Thread by @dailysimpsons

#OnThisDay #OTD #25YearsAgo May 19, 1996, "Homerpalooza" (S07E24) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: @archermation. Wr: Brent Forrester. EP: @thatbilloakley & @Joshstrangehill. Featuring @SmashingPumpkin, @cypresshill, @thesonicyouth and @peterframpton. #TheSimpsons

They billed this as a "one-hour season finale" even though it was actually two new episodes back-to-back. ("Summer of 4'2" was the second episode, which I will be giving its own thread later today.) Below is the print ad for both episodes.

A few years back, Josh Weinstein shared his photo with the Smashing Pumpkins at the recording session for this episode in 1995.

The entire story of this episode was developed by David Cohen, although it was written by Brent Forrester. To do research for this episode, Forrester went to one of the #Lollapalooza concerts, which he thought would be a fun little perk, but ended up being a horrible experience.

Several of the jokes are based on his experiences: cameras were being seized and thrown in the garbage, there were numerous ads, several "sour faced teens", a real freak show (Jim Rose Circus), and at one point a stranger approached Forrester and asked "how's it going, narc?"

During Homer's confrontation with the crowd, there is a brief shot of Homer with the members of @nodoubt behind him. @gwenstefani's brother Eric, who himself had been a member of the band, was working as an animator at #TheSimpsons at the time and added them in.

For the classic rock artist in "Homerpalooza," the staff originally sought out Bob Dylan, but he was replaced by Peter Frampton. About the episode, Frampton said it was "such an honor to be made fun of, and I love it! I got to make fun of myself, which was great."

.@consequence did an interview with guest stars Frampton, James Iha and Sen Dog about this episode in 2017. consequence.net/2017/04/dont-l…

Neil Young and Pearl Jam also declined to appear in the episode. Courtney Love and Hole were also wanted for the episode, but they never responded to the staff's request. In turn, Sonic Youth had said that if Courtney Love were in the episode, they would not be.

Courtney Love was wanted specifically for one joke which would be in an exchange between her and Homer:

Love: Hi Homer! I'm a big fan, Courtney Love.
Homer: Homer Grateful!

This joke became the classic exchange below with Homer and Billy Corgan.

vice.com/en/article/gy5…

The episode features this quote, of course, which I think we can all understand 25 years after it first aired.

So far, this is as close Cypress Hill has gotten to actually ordering the @londonsymphony in real life.