In My Footsteps: A Gen-X Nostalgia Podcast

Episode 132: The Love Episode. I Love The Simpsons; Favorite Love Songs; Helen Keller's Love of Cape Cod; Worst Date Story(2-14-2024)

• Christopher Setterlund • Season 1 • Episode 132

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Happy Valentine's Day! Love is in the air on Episode 132 of the podcast.
Helen Keller was an icon of the 20th century and a true testament to the will of the human spirit due to her achievements despite being rendered both bling and deaf at an early age. One of the loves of her life was the many trips that she made to Cape Cod during her childhood through early adulthood. We will look at her connection to The Cape.
I love The Simpsons. At its peak it was arguably the best show ever made, at least in the conversation. For more than three decades it has entertained millions. This week we go way Back In the Day to try to shine a little light on why the show has been successful and of course share some funny memories of the show.
Those celebrating Valentine's Day need their own romantic playlist of music. I will share some of my own picks for you as we look at my Top 5 love songs.
There is of course a new This Week In History and Time Capsule centered around the first ever news brief sent via the telephone. What does it have to do with love? Who knows.
Also there may or may not be a story told of someone's worst first date, get ready!
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Speaker 03:

Hello world, and welcome to the In My Footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund, coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 132. Happy Valentine's Day. When this show goes live, it is February the 14th. This is the Valentine's Day, the love episode of the podcast. I will do my best not to get overly sappy, but I can't promise you anything. But love is in the air, and we're going to kick off the show with a little bit of love and history as we talk about the life of the legend, the icon of the 20th century that was Helen Keller and her connection to and love of Cape Cod. We're going to go way, way back in the day to a segment that has been however many episodes, 132 episodes in the making. How much I love the TV show The Simpsons. I'll try to stay on track as best I can. There's going to be a brand new top five. These are my top five favorite love songs of all time. Get ready to make yourself a playlist. And there'll be a brand new This Week in History and Time Capsule centered around the very first news brief ever to be sent by telephone. I don't know what that has to do with love, but we'll find a way. All of that coming up right now on episode 132 of the In My Footsteps podcast. Happy Valentine's Day to all who celebrate. When this show goes live, like I said, it's February the 14th. Boy, what a coincidence. It was only last week when I was recording the show that I realized that Valentine's Day was when the next episode would go live. So I'm trying to add in as much love as I can to this show. I'd like to start off by showing my love, giving my thanks to my Patreon subscribers, Leo, Laurie, Mary Lou, and Ashley. If you want to become a Patreon subscriber, there's a link in the description of the podcast. You get bonus episodes of the podcast that drop on the first of the month. Early access to the main podcast show, segments from the show. Early access to YouTube videos that I post. So go and check that out if it interests you. Speaking of the bonus episodes of the podcast... I resurrected my blog that is the basis of those podcasts. So I essentially review the initial impressions blog that I wrote from about 2010 to 2012. It's just random foolishness and insanity from my daily life. And I enjoy talking about it so much on those podcasts. So it was either make those podcasts public for everyone, which then defeats the purpose of Patreon, or resurrect the blog so everyone can read the foolishness that still goes on in my life. So Initial Impressions version 2.0 is now live. There's a link to that in the description of the podcast as well. Before we get started with some real love, that being Helen Keller and her connection to Cape Cod, which is an awesome, fascinating story, I couldn't kick off the Valentine's Day episode without sharing one of the worst, most embarrassing date stories ever to kind of get some laughs for you. To protect myself, I'm going to keep this as general and vague as possible, so no dates, no names. I had gone through a terrible breakup, really traumatic, awful. I won't get too much into that. But a few months later, I said, you know, it's time to get back on the horse like an idiot. So let's get back out there and, you know, find someone to take on a date. I messaged someone on a dating site. We set up a date at a restaurant slash bar that I really liked. And the reason I really liked it was because that's where I used to go a lot with this ex-girlfriend. You can see where this is going. I met with this girl. We sat at the bar just like I used to with this other girl. I was definitely not ready for that. I should have chosen another place. Good lord. I would say by the time I had finished downing my second straight vodka martini