Don't you give up on me!
Alright people, here we are.
A new episode.
And I have a confession to make.
I am really sorry.
This will not be the first time that you hear me say this.
But...
I've made a mistake.
I know.
I'm sorry.
But here's what's going on.
You've heard me talking about guest stars.
Okay?
It's time to clear something up.
I had a philosophical difference of opinion
of what a guest star was.
Clearly.
With Google.
And when I did the Google
and I put in my query
what I read was
the first guest star
to appear as himself.
Which is Tom Jones.
In season 2.
And of course I would have figured this out
eventually because
there are several guest stars
that I have neglected to mention
that I will mention now.
But more importantly
actually only one before this episode
but moving forward.
But more importantly, I would have gotten to it
when we get to Crested Gets Busted
and we see
Kelsey Grammer
you know?
It would have happened.
Okay?
Like I would have figured it out at that point.
But he's a major guest star.
Okay?
So when you look up guest stars
and you see the most common one is
Marsha Wallace who played
Edna Krabappel. The reason I don't
count her as a guest star
is because she had a semi-permanent role.
Right?
So if we have a difference of opinion on that
then that's fine. You can be wrong.
That's fine. I don't mind.
But
moving forward I will be more accurate
in my depiction and my clarification
of guest stars.
Okay?
I feel
better.
So thank you for listening to me.
Listen, thanks for coming back.
I'm glad that you're here.
Appreciate you listening to the
Donuts podcast.
I am your host Justin Metcalf
and we are going to go through the
episode 6 of
season 1
which is called Moaning Lisa.
And
as promised
I will tell you
about some guest stars.
Okay, so this episode aired
February 11th, 1990.
And this one takes
kind of a more serious tone.
Focuses on Lisa's emotional struggles
with sadness and her journey of
self-discovery. And it's really
incredible because
it attacks
some very important
ideals and
principles of self-care
and mental health
that you really
didn't see back then. And I didn't
recognize it for what it was at the time.
But I think it was
well done.
And
yeah, they do a good job with
the character Bleeding Gums Murphy
who ends up being in
I think three total episodes.
Maybe more, but
not including the opening scene obviously.
But he's voiced by three different people
which we'll get to
eventually. But
the episode explores themes
of melancholy
and finding your
voice and the importance
of emotional expression. And that's
really awesome. So we're going to talk about that.
So guest stars. We have two
guest stars.
These are celebrity guest stars, people with
IMDB profiles.
And they
play a few different people.
So the first one is Miriam
Flynn.
So Miriam Flynn.
She
well, so in this episode she plays
Ms. Barr.
Or Mrs. Barr? Ms. Barr.
And
I wanted to say this a certain way. You might
remember her from such films as
Vegas Vacation.
And Babe.
And
The One with the
Dinosaur.
Crap, what is that?
The one with the dinosaur. She plays
Oh, duh.
The Lamb Before Time. She plays
Grandma Longneck. The Lamb
Before Time. So if you haven't
seen Lamb Before Time, I definitely recommend
it. I said it.
Singular. The
Lamb Before Time, the first one.
There are like 38
movies.
It's really upsetting that they made so
dang many. But go watch the first
one. The first one is good.
End of discussion. Okay.
And the second guest star is Ron
Taylor. He plays
Bleeding Gums Murphy.
You might remember him from
such films as
Trading Places.
He played
literally his
character name in Trading Places from
1983 was Big Black
Guy.
That was
a good movie.
He was in
Star Trek Deep Space Nine. He
was a Klingon chef.
So I think he was there more for
humor. But
yeah.
Anyway, so for the
first little while, a lot of these guest stars,
these actors that we're going to be talking
about, you may not know.
So
you know, you're going to want to pull up
IMDB and look these guys up
because they're, you know, they were
prominent actors, I think, at least
for, through some perspective.
I think that they had pretty big
roles in a lot of ways. But
this was, again, 30 years ago. So
a lot has changed.
Okay. Keep in mind that this is
1990. So
you know, the names are different.
And I'd be remiss if I
didn't mention that back in
Homer's Odyssey, episode
three, I did miss
who I believe is considered
the first actual guest star
of the show.
Not including Marshall
Wallace. We've already talked about that. Sam
McMurray. All right.
Sam McMurray.
You may remember him from such films
as Raising Arizona.
Another great film.
Definitely one you need to watch.
But he was
he was
Lester Lehmann in
Drop Dead Gorgeous. The dad
of that one,
like the
rival. Drop Dead Gorgeous
was an awesome, awesome
movie. I thought
it was great. But Denise Richards plays
Becky Lehmann,
who's like the arch rival of Kirsten Dunst's
character. And so he's
the dad.
I think he owns like a furniture store or something.
But anyway,
good movie. And there we are.
So there are the two guest
stars from this show and then the one from before.
