Hey hey hey!
You know, some days I get so caught up in writing on this site that I forget one of the coolest things about it. Not only am I blessed to have my words and opinions out here for other like-minded tappers to read, but I get to be part of a team that has my back and are people I seriously call friends. Alissa and Bunny are two people I consider myself so lucky to have in my life. We don’t really mention it, but other than being bloggers on this amazing site, we all actually talk to each other several times a week by phone, text and/or video and it’s not always conversations about TSTO and The Simpsons.
It was during one of these conversations, that Bunny and I geeked out over future content that might be coming to the game. The main item discussed was the Springfield Monorail. We both would love this to come to the game and we seriously hope EA wasn’t just teasing us by mentioning it in game dialogue.
The monorail is one of those things that has stuck around with me since I first watched the episode in 1993. I haven’t been on the Disneyland Monorail or any other one-railed train thingy since then without thinking of Lyle Lanley and the Springfield Monorail.
The monorail comes from Season 4, Episode 12: Marge vs. the Monorail. In my opinion, this is one of the Best. Episodes. Ever. Written by hilarious comedian Conan O’Brien, it centers around Springfield buying a Monorail with a recent windfall of money.
NERD FACT: Matt Groening considers this a classic episode and according to the DVD boxed set, this episode has his all-time favorite Simpsons line: “I call the big one bitey.”
Rather than ruin what is my ultimate, absolute, without a doubt favorite episode I really must insist you watch it if you can. Here’s a couple tidbits.
1. “Simpson, Homer Simpson, He’s the greatest guy in history! From the, town of Springfield, he’s about to hit a chestnut tree.” Arguably the best opening of any episode EVER.
2. If you ever wondered about Burns’ task to hide nuclear waste, you’re answer is right here. Let’s just say nuclear waste in your park area would be appropriate.
3. Apparently Burns keeps 3 million dollars in his right front pocket and is dangerous enough to be confined like Hannibal Lecter. I’m going to keep tapping him until he coughs some of that dough up lol.
4. Lyle Lanley is a complete gag of The Music Man (another classic) and was not sent by the devil, he’s on the level.
5. The track won’t bend my Hindu friend
6. “But main street’s still all cracked and broken… sorry Mom the mob has spoken… Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!”
7. I don’t care what Lanley says, Superman CANNOT outrun the Flash.
8. May the force be with you Spock.
9. The Monorail in Springfield was recycled from the 1964 World’s Fair. Disney may not have built THAT monorail, but he premiered 4 attractions there. Coincidence? I think not.
10. “A Solar eclipse, the cosmic ballet goes on.” Who’d want to switch seats with Leonard Nimoy? Jeesh, he saved Krusty just because the world needs laughter.
11. The origin of the classic Simpsons line, “Ah Donuts, is there anything they can’t do?”
12. Homer is the best mono-thingy guy there ever was.
13. The Popsicle Stick Skyscraper, 50-Foot Magnifying Glass and Escalator to Nowhere all come from the episode. A lot of folks don’t like these aspirational buildings but I had to have them primarily because of my love for this episode.
“And that concludes our intensive 3 week course.”
I think it’s pretty obvious that the Monorail would make me so happy inside if it was added to the game. We could build tracks throughout our town and then watch it zoom on by. Lyle Lanley could be introduced as a character even if he is unvoiced. Homer in the Monorail Conductor outfit as a skin. Bitey as a NPC. Sebastian Cobb and/or Leonard Nimoy as premium characters. The Monorail Station and/or Lyle Lanley’s trailer for buildings. The possibilities literally make me giddy with anticipation.
NERD NOTE FOR THE EPISODE: George Takei was considered for the guest role over Nimoy. How different would this episode have been? No worries though, Sulu beat SPock to the guest post spot in “One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish“(S2:E11) and has voiced two other characters.
Well, this was a discussion between Bunny and I, so stay tuned for her thoughts somewhere in the future. The original plan was for this to be a joint post but that lady has been so busy hopping around the country, I couldn’t let this info sit longer than a month. Seriously… this has been in drafts for a month! Some people’s bunnies, right? SO what are your thoughts? Got any other ideas for this idea? Do YOU love this episode as much as Bunny and me?
