“My job is to show you how miserable life would be if you married Mindy instead of Marge.” – Colonel Klink

I’m not sure if the tag feature on WordPress was on the fritz again or what, but there weren’t many Simpsons links this week.  There were a hell of a lot of links to a promotional stunt Mindy Kaling did where she dressed up as Marge and got herself photographed on the Simpsons couch to flog her new sitcom.  There really isn’t much to the story beyond that so there’s only one link to it below, but that one picture was linked in a hell of a lot of other places.  On top of that we’ve got several excellent reader submissions, our old pal Philip applying the Compare & Contrast template to another show, a Pareidolia tree, and a real life Homer Simpson who was executed for murder.  No shit.

Enjoy.

Check Out Mindy Kaling As Marge Simpson! – This was enough of an on-line hit this week that I lost count of the number of times I saw it linked.  It’s a decent enough picture, but that wig is way too short.

Compare & Contrast: Funny Restaurants – Our old friend Philip J. Reed takes a look at two different episodes of The IT Crowd with a little bit of Simpsons sprinkled in for good measure. 

A Manic Remembrance of The Ren & Stimpy Show – Want to see what Mike Reiss has to say about Ren & Stimpy?  Of course you do.  Unfortunately, there is some misquoting in here:

Reiss was, by the way, not only the guy who wrote the episode with the first Ren & Stimpy/John K. barb in it (you remember: Grandpa wins an award for best screenplay in animation, and they show a clip of the Ren & Stimpy season premiere, but it says, “Episode not yet released”). He’s also immortalized as one of the animators in the crowd after Grandpa makes his acerbic speech chastising everyone for being involved in cartoons in the first place.

Reiss: “The hell with cartoons! I’m going to go write that show about the sassy robot!”

The clip actually says “Clip Not Done Yet”, and the Reiss stand in actually says, “The hell with cartoons!  I’m gonna do what I’ve always dreamed of, I’m gonna write that sitcom about the sassy robot.”  Still an interesting read.  Thanks to reader Chase for sending this in.

Siskel and Ebert: Film Criticism’s Most Underrated Comedy Duo – Some history of the bald guy and the fat guy, with plenty of references to The Critic, The Simpsons, and Jean and Reiss.  Thanks to reader Nick for sending this in! 

The case of Homer Simpson Former Cleveland Police Chief executed for murder 83 years ago still fascinates public – A True Murder Story.  (No, seriously.) 

Biff Bam Pop’s Favourite TV Teachers – Krabappel is on here; sadly the example is from Zombie Simpsons.

Mitt: Palestinians Are the 47 Percent – Heh:

Mother Jones has released the second installment of its hit reality show where Mitt Romney stops being polite and starts getting real. Here, Romney explains that his plan to handle the Palestinian problem is basically Homer Simpson’s scheme to pass a test he hasn’t prepared for. (“I’ve been working on a plan. During the exam, I’ll hide under some coats and hope that somehow everything will work out.”)

Excellent usage.

Yeardley Smith talks about being Lisa Simpson – An interview:

How did you get started in voice acting?
I did a new play at a grubby little theater in Los Angeles, a few months after I arrived in 1986. I think 17 people saw that play, but one of them ended up casting "The Simpsons" shorts on Fox’s ”The Tracey Ullman Show” a year later. She remembered me and said right away, "I know who should play ‘Lisa Simpson’!"

I didn’t know that.

Homer Simpson tree – This is a very brief YouTube video, but that tree does look like Homer:

If you click through, the only comment fro the guy who uploaded it is, “Don’t judge me”.  Ha.

The Lib Dem disaster movie – I’ll leave those of you with more familiarity with British politics than me to ponder whether or not this is accurate, but it is a good reference:

Cable never comes across as the most assured television performer, looking disconcertingly like the Simpsons character Mr. Burns in that moment immediately after his prototype mutant monkeys have plunged to their deaths from his office window. Interestingly, the Mr. Burns character was in fact based on Ed Miliband’s new guru Michael Sandel, who taught a number of the Simpsons writers at Harvard. But I digress.

Never heard that about Burns, though.

Matt Groening Invented The iPod Design [Proof] – Heh.

A Town Called Mercy…In 10 Words – At least he’s not horse whispering.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day…In 10 Words – Heh.

Gangnam Style…In 10 Words – It must be confusing if the Simpsons quote has to be put outside the image for once.

Day 71: Get a Clue – And finally, someone who agrees with us while getting rid of some of their clutter:

We also have a Simpsons version of Clue. I like the Simpsons (well, I used to; I haven’t been able to watch it the last few years because it became quite unfunny) and I like Clue. But I think I’ll prefer teaching my kids to play it on the classic board.

So I am letting go of this Simpsons version.

It has indeed become quite unfunny.