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Talking Simpsons - Stark Raving Dad With Nathan Rabin (Patreon)

Published:
2022-03-09 05:00:00
Imported:
2026-06
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  • TalkingSimpsons_0301Patreon.mp3

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Content

We welcome back the great writer and podcaster Nathan Rabin (check out his awesome Weird Al book and his Travolta/Cage podcast) to discuss the now-infamous season 3 premiere! We talk about the heavily advertised special appearance of a pop king, the fallout of allegations that led to the show not on streaming services, and so much more in this ep that makes us all question pink shirts and sanity. Listen now to wish Lisa a happy birthday!

Files

Comments

Matt Q

You think your parasocial relationship with Michael Jackson is weird, try being from Gary Indiana. Any time somebody tries to accuse Jackson's victims of just trying to get money I think of the cottage industry of maintaining tourist traps like the dilapidated Palace Theater, the Jackson 5 mural or their childhood home. Really who has more financial interest here, somebody trying to get justice for what was done to their child or the dozens of friends family and hangers on who are still trying to squeeze every last dollar out of the Jackson name?

Andrew Giachetti

More information on hornpipes for the interested: the name of the dance actually comes from the instrument itself, a horn pipe (which is exactly what it sounds like) which is a small wooden or horn pipe with a reed that sounds a bit like Irish bag pipes (the bellows kind). https://youtu.be/0_DJ1IK5H68 If you think about the instrument and think about the constraints of a sailing ship, it makes sense that sailors, who may want to listen and dance to the pipe tunes on the mainland, would probably bring these along. Like jigs and reels, horn pipes are a staple of folk and old timey music. These days your more likely to hear them on whistles, pipes, fiddles, mandolins, accordions and the like, but a quick search on YouTube will show you that there are plenty of people who can still play a proper hornpipipe.

Harry Thornton

Another surprising thing Prince approved of: The 2006 George Miller film Happy Feet! It's a jukebox musical and uses his song "Kiss" with altered lyrics, which he was reluctant to do at first. But upon watching a screening of the film, Prince enjoyed it so much he even wrote a new song for it. So yes, he gave the tap-dancing penguin movie more respect than "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Joe Hodgson

As an '84 baby, I was a little surprised to hear that Bob and Henry weren't that familiar with Jackson before this episode. Maybe it was because my mom, who was more of a rock fan than pop, had MTV on a lot in my house that I was very aware of Jackson before this episode and definitely was a fan. His videos were on all of the time from both Thriller and Bad, and this episode was a big deal in my house. I remember my dad actually watching the credits to see if Jackson was credited and remarking he must not have actually voiced the character. I actually had a somewhat negative reaction this episode as a kid because of that, I just didn't think he was actually in it. When all of the shit hit the fan in 93, my family was certainly one of the many who felt he was innocent. He was very convincing in that video he released to the press and effectively sold himself as a person who grew up without a childhood who was trying to make up for it. I didn't even really question his innocence until that 2003 Living with Michael Jackson came out and my own doubt as a kid made me compelled to watch Leaving Neverland and I absolutely believe the victims. The guy was a monster and I'm glad he's dead. As for what we lost, this episode is certainly fine. I think it means more to people who saw it when it aired and can remember the omnipresence of Michael Jackson from that era. Separated from that, it's not remarkable. It has that sappy Brooks feel of Season Two that only kind of works in the end. The best thing that can be said for the episode is that it was a creative way to have a guest star play himself, but not, so even if you can separate the art from the artist with this episode it's still just a mid-tier episode and there's quite literally a hundred better episodes than this one.

Lockerus

Hugh Hefner did what?!

Kat Heagberg

I haven't watched this episode in several years, both because it would require me to either ask my parents to dig out a DVD from the depths of their basement and ship it to me or for me to just purchase a new DVD set, neither of which I'm willing to do and because it just feels uncomfortable now. So I really appreciate you doing it for me, and for the great research and commentary. And I forgot how much I used to, and still do quote this episode. (I DID have a cat named Snowball who died after all.) I can still recall my mother's anger and confusion every time I'd answer the phone with a "Joe's Taxidermy/Crematorium. . . " And also, even as a kid who was too young to really understand the MJ "controversy" at the time but did enjoy his music, I do remember feeling like this episode was trying a little too hard to make him appear saint-like, which seemed weird. Especially the "I'm a vegetarian, and I DON'T drink" line. I was just like "okay, so is/neither does my mom, but she doesn't go around bragging about it." (In retrospect, maybe why she was so horrified by all those "Joe's Taxidermy" phone-answers.)

Samwise

As someone ~12 years younger than you guys, seeing this episode at age 9 through the DVDs was how I learned that Michael Jackson was not, in fact, a white guy. My only prior exposure to him had been seeing his picture on the news related to his court cases, and my dad had to awkwardly explain what the deal was. This was also the first Simpsons episode I ever saw, so all in all it was a pretty memorable day for me.

