The Five 'Crazy' Pitches That Led To The Planet Of The Apes Musical In The Simpsons

20th Television

Season 7 of "The Simpsons" is one of the best seasons of television ever aired. Not only was the show was still in its "golden age" and delivering classic gag after classic gag at the time, but season 7 is also noteworthy for containing some of the finest Milhouse episodes in the show's history, including the brilliant "Summer of 4ft. 2," in which the level of sheer emotional abuse Milhouse endures remains one of the most hilariously dark running jokes the show ever tried.

What's more, season 7 gave us "A Fish called Selma," in which washed up actor Troy McClure marries Marge's sister as part of his comeback attempt. On his way back to stardom, McClure stars in the ridiculous musical "Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!" which features a big musical number named after the character Dr. Zaius from the original movie. On its own, this scene could arguably make "A Fish called Selma" one of the best ever "Simpsons" episodes. Even now, the show is still referencing what remains its greatest musical moment ever — perhaps with the exception of the Monorail song.

With "Stop the Planet of the Apes," in the space of two minutes the show managed to parody the 1968 "Planet of the Apes" movie, the Austrian artist Falco's pop hit, "Rock Me Amadeus," the 1961 musical "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off!," and the idea of musicals in general, with the unctuous performances of the musical's cast sending up the worst impulses of musical theater. There's even a section where an ape breakdances, which, as it happens, was one of several zany pitches thrown out after showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein decided to lean into their writers' wildest ideas.

20th Television

The first draft of the "Fish called Selma" script didn't even feature the "Planet of the Apes" musical. The show's writers simply knew they needed Troy McClure to have a big comeback, but once the musical idea came up, it set off a chain reaction in the writers room which saw five "crazy" pitches coalesce into this moment of satirical genius.

Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein had been with "The Simpsons" since the third season, but stepped up to showrunners for the seventh season, bringing with them a considerable amount of writing experience and wisdom. As Weinstein explained in a thread on Twitter/X, one of the best writing tips he ever received was to always lean into outlandish ideas, or, as he put it, "Never shoot down an idea, no matter how crazy or stupid it may sound. Lean into it. It may be nothing OR it becomes the Dr Zaius scene."

As the former showrunner explained, every writer on the show contributed to the finished musical, with each pitch inspiring the next. Weinstein went on to reveal that the "Stop the Planet of the Apes" scene was actually the "combo of five separate 'crazy' 'stupid' pitches," which he and Oakley entertained to see where they would lead.

20th Television

According to Josh Weinstein, the whole "Stop the Planet of the Apes" idea began with writer Steve Tompkins pitching, "What if we did a musical of 'Planet of the Apes?,'" with Weinstein commenting, "This is either a crazy or a stupid idea or both but we all loved it and we could all feel the potential so I say at least let's explore this and see if it goes anywhere." Of course, it did go somewhere, with Tompkins' idea prompting his fellow writers to see how ridiculous they could make this particular parody.

With Weinstein never having seen the original 1968 "Planet of the Apes" — a film that needed more makeup artists than Hollywood could provide — he asked the writers' room to verify a few key facts about the movie before pitching his own idea: "So you know that Falco song?" This was the genesis of the "Rock Me Amadeus." Thus, the "Dr. Zaius" song was born. But that was just the beginning.

The third pitch came from veteran "Simpsons" writer George Meyer, who suggested "interspers[ing] [the] song with corny/stupid old vaudeville style joke breaks, like the piano gag." The piano gag refers to Troy McClure asking halfway through the song whether he can still play piano, to which Dr. Zaius replies, "Of course you can," only for McClure to sing, "Well, I couldn't before." An upright is then wheeled on-stage and the actor performs a brief interlude before the song resumes. That all came from Meyer.

20th Television

With the main idea cemented and with some hilarious additions from George Meyer and Josh Weinstein, "Stop the Planet of the Apes" was starting to come together. But by this point the pitch machine was in motion, and other writers began throwing out equally ridiculous yet hilarious ideas. The fourth of these came in the form of Dr. Zauis being accompanied by a nurse. "Someone pitches since he's a doctor, have his nurse begin the song with, 'Oo, help me, Dr. Zaius'," wrote Weinstein on his Twitter/X thread. "I have no idea if there is even a nurse in the movie but sure, that's a great way to kick it off."

Finally, the former showrunner recalled another writer, whose name he's since forgotten, pitching the idea for the big "Dr. Zaius" musical number to include "a lot of breakdancing moves." Why? Because, as Weinstein put it, "At the time, that seemed like a trend in a lot of splashy Broadway musicals." This was the fifth and final main pitch that formed the "Stop the Planet of the Apes" parody. But there were still a few honorable mentions that Weinstein included on his thread.

20th Television

In "A Fish Called Selma," we cut from the "Dr. Zaius" performance to the climax of the musical itself, during which Troy McClure sings "I hate every ape I see, from Chimpan-A to Chimpanzee," which remains one of the finest lines in "Simpsons" musical history — perhaps in the show's history overall. Josh Weinstein recalled how that particular addition really took things to another level in the writers' room. "Somewhere in the middle of this whole process," wrote Weinstein, "[writer and 'Futurama' showrunner] David Cohen pitched the 'Chimpan-A to Chimpanzee' line which was one of the rare/only times we actually knew instantly that a line would become a classic. His pitch kicked everyone's pitches to a new higher level." According to Weinstein, Cohen's contribution was the point at which everyone in the room knew they had to follow through on the "crazy" and "stupid" ideas they'd been throwing around.

While the pitches at the time may well have been "stupid," the enduring appeal of "Stop the Planet of the Apes" speaks to how seemingly mindless ideas can actually mean a lot more than they might seem. The musical in "A Fish called Selma" remains one of the finest parodies in "Simpsons" history, and one look at the comments under Weinstein's thread should be enough to convince you that this ridiculous idea for a musical was a lot more than a "stupid" idea. It remains a fan-favorite moment in a series that is full of some of the best moments in TV history.

For Weinstein, the whole thing simply validated his idea of embracing seemingly ridiculous ideas. The writer finished his thread with, "If you have an idea and right after it comes to you, you have a feeling 'there's something special there,' lean into it. The worst that can happen is you waste a few minutes or hours. The best? Something that speaks to a whole bunch of people and makes them happy."