within 25 minutes that the date wasn't going well. And this was all on me, at least as far as I can remember. She was very nice, and I could only imagine her watching this guy she's on a first date with just suck down booze. At least I didn't cry and mention the ex or that we used to go to this bar. Needless to say, when we walked together out the front door, she basically sprinted to her car to take off. There was no, I'll talk to you some other time. It was just, like the roadrunner leaving the coyote in the dust. Anyway, let's kick off the show with a great segment showcasing the power of perseverance and the impact and importance of Cape Cod, my home, as we look at the life and legacy of Helen Keller and her connection to Cape Cod, right now on episode 132 of the In My Footsteps podcast. In life, most people have to deal with some sort of adversity. Only a rare few have a path uninterrupted by tough times. Now imagine being dealt several unimaginable tragedies. How would you react? Most would not be blamed for throwing their hands up in the air and giving up. Young Helen Keller was robbed of her sight and hearing as a young child. Though incredibly difficult to comprehend to those with all five senses, Helen not only navigated those rough waters, but thrived in life. Helen Keller became a living miracle and an icon of perseverance. The journey from not being able to see or hear the world to writing 12 books was long and arduous. Some of that journey took place on Cape Cod in the town of Brewster. This is a story of Helen Keller and her time spent on the Sandy Peninsula. Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was born a typical healthy baby. In the months leading up to her second birthday, Helen was struck with an illness. It is uncertain if it was scarlet fever, meningitis, or something else, but the results were catastrophic. Barely a toddler, Helen was rendered both blind and deaf. Early childhood was tough for Helen. She had no formal education and was prone to fits of anger due to not being able to communicate. Without sight or hearing, she also did not speak. Therefore, Helen developed home signs to convey her needs and wants. and simply needed a teacher to be able to help her reach her potential. Helen's mother, Catherine, searched for help from experts, including famed telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell. Ultimately, Catherine was referred to a teacher named Ann Sullivan. She ended up being the most important person Helen Keller would ever meet. On March 3rd, 1887, Sullivan first met Helen at her home in Alabama. it seemed to be a match made in heaven. Sullivan was a graduate of Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. She was also nearly blind herself. This gave Sullivan a great deal of empathy toward what Helen was coping with. However, their relationship started rocky. During the first few weeks of their relationship, Helen kicked, bit, and pinched Sullivan, even knocking one of the teacher's teeth out. She could have easily given up on Helen, but she didn't. Through patience and consistency, Ann Sullivan began to earn Helen's trust. Sullivan taught Helen the alphabet by drawing letters on Helen's palm. This included giving Helen a doll and spelling D-O-L-L into her hand. Within a few weeks, she had begun to understand. The key turning point was when Sullivan spelled W-A-T-E-R while also pumping water over Helen's hand. From there, it was off to the races. Helen wanted to learn as many words as possible. A year was spent working at Helen's home in Alabama. In May 1888, Sullivan brought Helen to Perkins School for the Blind. This was where Keller learned to read Braille and also type with a specially made typewriter. Helen learned 1,500 words within a year thanks to the help of Ann Sullivan and the Perkins School. Her miraculous achievements began to be chronicled in newspapers nationwide. It was in 1888, while studying at Perkins, that Helen Keller's connection to Cape Cod came to be. During her own studies at the Perkins School, Ann Sullivan met Brewster, Massachusetts resident Sophia Crocker Hopkins. Hopkins had gotten a job as a housemother at Perkins after the tragic death of her daughter Florence in 1883. A sea captain's widow, Sophia brought Sullivan home with her to Brewster during the school's summer break to stay at her home located at 1491 Main Street. Sullivan fell in love with the Cape and wanted to share its majesty with young Helen. In July of 1888, Sullivan brought eight-year-old Helen down to Cape Cod for the first time. The pair stayed with Sophia at her boarding house in Brewster. It was during this initial visit that Helen first ventured to the sea. She took a series of sandy paths along with Anne to the area of present-day Breakwater Beach. In her first autobiography, The Story of My Life, written in 1903, Helen wrote that her first encounter with the ocean was a mixed bag. She was enraptured by the smell of the salty air and fascinated by the sheer enormity of the ocean. Helen admitted that she could sense how big it was. The eight-year-old jumped into the water, full of exuberance. It was then that her foot struck a rock and plunged her underwater. Though she was never