Can’t wait to see everyone’s thoughts. Y’all stay classy… Wookiee out!
All original art and content © Up All Night, LLC and TSTOAddicts.com
All Screen Shots of Game Graphics & Dialogue and Game Graphics from files ™ and © EA, Gracie Films and FOX
How bout the two headed man
I soooo love this episode and I already can’t stop playing this game and if we had the monorail I would be getting a divorce…. 😉
Well for the sake of your marriage, I’ll hope for the non-divorce version.
What if EA freed up land all around our towns so we could build the Monorail there?
Ooo there’s a thought. Interesting….
So I just wanted to say that was a good read. The Monorail would be no less the pride and joy of every Springfielder there is, except for maybe Marge lol. As for how many donuts…? Honestly, I hope it wouldn’t be more than 300 but then again who knows.. I have my own idea how this should be in the game and I’m sure everyone has an idea of their own too. What I keep thinking about is past the crazy amount of donuts that will most likely cost, and the hiding of credit card statements that will undoubtedly follow. I’m thinking about what the overall design of it will be. Will it be big, small, one size fits all (thought of Dr Suess for a sec) … or might there be a possibility for individual pieces, to be built one at a time? Where can it go? Is it possible just build one ginormous Monorail, building track pieces one at a time like those lovely Squidport tiles? Who can ride it, or does Homer just drive it? EA should change things up a bit and give it to us for free (as if, lmao) or just make the Monorail car itself minus the tracks cost donuts. The tracks would be done Squidport tile style, but you must pay money and wait for it to be built. I know this is a little long, and I have so any more ideas, but hey this is the Monorail we’re talking about. The biggest thing to make its way to Springfield. So does this seem feasible to anyone out there?
So many possibilities. I think it’d be cool if they gave the station and once you bought it, it created a track spanning the outer boundary of your town no matter what size.
That would be very cool. I’d be happy with that. Hopefully it’ll be introduced soon.
That is certainly a much more elegant answer to how to get the monorail in-game, even as an aspirational building, but you’d need a “minimum sized” Springfield over a sensible grid as a requirement first… Non-contiguous wouldn’t be a problem… But being able to buy land in arbitrary configurations, the tracks have to be laid out in a manner which always fits a turning train! (Right Angle turns and such might become problematic at that scale in those speeds, you know). But, without going THRU Springfield somehow, …, who’d use the monorail…?
Any update would be great its the 26 here now n still got stupid hearts the events are fun but go far too long?
Monorail,monorail monorail monorail
Must be 300 doughnuts given the price of the whale.
Was waiting for you to write something. We all know you’re another monrail enthusuiast, One of us… google goo…
So hey guys…where’s the V Day removal update? Not today?
Looks like nothing today. EA is enjoying playing head games with us 😉
Well, thanks a lot, EA! Arrrgggghhhh! ::shakes fist::
Count me in on the Monorail! Would be an Awesome Sauce Addition!!!
Such a great episode. Thanks for that nostalgia trip, Wookiee.
Excellent post about a jewel of an episode. For me, it’s second only to Homer at the Bat, and I’ll admit that I’m heavily influenced by the baseball stars of my childhood. I’m now going to spend the rest of the afternoon singing the Simpsons version of “Talkin Baseball” in my head.
Here is a question for all of you “fellow pro-tappers”
HOW MANY DOUGHNUTS WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO PAY FOR MONORAIL?
Just to be curious.
Let`s just say that:
– it would come with 4h, 10h, 24h tasks.
– would have nice animation
– does not include a character.
– adds up 5% to overall bonus.
Just a “Gallup” here 😀
I like this Tapani! I’m going to make a fun little opinion poll post with this info, if you don’t mind. I’d like to see what all of the Addicts community thinks on this one! 🙂
Omg…you guys are gonna make me dust off the ole Simpson’s collection…season 4, huh…got it…let’s see what all the hubbub is about…
PS: My son got around 20some new neighbors lastnight thanks to your website!!!…he was/is thrilled but still needs the heartpond…Thanks everyone and special thanks to a super-special Peach out there!!!
