One of the delightful things about doing this series is that I’m forced to engage with episodes that I couldn’t connect with and find new nuances and things to think about. I’ve never been a huge fan of this episode because I never really cared that much about Troy McLure or Selma all that much; almost everything Troy does as a story element is done much funnier and more sympathetically with Krusty, and I could never really get past my distaste with Selma’s awful personality. Approaching this episode from a critical standpoint has alleviated a lot of my prejudice against the two characters and I found myself liking it a lot more; I love the whole idea of doing an intense character study of a completely shallow man with no real inner life or interest in any kind of abstract idea. Say what you will about Krusty, he genuinely finds meaning in what he does and often considers the meaningless of it, even if he always falls back into self-indulgence and hack work; Troy is a purely reactive figure, churning out acting work because that’s what he does, with his whole life centered around it. It’s something that puts him far outside the show’s constant search for transcendent meaning, and it’s interesting comparing him to someone like Bart or Homer; both of them are people who’ll chase some novel superficial pleasure and then contemplate the collective meaning of it in some way, while Troy just keeps doing the same thing over and over again, never questioning it even when it’s not working.
This puts him in sharp contrast with Selma. For all her faults, she is genuinely invested in the ideal of romance. She wants to be loved, and she wants to feel love; it’s ironic how much she complains about Homer when this is a very Homer-esque plot. I’m especially moved by her description of a baby as an expression of the love two people feel – that’s the ideal condition to have a baby, far more than doing it because that’s what you’re supposed to do or because your parents keep insisting on it or because it would advance your career. It’s another example of that idea so central to The Simpsons sense of morality: thoughtfulness. Actively sitting down and thinking what works and what doesn’t, especially on difficult subjective concepts like what you find romantic and what you’re willing to live with. Last week, I observed that The Simpsons doesn’t really have recurring character types, but it does have some recurring situations, and this is Selma facing another case of a character having to choose between superficial pleasure and transcendent truth and choosing the latter.
The problem I have is the same problem I’ve always really had with the episode: for the most part, it’s not all that funny, eliciting more sensible chuckles than outright belly laughs. I think one of the beautiful complexities of the show is that because it understood both the need for transcendent truth and superficial pleasure, it was so good at delivering both at the same time – being something thoughtful and interesting and non-stop entertainment that’s always fun to watch, and this time it dropped the ball on the ‘fun to watch’ aspect. I like Troy’s ‘you may remember me’ running gag, but it feels like a good half of this script is riffing on it – I mean, it sets up Selma’s beautiful kiss-off line, but you could have had that effect without pounding it in our brains. I think it’s the downside of such a shallow, simple dude being paired up with a character who has always been low-key in her humour; most of my biggest laughs (and especially my biggest laugh) came from Captain Wacky, yet again shoved to the background. I know asking this show to be perfect all the time is unreasonable, but it was so close!
Chalkboard Gag: N/A. It’s been so long since we’ve seen one of these!
Couch Gag: The family are sparking windup dolls.
This episode was written by Jack Barth and directed by Mark Kirkland. The writers were just as enthusiastic about Stop The Planet Of The Apes, I Want To Get Off as the show’s fans, and would later describe it as a moment of creative brilliance that set everyone off. Phil Hartman guest stars as Troy, obviously, and everyone was excited for the showcase for the character. Jeff Goldblum appears as Troy’s manager, and he had to recrecord his lines faster to get the episode down to twenty minutes. At the table reading, an attendant exclaimed that “From now on, she’s smoking for two!” had ‘got to go’.
The title is a reference to the film A Fish Called Wanda. The opening scene features a parody of The Muppets. Troy appears in a musical based on The Planet Of The Apes; the main song we hear is a parody of “Rock Me Amadeus” and its title is a parody of Stop The World – I Want To Get Off. Troy and Selma smoking is a reference to Now, Voyager. Troy’s house is based on the Chemosphere and his car is a DeLorean. The showbiz anchors are based on Entertainment Tonight hosts John Tesh and Mary Hart. Troy describes Jub-jub as “Everywhere you wanna be!” in reference to a Visa ad. Troy’s manager is MacArthur Parker, in reference to MacArthur Park. Selma’s various clothes are references to Marilyn Monroe. Homer sings “Rock And Roll, Part II” in his head. Troy’s fish fetish is a reference to rumours about Richard Gere shoving hamsters up his ass.
Iconic Moments: “Dad, what’s a Muppet?” / “Well, it’s not quite a mop, and it’s not quite a puppet, but man, oh man! … So to answer your question, I don’t know.” | The entirety of Stop The Planet Of The Apes, I Want To Get Off. | “Gay? I wish!”
Biggest Laugh: I have done this at events that were clearly of grave importance to everyone but me far too often.