in danger, the experience did make her timid around the mighty ocean. Fortunately, by the end of her time on Cape Cod that summer, Helen was firmly in love with the ocean again. She even wrote in her autobiography a story of Anne bringing her a horseshoe crab and her amazement at it. It was during this first visit to Cape Cod that a famous photo was taken. A local photographer named Cornelius Chenery snapped a brilliant photo of young Helen sitting in a chair and cradling a doll that had been given to her by Sophia Crocker Hopkins. Kneeling beside the child is Anne Sullivan, looking on with what can only be described as pride. Throughout their time together, Anne would take up that role of beaming with pride at Helen's achievements from the background. The first trip to Cape Cod was such a joy that Sullivan brought Helen back in May 1890 for a week's stay. Again, they stayed with Sophia on Main Street in Brewster. The local newspapers heaped praise on Keller upon her return. At that point, they remarked that her vocabulary was north of 3,000 words. She could also recognize people she knew by their scent or even the clothes they wore. The most spectacular news relayed in the article was Helen learning to speak herself. The incredible achievement was learned first by Helen placing her hands on Anne's throat and lips. Sullivan would speak, and Helen would try to mimic the words. Not only did she speak, but she did an interview. It was here that Helen spoke to a stranger for the first time in her life. In time, Helen would also be able to hear music as well. The next time Helen Keller visited Cape Cod was in July 1894. She and Ann Sullivan stayed with Sophia for much of the summer. However, by this point, 14-year-old Helen was somewhat of a national celebrity due to her incredible achievements despite tremendous adversity. This could not have been made more evident than when a reception was held in her honor. It was no ordinary reception. This was a party thrown by First Lady Frances Cleveland, wife of then-president Grover Cleveland, at their summer White House, known as Gray Gables, located in Bourne. Over her lifetime, Helen Keller went on to meet every United States president from Cleveland to John F. Kennedy. Anne and Helen continued to visit Sophia in Brewster, including in 1896 and 1897. In August 1903, Helen brought her mother Catherine with her to visit Sophia in Brewster. This was due to the fact that in 1901, Ann Sullivan suffered a major stroke that had left her completely blind and she was still recovering. 1904 saw Helen graduate from Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her friend Mark Twain had introduced Helen to the Standard Oil magnate Henry H. Rogers. He, along with his wife Abby, had paid for Helen's education. She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. In the fall of 1904, Helen and Anne purchased a house in Rentham, Massachusetts. Located only an hour or so from Brewster, meant that Sophia could visit her friends there during the winter. Not long after buying the house, Anne Sullivan married John A. Macy. He was a Harvard instructor and literary critic who had helped Helen in getting her works published. Macy moved in with Anne and Helen in Rentham. He even joined them in staying at the then-new Ayano House Hotel on Main Street in Hyannis in September 1908. However, the marriage would soon begin to fall apart. That said, the couple would never officially divorce. Ann Sullivan's health began to trend downward. Helen Keller's celebrity and drive for social causes, including disability rights and woman suffrage, only grew. This meant that visits to Cape Cod ended after the final trip in 1908. Helen remained in the spotlight on the Cape, though, just in the form of numerous newspaper articles written about her amazing achievements. Sadly, Ann Sullivan passed away on October 15th, 1936 at the age of 70. She and Helen had been inseparable for 50 years and Helen was there with her at the end. By the time of her own death on June 1st, 1968 at the age of 87, Helen Keller was a legend. Helen Keller became a 20th century icon with 12 books published and numerous articles. She championed social causes, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was elected to the National Women's Hall of Fame. All of this was done without the ability to see or hear the world around her. Helen Keller's courage, intelligence, and unyielding determination are the types of things that seem impossible. Over a period of 20 years, Helen Keller made frequent visits to Cape Cod. She walked to the ocean and smelled the salty air. She soaked up the summer sun, touched the grass, and smelled the flowers. Cape Cod became a beloved part of her life, much like it has for so many that have lived or visited there. The house Helen Keller stayed in numerous times over the years with Ann Sullivan still stands at 1491 Main Street in Brewster. Several artifacts from Helen's time on Cape Cod can be viewed at the Brewster Historical Society at 739 Lower Road in Brewster. And for those interested, I will link to all of that in the description of the podcast if you're curious about Helen Keller and her connection to Cape Cod and her love for Cape Cod.

