simpsons question

[Buddha B-Rex]

The most recent Sideshow Bob episode was very funny! 'Vendetta! Vendetta!' In fact, the last two or three seasons have seen something of a resurgence.

I'm an ultimate Simpsons warrior, and I think the show lives on because it's still great. It's true that the most innovative stuff is behind them, and cartoon history shows that cameos by stars are usually a sure sign of a show's impending doom (see: Scooby Doo), but it's still light-eons ahead of every other sit-com. Even the cameos work these days (White Stripes, Ludacris).

And the aforementioned 'Simpsons in Africa' episode, slagged earlier in the thread, has one of my all-time favorite bits!

The Simpsons win a safari thanks to a box of animal crackers. Lost in a boat on the Congo, Homer refers to the box of cookies.

HOMER: Well...according to animal crackers...there's no river here...(attempts to walk off the boat)....

[Maxwell's Golden Pickaxe]

At least there are some dissenting voices in the media. They're not all sucking Matt Groening's cock...

Simpsons criticism

[Maxwell's Golden Pickaxe]

but it's still light-eons ahead of every other sit-com.

No way. Family Guy pisses on it from an almighty height.

[Buddha B-Rex]

Family Guy is hilarious, but ultimately it's just The Simpsons redux (which was The Flintstones which was The Honeymooners). It came on at a time when The Simpsons were down, and FOX robosuits needed something to fill the void. The Simpsons made a comeback, and if you'll recall, Family Guy got it's ass canned. Hell, it's exactly like The Simpsons with some minor character alterations. You've got the dumb-as-a-stump dad, the vaguely hot, frustrated housewife, the ne'er do well older son, the frumpy middle daughter, and a baby that's smarter than it seems. Which show am I describing? They even yoinked some peripheral characters (Quagmire/Cleveland v. Lenny/Carl).

Don't get me wrong. Thankfully, rabid fans like you helped bring it back, and they are consistently funny. But they're still running a respectable third to The Simpsons and South Park...

Also Macfarland's voices all sound exactly the same.

[lemon]

At least there are some dissenting voices in the media. They're not all sucking Matt Groening's cock...

Simpsons criticism

This is a good article, glad to hear not all the media is happy to go along with the show and how it's become.

[Maxwell's Golden Pickaxe]

Family Guy is hilarious, but ultimately it's just The Simpsons redux (which was The Flintstones which was The Honeymooners). It came on at a time when The Simpsons were down, and FOX robosuits needed something to fill the void. The Simpsons made a comeback, and if you'll recall, Family Guy got it's ass canned. Hell, it's exactly like The Simpsons with some minor character alterations. You've got the dumb-as-a-stump dad, the vaguely hot, frustrated housewife, the ne'er do well older son, the frumpy middle daughter, and a baby that's smarter than it seems. Which show am I describing? They even yoinked some peripheral characters (Quagmire/Cleveland v. Lenny/Carl).

Yep, you're right on all counts. Except there's one crucial difference. Family Guy is funny. The Simpsons is not.

Hold on - you're saying Marge is vaguely hot.

[Buddha B-Rex]

Remember when Marge got implants and Homer legally had her name changed to Chesty Larue?

[Maxwell's Golden Pickaxe]

Remember when Marge got implants and Homer legally had her name changed to Chesty Larue?

Aha. But you're talking about her breasts though.

(I see what you mean )

[Tactful Cactus]

Yeah, that was a good article but it only confirms what we already knew.

Sideshow Bob stepping on a rake nine times

I never really understood this. Is it a reference from Cape Fear? It's probably the weirdest gag they ever did.

[toomanyhatz]

Yep, you're right on all counts. Except there's one crucial difference. Family Guy is funny. The Simpsons is not.

Wow, I've disagreed with posts here before, but never as much as I do this one.

Even at its worst, The Simpsons gives me a few laughs per episode. I laugh at Family Guy sometimes, but it's often too smarmy and in-jokey. The Stewie and Brian characters make it too, the rest are mostly there to fill in the spaces. As opposed to the Simpsons where absolutely every occasional character has a purpose.

[Sneelock]

family guy and south park amuse me. if somebody I know is watching it, I can watch it with them and have a few laughs. there are worse ways to spend your time than watching t.v. with a friend and laughing.

however, while I seldom turn it on these days, if somebody turns on 'The Simpsons' it is almost a certainty that I will gasp and wheeze with laughter to the point where someone is concerned for my health. this happens at least once per episode, lo these many years.

[Buddha B-Rex]

Yeah, that was a good article but it only confirms what we already knew.

