I’m not voting immediately because it’s so hard for me to choose.
Based just on the material that we actually get to see and hear, I think maybe “Oh Streetcar!” is better . . . but “Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!” is the one that I most want to see the full version of (also, it has Phil Hartman and the line “I hate every ape I see from chimpan-A to chimpan-Z”) . . . but “Oh, Streetcar!” has that brilliant “New Orleans” opening number (“Sodom and Gamorrah on the Mississip!”) and I would love to hear “You Can Always Depend on the Kindness of Strangers” as a full song.
I’d say Streetcar is better, if only because it completely perverts the original story, especially with the big closing number. But I’d probably rather watch a full version of Apes.
I love Streetcar because the opening describes my birthplace (and current residence) so accurately. I remember there being a big stink about it when it came out and New Orleanians were “offended” but reasonable New Orleanians, like myself, realized it was just poking fun. So, I voted for Streetcar.
Indeed it was.
I was also living in New Orleans at the time the original episode ran. There was an element that was deeply offended, but the rest of us LOVED it.
I went ahead and finally cast my vote: “Oh, Streetcar!”
I do still have a greater desire to see a full version of “Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!” but comparing the two just on the basis of what they actually exist to be, “Oh, Streetcar!” comes out ahead. Like asterion said, the way it so perverts the original story is just so very satisfying. And, living in New Orleans when the episode first aired, I wanted the opening number to be the city’s official anthem.
For “Streetcar”, the commentary also points out at one point that the original script just called for a community performance of the actual play, but the Tennessee Williams estate wouldn’t give permission. But the lawyers said they could make a derivative work without needing the estate’s permission, so the world got “Oh, Streetcar!” instead. (I realize this is probably all in the Wikipedia page on the episode as well, I’m just going from memory on the DVD commentary.)
Very tough call, since Oh, Streetcar! has some great moments and completely misunderstands the original story in such a perfect way. But I think Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off! has two of the funniest moments in the history of the show (as if the idea of a Planet of the Apes musical wasn’t ridiculous enough): “Help Me, Dr. Zaius!” and “Oh my god, I was wrong/It was earth, all along!” It’s not quite “a stranger’s just a friend you haven’t met,” but it’s a very glib, totally powerless way to handle one of the most famous movie endings in history.
I’ll vote for Streetcar because the episode is primarily about the musical (and Marge’s annoyance at Homer’s indifference to the musical), while Apes was more of a minor bit in the larger story about Troy McClure using Selma to rehabilitate his image and revive his career.
“From Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Zee” is my all-time favourite Simpsons lyric, though.
That’s hilarious. If the estate had permitted the play to be performed in the episode, it would probably be forgetful. So instead we get this classic, memorable musical episode. BTW, I vote for Streetcar, although that’s partly for the B-plot of Maggie attending the Ayn Rand School for Tots.
That’s exactly the song I was going to quote! I often hum to myself “I am just a simple paperboy, no romance do I seek. I just wanted 40 cents for my deliveries last week …”
Stop the Planet of the Apes, I want to Get Off wins for me by just an ape’s hair. Both are brilliant and hearing everyone’s argument for Oh, Streetcar reawakened my appreciation for it, but those lines and those songs in Apes are just too good.
This thread remids me of how great the Simpsons musical numbers are.
I voted for Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off because it’s a more unusual idea for a musical, and the line “I hate every chimp I see from chimpan-A to chimpan-Zee” is pure genius.