“I’m sorry, I’m really not comfortable with this, Ethan.” – Bumblebee Man “What’s the matter, love?” – Ethan the Director “It’s just, it’s, it’s the same old tired gags, isn’t it? I mean, let’s give the audience some credit.” – Bumblebee Man “How about a giant mousetrap?” – Ethan the Director “I love it!” – Bumblebee Man Programming note: Not that anyone is frantically hitting the refresh button in anticipation of three slightly tipsy guys blathering about why Zombie Simpsons sucks, but this week’s Crazy Noises post has been delayed by a schedule conflict.* It should go up on Friday.…
Month: March 2010
Quote of the Day
“Alcohol increases your ability to drive . . . false? Oh, man.” – Otto
Synergy Doesn’t Learn From Its Mistakes
Image used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user iotae. “You gotta give her up.” – Lisa Simpson “No, no, wait, hear my plan: put up with her for seven more years. Then we’ll get married, once the first baby comes along she’s bound to settle down and start treating me right. After all, I deserve it.” – Bart Simpson This week’s edition of IGN’s “corporate fanboy” writing was a mixed bag of praise and criticism. (It still scored a 7.3, of course.) The most direct criticism is of Sacha Baron Cohen and the way this episode didn’t live up…
Quote of the Day
Image used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user Robert S. Donovan. “Some days, we don’t let the line move, at all.” – Patty Bouvier “We call those ‘weekdays’.” – Selma Bouvier
Tourism Brochures Are Funnier Than This
“Oh, not my Paris backdrop! How am I gonna make fun of the Frogs?” – Krusty the Klown At some point the “destination” episodes of Zombie Simpsons became little more than excuses to have Homer and Bart act out in front of famous landmarks or generic “travel” backdrops. Why yes, Bart brought his skateboard to the Wailing Wall (and got into a pointless chase/fight sequence); why yes, Homer took a nap in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; and they both goofed around in David’s Tomb. Did they make it to the Dead Sea and the Dome of the Rock? …
Quote of the Day
Image taken from Wikimedia Commons. “Pop quiz, hotshot. I’m supposed to be doing my homework, but you find me upstairs reading a Playdude. What do you do? What do you do?” – Bart Simpson “I make you read every article in that magazine, including Norman Mailer’s latest claptrap about his waning libido.” – Shary Bobbins
Sunday Preview: “The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed”
We’re less than sixty minutes away from “The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed,” wherein the family Simpson goes to… another faraway place. Hilarity – or groaning, more likely – ensues. Simpsons Channel graciously provides the lowdown for us: The Simpsons vacation in the Holy Land, where Homer is convinced that he is the Messiah — and gets in trouble with the Muslims, the Jews, and the Christians, who all band together, despite their religious differences, to teach Homer a lesson. Sacha Baron Cohen guest stars as Jacob, an eccentric tour guide who shows the the Wailing Wall. Homer with a delusional…
The Zombies Have Spoken: The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed
“Be they Christian, Jew, or miscellaneous.” – Rev. Lovejoy “Hindu. There are seven hundred million of us.” – Apu Nahasapeemapetilon “Aw, that’s super.” – Rev. Lovejoy It was pointed out to me today that there are some extra poignant comments on Simpsons Channel’s preview for tonight’s Zombie Simpsons episode. I would normally wait until after an episode has aired to poke fun, but I’m bored and I feel like being mean. So here goes: “you are so stupid Jesus was spend most of his time in the holy land thtats why is called that damm ass” – Borusmat Wait, are…
Quote of the Day
“There’s something wrong with that kid. She’s so moral. Why can’t she be more like . . . well, not like Bart, but there’s gotta be a happy medium.” – Homer Simpson
Quote of the Day
“Bart Simpson on the side of law and order? Has the world gone topsy-turvy?” – Principal Skinner “That’s right, man. I got my first taste of authority . . . and I liked it!” – Bart Simpson Happy Birthday George Meyer!