And like I said, moving forward,
I will point out guest stars
and in these cases
for the first season, they're guest stars who play
characters, not themselves.
So then, of course,
we'll get to people like Tom Jones
and musicians like Green Day and Smashing
Pumpkins who play themselves.
Aerosmith comes up
pretty soon. So there's
going to be a lot of cool stuff. So, okay.
Let's get it going.
Already seven minutes in and we haven't even
talked about the show yet. Geez.
Okay, the chalkboard
gag was
I Will Not Instigate Revolution.
Which is great.
I enjoyed that one. And the couch gag was the Simpsons
pile onto the couch. Maggie pops
up in the air and then Marge
catches her cute little couch
gag. Okay.
The episode. So
it starts with Lisa
feeling inexplicably
sad, inexplicably,
inexplicably,
geez,
that's the one.
Sad and disconnected.
So they don't actually say
what caused it, which I think is good
because how often
do we feel sad
or see someone else's sad and we ask why?
Why are you feeling sad?
And then of course they ask her and
she doesn't know.
So that's
I think it's important for us to
consider that as part
of this discussion.
And it starts
the opening scene actually is the first trivia
question. I'll just
do what I normally do and do all three trivia questions
at the beginning. But I
was thinking about doing them as we go, but
I don't like it.
So the first trivia question is in this opening scene
Lisa is looking into the bathroom mirror
and on the sink is a tube
of toothpaste. What word
is written on the tube?
Okay. It's 1990 animation
and it's
kind of from a distance
and we didn't have
30,000 pixels back then.
So there wasn't
it didn't say
crest, Colgate, Total, blah, blah.
There was just one word.
That was it.
And it barely fit. So
what is the name of the toothpaste? Okay.
Number two. What is the name of the
video game that Bart and Homer play
together?
And for a bonus point
what is Homer's boxing
record?
Okay. His record
against Bart. What's his record?
Third,
how did Bleeding Gums
Murphy get his name?
All right. Let's
come back to those
and move along with the
episode. So
the portrayal of
childhood sadness
is challenging.
And I mean it's hard to articulate
those kinds of complex emotions.
You can make a kid look sad. Don't get me
wrong. That's probably easy, but
true sadness
took some time.
You know, it took a few minutes of dialogue
to really portray
that in, I think, a proper way.
And again, I think what the writers
were going for was not
what happened to cause the sadness,
but how
how it's
how sadness is viewed
and what we do about
that sadness, which is
incredible. So
the
there's misunderstandings
from her, from her family, as
she goes through her day.
Misunderstandings from her teachers.
And
her attempts
to express her feelings
are just kind of met with that.
More than just
misunderstanding, just like
a lot of adults, they didn't really try
to understand. They were just, oh, you know, kids
get sad sometimes.
And that happens. That's truth.
It happens now.
So
how do you think that the animators
did when
with visually representing
Lisa's emotional state?
Because like I said, it's trying to show
and depict sadness is different
from making a child look
sad for a moment.
There's more of it.
She kept a morose
look on her face.
Her posture was a little
different and the colors were less
vibrant. Like there was more
to it. There was also music.
You know,
somber music.
Just, you know, that
kind of stuff is intentional.
They do that on purpose to
portray their message and then make it more
clear. And of course, as the Simpsons
move on, there's a lot more
funny, humorous stuff.
And less episodes
like this. But one of the great
things about this episode is what it
taught us. And it really
would be a shame to just skip over it.
So I'm
I complain a lot about them. You hear it. But
I'm glad I've gone back to listen to
these and watch these over again. So
next,
the family dynamics
are still
evolving with the Simpsons.
Like when
Marge and Homer find out Lisa's
sad, Lisa or Homer
tries to cheer Lisa up with his usual
antics and they just
make things worse. And Marge,
she offers advice
and usually throughout the series
her advice is fairly helpful. But in its case
it's well-meaning, but it's ultimately
it's unhelpful.
Bart, surprisingly,
shows
empathy towards Lisa's
situation.
It's something that's, I'm not going to
say it's out of character because there are several
episodes where Lisa and Bart
have a deep connection
as brother and sister and they come together
and
and that
connection is shown to be very strong.
So I'm not going to say it's out of character,
but it is
still somewhat surprising when it happens.
And in his case when he shows empathy towards her
situation.
So there's lots of different
approaches that the family takes
to deal with Lisa's sadness.
But inevitably
it's, you know, nothing helps.
So Lisa,
like any other eight-year-old would,
grabs her saxophone
and wanders downtown in the middle of night.
So I
I don't know if that was an intentional
joke, but I
I sure as heck wouldn't
allow my child out of my
home at night
feeling sad. But
I mean, if we're going to sit and
talk about how the Simpsons
do things differently from normal families,
these episodes would be four hours
long. So we're not going to
get into that. But I just wanted to point that out.