Yes, yes, oh my god yes, it would be so cool to have a monorail, though if it were to ever arrive in game, realistically I think we’d be more likely to get Linley and Cobb over Nimoy (but it would make my day to have Spock in the game). As suggested in a previous comment, I can see it being implemented in a similar way to SP, maybe as a summer thing to keep us occupied?
I’m generally just thrilled to have anything from the earlier series in the game, takes me back to my “youth”… 😉
C’mon monorail!
Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!
::crosses fingers::
The monorail would be a excellent addition. Just *PLEASE* don’t let it be a premium/donut item. I’m just relying on donuts gained without real cash, so I don’t have a lot available to consume.
…. yeah, bad pun, I know.
At our wedding reception, right before the wedding party entered, my brothers and I huddled around and started chanting “Monorail. Monorail. Monorail. Monorail.” It was the first time my wife considered divorce. Thankfully we’re still together!
There’s no if’s or “one of’s” in my mind, this IS the Best. Episode. Ever. You could watch this episode without seeing any others and understand every character and enjoy every joke.
New player here…when I got this game a little over a month ago (very tail end of the xmas update) and saw the escalator to nowhere, my first thought was “OMG if they have this, they must have the monorail, right?!?” I found this site and figured out that no, no monorails just yet. :'( If my interest in the game holds long enough for me to afford it, I’m so getting the escalator to nowhere. I’m not sure that I’ll buy donuts for the monorail if that’s how one gets it, but I would consider it which is saying a lot.
Monoraaaaail (what’s it called?), monoraaaaaaaail (say it again!), monoraaaaaaaaaaaaaail! Mono-d’oh!
AHEM!
“Simpson, Homer Simpson, He’s the greatest *GUY* in history! From the, town of Springfield, he’s about to hit a chestnut tree.”
Thought you where a Simpsons fan?
Aw looks like Wookiee forgot a word. It happens sometimes 🙂 He’s definitely got it right in his Homer Simpson post from a few months back. Thanks for letting us know I added the word back into the post 🙂
It would be perfect if it worked like the Squidport. Build the monorail station, tap on the station to build a new section of track every few hours, and then you could design the path/route around town any way you like.
That’s a great idea! As long as it doesn’t take as long (or cost as much) as Squidport! So many people were upset with that when it first came out…although the “tile glitch” does help. 🙂
This one ranks in my top three all time favorite episodes along with ‘Deep Space Homer’ and ‘Simpson Tide’
It will probably be the already broken down monorail we get, that way they only need to build a portion of the monorail on top of the monorail station, and hopefully we get a “Voiced” Leonard Nimoy, and the guy who sold it to Springfield too.
Monorail would b great but I don’t see how it could work in the game. In saying that I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Definitely one of the best episodes. My number 1 episode changes from time to time, and this has occupied the number 1 slot. My current number 1 is the baseball episode with Mike Scocia, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, Steve Sax, Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs, Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey Jr, and Darryl Strawberry.
Ooo that’s my favorite too Safi! I giggle every time I watch it! 🙂
Other than Homer At The Bat and Marge Vs The Monorail, episodes that have been at the top of my list at number 1 at one point or another include:
Cape Feare
You Only Move Twice
Bart Gets Famous
Last Exit To Springfield
Homer’s Phobia
22 Short Films About Springfield
Homer The Great
Lost Our Lisa
Amongst recent episodes (post Y2K), there have been several that I liked. Though none has reach the number 1 spot like the aforementioned 10, here are some that have cracked my Top 10 at one time or another:
The Debarted
Mypods And Broomsticks
24 Minutes
The Ned-liest Catch
Father, Son, And The Holy Guest Star
Dial N For Nerder
Waverely Hills 9-0-2-1-D’oh
Thats my pick for all time best.
Daryl….. Daryl….. Daryl. Haha
I was a gigantic Daryl Strawberry fan in my younger days. Still have his rookie card somewhere. Seeing him on the show only cemented his coolness for me. Unfortunately, fans know the next chapter in his life. Still a great episode though.
That is another radical episode. The only episode which ever topped the monorail for me was Stark Raving Dad when I was young and that had more to do with a certain Michael Jackson obsession I had as a youngin’.