Thanks to the 32 seasons of The Simpsons (so far), there's almost no shortage of phenomenal gags. There are running gags, such as Nancy Cartwright's Bart Simpson's phony-phone calls to Moe at the bar. But the one-off gags are almost usually the best, such as the Planet of the Apes parody and, of course, "Steamed Hams".
The "Steamed Hams' bit aired during what's considered the "heyday" of The Simpsons. The seventh season episode, "22 Short Films About Springfield" which aired in April 1996, featured a bunch of different stories instead of just focusing on The Simpson family as per usual. The "Steamed Hams" scene, also known as "Chalmers vs. Skinner" became so popular that it started various internet groups, memes, and GIFs... it even found its way into the dictionary.
Thanks to an amazingly detailed account of the scene from MelMagazine, we now know what exactly went into the creation of this iconic moment...
Over-Editing 'The Simpsons' Gave Birth To The Shorter Segment
Bill Oakley told MelMagazine that he and his co-writer, Josh Weinstein, were eager to explore shorter stories, featured as segments, within a broader episode... But this desire only came from not having enough of the main story to tell...
"One of the very first weeks Josh Weinstein and I were at The Simpsons, they did this episode called 'The Front,' which was about Grandpa getting credit for writing those Itchy & Scratchy cartoons. Back in those days, [showrunners] Mike Reiss and Al Jean trimmed the shows tight and they often came in too short. Like, that was why that Sideshow Bob rake gag got repeated, because an episode ran short," Bill Oakley explained.
"Anyway, 'The Front' was so short that they actually wrote a little segment called 'The Adventures of Ned Flanders.' It was really corny and short, and we thought it was so funny. So Josh and I always wanted to do more of those, but every one of our episodes was so bloated that we never had the chance."
While halfway through writing the seventh season, Bill and Josh realized that they were never going to be able to do another segment within a larger episode... So, they decided to devote an entire episode to a bunch of different segments... And thus "22 Short Films About Springfield" was born.
Why "Chalmers VS. Skinner"?
The whole Chalmers and Principal Skinner skit came from Bill and Josh giving their writing staff the chance to pitch stories about their favorite secondary Simpsons characters.
"To make it fair, it was basically like a football draft and everybody got to pick a number and go in order and call dibs on their favorite characters to write a little segment for," Bill Oakley explained. "My very first choice was Superintendent Chalmers and Principal Skinner. It might’ve just been Chalmers, but I think Skinner came along with the package."
Bill Oakley always liked Chalmers because he seemed like the only sane character in the entire town.
"I love that dynamic where Skinner tells a crazy lie, Chalmers calls him on it, Skinner then makes up another lie and Chalmers asks maybe one more question, but then gives up. This was always so funny to me, that Chalmers kind of knows that Skinner’s lying, but he doesn’t care enough to pursue it. Either that, or he’s learned where the boundaries exist in the Springfield universe. He knows that you don’t probe too deeply, otherwise you get screwed."
Bill ended up 'calling" Chalmers. He and the other writers had about a week to go off and write their segment.
"I wrote mine all in one sitting on like a Saturday afternoon or something. The idea was to use this corny situation — that the boss is coming over for dinner and someone burned the roast, a sitcom staple going all the way back into the days of radio. So that was the premise: Chalmers is coming over and Skinner’s burned the meal."
Of course, the best part of the segment is all of the absolutely ridiculous lies that Skinner tells to explain what's going on... Most famous of all was the "Steamed Hams".
The Birth Of The "Steamed Hams" And Its Enduring Legacy
"As for the whole thing with 'steamed hams' and 'steamed clams,' I just needed a phony lie that rhymed," Bill Oakley said of his absurdly famous bit. "I actually didn’t know at that time that steamed clams was a real dish and then steamed hams just seemed like a preposterous, half-assed lie."
After he turned in his segment, Bill received an assist from writer Ken Keeler who wrote the song for "Steamed Hams".
"After it broadcasted, we never really heard anything about it for years afterward," Bill said of his segment. "Steamed Hams didn’t even become a thing until 2016 when some Australian grocery store kept getting calls from people asking for steamed hams."
While no one quite knows how the "Steamed Hams" craze grew in Australia, some claim it has to do with a woman named Robin in New Zealand who started a Facebook group. She thought that the name was funny for a group and it quickly amassed about 7,000 followers. However, it became defunct by 2011. But that didn't stop it from spreading around the world and even peeking the interests of celebrities like Jeff Goldblum..
But by 2016, a Reddit thread was started. It was called "Memed Hams" and was created by Simpsons fan Sarah Croft. The thread became so popular that it inspired the Urban Dictionary to formally put it in as a real name.
It's incredible the legacy this thing has built due to the internet and die-hard Simpsons fans eager for a laugh.