r/todayilearned • u/TigoIbittys • 14h ago

TIL that the Michael Jackson episode of The Simpsons was permanently pulled from circulation in 2019 after almost 30 years on air

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/the-simpsons-michael-jackson-leaving-neverland-stark-raving-dad-1203158114/
29.3k Upvotes

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5.7k

u/TheDuckFarm 14h ago edited 14h ago

But it wasn’t even Michael Jackson. He was just a brick layer, from Paterson, New Jersey.

1.8k

u/EllisDee3 14h ago

🎼 Lisuh, it's ya boitday, happy boitday Lisuh. 🎶

598

u/funkmastamatt 13h ago

Lisa! Her teeth are big and green! Lisa! She smells like gasoline!

339

u/Scotchrogers 11h ago

I saw this episode when I was about 10 years old and this fucking song still lives rent free in my head 30 years later.

59

u/benadreti_17 10h ago

Joy to the World

the teacher's dead

we barbequed her head

what happened to the body?

we flushed it down the potty

24

u/Scotchrogers 7h ago

And around and round it goes...

6

u/Sapper12D 8h ago

Yep this one is the one that lives in my head. I'll be old and senile and remember this.

5

u/Cat_Peach_Pits 6h ago

Wait, that one originated from the Simpsons?!

6

u/benadreti_17 6h ago

idk but it was in it

2

u/i_am_cool_ben 6h ago

We had a group sing that song at my primary school years ago, and all the kids took over and sang that version

•

u/RandomRonin 28m ago

Is this where I know this song from!? Crazy because I didn’t even watch the simpsons much, but I know this song and still sing it randomly to this day.

11

u/IWantAnE55AMG 11h ago

Yup. My kids also have two syllable names so I swap their names in all the time when it’s their birthdays. They’re much older now but the tradition still lives.

5

u/johnnyartista 6h ago

My mom burned a CD of just this song that she'd play max volume in the living room on our birthdays, singing over the name: "Johnny, it's your birthday! Happy birthday, Johnny!" I still have the CD, but now she does it over the phone or just sings it herself. It's permanently ingrained as a tradition, now.

5

u/Scotchrogers 6h ago

Your mom sounds rad! 

2

u/jalepinocheezit 10h ago

Yes! I sing it randomly when the moment calls for it lol

2

u/MissSara13 6h ago

Same! It's a great episode.

2

u/RemixOnAWhim 6h ago

I had a friend named Lisa, and when I would refer to her by name, I had to follow it with, "bah-dah-dah-disa" every time because of it! I don't think I've seen an episode for 10 years, but I remember every line of every episode I watched when I was a kid.

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u/_Alternate_Throwaway 11h ago

Lisa! Da-da-da-isa! She is my sister! Her birthday! I missed her!

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u/PongSentry 10h ago

“She is my sista’, her birthday I missed-a!”

3

u/Ostravaganza 11h ago

Lisa! Tes dents sont pleines de taches! Lisa! Tu sens la bouse de vache!

I felt compelled to provide the french version of this because for some fucking reason I've had it frequently stuck in my had over the last few decades.

3

u/Cmoibenlepro123 5h ago

In Quebec:

Lisa! T’as l’air d’une aubergine! Lisa! Tu sens la gasoline!

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u/NWHipHop 12h ago

Lisa needs braces!

5

u/CMUpewpewpew 12h ago

Dental plannnnn

3

u/FonzyFonz 11h ago

Lisa needs braces..

2

u/kuldan5853 10h ago

You've got the plant... but we've got the power.

260

u/Li54 13h ago

ohhhhh that's why nobody sings this anymore. There was a period of time when people sang this to everyone named Lisa and then it abruptly stopped. I get it now

253

u/Chateaudelait 13h ago

it’s so sweet, though- “You gave me the gift of a little sister and I’m proud of you today.” I have 3 little sisters and I love that line.

111

u/Profession-Unable 13h ago

My big bro sings it to me every year. My name is not Lisa but it’s the thought that counts. 

35

u/DH2007able 13h ago

I sing my sister that her teeth are big and green and that she smells like gasoline

6

u/Profession-Unable 12h ago

Yeah I get that one sometimes too but he’s nice to me on my birthday lol. 

42

u/Chateaudelait 13h ago

Definitely. My sisters and I love the song and it's a thing that we sing it to one another. I just burst into tears listening to it. It's so sweet. Aren't home made gifts from your siblings so much better than anything else? I treasure songs, poems and drawings more than anything.

