Sunday, March 26, 2006

Best animated TV show musical numbers

OK, folks, weigh in ...

I'll start us with three:

Family Guy, "This House is Freakin' Sweet": Upon inheriting a mansion, the Griffins find the household staff welcoming them with a song celebrating just how great it is to be stinking rich.

The Simpsons, The Burlesque House: Homer convinces Springfield not to tear down La Maison Derriere by kicking off this classic tune in which most of the town admits some interest in a little harmless naughtiness. The highlight -- Nelson and the other bullies break into some barbershop, answering Bart's "to shut them down now would be twisted" with "we just learned this place existed."

Futurama, the finale of "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back": The Central Bureaucracy gets an unlikely dose of fun even as Hermes files a massive mound of random stuff in a couple of minutes. The highlight -- Bender, who has been essentially reset with nothing to say other than "I am Bender, please insert girder," says just that at a key point in the song.

7 comments:

Courtney said...

Obscure but classic: "Hello Lobey" from Freakazoid.

"Lonely Jew on Christmas" from South Park.

Bonnie said...

Wow. Those are all so freakin' sweet.

Anonymous said...

You and Quinn got my favorites, with "Burlesque House" and "Lonely Jew". Favorite gratuitous lyrics:

"We're the highlights in your hairdo
The extra arms on Vishnu"

"And instead of eating Ham
I have to eat Kosher Latkes..
Instead of Silent Night
I'm singing hey-hach-dol-gavish"

Courtney said...

Where was my brain? What about "O Streetcar!" from the Simpsons?

While it may be crass to quote the New Orleans song these days, you can't go wrong with lyrics like this:

Can't ya hear me yell-a
You're putting me through hell-a
Stella
STELLA!

bdure said...

It's tough to pick just one from the "Streetcar" episode.

I love the peppy "You can always depend on the kindness of strangers ..." Certainly not what Tennessee had in mind.

Also a big fan of the Whip It medley in the Simpsons' spin-off special. I've actually seen the Brady Bunch variety show on which that's based -- it's the most unintentionally hilarious thing that the Mystery Science Theater folks failed to dissect.

Michael said...

Family Guy's musical numbers may be better even than the Simpsons numbers from their wheelhouse days. I'm partial to the Randy Newman bit from Family Guy, the Unplugged "Rock Lobster," both Bing Crosby/Bob Hope numbers by Brian and Stewie and the barbershop quartet classic: "You've Got The AIDS."

bdure said...

Hey P!

Yes, Michael, I love the unplugged Rock Lobster, which is actually on my iPod. My only regret is that I can't play it. Downloaded the tab and everything, but I just don't have the independence to pull it off, even with a bit of a classical background.