Mike Reiss talked about a never produced sequel to the Michael Jackson episode "Stark Raving Dad" on the episode's commentary for the DVD. James L. Brooks wanted the character of Leon Kompowsky to return - this time believing he was Prince. The idea was developed by Conan O'Brien and the writers and after some confusion over the scripts (Prince's chauffeur reportedly did a version of a script and gave it to the singer, whose people sent it back with notes), Prince hated the actual script in the end and the episode fell through. The use of Kompowsky to do this is fatally flawed. The people of Springfield may be stupid, but they aren't stupid enough to fall for the same thing twice. The clever thing to do would be to flip the premise of "Stark Raving Dad": the real Prince comes and gets the whole town of Springfield to loosen up, become more flamboyant and sexually open. The only person who doesn't believe it is him is Homer, who's been fooled by a crazy singer before. Prince tries to win Homer round and is ultimately unsuccessful, so he leaves Springfield to go to Shelbyville - somewhere he will be universally loved. The townsfolk, not for the first time, are mad at Homer for making the singer leave. The idea has huge potential and some of the episodes featuring celebrities have gone on to huge acclaim. "Stark Raving Dad" was a huge success and is widely accepted as one of the best episodes. It is understandable that the writers and producers would want to do an episode of a similar ilk, but ultimately the draft scripts and Prince's opinion of it made the episode an no-go. What do you think to these episode pitches: do you think they could have been successful episodes? What could have been done with them? Leave your thoughts and ideas below. If you like this article, please follow me on Twitter @glen_naylor.
31 year old father of one with a background in sport. Still a child at heart, which is probably why I like wrestling, TV and films so much. If you like what you read, please follow me on Twitter: @glen_naylor
