Behind the Laughter
From Simpsons Wiki
"Behind the Laughter" is an Emmy-winning episode from the eleventh season of The Simpsons. It is presented in a narrative format, with Jim Forbes as narrator. The episode portrays the Simpson family as actors playing themselves on a sitcom, and tells the (partially fictional) story of how The Simpsons began. This episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour). This is also a clip-show.
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Plot
This non-canon[1] episode is a parody of Behind the Music, the popular VH1 biography show, even sharing the same narrator, Jim Forbes. It begins with the Simpson family history and how they got into show business. The first part of the fake documentary follows the family from their weak beginnings to their exceptional prosperity. A television show, a recording contract, a lot of awards, and countless wealth follow Homer's inadequate video "pilot".
However, problems begin to arise as the Simpsons' fame continues. After a funny stunt causes him injury (the cliff plummet from "Bart the Daredevil," after a montage of Homer injury clips), Homer becomes addicted to prescription painkillers, Marge makes some senseless business investments, and Bart goes to rehab. The IRS examines soon after and takes away their house (called "Homertime", since it belonged to rapper MC Hammer before he went bankrupt and was called "Hammertime"). Then, the family gets into a big dispute and splits up at the Iowa State Fair.
Fox is forced to put the show on hiatus, since none of the Simpsons will talk to each other. The members go their independent ways: Homer follows a career in the proper theater; Bart replaces Lorenzo Lamas as the star of the syndicated action show Renegade; Marge makes a nightclub act; and Lisa writes a tell-all book about her experiences. Bringing the family back together seems hopeless until country singer Willie Nelson puts on a phony awards show in order to reconcile the family. They hug and forget past wrongs in a sensitive reunion. Again, they look with hope to the many years of episodes of the Simpsons to come...or not.
The episode ends with an epilogue, in which the narrator states, "...the future looks brighter than ever for this northern Kentucky family." Stating that the family is from Kentucky would seem to mark the end of a long-running joke seen throughout the series, which would continually (and sometimes barely) avoid mentioning the Simpson family's state of residence.[2][1] However, the episode being non-canon, as well as the stated location being changed to southern Missouri for reruns, makes it unlikely that this long-standing question has finally been answered.[1]
Following the epilogue, we see the Simpson family in a video editing room, viewing a scene from an upcoming episode, which Homer claims will be in the last season. The scene shows the family talking about winning a trip to Delaware, and was later used as an actual scene in the episode, "Simpsons Tall Tales".[2] The final scene shows a mock teaser for an "upcoming episode" of Behind the Laughter about Huckleberry Hound. The teaser shows the character revealing that he was gay.
Cultural references
- The format of the episode parodies VH1's Behind the Music documentary series. Jim Forbes, who narrates this episode, narrated the VH1 program.
- For their show at the Iowa State Fair, the Simpsons wear costumes that are very similar to the Partridge Family's performing outfits.
- The cover of the Krustophenia record is a parody of The Who's Quadrophenia.
- The Simpsons are featured on several magazines, including TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Coin Laundry News, and Short Hair Ideas.
- Like his alleged dove- and bat-biting incidents, Ozzy Osbourne bites the top off of a Grammy and the trophy starts spurting blood.
- Another motive of the phony awards show was to reunite Sammy Hagar with Van Halen, who are shown in the crowd scoffing at each other, following Hagar's departure from the band in 1996. They would reunite (although not permanently) in 2004.
- The black-and-white scene in which a plastic bag floats into the air is a reference to a similar scene in American Beauty.
- Lisa mentions that "Mr. Geffen" produced the Simpsons Boogie record. Geffen Records released two albums of original music featuring the show's characters, The Simpsons Sing the Blues and The Yellow Album.
References
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