Sideshow Bob stepping on a rake nine times

I never really understood this. Is it a reference from Cape Fear? It's probably the weirdest gag they ever did.

That episode is the Cape Fear episode, but that bit was just a stroke of luck. They needed to fill 9 seconds or something, so instead of writing a few extra lines they just had Sideshow Bob step on the rakes before cutting to commercial. The beauty of the bit is that, in the course of those nine seconds, it's funny, then it's not funny, then it's hilarious.

Even better is the very next scene. Coming back from commercial, we see the houseboat the Simpsons are hiding out in, and tied to the dock is Santa's Little Helper, happily swimming in a circle, imminently doomed to drown. I remember when that episode first aired, I had just stopped laughing from the rakes, and when they cut back to the dog I almost sharted.

[marios]

Did you guys know that if you go to the official Simpsons movie site you can create a Simpsons avatar of yourself (like the South Park ones from a few years ago, but better)? I did it but had trouble saving the damn thing. You have to save it on your hard drive and then if you want post it here using imageshack or something.

[Maxwell's Golden Pickaxe]

Yep, you're right on all counts. Except there's one crucial difference. Family Guy is funny. The Simpsons is not.

Wow, I've disagreed with posts here before, but never as much as I do this one.

Even at its worst, The Simpsons gives me a few laughs per episode. I laugh at Family Guy sometimes, but it's often too smarmy and in-jokey. The Stewie and Brian characters make it too, the rest are mostly there to fill in the spaces. As opposed to the Simpsons where absolutely every occasional character has a purpose.

I'm going to leave it after this comment, but I guess it just comes down to personal taste and preference. The reason I'm so animated at the state of The Simpsons is that I used to laugh constantly at the great episodes. Now if I see a new episode, I sit there in stoney silence, with an occasional grimace and flush of embarrassment when I see the pathetic forced attempts at humour. Family Guy, on the other hand, makes me cry with laughter quite regularly. It doesn't matter if the whole set up is copped from the Simpsons, it does what a comedy show is meant to do.

[Maxwell's Golden Pickaxe]

BTW that 'animated' pun wasn't deliberate.

[Mr. Zebra]

See I can't get on board with the Family Guy argument. And I should know, I used to use it. Season 2 of Family Guy is superb, it's very very funny, and Season 3 is slightly less good but still great. Unfortunately with Family Guy the newer episodes are even more reliant on the past than the Simpsons is, with one or two good jokes an episode, a clutch of "it's like that time when..." jokes (far more than the earlier series) and a total ignorance of plot. Obviously a chunk of writers made the switch to American Dad which, while starting off badly (and totally missing the mark with that fish and that FUCKING ALIEN) was getting a lot better. Stan Smith, also, was absolutely hilarious. But I digress, Family Guy has totally lost what made it so funny and ANY of the subtlety it was already lacking, and therefore doesn't not deserve to enter into the discussion. There's no denying it passed it's peak when it returned from cancellation, and became a parody of itself almost. There's only so many times you can tell the same joke. That said, certain moments like "Pea... Tear... Griffin" are still some of the funniest moments on TV, for my money.

Futurama was beginning to establish an array of supporting characters as brilliant as the Simpsons and was really exciting me when it got unfortunately cancelled. Zapp Brannigan is inspired, possibly Groening's shining achievement and I can't begin to think how world-conquering he'd have been with Hartman voicing him. I don't think Futurama has sufficient seasons to rate it with The Simpsons either, but I think it was starting to enter a similar golden-age, and the sheer possibilities it had means I think it's end is more tragic than The Simpsons' decline.

The Simpsons prime series are, undoubtedly, the best-written TV seasons ever. They're as funny in "laugh-per-minute" terms as Family Guy (which I know is a key argument for Family Guy's superiority), if not more so. You don't quite realise this until you revisit those seasons but they're so very sharp and, what's more, totally family oriented. There's a deftness to the show that gives it crossover appeal and true intelligence, which is what's so amazing about it. But this bad legacy of a few seasons in the wilderness has really hit the show hard.

South Park is the only real challenger, and it wouldn't be if the series didn't somehow find a way to come back stronger each season. Some of the more recent South Park episodes have been cutting, tight, brilliantly paced and written, and it's always had the capacity from about season 2-3 maybe onwards to make me erupt into uncontrollable laughter. The 6 episodes of the most reason run are all superb, and Randy Marsh is becoming an amazing character. Currently the length of time South Park has had with quality episodes wins it the title for me, the sheer longevity is impressive. But The Simpsons is, in those peak years, perfect and it's a shame they continued it through that Futurama-coinciding dry-spell it had as mentioned before. I DO think there's a danger of really damaging the legacy now, though it is improving slightly.