Unknown:

Music

Speaker 03:

This week in history, we are going back 147 years ago to February 12th, 1877, and the very first news brief ever to be sent via telephone. In the 2020s, with 24-hour news cycles, people being able to share news briefs via email, text... It's hard to remember or imagine a day when news wasn't readily at your fingertips. With the invention of the telegraph in 1837 and its increasing popularity through the decades after, news got a little bit easier, where you'd probably have stories that had happened a day, two days, three days before, rather than earlier where the news would be a week before or more. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. So it didn't take that long for it to become a part of news. And interestingly, this first news brief sent via telephone happened in Massachusetts from Salem to Boston for the Boston Daily Globe. It happened on February 12th, 1877 at 1055 p.m. And the message was sent from Salem via Alexander Graham Bell himself. to talk about the telephone. It had to do with a lecture at the Essex Institute where 500 people were and Alexander Graham Bell was talking about the telephone, the interest of it in the scientific world. So it was monumental in that it was the first news brief via telephone and monumental because it was talking about the telephone that is one of the most important inventions maybe ever for streamlining communication. And after Alexander Graham Bell got done with his lecture in Salem, on the Boston end, someone played an organ, and they played Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot and Yankee Doodle. Now, I think Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot is Auld Lang Syne, but in this newspaper article from 1877, that's what they called it. People were amazed at the sound quality coming through the telephone receiver, saying it could be like they were in the next room. You could hear singing, you could hear coughing, you could hear questions being asked in Salem. Even though this was an unbridled success, an interesting note is that the lines that were used for the telephone signal actually belonged to the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company. Which I guess makes sense that telegraph, telephone, they could be on the same wires. And it went from telephone communication between Salem and Boston, which was 18 miles, to then further and further distances. To the point that today, long distance calls, I don't even know if those are a thing anymore, really. You remember even 20 years ago, you'd have to make phone calls later at night because long distance rates were lower. So it was a dawning of a whole new age, not just for news, but for the world in general. And for all of the bad that's out there today with communication, with social media, it is a huge advantage to have breaking news at your fingertips almost as soon as it's happening in real time. And that first ever news brief sent via telephone, a lecture by Alexander Graham Bell in Salem to Boston, Massachusetts, happened 147 years ago this week in history. And now it's time for a brand new time capsule. We're not going back quite as far as that first news brief, but we're going back 45 years ago today, Valentine's Day, 1979. Let's see what was going on on the most romantic day of the year in pop culture. The number one song was Do You Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart. This was off of his album Blondes Have More Fun. And it captured the disco era where a lot of mainstream pop rock artists dabbled a little bit into disco music. I mean, even Pink Floyd in 1979, Another Brick in the Wall, has a definite disco beat to it. The song went to number one for four weeks, and it's one of four number one songs that Rod Stewart has had in his career. The number one movie was Superman, and you could get into the theater with an average ticket price of $2.34. This is the original Superman the movie song. Christopher Reeve as Superman, Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor. This was a huge part of my childhood because Superman and part two and three, and well, not much part four, but the three were good, even with Richard Pryor. This movie made just over $300 million on a budget of $55 million. When adjusted for inflation to 2024, its box office is just over $1.4 billion. So it was huge. And it's 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. So if you haven't seen this, I mean, I highly recommend it. If you like any of the Marvel movies, the DC movies that are out today, check out the original Superman. The number one TV show was Mork and Mindy. This was the launching vehicle for Robin Williams' The Legend of Comedy as Mork from Ork the Alien. He lands in an egg outside of the home of young journalism graduate Mindy, played by Pam Dauber. If you haven't seen Mork and Mindy, watch it for The Antics of Robin Williams. You could see even here that he was meant to be one of the greatest comedians ever. The show lasted for four seasons and 95 total episodes from 1978 to 1982, and it is actually one of the spinoffs from Happy Days. And if you were around back then, Valentine's Day 1979, you're looking for some kind of sweet gift to get. Well, have you heard of the Hummel figurines? In that vein, there was the Hummel plates made by the company called Schmid. And they had Raggedy Ann and Andy Valentine's Day 1979 plates. You can find them now on eBay, used.com. I couldn't find a price for them back then, but even now used, it's $30. Raggedy Ann and Andy always remind me of my childhood, remind me of my mother. So it was neat to see these plates. Do any of you out there have any Hummel plates, Raggedy Ann and Andy plates, or the Hummel figurines? Do you love them if you have them? Because this segment, this week in history wasn't really about love. So I have to wedge it in there somehow to make this whole show about it. But enough of that. That wraps up a brand new time capsule, a brand new This Week in History. Now we'll dive headlong into the love as we look at my top five favorite love songs ever coming up right now. Valentine's Day and love songs. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. One of the most no-brainer segments that I could come up with for this Valentine's Day episode of the podcast was ranking my top five favorite love songs. I think some of these you will agree with, some of these you will not agree with. I just know that's how it's going to be because it's my opinion top five. These all remind me of certain people, relationships, and they basically all give me good memories. I wouldn't put any in the top five that make me upset. I'm sure if you pause the podcast and think for a few moments, you'll think of your favorite love songs. But let's just get started with mine. And with the majority of these top five lists, there are some honorable mentions to kind of get you thinking about the top five. It fleshes out what would be a nice playlist. So, honorable mentions for my top five favorite love songs include Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers. This was off of their 1965 album Just Once in My Life. There is Just The Way You Are. This is off of his 1977 album, The Stranger. There is Mirrors by Justin Timberlake. This is off of his 2013 album, The 2020 Experience. Something by The Beatles off of their 1969 album, Abbey Road. And Kiss of Life by Sade. off of their 1992 album Love Deluxe. So those are the honorable mentions, and I've always said that my taste in music kind of runs the gamut from everything you could think of, and