Of all of the characters that appeared in the early seasons of The Simpsons, Troy McClure was definitely one of the most hilarious. Voiced by the late, great Phil Hartman, he was the emblematic character for this show, relentlessly skewering the cult of celebrity and the ways in which far too many stars seem obsessed with self-aggrandizement. Every time he appeared on the television screen, the audience was guaranteed to be treated to one of Troy’s numerous references to his many film appearances. As a result, he has more than his fair share of funny quotes to look back on.
“Right About Now, You're Probably Saying, 'troy, I've Seen Every Simpsons Episode. You Can't Show Me Anything New.' Well, You Got Some Attitude, Mister!”
One of the strengths of this show has been its willingness to take a good hard look at itself. Indeed, one of the things that has always been so pleasurable about watching is its self-reflexiveness. In this case, that comes straight out of Troy’s mouth, when he reprimands the presumptive viewer for thinking that he doesn’t have anything new to learn about this venerable show (which had already been one for several seasons by that point).
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Troy has a good point. There’s always something new to learn about this show.
“Hello, I’m Troy Mcclure. You May Remember Me From Such Fox Specials As Alien Nose Job And 5 Fabulous Weeks Of The Chevy Chase Show.”
Though obviously Troy’s appearances were always meant to be funny, their brilliance lies in their ability to use comedy to skewer various aspects of popular culture, including the very network that was airing the show. It takes a lot of guts for an animated series, even one as popular and iconic as this one, to go after Fox by lampooning its tendency to air rather ridiculous specials that emphasized quantity over quality.
Though he was very often just a spokesperson who came on before various television specials, every so often the audience got a hint of what kind of life Troy was leading behind the cameras. As this quote makes clear, it’s not a very reputable one, given that he’s clearly filming this appearance as part of a plea bargain for robbing a Foot Locker (which also doesn’t say much for Troy’s taste in footwear. Couldn’t he have shoplifted somewhere more highbrow?)
“I'm Actor Troy Mcclure. You Might Remember Me From Such Tv Series As Buck Henderson, Union Buster And Troy And Company's Summertime Smile Factory. Today I'm Here To Tell You About "Spiffy.", The 21st Century Stain Remover.”
There’s something uniquely sad about a celebrity who is reduced to selling some silly product during commercial breaks, and one can see that bit of desperation shining through almost every one of the appearances that Troy makes on the series.
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What keeps it from sliding into absolute tragedy, however, is the fact that Troy seems able to make quite a good living from these various appearances, and you can’t help but respect a man who’s so determined to keep working (even if he’s also faintly ridiculous while doing it).
“Hi, I'm Troy Mcclure. You May Remember Me From Such Medical Films As Alice Doesn't Live Anymore And Mommy, What's Wrong With That Man's Face?”
The joy of a show like The Simpsons stems in large part from the brilliance of its writing. Often the jokes are very layered, and while they’re enjoyable even if one doesn’t get the entirety of the joke, the appreciation grows greater the more that one grasps. In this case, the hilarity of this stems not just from the fact that it’s more than a little macabre but also from the fact that it’s cleverly playing on actual movie titles for the joke.
“Hi, I'm Troy Mcclure. You Might Remember Me From Such Telethons As Out With Gout '88 And Let's Save Tony Orlando's House.”
If there’s anything more distressing than seeing a celebrity appear in a cheap commercial, it’s seeing them appear in a telethon. Thus, it’s no surprise that Troy would turn up there as well, though one can’t shake the feeling that any telethon that asks Troy McCLure to be part of its lineup might not be entirely aboveboard (since there is always something just faintly untrustworthy about the man and his relentless optimism and good cheer.).
Once again, the humor here really does come from the cleverness of the jokes and how neatly they nest within one another. Anyone who grew up in the 1980s and early 19990s remembers the horror films that schools used to show to advise kids about the dangers of anything from walking in front of the schoolbus to doing drugs. Here, there’s not only a dig at that culture of scaring kids, but also a play on Lewis Carroll’s famous children’s novel.
“DNA Is God's Recipe For Making You. You Take A Dash Of Dad, A Pinch Of Mom, Then We Bake For Nine Months And... Mmm! That's Good Billy!”
Troy always had a way of delivering information in a way that made it seem slightly strange yet also hilarious. In this case, he’s trying to explain how DNA works in terms of inheritance.
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It’s not that he’s entirely wrong with how he’s describing the phenomenon (though obviously it’s a bit more complicated than he’s making it), it’s that he just seems to be just slightly off-beat in his delivery.
“My Good Looks Paid For That Pool, And My Talent Filled It With Water! Hi, I'm Troy Mcclure, Your Future Uncle.”
Though a lot of people might not remember it, there was a time that Troy dated Selma, Marge’s sister. In this quote, he’s pointing out how his fame has made his rather pampered lifestyle possible. It’s played for laughs, of course, but there’s also a clever reminder here of the fact that actors really are laborers, and that it is the fruit of their efforts that allows them to lead the lifestyles that they do.
“If A Cow Ever Got The Chance, He’d Eat You And Everyone You Care About.”
Even by Troy standards, this is a little bit bizarre, especially if one is familiar with cows and the fact that they are vegetarians. Of course, that’s precisely what makes the joke here so hilarious, since it seems very much in character for Troy to make such an outlandish claim and, when delivered by Phil Hartman’s voice, it’s impossible not to laugh at Troy and his absurd comments about cows (and many other things).
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