If it wasn't an intentional joke, fine.
I still think it's funny.
So she encounters Bleeding Gum Murphy.
I believe on the same
bridge that we saw
in Homer's Odyssey when
Homer was was thinking
about taking his life. I think it's the
same bridge.
So he teaches Lisa
about blues
and encourages her to
express her emotions
through music.
And
this is a very significant time
for
Lisa because Bleeding
Gum Murphy ends up being a very prominent
mentor figure
for Lisa throughout the series,
even though he was only in a limited
amount of episodes and
dies pretty soon.
I think within the first couple of seasons.
It
just goes to show how impactful
he was and
therefore how impactful this
particular moment and scene
were. And it doesn't hurt that
at the end of this episode,
we get a really great
sounding song.
She's got a great singing voice.
I really like that.
So we'll come back to that in a minute.
So the role of
music has a form of emotional
expression and
sort of catharsis
is not new. It's something that
was taught
in the 90s and
it's still proven
with scientific
research to be an excellent
form and source for
emotional expression. There's
a lot of different music therapies
that have been created and evolved
through the years.
I was at a
children's hospital with my son a few
years back. He had
two different stays
where he was stuck in the hospital for a week.
It was rough.
It was rough, but
one day,
I think one day a month or every
two weeks or something, we were able to see
it once. They had these different types
of therapies where
they came to your room. So there was
art therapy.
Actually, you'd go to that one. But
then there was a therapy
dog. The owner and his dog
would come to the room and they'd do
some cute tricks. And it was a kind
of therapy dog
whose job it was to just be
hugged and be lovable. He jumped up on
the bed and just cuddled and
let my son hug him.
It was just so
heartwarming and
it made a big difference. And of course,
I mean, you should look into this, but
your brain will release oxytocin
from
when you make contact with
other humans through skin
or when you're petting an animal.
It's very relaxing
and it was very cathartic.
And then there
is this
this young woman, I think
maybe in her early 20s,
who was volunteering her time
and she came with a guitar
and just sang a few songs to
him. It was awesome.
And they had a great time
and that was the musical therapy.
And consequently,
we actually, since our kids were about
seven or eight years old, we have
insisted that they learn piano.
Each of our kids.
And there were plenty of times when they've
absolutely hated us.
In the moment. But
one of them's grown now and the other two are
growing. They're older
teenagers.
They all say the same thing.
It's rough to have to practice,
but their
ability to
use music as a
healthy coping mechanism and to
use it as a way to express themselves
has been a godsend
for them. And it's been
something that's now a very
important part of their life.
And that's definitely what I think
they were teaching here in this episode is
the importance of
healthy
healthy, I mean, we know now
it's called a coping mechanism, but
I don't know what it was in 1990. Maybe
it was then. But a healthy way to
express yourself and to
deal with sadness.
And there's a stark contrast between
dealing with sadness
and burying sadness.
Okay. It's
important that we have that understanding because
drinking alcohol
because you're sad.
Taking drugs because
you're sad. Playing
video games because
you're sad
are unhealthy ways
to cope with your sadness.
And doing those things
on your own.
I mean, if I want to go play video games,
there's nothing wrong with that. But if
I'm doing it because I'm sad, there's
something wrong with it. Because then my
brain is going to release chemicals
that numb the pain.
And that's
why it's important for us to
have this distinct
conversation where
we separate numbing pain
and facing the sadness.
Her
sadness didn't magically disappear.
But she learns to embrace it as
part of herself. She finds
solace in music and connects with
others who understand
her. Do you see? Do you understand
what's being taught in this episode?
It's so incredible.
I absolutely love
what this episode stands for.
And I think it withstands
a test of time. I think it's an episode
that should be shown
in school.
In my opinion. I mean, the kids will love it because you're showing
The Simpsons in school.
But, man, it teaches some amazing
stuff. It really does.
What do you think?
So when we talk about
the episode's message about
accepting and validating emotions,
even the negative ones,
what comes to your mind?
Do you buy into that?
Do you think that's a good way to do it?
Do you think that's a healthy way to live?
Tell me what you think of the ending scene.
My
thoughts were I wanted to analyze
the ending scene and the implications
that it had on Lisa's future.
But I kind of would rather hear what
you have to say.
I mean, I'll still share briefly what I think
instead of going into full detail what I
had written. But
I want to know what you
think, what comes to mind, what you heard,
what you felt, what you saw,
what you thought when you saw the ending
scene. So when she's singing that
Jazz Man song, which I, it was
super awesome, I still
think, you know, I've already said it. I loved it.
I thought
the impact on her future was pretty
clear. She's
embracing her sadness.
She's connecting with someone who is like
minded in
Bleedingham's Murphy. And I
know we see him again.
