“Perhaps there is no moral to this story.” – Lisa Simpson “Exactly, it’s just a bunch of stuff that happened.” – Homer Simpson About halfway through this commentary, Al Jean notes that the story of a mean letter to the boss had been previously done on The Honeymooners and was a kind of “sitcom staple”. He was saying it sort of defensively, like he’d heard it as a criticism that the episode hadn’t been that original. But parodying sitcom staples was a big part of what The Simpsons did, especially in Seasons 1 and 2. It wasn’t just plots either,…
Month: October 2011
Quote of the Day
Image yoinked from IMDb. “That photo was taken shortly before I was shot in the back, which was very strange because it was during a Bob Hope show. I was trying to get Joey Heatherton to put on some pants for God’s sake!” – Seymour Skinner
Quote of the Day
“Mr. Burns, people are calling this a meltdown.” – Kent Brockman “Oh, ‘meltdown’, it’s one of those annoying buzzwords. We prefer to call it an unrequested fission surplus.” – C.M. Burns Happy 20th Anniversary to “Homer Defined”! Original airdate 17 October 1991.
Quote of the Day
“You mean I should fight dirty, Dad?” – Bart Simpson “Unfortunately, son, we Simpsons sometimes have to bend the rules a little in order to hold our own.” – Homer Simpson “Amen.” – Bart Simpson
Saturday Morning Cartoons
“Of course, it would be wrong to suggest that this sort of mayhem began with rock and roll. After all, there were riots at the premiere of Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’. So, what’s the answer? Ban all music? In this reporter’s opinion, the answer, sadly, is ‘yes’.” – Kent Brockman I absolutely love the above quote from Brockman. It’s funny, but it’s also indicative of the kind of petty, know nothing authoritarianism that is inherent in so many of Springfield’s higher ups. Whether he wants his television poll to be legally binding or he’s puffing himself up in preparation for…
Quote of the Day
“Daddy, these rubber pants are hot.” – Ralph Wiggum “You wear ’em until you learn, son.” – Clancy Wiggum
Reading Digest: Question Mark in the Headline Edition
“Money comes and money goes, but what I have with my daughter can go on for eight more years!” – Homer Simpson Since the renewal news dropped late on Friday evening last week, just about any time someone typed “the Simpsons” into the internet this week it was about there being two more years of Zombie Simpsons. Those get tedious after a while, but there was a pleasant trend to it: articles asking if the show really should have been renewed or if it was maybe better to let it die. Lots of them. I’ve linked a few below, and…
Quote of the Day
“I don’t need any more money. I’m not greedy. As long as I’ve got my health and my millions of dollars and my gold house and my rocket car, I don’t need anything else.” – Chester J. Lampwick
Destroying Zombie Simpsons to Save It
“We’re like this all the time.” – Marge Simpson In response to the renewal news, Split Sider published a list of six ways to improve Zombie Simpsons. They’re willing to acknowledge that the show is a shadow of itself, but they’re still operating under the illusion that it is capable of getting better. It isn’t. Moreover, of the six suggestions they offer, only two of them could result in any real changes, and those would both basically end the show. Before we get to that, however, we should first note that nothing like this is ever going to happen. Zombie…
Quote of the Day
“Have you noticed any change in Bart?” – Marge Simpson “New glasses?” – Homer Simpson “No. He looks like something might be disturbing him.” – Marge Simpson “Probably misses his old glasses.” – Homer Simpson
Quote of the Day
“Where do you want these beef hearts?” – U.S. Surplus Delivery Guy “On the floor.” – Lunchlady Doris “It doesn’t look very clean.” – U.S. Surplus Delivery Guy “Just do your job, heart boy.” – Lunchlady Doris Doris Grau would’ve been 87 today. Happy Birthday.
Compare & Contrast: Social Relations Among Male Juveniles
“You don’t need an introduction, you’re the worst kid in school.” – Bart Simpson “Thanks.” – Jimbo Jones Among the many, many things that made The Simpsons great that Zombie Simpsons has lost and/or squandered is any sense of relating to the characters or even simple reality. For all of its energy and outlandish plots, on The Simpsons you always knew that the people involved were reacting in a way that real people might react. The characters had character, and they stayed within those bounds. Homer gets involved in outrageous situations, but he’s still a bungling amateur. Even when Marge…
Quote of the Day
“Can I ask you about your dot?” – Lisa Simpson “What would you like to know?” – Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilon “What’s the deal with that dot?” – Lisa Simpson “Yeah, can you see out of it? Does it change colors when you’re ticked off?” – Bart Simpson “You tell me.” – Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilon “Nothing yet.” – Bart Simpson
Australian Simpsons Art Exhibition
Image by Mike Foxall, taken from here. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned in Reading Digest that there was a show of Simpsons related artwork in Newcastle, Australia running through October 22nd. Reader Adam (many thanks!) was nice enough to send in not only a link to their page, but also to a gallery of photographs from the opening night. The pictures aren’t all high resolution, but there is more than enough to give you a good sense of what’s there. I was particularly taken by the Monty Burns Dress Up item: See my vest! Unfortunately, I can’t make…
Quote of the Day
“That Simpson boy is looking at a hundred and eighty years.” – Mr. Smithers “Thank God we live in a country so hysterical over crime that a ten-year-old child can be tried as an adult.” – C.M. Burns Happy 20th Anniversary to “Bart the Murderer”! Original airdate: 10 October 1991.
Quote of the Day
“I’m sure your insurance will cover the house.” – Marge Simpson “Uh, well, no. Neddy doesn’t believe in insurance. He considers it a form of gambling.” – Maude Flanders
The End of Zombie Simpsons: The Reset Button Has Been Pushed
“Hey, listen! Now, my story begins in nineteen-dickety-two. We had to say ‘dickety’ ’cause the Kaiser had stolen our word ‘twenty’. I chased that rascal to get it back, but gave up after dickety-six miles.” – Abe “Grampa” Simpson After all of this week’s twisting and ill sourced hoopla, the end came during the media dead time of Friday evening. Zombie Simpsons may only occasionally be capable of a decent joke, but there is an undeniable humor to that. As for the deal itself, the true numbers haven’t been released, and in all likelihood they never will be. The last…
Quote of the Day
“Alright, who broke my vase?” – Marge Simpson “Who took all my test papers off the refrigerator and tore them up?” – Lisa Simpson “Who spread garbage all over Flanders’ yard before I got a chance to?” – Homer Simpson “Oh please, this is senseless destruction with none of my usual social commentary.” – Bart Simpson
Zombies Never Die
“Chapter Eight, let’s talk zombies. If a zombie bites you, you become a zombie. You must walk the Earth feeding on the brains of the living until the spell is broken.” – Bart Simpson It’s official, Zombie Simpsons lives to bore another day. James L. Brooks just tweeted it (via): That’ll take it through Season 25, or at least the spring of 2014. Neither side is likely to release any detailed figures but, as with every other time they’ve gone through this goofy public fit, mutual financial benefit won the day. I’ll do a more informative update when there’s some…
Reading Digest: Rumor Control Edition (Updated)
“After breakfast, me and Milhouse are going down to the ravine. We got a tip from a six-year-old that there’s a dead Martian down there.” – Bart Simpson Before we get to this week’s links, let me take you on a brief tour of a rumor. Yesterday afternoon, Springfield Springfield tweeted: ‘The Simpsons’ likely to end after current season, confirms Fox executive The tweet contained a link to this story from New York Daily News titled “‘The Simpsons’ likely to end after current season, confirms Fox executive: report”. The keyword here is “confirms”, which is used right in the second…