those honorable mentions kind of show it. But let's get into the actual top five. Let's get the romance and love going, starting with number one, Love Song. Now, this was originally written by The Cure, I'm choosing the cover version by 311. It came out in 2004 and was on the soundtrack to the 51st Dates movie. I chose this because it reminds me of a certain person. And this person, I would pretty much say, was the mountain peak as far as my relationships go in my life. I met her and knew her when this song was out. We were actually... sitting in the lobby of a restaurant waiting for our table and I can still vividly remember it from 2004 where she rested her head on my shoulder and this song was playing in the background and there you go this song is imprinted in my mind forever Like I said, thus far, this person that this song reminds me of has been my peak as far as romance and relationships go. Hopefully, there'll be a higher peak, but as of right now, she is. Number two is All My Life by Casey and JoJo, part of the R&B group Jodeci, for those that remember the early 90s. This song was off of their 1998 album, Love Always. This is a hugely popular wedding song, nice slow dance song, all about finally finding that certain special someone that you've been looking for forever and just hoping that they feel for you what you feel for them. For me, this song is less reminding me of a certain someone and more of that wishful thinking of finding someone that this song could then be relevant to. But I guarantee you, there's at least a few of you out there that have played this song at your wedding. Number three is Woman by John Lennon. This was off of his 1980 album Double Fantasy. It's kind of a makeup song after a fight, apologizing for something that he had done, realizing how important the relationship was to him. For me, when I was in my poetry slash songwriting days, this was the love song I wish I could write. And of course, with this being my picks for the top five, you're probably thinking John Lennon's got a few other better love songs, maybe. I mean, he's got two, one named Love and one named Oh My Love. But there's something just gentle and free and reassuring kind of about this, where even if you screw up in a relationship, if you mean it and you try, you can make up. Because some people, me included, have that fear of needing to be perfect, that you fear making mistakes. So a good makeup song is something good to hear. Number four is Patience by Guns N' Roses. You could also choose the cover version by Chris Cornell, but the Guns N' Roses version was off of their 1988 EP Lies. I think I bought the cassette just for this song and then bought the CD again for it. For Guns N' Roses, it was a departure, an acoustic song. It starts with Axl Rose whistling. And it's about being in a relationship but being away from the person and having nothing you can do but just wait and wait for them. When I was in middle school, this song would make me think of this girl that she used to come down with her family during the summer. They had a house diagonally across the street from me. But I'd only see her for a few days, a few weekends in the summer. So this song would be what I would think of during the winter and spring. At the time, it seemed very appropriate. And maybe if we had ended up like Jenny and Forrest Gump, like my mother wanted, it would be even more appropriate. But it's still a great song. And yes, I do think to the fact that my mother said she wanted me and this girl to be like Jenny and Forrest Gump. And I'm like, wait, Forrest? Wasn't he kind of, you know, like, what did you think of me? And finally, number five on the list of my top five favorite love songs. is As by Stevie Wonder. This was off of his 1976 album, Songs in the Key of Life. For me, this is the definitive Stevie Wonder love song, but you may think of others. I Just Called to Say I Love You, Overjoyed, Ribbon in the Sky, Isn't She Lovely. I mean, there's tons. Knocks Me Off My Feet, that's a lesser known one. This one makes me think less of a romantic relationship and more of family. And maybe that's just me. Where you think for the most part, no matter what happens, you'll always be there for your family. And yeah, there's times when the fires get colder and you drift a little bit away. But I know the majority of people in my family that if they needed me, I'd be there. Majority. And this is a beautiful song. It's a long song. It's like seven minutes. It gets rolling and you just want it to keep going forever. Because I don't want to risk copyright infringement on the podcast, when I make this segment into a video for YouTube, I will put links to all of these songs in the description so you can listen to them if you're not sure of them. But that wraps up my top five favorite love songs. How many of these do you agree with? How many of these are you like, wait, what? Because for me, I look at them, I'm like, no, everyone should like all these songs. But I hope those of you that are celebrating Valentine's Day have your own love song playlist ready on cue on Spotify. Because love is love. Whatever you like, you like. I love The Simpsons. Okay, segment's over. Just kidding. Typically for my podcasts, I have notes. I don't have it really scripted, but I have notes to try to keep me on track. But for this back in the day segment, as I talk about The Simpsons, which I consider at its peak to be the best show ever made. Your opinions may vary, but that's mine. You can tell I said at its peak. So there's the caveat. But I know this show so well that I didn't need any notes. This is totally winging it, which is fun. As of the recording of this podcast, you know, February of 2024, The Simpsons is still on the air. It is currently on its 35th season with 760 episodes that have aired. I honestly have not watched many, if any, episodes of The Simpsons over the last 10 seasons, but obviously it must still be doing well enough if Fox keeps renewing it. The animated show, The Simpsons, proper, debuted in December 1989. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, I had just started 6th grade. And in 2021, I had my 25th high school reunion. And The Simpsons has been through all of that. For those of you that might not have much knowledge of The Simpsons show, it revolves around the titular Simpson family. Homer, the father, Marge, the mother, and the three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. They live in the town of Springfield, which... Changes where it is in the United States based on the episodes. It's meant to be that since Springfield could be in almost any state, and most states do. I mean, Massachusetts has one. Homer works at the nuclear power plant. And it's the wacky adventures of this yellow-colored family. I remember the first season being more of a trial run. For those that don't know, the show started as an animated short on the Tracy Allman show. The show ran for four seasons, starting in April 1987. So if you want to go back that far, think about that, 37 years of The Simpsons. In the beginning, Bart, the 10-year-old son, became a cultural phenomenon. He had the spiky hair and the catchphrases that kids in all schools would say, eat my shorts, don't have a cow. I mean, I had a Bart Simpson t-shirt in probably 7th grade. It might have been a don't have a cow man shirt. And Bart was just the coolest. He would always get in trouble, the prank phone calls to Moe's Tavern, where he would give some kind of funny name that Moe would then say out loud and then realize that it was an insult.