And I know how she reveres him
in those future episodes.
So that connection is
made right
now. And it becomes immediately
strong and cemented within
her, the depths
of her soul.
A great episode.
So there's lots of emotional depth in this
episode. Moaning
Lisa definitely
differs from other early Simpsons episodes.
And one could argue
from most future episodes.
And its focus
is on emotional realism.
What do you think
it offers society
today? What do you think
it does for us? Do you find value
in it now?
What about the music?
Like the episode teaches us about
blues music,
jazz music,
and its impact in
storytelling.
Right? It does.
It really does. This will not be the
first time by far
that I tell you
about something,
a principle of life, or just
a meaning of something that I
learned from the Simpsons because I
watched the Simpsons. And then later on
in school or reading a book or something,
the actual definition or
clarification will come up and I'll say, oh
yeah, I learned that on the Simpsons.
Seriously, as a
Gen Xer, that happened
countless times.
There's just a whole lot
that this show
teaches. It really is.
Good, bad, or indifferent, it does.
How do you
think this episode contributes to
the development of Lisa?
I think I've pretty clearly
shared my opinion of how it does.
We all know how important the
saxophone is to her throughout her life.
I mean, she's always
eight, but for 30 years
of episodes,
the saxophone
is her life. There are a couple of prominent
episodes where
something happens to her saxophone
and it becomes a source
of concern or distress.
It's in two different places
in the opening scenes of the show.
She has a solo
and every full
opening scene of the show.
It's a very prominent
figurehead
or piece in
the show. The theme
of this particular episode
I think has more depth
than
any episode yet
that had come out at the time.
There are some others
that have some great depth,
but I think this one definitely stands apart.
Especially
for the time as being the first
with real
themes of sadness and self-expression,
music,
mentorship.
Definitely
a great episode
and I think it was fully intentional
as well.
It makes you wonder, were they toying with these things?
Should we stick to more of the slapstick
comedy or should we teach a value
and see what people think?
I'm sure that
the responses that they got in the
media were
from focus groups and
people that watched the show, was part
of their decision making.
Any successful
company or program is going to
have that kind of thing and they'll evolve.
But
it makes
me kind of wish sometimes
that we had a lot more of this.
But I totally understand that I think
if they went this way more often,
if they were more heavy handed with this kind of stuff,
with this depth, it probably
wouldn't have lasted 35 years.
I get it.
It is what it is and that's fine.
But
yeah.
What does my opinion matter?
Everything. That's why.
And so does yours.
Speaking of which,
share it with me. I keep telling
you. Keep telling you.
Share your opinions with me. You can email me
at chartanpants at gmail.com or
you can send me a
tweet on
x at
mmmdonuts742
All right.
We've
gone over everything I wanted to.
The last thing I wanted to just
re-emphasize is the legacy
that this episode leaves behind.
The lasting impact
that this episode has
for The Simpsons
and its portrayal of
complex emotions.
If you
saw this episode
in 1990,
I hope
you have that same understanding as I do.
That
for whatever, for it is,
you know, it is what it is, whether you
liked it or not at the time or now,
I think we should
hopefully we can agree
that this episode had an amazing
portrayal of complex emotions and had
and left a lasting impact on
society. So.
I enjoyed it. I hope you did too.
Tell me how
it made you feel.
Tell me what your favorite
moments were. Did you like the music?
Did you like the jokes?
My
favorite joke was
being the running gag of Bart
calling Moe. Bart called Moe
to try to cheer Lisa up and
the name he
chose was Jock Strap.
I'm looking for a Jock Strap.
I love that stuff. I've already told you
that. Okay.
Let's end with the trivia questions, shall we?
In the opening scene, Lisa's looking into the
bathroom mirror.
What is written on her tube
toothpaste? The word glum.
G-L-U-M.
Get it?
Because she was glum.
Yeah.
You might want to call that lazy writing,
but I think it's clever.
What is the name of the video game Bart and Homer
play together? It is Super Slugfest.
And the bonus question, what is Homer's
boxing record? It is 0 wins
and 48 losses. So, 0 and
48. Rough.
That's bad.
How did Bleeding Gums Murphy
get his name? He said,
put it to you this way, Lisa.
You ever go to the dentist?
She said, yeah. He said,
not me.
So, he never goes
to the dentist and that's how he gets his name.
Gross.
Go to the dentist, kids.
Thanks again for watching.
I really appreciate it.
Tune in next week for
The Call of the Simpsons
where we have guest
star Albert Brooks.
It is his first
guest appearance,
but
he does it again in two episodes
later. He's
two different characters in two
different episodes
of The Simpsons in the first season.
It's pretty cool. Alright, so tune in
next week. Thanks again for listening.
Give me a shout on Twitter
and I will see you
next week. Thanks everybody.