Not the convict, but the guy who had a cameo in the last act. Principal Skinner unveils the mural, everyone’s repulsed, and they cut to a guy in the audience who makes a disparaging remark. He was overweight, bespectacled and bearded, but it wasn’t Groening. I know it was supposed to be someone, though. The name “Gary” comes to mind, but that may be entirely irrelevant.
i forget his exact name (so i can’t be all that helpful) but he is a kind of behind the scenes famous funny-line writer for hollywood. like when a famous person wants to host an awards show, he writes all the funny stuff. from what i understand, he writes A LOT of that funny stuff, but i cant think of any concrete examples.
bruce valanch (sp?)! that is his name.
when skinner made the joke that totally bombed, it was supposed to br bruce valanch that wrote it. and then he said something like “whoopi would have made it work.”
he actually did the voice, too.
Okay. Thank you!
I don’t know his name, but he’s frequently one of the “Squares” on Hollywood Squares.
IRL, he look a little too much like Animal from the Muppets for me to take seriously–even as a comedian.
It was Bruce Vilanch, a very openly gay (and not very funny) comic writer who’s a regular on Hollywood Squares. Remember the Whoopi reference? He said something like “Whoopi would have nailed that” or something to that effect.
It was indeed Bruce Vilanch. (Skinner mentioned him by name: “Damn you, Bruce Vilanch!”) He’s a fat guy who wears exceedingly tight t-shirts. He looks like a deranged cross between Jerry Garcia and Jerry Greenfield (the harier of the Ben & Jerry’s guys).
Vilanch has the reputation of being Hollywood’s premier comedy writers, of a sort. It is a common perception in the media (take it for what it’s worth) that Vilanch more or less single-handedly writes the opening monologues and jokey interludes for the Academy Awards telecasts. He was a comedy writer for Bette Midler in her cabaret years, and has pretty much formed a parasitic kinship with Whoopi of late, both writing for and appearing on Hollywood Sqaures. Vilanch specializes in innocuous, quip-driven humor for mass public consumption, which means he’s palatable and funny to your parents, but about as edgy as a tinkertoy.
Fun Fact: I just discovered in his profile at imdb.com that he was one of the writers on the Star Wars Holiday Special, George Lucas’ own private shame. (The linked article just kills me.) Go figure.
Ok, so who was the convict?
Michael Keaton.
I about choked on my supper when Bart yelled out “Go Bull, Toss his salad!” at the rodeo.
My god. The absolute lamest aspect in an otherwise enjoyable evening, all attributable to one person–now that’s something to be proud of. But in his defense, an amateur comedian reading jokes off a teleprompter is not exactly guaranteed merriment.