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We welcome back podcaster/comedy writer Mark Malkoff—host of the new podcast Inside Late Night, as well as the very fitting The Carson Podcast—for an epic discussion of the season 4 finale. We dig into SO MUCH of the TV history in this episode, including a ton about Johnny Carson, his relationship to The Simpsons, and how this was one of his final TV appearances. Not to mention so many details on the creation of this episode, like multiple drafts with different guest stars. Is Gabbo fabbo and Krusty rusty? Listen now to learn... that ought to satisfy the little S.O.B.s, hehe. Wait, is this still being written down?

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Dayken

Haven't had a chance to watch it yet (still listening to this episode as I'm typing this comment) but thankfully someone DID upload that Cheers special Leno hosted to Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeNlbmWppg8

Echo Cimarron

All the talk about Johnny Carson and TV history made me think of my own tangential connection to it. I work for KWTV in Oklahoma City. Way back in the '50s, the owners picked the WTV part of their call sign to stand for "World's Tallest Video" in reference to their new transmitter tower. It was (for a couple years) the tallest man-made structure on earth! A young Johnny Carson, then host of the game show Earn Your Vacation, was flown in to be the emcee for it's dedication. (You can see a brief clip of him here at about the 1:30 mark). https://youtu.be/Qapot6VQ7LI?si=CigdxHqV3vi9Jknb Anyway, a few years ago they tore the old tower down and sold it for scrap. I've got a little chunk of it sitting on my desk.

Jonathon

I had a nice chuckle at Henry saying Copa Americana rather than Copa America. It had me imagining a tournament of dueling banjos and apple pie baking contests. Not as exciting as Copa America, but Univision announcers could probably make it compelling.

Blake R.

I similarly thought "hey! they got the words wrong!" when the Wall St guys sing "Send in the Clowns" in the Joker movie having been so accustomed to Krusty's version as my entry point into Sondheim

Joe Hodgson

My parents were not viewers of late night television and so I had no exposure to it at all. I would see Leno in Doritos commercials as a kid and just assumed he was some kind of pitch man. At some point I became aware of The Tonight Show when the Dorito guy was the host and had no idea Carson, the guy I saw in that one scene in Home Alone, had hosted it before so I was really flabbergasted as a kid to see his portrayal on The Simpsons. I thought he was some kind of wonder showman that did bizarre tricks like a David Copperfield. I was kind of disappointed when I found out that he was just the host of a late night show. Because of my zero affection for late night TV, this episode doesn't work for me. I love the first two acts, but the long third act just feels like Grade A star-fuckery. I suppose it's inconsistent because I love Homer at the Bat, but unlike late night TV, I do like baseball and did when the episode aired so it's definitely geared more towards me. One of the things I came to dislike about The Simpsons is the frequent use of celebrity guest stars, many of which are not really mocked or made fun of. It didn't start with this episode, for sure, but it feels like it was escalated here which gives the episode a negative aura for me.

notsmohqe

Did this end up as the longest episode? Mark is a great and interesting guest. Obviously perfect for this revisit. Nice job guys

Rob MacBride

He's dead now!😂 I just went down a brief rabbit hole trying to figure out who's in the bottom middle Springfield Square.. the first two rows have Springfield celebs, whereas the bottom row is more nebulous; Charlie Weaver technically isn't a Springfield celeb, it appears they wrote him in to create connective tissue with the actual Hollywood Squares show they're parodying, which leads me to believe the middle square guy is perhaps a caricature of Paul Lynde who was also a Hollywood Squares regular along with Weaver 🤷 that or he's some obscure news anchor or tv spokesperson. For the first time ever while listening to these samples of Gabbo I realised that, like Krusty, he too is a bad Yiddish stereotype.. Don't shnap my undies.

Steve D

HG - similar to you and your mom watching movies, my mother and I love watching game shows and brother, believe me when I say we were PUMPED for the beach version of Hollywood Squares.