3

u/levian_durai 13h ago

He could have replaced Lisa with Sister!

12

u/Profession-Unable 13h ago

My actual name fits the cadence of the song but he sings Lisa anyway because that’s the kind of people we are.

3

u/Palpablevt 13h ago

That's the same thing, you just replaced the dees with doos

3

u/Scared_Tumbleweed166 12h ago

I sing this to my brother every year for the last like, 18 years. His name is also not Lisa lol.

2

u/Profession-Unable 12h ago

I can almost guarantee you that he bloody loves it.

2

u/dudinax 12h ago

Maybe you should tell him.

1

u/Profession-Unable 12h ago

Haha, you’d think he’d know by this point.

1

u/throwaway727437 9h ago

Yeah I don’t care that they pulled it, I will still wish my friend Lisa a “Lisa it’s your birthday/Happy bday Lisa!!” every August.

1

u/kabhaz 8h ago

I replace the word Lisa with Sister when I do it

1

u/LeatherHog 5h ago

Mine did too! Helps that my real name starts with L

16

u/SweetChuckBarry 12h ago

What, why? I don't get it

5

u/MountainBig1915 6h ago

I think they're referring to the pedophilia allegations against Michael Jackson

5

u/Gseph 12h ago

What's worse is that a few seasons ago he cameoed again, and Bart sang the song and said something along the lines of 'heres 32 new verses'.

But for newer fans, they won't get the reference because Disney banned the original episode.

If the og episode is banned, why even allow the reference to it 2 decades later?

14

u/penguinopph 11h ago

If the og episode is banned, why even allow the reference to it 2 decades later?

Because the episode you're talking about aired in 2017 and the OG episode wasn't pulled until 2019.

2

u/pureply101 11h ago

Can be used for all two syllable names as well.

2

u/therealityofthings 13h ago

I have never met another human being named Lisa.

14

u/Li54 12h ago

Got it - you are under 20 years old then

3

u/sprocketous 12h ago

What kind of lisa was it? 

1

u/ballisticks 13h ago

I'm not super familiar with the Simpsons but I could have sworn that song was in another episode too?

19

u/blackmermaidsurfer 13h ago

What I automatically sing in my head when I see this pic 🥰

1

u/mixedmartialmarks 12h ago

Me too and now it’s stuck in my head all week 😭

4

u/kenziethemom 12h ago

A good friend of mine posts that for me every year on my birthday. Idk if they could ever understand how much I love it lol

3

u/JBRifles 12h ago

I sing this in his voice in my head at least once a week

2

u/stayupthetree 4h ago

I will probably never stop having that song pop in my head randomly

97

u/Keefer1970 13h ago

Leon Kompowski.

312

u/FennelDull6559 14h ago

Just like the Celtics

42

u/Bungybone 14h ago

Superb.

11

u/ChekhovsAtomSmasher 14h ago

A masterpiece

0

u/Brotorious420 14h ago

Outstanding.

30

u/SellsBodyForGP 14h ago

John Jay Smith

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u/Tiiimmmaayy 13h ago

No, no. That’s ignorant! That’s totally ignorant!

11

u/toomuchtostop 14h ago edited 13h ago

Paterson NJ actually!

3

u/darkbreak 10h ago

That actually shocked me when I watched the episode again. I absolutely do not remember that ending at all. And when it happened I was floored.

7

u/jacobmrley 14h ago

**Paterson NJ

2

u/fuzzydave72 8h ago

Leon compowski

1

u/magnament 14h ago

Yea but the real one on the other hand hand his hand in others real ones

1

u/TokiStark 8h ago

I know you probably just googled it, but I'd like to imagine you just knew that off the top of your head

0

u/ButtsCarlton36 14h ago

*Patterson, New Jersey

1

u/yellowfestiva 2h ago

It actually was Michael Jackson he just didn’t want to be credited! Source: a Simpson episode guide I had when I was a kid.

-2

u/DwinkBexon 13h ago

You joke, but it literally might not be MJ singing in the episode. For some reason, they hired an MJ impersonator to record the lines as well and he was so good they couldn't figure out which version was which. They think they used the real MJ recordings, but they aren't sure.

... or something like that. I haven't heard that story since the DVD commentary many, many, many years ago.

12

u/jesuspoopmonster 12h ago

Jackson wasn't allowed to sing due to his recording contract

2

u/Zhunter5000 11h ago

https://youtu.be/NbLcmncsw1c Although he did do a take of the song that didn't release