Still, nice to have had the accumulated satisfaction of all these shows. Each has it's merits for different reasons at their peak, Futurama for plots, Simpsons for OH SO MANY, Family Guy for flat out hilarity, South Park for it's cultural relevance and shamelessness. etc etc etc.

(and now back to Taxidermia which is freaking me out slightly)

[Mr. Zebra]

Ramble ramble ramble. Apologies for any senselessness in the aboive post because i'm tired indeed.
Anyway, does anyone know much about what's happening on the Futurama front? They're making movies that Comedy Central are going to broadcast as episodes or something, right?

[Snarfyguy]

Futurama was beginning to establish an array of supporting characters as brilliant as the Simpsons and was really exciting me when it got unfortunately cancelled.

I thought it had been re-commissioned (not to get your hopes up; maybe I just imagined it. Or maybe it's already been re-commissioned and cancelled again. Who can keep up?))

[Mr. Zebra]

Futurama was beginning to establish an array of supporting characters as brilliant as the Simpsons and was really exciting me when it got unfortunately cancelled.

I thought it had been re-commissioned (not to get your hopes up; maybe I just imagined it. Or maybe it's already been re-commissioned and cancelled again. Who can keep up?))

As movies or something though, I think. Every source is REALLY vague on it, and i'm worried that since Family Guy went so bad with it's return, something with genuine vitality, charm and (dare I say) magic like futurama may be harder to recreate. Though it's Groening's baby, so I can see him being more precious about making it right.

There's definitely straight-to-dvd movies coming, but a rumoured 16 part Comedy Central series that MIGHT be those films sliced up into parts.

[Muskrat]

Goldwax being far too modest about his employer to hype company product here, I shall:



By Jonathan Cohen Fri Jul 13, 3:13 PM ET

NEW YORK (Billboard) - More than three dozen original songs from the past nine seasons of "The Simpsons" have been collected for an album.

"The Simpsons: Testify," will be released September 18 by Shout! Factory.

Several veteran acts are represented on the compilation, including singer-songwriters Jackson Browne and Shawn Colvin, former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, the B-52's and the Baha Men. Comedian Ricky Gervais and pop parodist "Weird" Al Yankovic also make appearances.

Among the highlights of the musical numbers by "Simpsons" characters are the "Yokel Chords" medley with Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel, "My Fair Laddy" with Groundskeeper Willie, "Welcome to Moe's" with the Simpsons and Moe the Bartender and "The Very Reason That I Live" with Sideshow Bob.

The release of "Testify" will coincide with the season 19 premiere of "The Simpsons" on Fox. Also on tap are a host of music-related releases pegged to "The Simpsons Movie," which opens July 27.

Here is the track list for "The Simpsons: Testify":

"The Simpsons Main Title Theme"

"Testify"

"The Very Reason That I Live" (featuring Kelsey Grammer)

"He's the Man" (featuring Shawn Colvin)

"Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl"

"The Simpsons End Credits Theme" (performed By Los Lobos)

"Ode to Branson"

"Sold Separately"

"Island of Sirens"

"They'll Never Stop the Simpsons"

"You're a Bunch of Stuff"

"What Do I Think of the Pie?"

"Baby Stink Breath"

"Tastes Like Liberty"

"Jellyfish"

"Homer & Marge" (featuring "Weird" Al Yankovic)

"Everybody Hates Ned Flanders" (medley) (featuring David Byrne)

"I Love To Walk"

"Marjorie" (featuring Jackson Browne)

"The President Wore Pearls" medley

"Glove Slap" (featuring the B-52's)

"O Pruny Night"

"America (I Love This Country)"

"America Rules"

"Welcome to Moe's"

"We Are the Jockeys"

"Song of Shelbyville"

"A Star Is Torn" medley

"Who Wants a Haircut?" (featuring Baha Men)

"My Fair Laddy" medley

"Springfield Blows"

"King of Cats" (Itchy & Scratchy medley)

"Lady" (featuring Ricky Gervais)

"You Make Me Laugh"

"Lady Riff" (featuring Ricky Gervais)

"Poppa, Can You Hear Me?"

"Yokel Chords" medley

Previously unaired bonus tracks:

"Hullaba Lula (featuring Kelsey Grammer)

"Song of the Wild Beasts"

"Dancing Workers' Song"

"Oldies and Nudies"

Reuters/Billboard