Steamed Hams

Steamed Hams is a meme based on the Simpsons Season 7 episode "22 Short Films About Springfield". The unedited version is the segment of Seymour Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers. People make parodies of the scene such as subverting the genre or adding a twist to the events or just making a YTP and SiIvaGunner rips outta it, and in fact, someone even made a Hit & Run level out of it! A clip of this short also appeared in the “Bart's Not Dead” couch gag celebrating 30 years of The Simpsons.

Plot

Principal Skinner invites Superintendent Chalmers to his home for a luncheon he hopes will be a memorable one. Skinner later discovers that his roast has been burnt and decides to order fast food from Krusty Burger and pass it off as his own cooking. Before he climbs out of the window, Chalmers walks in abruptly. The awkward moment is interrupted by a made-up theme song in the style of a 1980s sitcom, complete with a title card and montage. We hear the song.

Skinner tries to come up with fake explanations to cover up his lies, claiming he's stretching on the windowsill and the smoke is actually steam from the "steamed clams" he was preparing. Chalmers reluctantly buys the lie and exits the room, at which point, Skinner seizes the moment and rushes out the window and across the street. He returns with a plate of hamburgers and fries, to which Chalmers recalls Skinner saying that he was preparing steamed clams. To keep himself from getting caught, Skinner comes up with another lie and claims that he said "steamed hams" which was a regional dialect for hamburgers. Chalmers asks what region Skinner is referring to and he claims the phrase hails from upstate New York. Unfortunately for Skinner, Chalmers reveals that he grew up in Utica and had never heard the phrase before in his life. Still keen on trying to get away with it, Skinner narrows the location down to Albany instead of upstate New York in its entirety. This still isn't enough though, as Chalmers immediately notices the burgers Skinner "prepared" are exactly like the ones from Krusty Burger. Skinner continues to lie about everything, unil Chalmers finally corners him by pointing out that the, "steamed" hams were clearly grilled. Skinner excuses himself to the kitchen to think of a good explanation, only to see that he forgot to turn off the oven and the entire kitchen was on fire. When Skinner tries to rush Chalmers out of the house so he can deal with the fire, Chalmers is alarmed at the sight of a red glow coming from the kitchen, so Skinner passes it off as aurora borealis, which surprisingly enough, convinces him. The Superintendent states that although Skinner is an odd fellow, he, "steam[s] a good ham." He walks away and Agnes (offscreen) calls for help. Chalmers looks back at Skinner who is giving a thumbs up, and he deems the situation understandable. The Springfield Fire Department rushes to extinguish the fire off-screen.

Trivia

• The segment was popularised when it became an internet meme in 2017/2018, especially when people started making "Steamed Hams but.." videos.
  • The first "but..." videos are originated from We Are Number One from LazyTown, this we're being a SiIvaGunner rip.

Gallery

Skinner invites Chalmers on steamed hams