Speaker 01:

Ivana Tinko! Ivana Tinko! All right, everybody put down your glasses. Ivana Tinkle.

Speaker 02:

Hello, is Mike there? Last name, Roch. Hold on, I'll check. My crotch, my crotch. Hey, has anybody seen my crotch lately?

Speaker 03:

In the days before caller ID, that was something that kids would do. Prank phone calls. Back in episode 90 of the podcast, I did a whole segment about prank phone calls. They may or may not have been influenced by Bart Simpson calling Moe on The Simpsons Show. In the beginning, The Simpsons was a little more grounded in reality, as much as it could be. They'd have normal problems, Bart having problems in school, Homer having trouble at work because he's stupid. But as the years went on, the problems became way more wacky, and it was mostly in a good way, where the problems would be just insane. It would go from Homer trying to be a good employee at the nuclear plant to Homer going to clown college or fighting with President Bush that moved in across the street. What was great about The Simpsons, especially in the peak years through season 12 or 13, or some of you might say up until the movie came out. I mean, some of you might say it's at its peak now. But the episodes were always rewatchable. You might miss jokes that were there, things in the background you missed. Because as the episodes went on and the show had dozens, then hundreds of episodes, they really were able to flesh out the town itself and all of the characters in it. I mean, how many shows can you think of in history that have dozens and dozens of characters that are important to the show? All these ones, like Ned Flanders, or Moe Sislak, or Barney Gumbel, or Mr. Burns and Smithers, Chief Wiggum, Principal Skinner. And you know I could just keep naming them, and there are some of you out there probably naming other ones that I'm not saying right now, and that's the strength of the show. The show wasn't without its controversies at the beginning, with Bart as this prankster being revered by all these kids. The irony is, though, if you look at things that the Simpsons did, that Bart did, that's nothing in comparison to what the kids on South Park did. It's like some of Bart's worst pranks include sawing the head off of the Jebediah Springfield statue, and then Cartman's worst one is killing his enemy's parents and turning them into chili and making the kid eat it. So I guess it's a sliding scale of controversy. I have seen... Every episode of the first 12, 13, 14 seasons, dozens of times. That's really comfort food for my soul. This segment is not going to do a good job of being an all-encompassing look at The Simpsons and its importance. One thing I'm going to do in the future is a part two of this where it'll be something like the top 10 episodes ever, at least my favorites. Because if I try to sit down and write a list, it's going to be dozens easily. That's kind of the issue of not having notes for this, is my mind is just starting to wander and I'm trying not to ramble. Because I think of a favorite episode like Mr. Plow, where Homer becomes a snow plow driver.