Cossover

halloween they stop for two years playing his music now it back in full . I think party city play a cover on they ads it just sounds off by a bit .

nina matsumoto

I've come here in defense of stationery sets as a GREAT gift for a thoughtful, creative young girl like Lisa. A nice blank journal, pens and pencils? Cute erasers? I went nuts for those as a Lisa-type girl myself! I had plenty of elementary school friends who felt the same. And I still love stationery to this day! Not every kid covets bikes.

notsmohqe

between the audio issues and the vocal fry this was a bit rough to listen to

Drew Waranis

I love that you guys caught the Bob Mould "Dog on Fire" reference! He is the kind of bear I aspire to be.

Alex Forsyth

I also have never bothered separating clothing in the wash but there might be something different when it comes to hats, or at least cheap hats. I had a The Rock hat in high school and I made sure to never put it in the wash because I could see the color from the bill dripping down off of it when I wore it in the rain. The lucky red cap played into the box factory episode too. Also I remember someone creating a gif of the pink shirt scene with Batista as Homer, Vince as Burns and HHH as Smithers but I can't for the life of me find it anymore.

Savvy Williams

In undergrad, I had a music teacher who had a very prolific career in the industry. When Leaving Neverland came out, it came up once during class and he shared a story how it was interesting that the documentary was a British production and how it came out around the same time that the ownership rights to the Beatles library were about to expire at the Jackson estate. I shook it off as a crazy conspiracy, however, it did make me very wary of all news articles regarding the Beatles from then on. It just goes to show how hard it was, even 10 years after his death, that people were willing to defend MJ and his music career.

Kyle Orland

One thing that has always bugged me about this episode, way before I knew any allegations about Michael Jackson: On the phone, Bart asks "Michael" to name his last four dates to the Grammies, and takes Leon's ability to do so as proof that it's *really* Michael. This obviously means that Bart knows the correct answer to confirm it... which in turn means that any MJ fan/impersonator would *also* be able to know/fake the answer! I guess you could try to argue that Bart is *such* an MJ superfan that only he and the real Michael would have such arcane knowledge, but that's a stretch. I do have some sympathy for Bart, though, because after wracking my brain for three decades I can't come up with a real, foolproof method that I would have used to confirm that someone I was talking to on the phone, in 1991, was actually Michael Jackson (no pacemaker scar/superfluous third nipple test a la Krusty is available, after all). I am open to ideas.

Dylan (batmanboy11) Freitag

I don't think I've watched this episode since the podcast originally covered it back in 2016, and WOAH BOY was it much more uncomfortable this time, and even moreso after you guys really dug into how it creepily mirrors' Jackson's irl grooming. While this is by no means a piece of lost media and I can't really disagree with the wishes of those involved like Al Jean, I do still wish stuff like this would come with some kind of introductory stuff about its issues rather than just being swept away and ignored, but still available without context if you look for it

Jay in Madison

Nathan Rabin and I don't know each other, but we have weird things in common that aren't remarkable but make me smile to myself as a fan, like we both lived in Madison at the same time (and I moved back), we both lived in Rogers Park, his memoir references a park I used to live next to, I used to be a diehard Onion/AV Club fan, and of course our obsessive love of the Simpsons. I am also between Nathan and Bob + Henry in age and thus have kind of an inbetween memory of Michael Jackson. I spent my childhood parked in front of MTV so I was well aware of him (the Thriller video scared me so bad I would cover my eyes, lol), but I was definitely over him well before the release of Dangerous. In fact, the only song I remember well from it is Heal the World. Which is admittedly catchy though saccharine. I don't think I will watch this Simpsons episode again--it might be the only one--I don't want Michael Jackson to even be remembered. Anyway, on another topic, I also remember the lyrics to the Kid n Play and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince 1-900 numbers. I indeed would like to get the inside scoop on the hiphop scene!!

Jay in Madison

Ok, one other comment because I'm slowly savoring this podcast over a number of days--a Mountain Goats mention?!? Man, I am still getting used to anyone knowing about those guys. As an aside, Jon Wurster is kind of....dreamy?

Alex Irish

I don’t see this episode getting pulled from Disney+, but Leon Komposky DID come back, voiced by Kip Lenon once again, to reprise a new version of Happy Birthday Lisa in season 29’s Mr. Lisa’s Opus. My own relationship to Michael Jackson’s music is a tale of woe. As a kid in the 90s, I did think Michael was a white woman for some reason, around when he got married to Marie Presley. And the first time I heard Happy Birthday Lisa on the Songs in the Key of Springfield album, before the episode guide book came out, I thought the Kip Lennon voice was a woman’s, being robbed of the context of the episode. More embarrassing, I hadn’t heard the Thriller album until late 2003. It was a confluence of getting the season 3 DVD box set and my humanities teacher playing his music in class that got me to ask for Thriller among other CDs that Christmas. My cousins and sister called me “gay” for asking for it, for what it’s worth. Because what high school boy in 2003 wants to hear THAT artist? I would hear the majority rest of his discography when he died in 2009, like we all did to rediscover the singer behind these iconic songs and divorced of his horrible crimes. Given how we still hear his music over the airwaves, it’s not surprising how his estate wants his music to remain valuable and the public lets the relitigation of his criminal acts involving minors kinda slide off their shoulders.

RWOB

Honest question guys- if you feel Stark Raving Dad was rightly removed because of the allegations against Michael Jackson, do you not feel the same thing should apply to your episodes with 'ol VT?