I played a trombone/baritone duet with Homer J. Simpson!!!!

[Joe Baker]

Okay, one more reason "The Simpsons" is THE BEST cartoon ever:

The other night the local affiliate played the episode "Mommie Beerest" (Homer mortgages the house to pay for repairs tp Moe's, and Marge spends more time than Homer would like helping Moe run the place). At one point, Marge leaves Homer in bed mid-pucker when Moe calls, and Homer -- not wanting to waste the pucker -- reaches under the bed and produces a trombone, and plays Greensleeves.

Pretty good, you say, but not great.

BUT -- the SLIDE POSITIONS ARE ALL CORRECT!! I was watching and realized the slide postions were right for the key of G (thanks to the miracle of DVR I was able to back up and watch it repeatedly), so I grabbed the baritone conveniently in the corner and played along. Sure enough, every note was right on the money! I backed it up once more and played a duet with Homer!

I've only seen one other live action show where a non-trombone playing actor actually used the right positions (The Glenn Miller Story, with Jimmy St-st-stewart).

Now I've gotta start digging through the scenes where Homer plays piano, and see if they got his fingers on the right keys.
________________________________
Joe Baker, who changed his avatar -- after a LOOOOOOONG time -- because he was just that impressed!

[Matt G]

I love the Simpsons for reasons like this.

At least the animators care enough about their craft to do things correctly. Whereas a "professional" actor would not give a poop about something like "credibility".

The Simpsons are probably far more researched (correctly) than many other shows on TV. The only shows that seem to care about real data today are on Bloke's favorite network CBS. The CSI shows are pretty well done and the Numb3rs show actually consults with mathematicians.

Go Homer. You ROCK!

[Joe Baker]

Joe -

Way too much time on your hands. Get back into the practice room.

Hey, there's a REASON the baritone was there! I was in my practice room; I was just practicing my new mountain dulcimer at the time!
_________________________
Joe Baker, who doesn't watch much TV, but NEVER misses the Simpsons (and usually watches in the living room, without musical instruments...)

[MaryAnn]

BUT -- the SLIDE POSITIONS ARE ALL CORRECT!!

Cool! Reminds me of a Johnny Carson (RIP) show years ago that had a juggler con keyboard. The "keyboard" was on the floor, a large flat thing, and the juggler threw some kind of balls down on it in specific rhythms. The keyboard was programmed to play "whatever is next" in the song when it was hit by a ball, or bunch of balls. It was designed to look like the juggler was hitting the correct keys, but he wasn't. I could see from the look on Johnny's face that he had been told the guy was "playing" the keyboard with the balls when in fact Johnny could see he was not. It was interesting to watch. The audience, who were fooled, were ecstatic.

Whoever put together that Simpsons cartoon either is or has access to a tbone player. Possibly the guy who was used for the recording also guided the artist? I just love quality. There must be some musician on staff there....otherwise we probably wouldn't have all that sax playing.

MA, who will keep her avatar as is for now.

[JCalkin]

One of the writers on the Simpsons plays the tuba, actually.

One of the DVD commentaries (Mr. Burns Sells the Plant) mentions it.

In addition, in the episode where Homer does the voice-over for the Poochy the Dog character in the Itchy & Scratchy, the I&S staff are in one of the animators' rooms, and there is a tuba propped in the corner (this is the actual writer, as the Simpsons animators are forever putting Simpsons staff members in the show as extras).

-J

[Hank74]

There is a 1982 movie which has Matt Dillon playing the sousaphone. It's called "Jean Shepherd's 4th of July and Other Disasters." This is a rare video that's not available at any store. But I love it because it highlights the sousa in great detail.

The thing that I wondered is did Dillon actually play the sousa or was he "lip synching" while a professional was playing in the background? I get the sense that Dillon was actually playing since the notes seemed easy. In a marching scene, Dillon was playing "dum, dum, dum," like F or high B.

When I get to play that video again, I'd like to try simulating the scene where he sits down and tries out the tuba part for "El Capitan." I don't think he was good on that though. It didn't sound correct.

If you want to try to get the video, I would suggest you click on E-bay and put in "Jean Shepherd's 4th of July" in the search area.

Hank74

[Leland]

I just saw Family Guy's Peter Griffin "play" the trombone, and the slide positions were nowhere near close. He even moved the slide on a sustained note.

Anybody who still says that Family Guy is a superior show should just shut up and admit that The Simpsons rules.

[Karl H.]

There must be some musician on staff there....otherwise we probably wouldn't have all that sax playing.

Don't know about on staff, but the guy who plays all the sax stuff for Lisa (and I suppose Bleeding Gums Murphy) was/is Dan Higgins, a North Texas alum.

Karl "BM '87, MM '91 UNT" Hovey