#OnThisDay#OTD November 11, 1993, "Bart's Inner Child" (S05E07) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: Bob Anderson. Wr: George Meyer. EP: @DaveMirkin. Guest-starring @AlbertBrooks as Brad Goodman, James Brown as himself and Phil Hartman as Troy McClure. #TheSimpsons
@DaveMirkin@AlbertBrooks This was Bob Anderson's directorial debut on The Simpsons. He's gone on to direct the most episodes of the Simpsons (62), the most recent of which was "Undercover Burns", the season premiere of Season 32. imdb.com/name/nm0026433/
@DaveMirkin@AlbertBrooks It was Albert Brooks' third appearance on the show. Dave Mirkin describes Brooks as "really weird to direct" because "almost every one of his takes is flawless, but each one has different material. He makes up the stuff as he goes."
@DaveMirkin@AlbertBrooks Singer James Brown guest stars as himself. Brown described the experience as "good, clean, and humorous. And we need more of that around." Mirkin said the writers "gave him these incredibly hilarious, stiff lines that killed."
@DaveMirkin@AlbertBrooks This episode has a lot of great moments, including the t̶r̶a̶m̶a̶p̶o̶l̶i̶n̶e̶ t̶r̶a̶b̶a̶p̶o̶l̶i̶n̶e̶ trampoline saga
@DaveMirkin@AlbertBrooks The scene with a field full of injured children from the trampoline is a reference to the field of injured soldiers shot in the film Gone with the Wind. (video: Onikorp)
@DaveMirkin@AlbertBrooks This scene is a reference to the Chuck Jones-directed Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner Looney Tunes cartoons. The background imitates the desert landscape from the cartoons.
@DaveMirkin@AlbertBrooks Continuing on Albert Brooks, Dave Mirkin said, "He uses a combination of the jokes in the script and his own material and because many of his takes are different, it is difficult for the producers to decide which lines to use." (My fave: "I loved her in the thing I saw her in.")
@DaveMirkin@AlbertBrooks Playmates released a Brad Goodman figure as part of wave two of their "All Star Voices" line in 2002.
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#OnThisDay #OTD #30YearsAgo October 7, 1993, "Cape Feare" (S05E02) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: @_rich_moore. Wr: @jon_vitti. EP: @AlJean & @MikeReissWriter. Guest-starring @KelseyGrammer as Sideshow Bob. #TheSimpsons 🧵
Wally Wolodarsky had seen the 1991 version of Cape Fear and pitched the idea of spoofing the film. Instead of using the spoof as only a part of the episode, which could have contained a B-story, the entire episode was devoted to this parody.
There were difficulties getting this episode up to the minimum length of an episode. The repeated a long couch gag from "Lisa's First Word", an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, and a few red herrings as to who was trying to kill Bart. Even with all these, the episode still ran short.
#OnThisDay #OTD September 24, 1995, "Radioactive Man" (S07E02) first aired on the Fox network. Dir: Susie Dietter. Wr: @JJSwartzwelder. EP: @DaveMirkin. Guest-starring Mickey Rooney as himself and Phil Hartman as Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. #TheSimpsons
@JJSwartzwelder @DaveMirkin "Radioactive Man" was the first episode to be digitally colored. The duties of that task went to USAnimation, who would later work on "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". The show would not permanently be digitally colored until Season 14.
@JJSwartzwelder @DaveMirkin Mickey Rooney guest starred as himself. @nancycartwright recalled in her autobiography My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy that Rooney recorded his lines with the other actors. Although he was late for the session, she noted that he was "so full of pep" and very enthusiastic.
@markk1914@ScullyThacker@scullymike This was the first Simpsons episode Julie Thacker wrote. The plot was based on a "disastrous" school program, in which students had to participate in community service to advance to the next grade. The B-story, which involved Homer selling springs, was conceived by Mike Scully.
@markk1914@ScullyThacker@scullymike In a scene in the episode, Lenny gets one of Homer's springs stuck in his eye. Lenny's eye injuries have since become a running gag, and "The Old Man and the 'C' Student" "started the trend", according to Thacker.
#OnThisDay#OTD April 23, 1989, "Family Therapy" first aired on The Tracey Ullman Show on Fox. Wr: Matt Groening. Animation: @tubatron & Wes Archer. #TheSimpsons
@Interbang1Jeff@AlJean@MikeReissWriter@MJMcKean Otto's full name is revealed for the first time in this episode and to feature the character in a prominent role. Writers @JayKogen and Wallace Wolodarsky had originally wanted to name him Otto Mechanic, but the animators gave him the last name Mann. (This shot looks like "Mang")
@Interbang1Jeff@AlJean@MikeReissWriter@MJMcKean@JayKogen Otto's statement that he would prefer to be sleeping in a Dumpster brand trash container over a "Trash Co. Waste Disposal Unit" alludes to the word's status as a registered trademark for a brand of large trash containers. (Yes, "Dumpster" is a brand name.)