Speaker 00:

Call Mr. Plow, that's my name, that name again is Mr. Plow.

Speaker 03:

And then his friend Barney also becomes one called the Plow King and they're in a rivalry. But then I think about when Barney gets stuck in the snowstorm up on the mountain because Homer sends him up there. And then there's this fan cam. They're filming a Bigfoot reality show. And the Bigfoot you can see is wristwatch because he's just a man in a suit. But they pan over and there's Barney reading a map. And for those that know the show, Barney's big thing is he's on and off, alcoholic, but he always burps really loud. And so the scene shows him burping and it causes an avalanche. I'll have to go watch that show when I'm done recording this. But that's the great thing. Another great thing about The Simpsons is there's great episodes, great characters, there's great moments. I could go and find various clip videos from YouTube, best of a certain season that are 10, 12 minutes, and it just makes my day. As the years went on and the show got more popular, then it became something where everybody who was anybody wanted to be a guest on the show. You went from having Dustin Hoffman as a guest star on season two, but not using his real name. and Michael Jackson being on there as a guest star on season three, but not using his real name, to then shows being based around these celebrities. I think the first one where the celebrity really became part of the show was season two when Ringo Starr was in it because Marge was a painter, but she never really followed through because she didn't get any reassurance. And she had painted a picture of Ringo back in the 70s and he finally got it. So he sent her a letter about how much he loved it. That's the episode where Marge then has to paint a portrait of Mr. Burns and she ends up painting him in the nude looking terrible, but he thinks he looks good. The Simpsons was the first show on Fox to be in the top 30 for the ratings. Married with Children was the first show that kind of brought eyes to Fox, but The Simpsons was the first one to actually make it a legit network. In its run, The Simpsons has won 34 Primetime Emmy Awards and has surpassed every scripted show for the most episodes ever. At the time when it passed the Flintstones as the longest running primetime animated TV show, that was 1997. Think about how long ago that was. For those of you that are curious, the most watched episode of The Simpsons ever was in season two, the episode Bart Gets an F. It was watched by 33.6 million people. It's interesting to me that that's the most watched ever, because if I was making my list of favorite episodes, I don't think that would be in the top 200. But The Simpsons was a cultural phenomenon at the beginning. Those of you that have watched or did watch, when did you think the perceived decline in quality began? I've seen anywhere from season 10, people think it was starting to get tired. Me, I think it had to do with the movie. After the movie came out and then the show was in HD, it just felt different. As you get into the hundreds and hundreds of episodes and you have characters that don't age, I mean, Bart's been 10 since 1989. That would make him two years younger than me. But you start to run out of topics or topics that don't contradict earlier topics. For example, in season two, they have the episode about how Homer and Marge met in high school in the early 1970s. But then you have later on in season 19, where they look back at Homer being in a grunge band in the 90s, which would mean he was either a baby or not even born when he was supposed to have met Marge in high school in the early 70s. Things like that are why I choose to watch the early seasons. Luckily, the early seasons cover so much ground. If I was to say that I think the decline in quality of The Simpsons coincides with the movie, that still gives me 18 seasons of episodes. It was always appointment viewing, and I was never disappointed. Those early seasons, there were multiple roaring laughters from me, tears, crying, laughing. I loved going to school and reciting some of the lines from the most recent episode for Friends. The Simpsons was a show that made watching cartoons cool into your teenage and older years. I mean, now in my 40s, I don't care if people think that cartoons aren't cool. But back then as a teen where you're worried so much about what people think of you, I was lucky to have The Simpsons, Beavis and Butthead, where animated shows were seen as cutting edge. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of The Simpsons. I tried to do kind of a ground level review for people that have never watched the show so they could kind of get an idea of why I loved it. And for those of you that are huge fans of it. So I tried to get some specifics in there for you. But rest assured, coming up in the not too distant future, there'll be a top 10 episodes of The Simpsons countdown episode. I have so much random knowledge from this show. If they ever did a Jeopardy show just on Simpsons trivia, I would clean up. But I think I'll go on YouTube and find some best of season clip reviews to get my fill of laughs from the Simpsons. I love that show. That'll wrap up episode 132 of the podcast. I hope you enjoyed the love that I shared today. I hope Valentine's Day is great, was great, if you're listening to this in the future. I appreciate all of you that tune into the show, that share it, that leave reviews and ratings. Because I've learned that I can say this podcast is great. I can market it. I can work hard on it. But it means more when people who listen share it. And I promote my Patreon page. or the subscriptions on Buzzsprout. But if that's not something that's feasible, becoming a paying subscriber, then sharing this and getting the word out, it means every bit as much, if not more. Next week will be episode 133 of the podcast. There'll be no love on it at all. I'm kidding. It'll be good. It just won't be quite as sappy and full of love. I know not everyone's into that. If you enjoy the podcast, if you enjoy my content, go and become a subscriber to my YouTube channel. I'm sharing videos up there. Typically, two a week I try segments from the podcast that I turn into video segments that I try to make engaging, visually appealing, to attract a broader audience over there as well. I'm getting closer to the threshold of subscribers where I could monetize that channel. So I'm really trying to get there. So if you subscribe, you're getting me towards that goal. Find me all over social media, Instagram, threads. I've got a Facebook fan page. Like I've said, I've thought about doing some kind of a group thing. But I know doing those things, it's a lot of work to add to my plate. I don't want to create a group for the podcast and then never put anything in it so that it's a waste of time collecting cobwebs. Go check out my blog, Initial Impressions 2.0 that has just started. I'm trying to do it weekly because it gives me enough time to collect random foolish stories from my life to make a full blog post. If you're interested in any of my nine books, visit my website, ChristopherSetterlin.com. It's got links to all of them. You can also visit TheLadyOfTheDunes.com. That is more specifically geared towards the Searching for the Lady of the Dunes book that I released last year, almost a year ago to the day, as well as Frank Durant's incredible documentary, which was the whole thing. That's where the book came from. The Lady of the Dunes case is 50 years ago this year, coming up in July. So I'm really pushing that, looking to do a lot of events for the book. So stay tuned. I'll let you know when more events are put in my schedule. It's been a wild ride these past three plus years. More than 130 episodes now of the podcast. Hundreds of videos on YouTube. Just constantly working on brainstorming, editing, marketing different projects. And it's a lot of hard work and at times it feels like it's a non-stop hamster wheel that I just can't get off. But luckily I enjoy all of this and I hope that comes through in the work I do. I hope that as you're listening to the podcast or watching videos on YouTube, that you can see that even if my videos aren't as spectacular as these people that have five, six million subscribers, that I'm putting all of what I have into them. I don't know if it makes them better, but I'll keep going, keep improving, keep working on my craft. Because that's all you can do is try to be better than the day before and Don't ever compare yourself, your journey, what you're doing to anyone else but you from yesterday. I say that a lot to people that I train as motivation and it's reality. There's always going to be someone stronger, faster, smarter, making more money. That doesn't matter. You just want to be better than you from the day before. Then you're improving. And as you improve yourself, you improve the world around you. A big way that you can do that is by taking care of your mental health. Comparing yourself to only yourself will make you feel better about yourself. I could easily look at the podcast that get hundreds of thousands of downloads per episode and feel bad. But all I have to do is look back at my first handful of episodes and how much this show has come from there and how much I've learned. And it makes me feel great. So take care of your mental health. Stay warm if it's cold where you are. This is the last full month of winter. Soon enough it will be spring. I mean, not on Cape Cod. Spring is basically 45 and cloudy with drizzle until the end of May. But still, it'll say spring on the calendar. And remember... In this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps. Create your own path and enjoy every moment you can on this journey we call life because you never know what tomorrow brings. Enjoy Valentine's Day. Share the love. Spread the love. 365. Not just on Valentine's Day. And I'll be back next week. This has been the In My Footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. You already knew that. And I'll talk to you all again soon.

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Christopher Setterlund

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