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Conan O’Brien on “Marge vs. the Monorail,” Phil Hartman, and the Simpsons I Fly on the Wall

September 27, 2023 / 04:34

This episode discusses Phil Hartman's contributions to The Simpsons, particularly the monorail episode and the character Lyle Langley. Conan O'Brien shares his experiences writing for The Simpsons and working with Hartman. The conversation highlights the memorable aspects of the episode, including its parodic elements and Hartman's performance.

Conan O'Brien recalls writing the monorail episode, where he created the character Lyle Langley for Phil Hartman. He describes Hartman's ability to bring characters to life, particularly his smooth-talking style. The episode features a parody of a music man and an Erwin Allen disaster movie.

O'Brien reflects on the lasting impact of The Simpsons, noting how fans often recognize him for his work on the show. He shares a story about performing the monorail song at a Hollywood Bowl reunion event, which was a highlight of his career.

Conan also mentions dressing up as Lyle Langley for the performance, capturing the spirit of Hartman's original portrayal. He expresses gratitude for the opportunity to honor Hartman through this tribute.

TLDR

Conan O'Brien discusses Phil Hartman's role in The Simpsons and his own experiences writing the monorail episode.

Episode

4:34
00:00:00
Conan your party resume writer for two years on The Simpsons and so since we're
00:00:05
doing this tribute to the great Phil Hartman he also did a lot of voices yep do you interact with him uh yeah we we
00:00:13
uh I wrote an episode uh the monorail episode and I wrote a part for this smooth talking kind of Music Man
00:00:21
salesman and I called him Lyle Langley and it was just always written kind of as a fill role because Phil did a lot of
00:00:30
great voices on The Simpsons and uh so it was fun because I went to The Simpsons after I was at SNL so I worked
00:00:39
for a bunch of years with Phil and you guys at SNL then I move on to the Simpsons and I write this episode but
00:00:47
there was a chance to kind of reconnect uh professionally with Phil which was a really cool thing and one of the things
00:00:55
I like about that episode is Phil is obviously great he's fantastic uh and he
00:01:00
he played a character also called Troy McClure on The Simpsons he's just yes he
00:01:05
played a few great characters but uh I was very fortunate because I wrote this part for him and he could do it and
00:01:13
uh he of course was amazing as he always was and what's nice about that episode
00:01:18
is it just bounces around in the universe those Simpsons episodes uh just rock it around the world so it doesn't
00:01:26
matter where I go there's all these people that have they're like oh yeah I guess you did
00:01:31
some stuff in late night but man Simpsons dude you know and so it resonates uh it really resonates with
00:01:38
them I'm not familiar with that episode so when you said music man was Phil kind
00:01:42
of talk singing as well or yes yes there's a part where basically as the music man tried to sell uh the episode
00:01:49
starts out as kind of a music man parody and then uh the the second half of it is
00:01:55
a um Erwin Allen Disaster Movie parody uh and um but the first part is Lyle Langley shows up in town and he's a guy
00:02:03
who's the town is coming into some money and they're trying to figure out how to
00:02:08
spend it and of course Marge wants to spend it sensibly and then uh uh you know this guy stands up who's wearing a
00:02:16
straw boater and it's it's Phil and it's Phil doing his you know Phil was so good
00:02:20
it's smooth characters yeah so good at kind of saying hey I can help you out
00:02:26
here I'm Lyle Langley and you know uh and then he basically tells them what you guys want is a monorail and which
00:02:34
and I I loved monorails were just always felt so stupid and silly to me like this
00:02:38
fake promise of the future that doesn't really accomplish much it's just a a
00:02:41
trolley in the sky and uh so anyway he sings A talks sings a song about the uh about the monorail and You Know It uh
00:02:52
you know and it's uh and of course Phil did it beautifully and it was really fun
00:02:58
and it's just nice that it's out there and then a nice come about uh all these
00:03:03
years later was The Simpsons did a big reunion show I don't know if it was their 30th
00:03:09
or must have been their 30th and they uh had a Big Show at the Hollywood Bowl and Matt Groening and James L Brooks
00:03:18
asked me and and The Simpsons writers said hey Conan would you come back and sing the monorail song at the Hollywood
00:03:24
Bowl with the Hollywood Game Men's Choir and the answer to that is yes oh I remember that event yeah I didn't
00:03:34
go to I remember that it was huge that was really fun it was really fun and it was one of those uh moments where you
00:03:42
just you get to take your long thin spoon and pick the the whipped cream and the Cherry off the top of the sundae
00:03:48
it's just perfect because not a lot of work just come in we did it twice we did
00:03:54
two shows you get a nice score and it's just it's the [ __ ] Hollywood Bowl and
00:03:59
it was it was very nice to just because obviously I did it was just a channel fill as best I could uh did you did you
00:04:06
dress up like the his character yeah yeah they got me uh the suit the white Langley suit and the hat and I have a
00:04:14
great photo they sent me of me holding my hat in the air full song and dance you know Jimmy
00:04:21
Cagney and Yankee Doodle Dandy with the Hollywood Gay Men's Choir behind me and
00:04:24
it's a it's a prized possession because it looks like wow Conan had a very
00:04:29
successful career in Vaudeville

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 70
    Most iconic
  • 70
    Best performance
  • 70
    Most iconic moment
  • 60
    Most memeable

Episode Highlights

  • The Monorail Episode
    Conan discusses writing the iconic monorail episode for The Simpsons featuring Phil Hartman.
    “I wrote a part for this smooth talking kind of Music Man salesman.”
    @ 00m 13s
    September 27, 2023
  • Reconnecting with Phil Hartman
    Conan shares a touching moment of professional reconnection with Phil Hartman through The Simpsons.
    “It was a really cool thing to reconnect professionally with Phil.”
    @ 00m 53s
    September 27, 2023
  • Hollywood Bowl Reunion
    Conan recalls performing the monorail song at a big reunion show at the Hollywood Bowl.
    “The answer to that is yes!”
    @ 03m 22s
    September 27, 2023

Episode Quotes

  • Phil was so good at kind of saying, 'Hey, I can help you out.'.
    Conan O’Brien on “Marge vs. the Monorail,” Phil Hartman, and the Simpsons I Fly on the Wall
  • It's just a trolley in the sky!
    Conan O’Brien on “Marge vs. the Monorail,” Phil Hartman, and the Simpsons I Fly on the Wall
  • It's just perfect because not a lot of work.
    Conan O’Brien on “Marge vs. the Monorail,” Phil Hartman, and the Simpsons I Fly on the Wall

Key Moments

  • Phil Hartman Tribute00:05
  • Monorail Episode00:13
  • Hollywood Bowl Performance03:07

Tension Over Time

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Vibes Breakdown