A Yao-Simpsons story revisited
July 22nd, 2007by John
With the premiere of The Simpsons movie in the U.S. coming up next Friday, this article from today’s San Jose Mercury News recounts how many athletes over the years have done cameos on the show.
One of those athletes was Yao Ming three years ago during the episode that aired after the Super Bowl. Below is the most relevant excerpt from the article, including my highlighting some humorous dialog from the show involving Yao (remember it?):
Athletes do it not for the cash, but for the cachet. Bill Sanders, the marketing representative for Yao Ming, pursued a cameo soon after his client arrived in the NBA from China.
Back then, U.S. fans knew Yao mostly as a 7-foot-6 novelty – a stoic stick figure from a foreign land. Sanders wanted to show America that Yao was hilarious once you got to know him.
“There are a handful of things a person of celebrity can do to define themselves as an icon,” Sanders said. “There are the traditional ways, like doing the Leno and Letterman shows or getting on the cover of Rolling Stone.
“But in modern-day pop culture, `The Simpsons’ is it.”
Yao wound up on the same show as (Michelle) Kwan, (LeBron) James, (Tom) Brady and the Raiders’ Warren Sapp. The episode parodied his adjustment to the language barrier: He suddenly couldn’t speak English when Marge asked him to do the dishes.
Lisa: “Wait a second, I read that you speak excellent English.”
Yao: “Shut up, kid. I have a good thing going here.”
Sanders was squeamish upon seeing the script for the first time, but Yao laughed and gave it the green light. His episode aired after another bit of Americana, the Super Bowl, making for an ideal marketing mission.
“It was huge, huge – everything we expected and more,” Sanders said of the episode. “The Simpsons gets great ratings, but, more than that, the people who watch it are influencers. They are the ones who help decide what’s cool.”
Yao, meanwhile, remains a tad baffled, especially since the show is banned from prime time in China. The basketball star said he still has no feel for the popularity of “The Simpsons” – aside from what happens every time his episode is rerun. “My friends call me and say, `Was that really you?’ ” Yao said.