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On This Day in Simpsons History

20 May, 12 tweets, 7 min read

@markk1914

#OnThisDay #OTD #25YearsAgo May 19, 1996, "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" (S07E25) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: @markk1914. Wr: @dangreaney. EP: @thatbilloakley & @Joshstrangehill. Guest-starring Christina Ricci as Erin. #TheSimpsons

https://twitter.com/dailysimpsons/status/1395149089705242624

https://twitter.com/dailysimpsons/status/1395149089705242624

It was Dan Greaney's second episode on The Simpsons. The staff of the show wanted to do a summer episode because there was "so much stuff" about summer vacations that they felt had to be covered in an episode.

The area in which the Flanders family's beach house is located in is based on the Cape Cod peninsula. Many of the Simpsons writers spent time on Cape Cod so they decided to model the new locations on it. One of the show's background designers, Lance Wilder, grew up in that area.

Actress Christina Ricci guest starred in the episode as Erin, one of Lisa's new friends. Ricci was not able to come to the recording studio, so she recorded all of her lines over the phone.

Homer replicates a scene from the 1973 film American Graffiti when he nonchalantly buys some stereotypically embarrassing products at the store in order to get some illegal fireworks. (Video: Onikorp)

"Summer of 4 Ft. 2" contains the origin of the popular "You Got the Dud" Internet meme.

A bunch of "You Got The Dud" memes (aka "Dudposting") were created by Leigh Piper, of the Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net group on Facebook. Someone put them to music and posted it on Youtube.

Bill Oakley loves the Dud animation! “It’s the subtle way Homer smiles,” he wrote. “Episode director Mark Kirkland said his dad smiled that way. So great and a little uncanny.” vulture.com/2019/06/former…

The beach house is based on then-show runner Josh Weinstein's parents' house in New Hampshire, which the writers had visited. They played several board games when they were there, which gave them the idea to have to the Simpsons play the Mystery Date board game in the episode.

When Matt Groening received a Peabody Award on May 6, 1996, the audience received a preview of the heartwarming ending to "Summer of 4 Ft. 2."

Here are deleted scenes from "Summer of 4 Ft. 2", available on the Season 7 DVD set.

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On This Day in Simpsons History

@dailysimpsons

21 May

https://twitter.com/marklewis28/status/1395795146776711172

This shot in of Krusty in "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part One" is definitely more Homer-looking. So it makes me think they used the Homer Krusty design (except the hair) from "Homie the Clown" which had just aired earlier in Season 6, perhaps as another red herring. Just compare.

https://twitter.com/marklewis28/status/1395795146776711172

@SimpsonsTheory

.@SimpsonsTheory did a whole video on this last year.

https://twitter.com/SimpsonsTheory/status/1267845809695006731

@Alex_Simpsons23

.@Alex_Simpsons23 asked Bill Oakley about this last year too, but Bill has since deleted his response. #TheMysteryDeepens

Read 5 tweets

On This Day in Simpsons History

@dailysimpsons

21 May

@thatbilloakley

#OnThisDay #OTD May 21, 1995, "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" (S06E25) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: Jeff Lynch. Wr: @thatbilloakley & @Joshstrangehill. EP: @DaveMirkin. Guest-starring Tito Puente as himself. #TheSimpsons (Promo @joecip)

The idea for the episode came from Matt Groening, who had wanted to do an episode in which Mr. Burns was shot, which could be used as a publicity stunt. The writers decided to write the episode in two parts with a mystery that could be used in a contest.

While deciding who the culprit was, Oakley and Weinstein pitched Barney Gumble because he was a character that could go to jail and it could change the dynamic of the show. Mirkin suggested Maggie; he felt it was funnier and wanted the culprit to be a Simpsons family member.

Read 21 tweets

On This Day in Simpsons History

@dailysimpsons

20 May

@DaveMirkin

#OnThisDay #OTD May 19, 1994, "Secrets of a Successful Marriage" (S05E22) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: Carlos Baeza. Wr: Greg Daniels. EP: @DaveMirkin. Guest-starring Phil Hartman as Lionel Hutz. (Check out this original TV promo with deleted dialogue!) #TheSimpsons

It was the second script Greg Daniels wrote for the show. He thought the staff had previously done many episodes where Homer "wasn't good at anything", so he tried to figure out something Homer was really good at, and he came up with the idea of Homer being a good husband.

Showrunner Dave Mirkin was very fond of the fact that Homer and Marge have the biggest fight they have ever had on the show in the episode, and he thought it was a "really great" exploration of their marriage.

Read 8 tweets

On This Day in Simpsons History

@dailysimpsons

19 May

https://twitter.com/dailysimpsons/status/1395148826906873856

THURSDAY at 8pm ET/7pm CT, we will stream the ORIGINAL May 19, 1996 premiere broadcast of "Homerpalooza" AND "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" COMPLETE with commercials at twitch.tv/dailysimpsons. It'll be a classic Thursday night! Join us, won't we?

https://twitter.com/dailysimpsons/status/1395148826906873856

Special hour-long broadcast tonight at 8pm ET/7pm CT! twitch.tv/dailysimpsons

We're live! twitch.tv/dailysimpsons

Read 4 tweets

On This Day in Simpsons History

@dailysimpsons

19 May

@archermation

#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.

https://twitter.com/Joshstrangehill/status/507560931728293888

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

https://twitter.com/Joshstrangehill/status/507560931728293888

Read 13 tweets

On This Day in Simpsons History

@dailysimpsons

21 Dec 20

@JJSwartzwelder

#OnThisDay #OTD #30YearsAgo December 20, 1990, "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" first aired on the Fox network. Dir: Jim Reardon. Wr: @JJSwartzwelder. EP: @canyonjim, @simonsam & Matt Groening. Guest-starring Alex Rocco as Roger Meyers, Jr. #TheSimpsons (Promo: @joecip)

The episode was partially inspired by Terry Rakolta, who protested the Fox network over the show Married... with Children in 1989. The writers tried not to have a point of view and looked at both sides. bundyology.com/rakolta.html

@_rich_moore

This was the first episode directed by Jim Reardon, who had previously made a student film called "Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown" (with @_rich_moore) which was very violent and the experience served him well for this episode.