Reading Digest: Excuses Edition
Image used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user Kyle Kesselring. “You ate my homework? I didn’t know dogs really did that.” – Bart Simpson This week’s Reading Digest is shorter than most, but I have two and a half excuses. The first is that for some reason the “Simpsons” tag on WordPress isn’t working correctly, and I often get several links from there. The other one and a half excuses are the fact that we are sitting in between two talked about Zombie Simpsons episodes. Last week they had two guest stars and one of them was playing…
Quote of the Day
Image used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user Wesley Fryer. “My mother’s inside, Mrs. Simpson. Please go right on in.” – Laura Powers “Oh, you speak so politely to adults.” – Marge Simpson “My upbringing was painfully strict, ma’am.” – Laura Powers “That’s sweet.” – Marge Simpson
Compare & Contrast: Absent Teachers
There were a lot of recycled ideas, gags, and scenes in “Stealing First Base”. Besides the narrative repetition of Bart getting another girlfriend and Lisa feeling unloved, there were a few specific things as well. The most direct of these came near the beginning, when Bart walked into class to see chaos in Mrs. Krabappel’s absence. Of course, this is extremely similar to the opening of Season 2’s “Lisa’s Substitute”. In “Stealing First Base” the opening chaos in the classroom runs for twenty seconds before we have any dialogue. It includes Nelson spitting in books, Lewis putting a firecracker in…
March 23rd was a special day in Simpsons history
David Silverman shared an interesting, obscure piece of Simpsons history with Boing Boing a couple days ago: 23 years ago today on March 23rd, 1987, we had a meeting with Matt Groening. And then Wes Archer, Bill Kopp, and I started animating the very first Simpsons short for The Tracey Ullman Show, in a studio on 729 N. Seward Street. We all thought it was pretty funny. It was pretty funny David. You had a good run that has long overstayed its welcome. Our brief PSA to you is this, and simply this: Do your part to salvage the show’s…
Quote of the Day
“If you get hungry in the middle of the night, there’s an open beer in the fridge.” – Barney Gumble Happy 20th Anniversary to “Homer’s Night Out”! Original airdate 25 March 1990.
Zombie Simpsons Ruins Another List
Zombie Simpsons has cheaply cashed in on the success of its preeminent forerunner in many, many, ways. One of the most prominent is by cramming musical guests into episodes with little to no purpose and few, if any, jokes. This list, which purports to be the top ten musical guests, contains only 60% real Simpsons. The White Stripes, Lionel Ritchie, Metallica and Green Day all make the cut from Zombie Simpsons (or the movie), but none of the following from actual good episodes do: Tito Puente (Who Shot Mr. Burns 1 & 2) Cypress Hill (Homerpalooza) Peter Frampton (Homerpalooza) Tony…
Crazy Noises: Stealing First Base
“Now, let’s discuss the, um, moe-tive” – Chief Wiggum In our continuing mission to bring you only the finest in low class, low brow, and low tech internet Simpsons commentary we’re bringing back our “Crazy Noises” series and applying it to Season 21. Because doing a podcast smacks of effort we’re still using this “chatroom” thing that all the middle schoolers and undercover cops seem to think is so cool. This text has been edited for clarity and spelling (especially on “gripe”). Sometimes a Zombie Simpsons episode is so sloppy and meandering, so devoid of humor, that it’s nigh impossible…
Quote of the Day
“Hey, what’ll I tell the boss?” – Power Plant Guy “Tell him I’m going to the back seat of my car, with the woman I love, and I won’t be back for ten minutes!” – Homer Simpson Happy (belated . . . again, ach I’m bad a this) 20th Anniversary to “Life on the Fast Lane”! (Original airdate 18 March 1990)
Synergy Feasts on Crumbs
When it comes to “reviewing” Zombie Simpsons, IGN basically has two tools at its disposal: low standards and positive spin. This week’s sycophantic drivel is heavy on the latter. These aren’t recycled ideas that have been done much better in the past, they’re “variations of themes”. Sarah Silverman’s character (hereafter referred to as “Girlfriend #8”) isn’t a one dimensional character who exists only to kiss and longboard, she’s a “female version of Bart”. Skinner and Willy kissing for hours isn’t wholly unnecessary filler, it “was probably funnier on paper”. It can’t be easy to suck stale crumbs off the floor…
Quote of the Day
Image used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user dameetch. “Class please, if you don’t learn Roman numerals you’ll never know the date certain motion pictures were copyrighted.” – Mrs. Krabappel