“Oh, right as rain! Or, as we say around here, left as rain!” – Ned Flanders
“Just stamp the ticket.” – Guy
There are two things I didn’t have time to properly explain in Reading Digest yesterday. The first is our old friend Noah P, who’s adding a new twist to his “watch ’em all” blog: Character Files. Similar to that “Permanent Record” thing we tried to do here a few years ago, he’s taking a look at one character’s appearances through the show. He’s done a couple of big name characters (Troy McClure, Frank Grimes), but my favorite so far is the “Just Stamp the Ticket Guy”:
When Flanders begins to start taking about non-parking-related things, he scolds, “Just stamp the ticket”, hence his nickname given to him by the hardcore Simpsons fan community. But…is that all we saw of him?
No. His legacy would not end there.
Turns out JSTTG is a jerk all the time. When the Squeaky-Voiced Teen tries to talk to him, he scurries away, saying, “Don’t touch me”. Then, when he sees Barney Gumble dressed as a baby, passing out fliers, he says, “You disgust me”. He also tells Marge that his kids aren’t stupid enough to want one of her wishbone necklaces, and for an encore, he punches a hippie, and later, Homer. A man of a few words, most of them rude.
Anyway, if you’d like to put in a request for another character, click through. Surely the Sarcastic Guy (“Okay, but I’m only paid to drive”) can’t be too far behind?
Second is our old friend Wesley Mead on that Nigerian princess episode in Bakwa Magazine:
It’s significant that the characters featured are an unnamed King and his daughter, a Princess. This allows for Moe’s initial concern that they are connected to a “Nigerian prince” who had scammed him on the Internet. But in aid of a silly, predictable subplot (one that’s not too timely, either— 419 scams were parodied in Fox stable mate Futurama eight years ago), The Simpsons’ crew have failed in their responsibility to reach beyond the lowest common denominator.
The same site also asked yours truly and some other writers to comment on that one. My favorite was this, from Ikhide Ikheloa:
This episode is disappointing on at least one level— the script was poorly written. As someone who used to watch The Simpsons religiously in the past, it just seemed disjointed and contrived. Sarcasm, snide retorts and brilliant takes on society’s dark sides are her trade mark, but this episode struggled.
Indeed it did.
Dead Homer Society 
32 responses to “A Little Weekend Reading”
In the absence of a proper name, I prefer to refer to the “Just Stamp The Ticket Guy” as that “Aquiline Nose/Hook Nose Guy”, since that’s really his most distinctive feature. (Had no idea that was his actual decided-upon-by-fans name, though… besides him being referred to as “Man” by that wonderful, never-making-you-want-to-retch Wikia instead of “Guy”.)
I’ve wondered why “Just Stamp the Ticket Guy” stuck, too, and not an adjective-based named like most of the other “nameless” characters. Though, I’ve noticed that he doesn’t seem to be as well known outside of hardcore fan circles as some of the other “nameless” characters.
I just call him The Big-Nosed Jerk, because he has a big nose and he’s a jerk.
I never had a name for the guy, but “Douchebag Dean” has now found a place in my head.
I found that Bawka page yesterday. It seems like a pretty interesting magazine so far. I really like those comments about the poor research the Zombie Simpsons staff did about Nigerian (and general African) culture they did for the episode.
That one was just lazy throughout. Should have just dropped the princess plotline and focused on Moe’s insane revenge for the scam (or Homer or Barney, would have worked either way). In other words, focus on the comedy of an impending diplomatic incident instead of a romance nobody in their right mind would care about.
Maybe even throw in the twist that the Nigerian prince really DID scam Moe through an email.
The Nigerian element was almost irrelevent. A few weak jokes on its expense and that was about it.
Thanks for the links! And I was planning on doing Sarcastic Guy soon, pally. I think they said his name was Raphael at some point, but I’ll have to verify that.
Sideshow Bob was the one to refer to him by name in “Day of the Jackanapes.”
….and verified. Thanks!
No problem! :)
Are you talking about the baldman with a mustache working at a garage?
Yeah, that guy. The man who sounds a lot like Charles Bronson.
And since it’s a Season 12 episode, it means you can forget about it.
You should do one on the cheesy “Yeeeeeesss!” guy.
Also, let’s all call the Stamp The Ticket Guy “Douchebag Dean” for fun.
Hadn’t even thought about him yet, but good suggestion. Working on it now.
I can do his voice lol
Frank Nelson?
What about the seven foot tall man, the one who took revenge on Nelson in 22 Short Films about Springfield? I want to know if the show has told us anything about him.
The wikis says he later reappeared in “City of NY vs Homer Simpson” and “THoH VIII”, and then he was retired up until Season 22, where it appeared on a single episode. Tjen he appeared again in a Season 23 episode, and hasn’t been seen since.
“Do you find something comical about my appearance when I am driving my automobiiiile?”
Thanks for the post about Raphael. I’d comment on it, but with you premoderating the comments in your blog I feel like I wore out my welcome there even before saying anything.
I let pretty much any non-spam comment go through. Also, you didn’t wear out your welcome! I have no reason to not let you comment or anything like that.
I just said “I feel like”. Maybe I’ve been to too many websites with premoderation and it didn’t leave a good impression on me.
Oh. But still, you’re welcome to comment.
I see what you did there, didn’t you? =)
Yes. But you explain it to me, uh, just in case, um, no one else did.
My comment didn’t premod.
I don’t know how I did that, but I’ll try to keep it up (but yeah, I noticed that too).
I figured out what I did. Since I approved your comments before, it won’t premod you anymore.
I don’t think he has a name, but he is said to be a caricature of Ian Maxtone-Graham.
[…] (EDITOR’S NOTE: Wow, people seem to like this installment on the blog! Thanks SO much for all the requests; they’ve been helpful for who I should do next. On a side note, I know I’ve been doing a bunch of these lately, but don’t worry, more episode reviews are on the way. I’m working on Bart’s Dog Gets An “F”, and I’ll try to see if I can possibly fit in two episodes this week. In the meantime, amuse yourself with these character profiles.) Welcome to the permanent records of Springfield residents. Warning: trespassing will be noted on your permanent record. Voice Actor: Hank Azaria Brief Bio: This man has gone by many names. According to Azaria himself, in the scripts, he’s written as “Wiseguy”, but other common choices are “Sarcastic Man/Guy”, “Middle-Aged Man”, and apparently “The Poison Man” is one (according to Wikisimpsons). But what exactly is this guy’s real name? Well, in “Day Of The Jackanapes”, Sideshow Bob calls him Rafael, which has sort of been the nickname that’s stuck (also, thanks to Dead Homers commenter Torbiecat for helping me verify that). […]