Thad Komorowski

A companion to "Homer at the Bat". Both sacrifice top-tier comedy in at least half the episode for star-fucking. Not sure which is more unpleasant, but it may be "Kancelled" because there are so many flatteratures of horrible people (Hefner, the Red Hots, and yeah, Johnny)... Midler's is embarrassing (even though as Henry told me it's still better than any modern Simpsons caricature; it doesn't look like Silverman or whoever had a gun to his head), and caused total confusion for me as a kid since her actual appearance on Seinfeld was so close to this - "Wait, WHAT?" Only Luke Perry was a sport and actually funny here. On the flip side, it does have at least two all-timers: Old Jewish Man, and Worker and Parasite, which may be the best joke of the entire series (and the bookends with Krusty may be the best drawings and delivery of the whole run, too). And for all the complaints about how much writers don't like Marge... you really didn't miss her here, did ya?

N Rose

Interesting to hear this is a "sequel" to Homer at Bat, since the episodes feel so different to me. I know essentially nothing about either baseball or late-night talk shows, but the jokes for Homer at Bat landed much more for me (to the point it's one of my favorite Simpsons episodes). I think Krusty Gets Kancelled requires at least a little more awareness of the celebrities and shows being poked fun at in order to appreciate the jokes. (I suppose I also just care a lot more about Homer's plight than Krusty's.)

Harry Kay

So, I think I know what the writers are referencing when Krusty cuts off Sideshow Mel when they're performing their post-cancellation show, and shockingly, I don't think it's late night related at all. I believe it's a reference to Clarabell the Clown in the final episode of Howdy Doody. He, after speaking exclusively using a horn, Harpo style, for the show's 13 year run, got to have the final line, 'Goodbye, Kids.' Krusty cutting off Mel from doing the same feels related to me, especially with the age of this writing staff.

Vance Jericho

This has been one of my favorite podcasts that you guys have done and Mark Malkoff was the perfect guest for this episode. Regarding Julie Kavner not appearing in this ep, Al Jean has actually explained why on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1657772742282813440 Makes sense (to me at least). Krusty Gets Kancelled is a fun episode, but feels like a patchwork in places.

littleterr0r

I enjoyed this episode but I do miss the youthful exuberance of your first time around.

Van Perez-Stable

The changing lyrics thing is likely a reference to The Rolling Stones in 1967. Specifically, The Stones were asked to change “Let’s Spend the Night Together” to “Let’s Spend Some Time Together”. They did it, but every time Jagger sang the lyric he would mug to the camera and very visibly roll his eyes. They got banned from the show for a few years. https://youtu.be/jtRCuKsvNEE?si=72PGN2y5j8aMoAll

littleterr0r

We need Zelda to send us seven years to the past or just reverse the aging process.

Aaron11001

I'm doing a complete re-listen to the whole podcast. Got to "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" and I have to let you know that "Up And Away" by Fifth Dimension is an awesome song

talkingsimpsons

I’m not saying that the lyric changes aren’t ALSO a reference to The Rolling Stones story. However, this episode was written in 1992 and in 1991 was The Doors film was released. In that, the scene is framed the same as in the episode. The band is in the dressing room and told to change the lyrics while reflected in the mirror. It’s a direct visual reference to The Doors scene https://youtu.be/61m_Dm44RHA?si=SGw8WTq9EZQDcEUb. - Henry

Jose Oros

Random thing that gets me is that in the Spanish(Latin American)translation for the Gabbo catchphrase it's not I'm bad little boy but it's I'm a little pervert

PurpleComet

Are Bette Midler's teeth breaking the rules for drawing Simpsons-style characters? I thought I remember seeing a style guide that said teeth are supposed to look like they appear in the TS logo, but I'm not sure.

Anna Mansager

I say “look Smithers! Garbo is coming!” all the time and nobody ever knows what I’m talking about

Jason Williams

Chili Peppers fan since the late 1980s and I’ve never heard them referred to as the “Red Hots”. 🤷‍♂️