be doing a Season 3 Wrap-Up? I believe we are. I don't know exactly how we're going to do it, but we will. I want to do it. When we hit stop on this, we will talk more. And you can follow me, H-E-N-E-R-E-Y-G, on

Twitter. Cool. Thanks so much for joining us, folks. We'll be back next week with Bart's friend, Falls in Love. See you then. There was a little Spanish thing. A record star, he thought he'd be. He heard a singer's life Feel such a chance he'd seen On TV

Why not a little Spanish flea And so he hid Inside a doggy from Madrid Arriving here in the city Still singing his swing Aroondee As brave as any flea could be. He walked around as if he owned the town,

humming his life-size melody. With his guitar he knew that he would be a star, and in his own hometown how proud they'd be. And all at once he found a have passed To see the tea of a wad of grass They listened first to his song and they all played along for you see They loved a little

Spanish flea You'll be the rage We'll put you on the stage You'll sit on top of a shiny horn Then at a glance See through the stars A chance is sore

And once a great big Spanish star Was born And when the brass beat He began to play The Spanish flea He sang He was the pride of the nation A singing sensation was he

Though he was just a Spanish flea And when the people heard him play They all began to shout oh late He was the pride of the nation A sad and sensational scene But he was just a Spanish flea Sorry about that, Chief.