Episode: Season 18, "Kill Gill Vols. 1 & 2" Who? Why? Elvis Stojko is a Canadian world champion figure skater, winner of two Olympic silver medals, and probably not known to many outside of his home country, or figure skating fans. He retired from the sport the same year this episode aired, and the decision to include him of all people as a guest star is absolutely baffling. When Michelle Kwan turned up on the show, she was a little more relevant. Despite the family taking in "Krusty's Kristmas on Ice" (a Christmas show put on by a Jewish clown), you likely would have had to explain to a few viewers just who the hell Stojko was. From context, sure, he's a figure skater - but why would we care? He was well past relevancy at that point. If you think we're being a little hard on Stojko, well, maybe we are. Season 18 as a whole was one of the worst for guest stars who were a little past their expiry date, completely irrelevant, or simply misused. Others included pseudo-celebrity and TV personality Dr. Phil, rapper Ludacris (rappers never really fare well on The Simpsons), Ted Nugent, Metallica, Fran Drescher, Ronaldo, James Patterson (writer of the Alex Cross series who has frequently worked with ghost writers), etc.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
