Line #23 YMMV/TheSimpsonsS7E2122ShortFilmsAboutSpringfield


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** Was Superintendent Chalmers fooled by ''any'' of Skinner's lies? Or was he merely [[{{Troll}} going along with it for entertainment value?]] The writer of the skit, Bill Oakley, [[https://youtu.be/WTkpTEg5N_w?t=6m21s has said]] that Chalmers ''knows'' almost everyone in Springfield is crazy, but avoids asking too many questions in order to get by. He may just be playing along at least partly because trying to make sense of Skinner's behaviour and unravelling his lies isn't worth the effort. At least one other writer has also mentioned that Chalmers is the closest thing to a regular person that would be able to survive and keep their sanity in Springfield, so Chalmers may be shielding himself from the insanity by going along with it but keeping his incredulous stance. [[https://youtu.be/hUczj9ntz1I The original draft of the segment, then titled "Chalmers vs. Skinner"]], has a slightly different ending exchange, suggesting Chalmers knew Skinner was lying the whole time.
3	** Some have argued Chalmers may genuinely like Skinner's company, given the genuine curiosity about the blatant lie of the Northern Lights and his rather friendly goodbye. As crazy as Springfield may get, Chalmers may actually consider Skinner a friend and sometimes plays along not for trolling purposes but because he's genuinely amused.
4	** Did Skinner mistakenly give Chalmers the wrong directions, or did he do it on purpose to buy himself more time to prepare?
5	* AluminumChristmasTrees: One of Chalmers' questions is why Skinner calls hamburgers "steamed hams" when they were obviously grilled. Making a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamed_cheeseburger steamed hamburger]] is [[https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/03/how-to-make-steamed-hamburgers/ actually possible]] (though they wouldn't have grill marks).
6	* CatharsisFactor:
7	** It's ''very'' satisfying to hear [[MyBelovedSmother Agnes Skinner]] getting helplessly burned alive in her own house after [[AbusiveParents how horrendously she's treated Skinner in the past and since]]. The fact that Skinner [[BlackComedy casually throws her under the bus just to save his luncheon]] is just the icing on the cake.
8	** Nelson being humiliated by Ian and everyone in Springfield giving him a "Haw-Haw" is considered very satisfying.
9	* FanNickname: "Steamed Hams" for the "Skinner and the Superintendent" skit, after Skinner trying to pass "steamed hams" off as a colloquialism for hamburgers, to the point the many memes that spawned it tend to use names like "Steamed Hams But [x]"
10	* FountainOfMemes: Pretty much the entirety of the "Skinner and the Superintendent" skit is a goldmine of quotable lines.
11	* HilariousInHindsight:
12	** Snake robbing Moe to pay off his student loans can be considered poetic justice after "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS17E13TheSeeminglyNeverEndingStory The Seemingly Never-Ending Story]]" revealed that Snake's StartOfDarkness was Moe robbing him of a bag of Mayan coins back when Snake was an AdventurerArchaeologist.
13	** After not getting his own segment here, Frink got his own time in the spotlight [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS27E13LoveIsInTheN2O2ArCO2NeHeCH4 20 seasons later]] (if not counting one Treehouse of Horror non-canon segment, [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E1TreehouseOfHorrorXIV Frinkenstein]]).
14	** In May of 2024, a powerful solar storm made the Northern Lights [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/05/13/northern-lights-solar-storm-weekend-photos/73668503007/ visible across the Northern United States]] (and even as far south as Florida). Cue ''everyone'' on the Internet making the exact same "Aurora Borealis? At this time of year, in this part of the country?" joke.
15	* MemeticBadass: While Principal Skinner only acts like a ProfessionalButtKisser in his segment, many jokes [[https://www.reddit.com/r/virginvschad/comments/7v8nfu/the_virgin_superintendent_vs_the_chad_principal/ make him the legitimate creator]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sRBhdeEotI of an aurora borealis]] [[https://monsterjail.itch.io/steamedhams localized entirely within his kitchen]].
16	* MemeticMutation: In late 2017 and early 2018, the ''Skinner and the Superintendent'' segment, now better known as ''Steamed Hams'', took a life of its own, and has been reinvented over and over on [=YouTube=]. Though nobody knows why. It's a go-to pop culture reference in [=YouTube=] and Reddit comments, as well.
17	* OneSceneWonder: Tall Guy (whose name is Ian, according to The Simpsons Wiki) for giving Nelson his comeuppance.
18	* ParodyDisplacement: These day any attempt to parody the DinnerWithTheBoss trope will inevitably get compared to Steamed Hams.
19	* SacredCow: This episode, and especially "Skinner and the Superintendent", is considered one of the finest installments of the Simpsons.
20	* SignatureScene:
21	** The entire "Skinner and the Superintendent" skit, particularly the "Aurora Borealis" part, for its [[MemeticMutation memetic status]].
22	** The final skit with the tall driver in a small car punishing Nelson for mocking him is also pretty famous, as it's Nelson's ultimate comeuppance for mocking everyone in general.
23	* VindicatedByHistory: According to Bill Oakley, the Steamed Hams skit originally had a lukewarm reception and he didn't quite understand why it became suddenly popular 20 years later.
24	* WatchItForTheMeme: Thousands of people watch the episode just for Steamed Hams.
25	* {{Woolseyism}}: The Latin American translation of the episode changes Dr. Nick's reason to pull an OfCorpseHesAlive scheme with the corpses in the hospital's morgue and his car from "I get here faster in the carpool lane" to "I was bored and there was nothing else to do around here (in the hospital)".

Context YMMV / TheSimpsonsS7E2122ShortFilmsAboutSpringfield