8. Behind the Laughter
2000
Season Eleven

“Behind the Laughter” is one of those episodes of “The Simpsons” where nearly every single word of the teleplay is quotable. You could pick out your favorite lines, and go through the entire script from beginning to end. It’s a lightning in a bottle spoof of the popular “Behind the Music” series. The often self important VH1 Documentary series gets the Simpsons treatment, profiling America’s favorite family. Ad hilarity.
It also presents a tongue in cheek satire of “The Simpsons” and how they went from a cute animated show to a worldwide phenomenon in the nineties. With immense exaggerations, of course. “Behind the Laughter” is a look at how the family grew in popularity and their inevitable saturation on pop culture. The writers are never afraid to mock the actual Simpsons’ over abundance of popularity in the nineties, profiling their goofy music albums (they actually had albums), enormous roster of guest stars, and their often contrived episodes that put new twists on characters. Including the episode where we find out Principal Skinner is not actually Skinner.
There are numerous hilarious moments to be mined here, from the creation of Homer strangling Bart as a popular gag, Richie Rich replacing Bart in future episodes of “The Simpsons,” Bart’s paying Lenny and Carl to kiss, to their pondering “Hey, did we ever get that money?” There’s also Homer’s declaration “Fame was like a drug, but what was even more like a drug, were the drugs.” Host of “Behind the Music,” Jim Forbes, even takes part in the fun with nuggets like “But reckless spending and interracial homoeroticism were just volume one of the Encyclopedia Self-Destructica.”
With a guest spot from Willie Nelson, “Behind the Laughter” is never afraid to take shots at stunts from “The Simpsons,” mocking them with sharp writing, all the while fabricating endless bits of witty and laugh out loud gags. That includes the Simpsons living in MC Hammer’s old mansion, Marge singing her version of “I Shot the Sheriff” (with a smile!), and Lisa’s accusation that the family gave her anti-growth hormones. Prompting Homer to argue “That’s ridiculous. How could I even get all five necessary drops into her cereal…? What?”