Panel 1 - Ext. Springfield Power Plant. Our p.o.v. is on the ground, looking up at MR. BURNS and SMITHERS in the office balcony; MR. BURNS is addressing his employees. We are standing behind HOMER, LENNY, and CARL.
MR. BURNS: ...and so, to avoid Obamacare altogether, all full-time employees are hereby fired...
HOMER: D'oh!!
LENNY: You suck, Burns!
CARL: (to nearby coworkers) ...without the courtesy of a reach-around...
Panel 2 - same as Panel 1.
MR. BURNS: ...to be RE-hired to work TWO part-time shifts, beginning today...
HOMER: D'oh!!
LENNY: You suck, Burns!
CARL: (to CARL) ...wait, what?
OFF-PANEL: Has this happened to you?
Panel 3: same as above, but the crowd has turned to see, now foreground, TROY MCCLURE enter from the side.
TROY: Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such comedies as "Hot High School Ramadan" and the third season of the Simpsons.
TROY: And scenes like the one we see here are becoming even stupider, thanks to Obamacare.
Panel 4 - same as Panel 3, except TROY has been joined by charming waif, TIMMY.
TIMMY: Gee, Mr. McClure, how did the Affordable Health Care Act become such a debacle?
TROY: Well, Timmy, the complete hash of misunderstandings are the fault of one man at the White House...
Panel 5 - a smiling TROY MCCLURE holds up an 8 by 10 glossy of Press Secretary JAY CARNEY.
TROY: ...professional shill and presidential apologist, Jay Carney.
TROY: That's C-A-R-N-E-Y, the most punchable face in America!
Panel 6 - LENNY and CARL are holding down Press Secretary JAY CARNEY, now sporting a black eye and missing a tooth, while HOMER punches him in the stomach. TIMMY shakes grinning TROY's hand.
CARL: (smiling) Say, this is fun!
TIMMY: Gee, Mr. McClure, thanks!
TROY: No problem, Timmy. Now, go kill that messenger!
CAPTION: Paid for by Canadian Health Services and the British Medical Tourism Board.
The best part about this is that you've used the advantage of the comic medium vs if it were written for a TV show to use the character absolutely best suited to drive the script whereas he'd be unavailable otherwise.
ReplyDeleteOf all the characters on the Simpsons, as much as I love Krusty, Troy McClure is my favourite. We lost a great wealth of comedy when Phil Hartman died. No matter how far off the reservation the show gets these days, all I need is a Troy McClure educational film to get me laughing again.
DeleteRIP Phil Hartman, indeed.
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