The five pitches that led up to the musical Planet of the Apes

Season 7 of The Simpsons is one of the best seasons to ever air. Not only was the show still in its “golden age” serving up classic gag after classic gag at the time, but Season 7 is also noteworthy for containing some The best episodes of Milhouse In the show’s history, including the wonderful “Summer of 4 Feet. 2,” the level of sheer emotional abuse Milhouse endures remains one of the funniest dark jokes the show has ever attempted.

Furthermore, Season 7 gave us “A Fish Called Selma,” in which washed-up actor Troy McClure marries Marge’s sister as part of his comeback attempt. On his way back to stardom, McClure stars in the silly musical “Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!” Which features a big musical number named after the Dr. Zeus character from the original film. This scene in itself could arguably make A Fish Called Selma one of these films The best Simpsons episodes ever. yet, The show still references what remains the greatest musical moment of all time – Except maybe for the monorail song.

With “Stop the Planet of the Apes,” the show manages in two minutes to parody the 1968 film “Planet of the Apes,” Austrian artist Falco’s pop song “Rock Me Amadeus,” and the 1961 musical “Stop the Apes.” . World, I want to get off!”, and the idea of ​​musicals in general, where the sloppy performances of the musical cast send up the worst impulses of musical theatre. There’s even a segment in which a monkey breaks-dances, which, as it happens, was one of many ridiculous performances that… It was introduced after showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein decided to rely on their book’s wilder ideas.

the The first draft of the script for ‘Fish Called Selma’ didn’t even include the musical ‘Planet of the Apes’.. The show’s writers simply knew they needed Troy McClure back in a big way, but once the musical idea came about, it sparked a chain reaction in the writers’ room that saw five “crazy” tunes coalesce into this moment of satirical genius.

Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein have been with The Simpsons since season three, but they stepped up to showrunners for season seven, bringing with them a wealth of experience and writing wisdom. As Weinstein explained in an article about Twitter/XOne of the best writing pieces of advice he ever received was to always lean toward outlandish ideas, or, as he put it, “Never shoot down an idea, no matter how crazy or stupid it may seem. Lean into it. It may be nothing.” Or it becomes a Dr. Zaius scene.”

As the show’s former director explained, each writer on the show contributed to the final musical, with each step inspiring the next show. Weinstein went on to reveal that the “Stop the Planet of the Apes” scene was actually “a set of five separate ‘crazy’ and ‘stupid’ pitches”, which he and Oakley enjoyed to see where they would lead.

According to Josh Weinstein, the whole idea for Stop the Planet of the Apes began with writer Steve Tompkins asking, “What if we did a musical about the Planet of the Apes?” Weinstein commented, “It’s either crazy or a stupid idea or both but we all loved it and we could all To feel the potential so I say at least let’s explore this and see if it gets anywhere Of course, it did get somewhere, as Tompkins’ idea prompted his fellow writers to see how ridiculous they could make this. Particularly parody.

Although Weinstein never saw the 1968 original “Planet of the Apes” – a film that needs more makeup artists than Hollywood can provide -He asked the writers room to check some basic facts about the film before pitching his own idea: “Do you know the Falco song?” This was the origin of “Rock Me Amadeus”. And thus the song “Dr. Zeus” was born. But that was just the beginning.

The third tune came from veteran Simpsons writer George Meyer, who suggested a song that “interspers(ing) (the) with old corny/stupid vaudeville-style joke interludes, like a piano gag.” A piano gag has Troy McClure asking mid-song if he can still play the piano, to which Dr. Zaius replies, “Of course you can,” only for McClure to sing, “Well, I never could before.” The wheel is then moved upright on stage and the actor performs a short interlude before resuming the song. It all came from Mayer.

With the main idea firmly established and with some funny additions from George Meyer and Josh Weinstein, Stop the Planet of the Apes begins to click. But at this point the show machine was in motion, and other writers started coming up with equally ridiculous and funny ideas. As for the fourth, it came in the presence of Dr. Zawis, accompanied by a nurse. “Someone is talking because he’s a doctor, to ask his nurse to start the song with, ‘Oh, help me, Dr. Zeus,’” Weinstein wrote on his Twitter page/X. “I have no idea if there’s a nurse in the movie, but sure, that’s how Great to start the movie.”

Finally, the former showrunner called on another writer, whose name has since been forgotten, who pitched the idea of ​​a big “Dr. Zaius” musical number to include “a lot of breakdancing moves.” Why? Because, as Weinstein said, “At the time, that seemed like a trend in a lot of great Broadway musicals.” This was the fifth and final major show that was a parody of “Stop the Planet of the Apes”. But there are still some honorable mentions that Weinstein included in his post.

In “A Fish Called Selma,” we move from a rendition of “Dr. Zaius” to the climax of the musical itself, where Troy McClure sings “I hate every monkey I see, from a Chimpan-A to a Chimpanzee,” which remains one of the best lines in the history of “A Fish Called Selma.” Simpsons” musical – perhaps in the history of the show in general. Josh Weinstein recalls how this special addition took things to another level in the writers’ room. “Somewhere in the middle of this whole process,” Weinstein wrote, “(writer W “Futurama” showrunner David Cohen He pitched the “Chimpan-A to Chimpanzee” line which was one of the rare/only times we knew right away that the line was going to become a classic. “His pitch raised everyone’s playing fields to a new higher level.” According to Weinstein, Cohen’s contribution was the point at which everyone in the room knew they had to follow through on the “crazy” and “stupid” ideas they were putting forward.

While the presentations at the time may have been “stupid,” the enduring appeal of “Stop the Planet of the Apes” speaks to how seemingly foolhardy ideas can actually mean much more than they seem. The “A Fish Called Selma” musical remains one of the best parodies in “Simpsons” history, and one look at the comments under Weinstein’s thread should be enough to convince you that this ridiculous idea for a musical was much more than just a “stupid idea.” This remains a fan-favorite moment in a series filled with some of the best moments in television history.

For Weinstein, the whole thing was validating his idea of ​​embracing seemingly ridiculous ideas. The writer concluded his article by saying: “If you have an idea, and right after it comes to you, you have a feeling that there is something special there, go for it. The worst that can happen is that you waste a few minutes or hours. The best? Something that speaks to a whole group of people.” “It makes them happy.”