"Marge Vs. The Monorail" creators reflect on The Simpsons' drift into surrealism in new oral history
Aux Features The Simpsons
When discussing G.O.A.T. episodes of The Simpsons, you’d be hard-pressed to find a fan who won’t ride for season 4's “Marge Vs. The Monorail.” Recognized as a game-changer in the show’s trajectory, it infused the series with a sense of surrealism, upped the ante of its musical numbers, and widened its scope to focus just as much on Springfield as a town is it did its titular family. Despite receiving a mixed reception when it aired in 1993, “Monorail” has only grown in stature, so it was only a matter of time before it got its own oral history.
Vice’s interviews with director Rich Moore, producer Jeff Martin, showrunner Mike Reiss, story editor Josh Weinstein, and supervising director David Silverman cover all of the essential beats, from a young Conan O’Brien giddily writing “The Monorail Song” to the late Phil Hartman perfectly embodying a more sinister version of The Music Man’s Harold Hill.
But, like any good oral history, the article also dives into the nitty-gritty, like when Silverman recalls creating the now iconic Flintstones opening. “The Flintstones bit was actually a longer song [originally],” he said. “Al Jean and Mike Reiss came to Sam Simon and were like, ‘We’re having trouble with this opening.’ Sam Simon ends up singing, ‘Simpson, Homer Simpson, he’s the greatest guy in history / From the town of Springfield, he’s about to hit a chestnut tree.’ He came up with that off the top of his head and that became the opening. Sometimes it’s nice when you overwrite, and suddenly it’s like, ‘Okay, how do we solve this?’”
Read the entire thing over at Vice.
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77 Comments
BLURST!
Blurst…episode…ever.
The part that really got my whole family is Homer learning he needs to find an anchor, and immediately turns to look at Bart.
Ahem, you mean ‘visualizes Anchor-Boy’.
“Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do?”
How Trump thought his presidency would go.
It mostly did.
I’m hoping that it will end similarly.
I’m waiting for him to be taken down by the big one, Bitey.
“Skinner’s sense of snow” is the Goat episode. “i think we hit something.”“i hope it’s Flanders.”But seriously, I’ve probably seen that episode more than any piece of media ever. It’s unbelievably good.
Season 12!? Blasphemy!
Season 12 was a weird little renaissance for the show. I firmly believe the Golden Era ended after season 8, but New Kids on the Blecch, HOMR, Hungry Hungry Homer and Simpsons Tall Tales are all damn fine episodes. And I’m not just saying that because I won a season 12 DVD giveaway from the AVClub years ago.
I’m really just kidding. For me, between season 1-15 I think there’s about 12 solid seasons worth of amazing to very watchable episodes. Though I definitely wouldn’t rate a season 12 episode in my top ten
Ugggh… Simpsons Tall Tales? (“there’s so much broken glass down here”???) really? I will say that season 12 had the last episode I consider to be really good: “Grift of the Magi” (“I never did trust that Dr. Stupid”).
Interesting take. Personally, New Kids on the Blecch is what killed The Simpsons for me. And I mean fucking dead.
I loved Bart getting his revenge for years of chalkboard lines. “Oh, boo-hoo. After all the times I’ve done it, my wrist sounds like a cement mixer.” (crackles)
idk what the general consensus is now but Simpsons snobs used to hate that episode. I’ve always vouched for it though, a solid Christmas ep.
With a little help from our old friend, sodium chloride?
And may the force be with you. Do you even know who I am? Uh yeah, your one of the Little Rascals right?
Another retrospective on The Simpsons. The internet ballet… goes on.
My work here is done.
You didn’t do anything?
*chuckles*Didn’t I?
“Thank you, and ahh, may the, ahh, force… be with you!”
Anybody want to switch seats?
When we got a pair of Guinea pigs, we called the big one Bitey
Sorry, but I ride for You Only Move Twice.Aw, the Denver Broncos!
“I know doctors recommend a glass and a half, but I just can’t drink that much.”
“Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk”Also“$pringfield”All cromulent suggestions.
Man, I haven’t watched $pringfield in forever. Got to cue that up.
I’m a Lemon of Troy man, but there are dozens of episodes that could reasonably be called the best ever.
“Shake harder boy!”
“looks like springfield’s got a discipline problem.that’s probably why we beat them at football nearly half the time.”
“No one in history has been THIS clever!”
love it. i don’t give a fuck what anybody says, my favorite episode is “homer the heretic” but as much as i love the monorail episode, there are many episodes i would place above it and “you only move twice” is definitely one of them. “take out a circle of paper.”
