The best food joke of 1996 now has the oral history it deserves

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I try not to walk Simpsons encyclopedia in times that do not require it; therefore, every moment of my life is an exercise in restraint. (Or subterfuge: if someone asks me “Have you ever seen [X]? “I secretly savor the opportunity to respond:”Yes one time!But today there is an article on the Internet where I am free and encouraged to let my flag fly, quoting Homer. Brian VanHooker at MEL Magazine provided the faithful with a oral history of ‘steamed hams’, three minutes of ephemera from The Simpsons that have been memorized, reimagined and replayed so much over the past quarter of a century that the clip’s origins as a Season 7 single gag have been eclipsed by the pop culture legend that it is. become. For the uninitiated, here is the exceptional extract known as Steamed Hams.

According to Bill Oakley, author of the famous sketch and a Simpsons showrunner from 1995 to 1997, “Steamed Hams” took years to establish itself as an Internet darling. But once that was done, it was like wildfire. The clip spent a decade percolating as a growing joke among people who bought entire seasons of Simpsons DVDs in fancy boxes in the shape of (much hated) characters and phrases like “Not in Utica, no – that’s an Albany phrase!” has gained ground as a shared vernacular of a particular geekdom band. Eventually, “Steamed Hams” became a canvas for savvy creatives and technologists: there were clips of the sketch repeated 10 times, reimagined by different animatorshammered in the music videos, you name it. (And oral history names a lot more.) VanHooker consults with the creators of various Simpsons fansites and experts from KnowYourMeme, as well as everyone from astrophysicists to personal trainers to trace the history of this ultra-slow cultural phenomenon.

“I’m glad people thought the skit was funny, because it took me about 20 years to find out people liked it,” says Oakley, who says he likes all remixes and memes. from his original sketch. “It drives this buzzer of nostalgia … It’s become like a code word for Simpsons fans who then snowballed and fed on themselves and became a microcosm of Simpsons nostalgia.”

Read the entire curvy oral history here, and don’t forget to be careful around the Northern Lights.