THE FRIDAY HALL OF FAMERS 04/17/2020 - BILL. JUST... BILL

Wow.  Really running late on this Friday Hall of Famer! My excuse is CBS All Access.  I got the free trial and then just binged my way through ‘Picard’, ‘The Twilight Zone’, and ‘The Good Fight’.

So let’s get started! For this week of the April team of Hall of Famers, we’re looking at something completely different….

JUST A BILL

From Wikipedia:
"I'm Just a Bill" is a 1976 ‘Schoolhouse Rock!’ segment, featuring a song of the same title written by Dave Frishberg. The segment debuted as part of "America Rock", the third season of the Schoolhouse Rock! series.

In one of the commercials made by the now-defunct retail store Mervyn's as part of its renowned "Open, Open, Open" campaign, a woman and the Bill are waiting outside at one of the store's locations. An employee walks to the front to open the automatic door, but opens a smaller version of it for the Bill to enter, much to the woman's chagrin. At the close of this commercial, the woman wakes up as if it is a dream, while her child watches the "I'm Just a Bill" video on the TV screen.

The sketch was parodied in The Simpsons episode "The Day the Violence Died", in which Krusty the Clown presents "I'm an Amendment to Be", depicting a Constitutional amendment's attempt to ban flag burning.

The sketch was later briefly parodied in another Fox produced animated series, 'Family Guy'. In the episode, "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington", an anthropomorphic legal bill sings on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building until he is stabbed and stuffed into a garbage bag by a sanitation engineer. Jack Sheldon provided the voice of the amendment in both parodies.

At the end of another ‘Schoolhouse Rock!’ song, Tyrannosaurus Debt (Money Rock), the Bill runs off after the tour guide says, "Feeding time is ALL the time!" This made Bill one of the only characters to appear on more than one of the main Schoolhouse Rock! cartoons. (Mr. Morton & Interplanet Janet appeared in 2 direct-to-video episodes.)

The Board of Education character from the Drawn Together episode "Foxy vs. the Board of Education" is a parody of the Bill.

The video was referenced in Johnny Bravo: when Johnny walks past the Congress Building, he sees a bill sitting on the steps, just like the video. However, when they announce that the bill will not make it to the White House, a man comes out and destroys the bill with a flamethrower.

The Bill appears in the Robot Chicken episode "Robot Fight Accident", with a few other Schoolhouse Rock! characters (voiced by Seth Green).

Stephen Colbert parodied the opening of the song in a segment on ‘The Late Show’ on March 27, 2017 in response to the withdrawal of the American Healthcare Act in the US House of Representatives the prior week.

There are plenty of anthropomorphic bills out there, beginning in that original ‘Schoolhouse Rock!’ segment.  Each of them are different, but I think there is one which keeps getting reincarnated and comes back as another bill.  (That would be those bills which employ the voice of Jack Sheldon.  But I’m including several others as well.)

Or it could be like the regenerations of the Time Lords and they keep coming back with new personality quirks and new looks and new voices.  Meh.  It’s the Tooniverse; anything goes.

Here are the actual appearances of Bill in the Tooniverse:

First up, the original:

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK!
I’M JUST A BILL

And its sequel....

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK1!
TYRANNOSAURUS DEBT

THE SIMPSONS

FAMILY GUY

JOHNNY BRAVO

This is a compilation of the Mervyn’s “Open Open Open” commercials.  Bill is featured in the last one  and it sounded a bit like Jack Sheldon.  (For my crossover friend Matt, there’s also a blipvert in there which might be of special interest to him.)

And now for the others….

THE DAILY SHOW

THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT

LATE WEEK TONIGHT with JOHN OLIVER

A political action group also used the concept for their own ends…..

TAKE PART

Bill also exists in Skitlandia, albeit with alterations to his appearance….

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

Not every rolled-up piece of anthropomorphic paper is a bill, let alone Bill….

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE

It always seems Bill gets killed.  A lot.  But as was established in the clip with Stephen Colbert, he always comes back because there are always copies.  So he is in a way, immortal.

At any rate, Bill, welcome!  You may be just a bill, but now you’re also a member of the TVXHOF!  You won't have to languish on our doorstep!