I’m born and raised in CO. I wish they would have picked the Buffalo Bills instead.
I love that ep but, bloody hell, family! “oh no, the housework is all done!”, “I love nature but not this one time! Wah!”I get why Bart doesn’t like it but FFS. They could’ve taken over the Eastern seaboard.
I know it’s all subjective, but anybody who denies Homerpalooza is the greatest Simpsons episode, is clearly wrong.
“But Homer, on your way out, if you wanna kill somebody, that would help me a lot.”
El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer es el mejor!
I need to rewatch seasons 3-6 again. I think Homer Badman might be the hardest I’ve ever laughed at anything (“sweet can… sweet… NO, MR. SIMPSON, NO!!”), so I’m going to say that’s the GOAT but there are so many contenders.
“Dramatisationmaynothavehappened”.
You Only Move Twice, Marge vs. the Monorail, and Homer’s Phobia are probably my top three all-time. Oh, And Maggie Makes Three because that ending never fails to make the room dusty.
“Bart the Murderer” is my choice for GOAT, but these are all excellent episodes.
“There he is, seat 4F!”
Literally rewatched this episode a few nights ago. I cracked UP at this joke. It’s so specific!
i almost don’t want to analyze it. it’s pure gold.
The money sticking out of his briefcase!
“Does anyone wanna switch seats?”
I… I don’t get it.
Even on Ramadan?
I thought of that joke as soon as I started reading. It’s one of those seemingly effortless gags ‘The Simpsons’ used to do so well.
I’ve always considered Season 3’s “Homer at the Bat” (*also my favorite episode) the official veering into surrealism. If you look at everything before then, it’s fairly straight forward and then here’s this episode where Ken Griffey Jr. gets gigantism and Ozzie Smith falls into another dimension. What’s more surreal than that?
I met two cool dudes in high school. I can’t remember how it came up but one of us started singing the Monorail song. All three of us nailed it, one take. I’ve known those boys 20 years now.
Since The AV Club has stopped recapping The Simpsons for some dumb reason, I’ll just say that the last Treehouse of Horror was actually pretty solid. Not top-tier but far more inspired than others in recent memory.
Really? The opening and final segment were okay, but I didn’t even think it was bad (standards for bad being that Treehouse of Horrors where there’s a whole segment about Homer farting) it was just boring. And “Into the Homerverse” had a lot of potential but it was just a rehash of “Send in the Clones”.
The commentary track on this episode on the DVD is hands down the best commentary track for a television show I have ever heard.
Conan tells the George Takei anecdote waaaaaaaay better.
I was 12. I thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever seen. No ideas in my head of it being “too surreal” or “downhill.” Wild that it received “mixed” reception.
Okay, so my top 5: You Only Move Twice, Cape Feare, Homer’s Barbershop Quartet, Last Exit to Springfield, and Sideshow Bob Roberts. Monorail is somewhere in the 6-10 range.
It’s nominally a Lisa ep but Homer’s bits in Lisa the Vegetarian cannot be beaten.
Homer is on fire that episode, but it’s also got the best Troy McClure short in my opinion, and a killer Burns-Smithers gag.
“Come along to Homer’s BBBQ. The extra B stands for BYOBB.”“What’s that extra B for?”“That’s a typo.”
If they couldn’t get Conan to participate, why bother with this at all?
Especially since there are some jokes that are so clearly Conan’s— the escalator to nowhere, for instance (or not so much the escalator itself but that people are riding it), or Sebastian Cobb lamenting that he shouldn’t have stopped for that haircut.
Not to mention:Here’s one of those loveable highschoolers from TV’s Springfield Heights 90210. He’s cool, he’s sexy, he’s 34 years old!
I’m shocked I haven’t seen Homer at the Bat in this thread yet.
“Despite receiving a mixed reception when it aired in 1993, “Monorail” has only grown in stature”Mixed reception?!?! I don’t know anyone who didn’t love this episode from day one.
True or False: You can get mono from riding the monorail?MCAT: Monorail Conductor Aptitude Test.
the computer wore menace shoes is great.also predicted fake news.
Read the entire thing over at Vice.Indeed, I’m certainly not expecting to find any good long-form content here these days. “Three Paragraphs And Call It A Day” seems to be the mantra around G/O Media.
The Simpsons.Best.Show.Ever.
I was definitely in the group that liked it OK enough when it came out, but subsequently became my top, or one of my top episodes. Regardless, the Flintstones opening and escalator to nowhere ending both got huge laughs out of me from the beginning.