Talking Simpsons - Stark Raving Dad With Nathan Rabin

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?

RWOB

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.

Alex Irish

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?

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

Lousy SMAP weather

Micah

It's interesting how Disney+ was fine with including all the racist moments from "the Muppet Show" (preceded by a disclaimer), but drew the line at including the episode hosted by Chris Langham (who was convicted of child porn possession in the 2000s).

Dave Dalrymple

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

Dylan (batmanboy11) Freitag

I'm pretty sure that's the joke, that he uses such a weird (and ineffective) way to confirm that it's him

nina matsumoto

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.

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.

Thanks for the great episode, guys. 🙂

To Boldy Joe... Moore

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.

Alex Forsyth

I remember when he met SMAP (the video's still somewhere on Youtube I'm sure) and he talked about how he loves Japan because they're so accepting of him.....

nina matsumoto

Definitely weird being in Japan where Michael Jackson does not seem to have any stigma attached.