“The challenger learned how to fight in the notorious projects of Capital City, and honed his skills while serving time for aggravated assault and manslaughter in Springfield Prison.” – Boxing Announcer “Alright, a local boy!” – Barney Gumble With the hoopla around the premier and the crossover now safely in the rear view mirror, and Halloween stuff not yet ramping up to full volume, it’s a pretty short Reading Digest this week. We do have hometown articles about both Al Jean and Mike Reiss, however. In addition to those, we’ve got some excellent fan art, a couple of interesting lists,…
Month: October 2014
Renewal Announcement Overdue [Updated]
“Sweet, trusting Marge, I can’t let you down. I’ll get some money somehow. . . . Hello, Vegas? Gimme a hundred bucks on red. . . . D’oh! Alright, I’ll send you a check.” – Homer Simpson It’s now officially mid-October and there has been no announcement from FOX or anyone else about next season. For most shows, that wouldn’t be an issue, but for Zombie Simpsons, which is wildly asynchronous with the rest of network television’s renew/cancel announcements, it’s very odd. Thanks to the show’s ancient pedigree and very long production schedule, the last couple of renewal announcements have come…
Quote of the Day
“Noise. Bad noise.” – Homer Simpson “Five minutes before critical mass.” – Power Plant Computer “Critical wha? . . . Okay, okay, don’t panic, whosever problem this is, I’m sure they know how to handle it. . . . Ahh! It’s my problem, we’re doomed!” – Homer Simpson
Quote of the Day
“Bart’s been acting very strangely, and that pizza delivery truck has been parked across the street for two weeks. How long does it take to deliver a pizza?” – Marge Simpson “Looks like our cover’s blown.” – FBI Agent #1 “Let’s roll.” – FBI Agent #2
Compare & Contrast: Marge’s Competitors and Failure Generally
“I was wrong to have a dream. Wrong as usual. I mean, if you’re nothing special, why kid yourself?” – Marge Simpson The obvious choice for comparing and contrasting Marge’s sandwich shop in “Super Franchise Me” is her pretzel wagon in “The Twisted World of Marge Simpson”. In both episodes, we see Marge not only strike out on her own a bit, but into the food industry, and with eventually poor results. Of course, in Season 8, we get into the story right away, instead of wading through an unrelated opening (montage included); and it makes a lot more sense…
Quote of the Day
“Your daughter could be crowned Little Miss Springfield by our host, the maitre d’ of glee, Krusty the Klown.” – Jack Larson “I heartily endorse this event or product.” – Krusty the Klown
Quote of the Day
“Hello, Simpson. My lawyers and I were in the neighborhood and thought we’d stop by.” – C.M. Burns “Would you like to come in for tea and marshmallow squares?” – Marge Simpson “Yes, he would.” – Blue Haired Lawyer
Behind Us Forever: Super Franchise Me
“Don’t make me tap the sign.” – Bus Driver There are episodes of Zombie Simpsons that border on manic, where they just throw crazy shit at the screen and hope that some of the incoherent jumble produces a chuckle or two. But there are also episodes like “Super Franchise Me”, that feel like they were produced by people in the depths of an Eeyore level depression. This is Zombie Simpsons going through the motions: slowly, reluctantly, joylessly. The story, Marge opens a sandwich franchise, is paper napkin thin, and since there’s no B-plot, they had to tack on a slow…
Quote of the Day
“Somebody wants Mommy to change baby’s diaper.” – Homer Simpson “Is that somebody you, Homer?” – Marge Simpson “Yes, it is.” – Homer Simpson
Quote of the Day
“Lunchlady Doris, have you got any grease?” – Groundskeeper Willie “Yes. Yes, we do.” – Lunchlady Doris “Then grease me up, woman!” – Groundskeeper Willie “Okie-dokie.” – Lunchlady Doris Doris Grau would’ve been 90 today. Happy birthday!
Quote of the Day
“Otto, you know I respect you. I mean, You always let us throw stuff at cars and try to tip the bus on sharp turns.” – Bart Simpson “Damn thing never goes over, does it?” – Otto
Reading Digest: Mr. Burns Play Spreads
“I want the whole world to hear the story of my harrowing struggle with hypohemia.” – C.M. Burns The post-apocalyptic Mr. Burns play continues to spread. Local theater companies in both Arizona and Colorado are putting it on the next couple of weeks, and we have links to both. At this rate, the play itself might survive the apocalypse. In more regular links, we also have a couple more unhappy reviews of the crossover, some excellent usage, several .gifs, an in-depth look at the varieties of Duff on sale in Florida, and the relentless filler of Zombie Simpsons demonstrated in…
Quote of the Day
“Quickly, tell me, what is your favorite movie, book and food?” – Apu Nahasapeemapetilon “The answer to all three is Fried Green Tomatoes.” – Manjula RIP, Jan Hooks.
Quote of the Day
“That Quimby fella promised to build us a Matlock Expressway. How you gonna top that, smart guy?” – Abe “Grampa” Simpson “How’s this? I’ll not only build the expressway, I will spend the remainder of this afternoon patiently listening to your interminable anecdotes.” – Sideshow Bob “Hot, diggity damn, me first!…Not many people know, I owned the first radio in Springfield. Weren’t much on the air then, just Edison reciting the alphabet over and over. A, he’d say, then B, C would usually follow…” – Abe “Grampa” Simpson
Compare & Contrast: Bonding at Sea
“Dad, I know I’ve been a little hard on you the last couple of days, but if I had the strength to lift my arms, I’d give you a hug.” – Bart Simpson As is often the case with Zombie Simpsons episodes, it’s easiest to understand the many, many horrible problems of “The Wreck of the Relationship” by looking at a single moment and pulling all the loose threads that dangle from it. And, since Zombie Simpsons literally always repeats The Simpsons, we can also see how the exact same thing was done vastly better many years ago. The screamingly obvious choice…
Quote of the Day
“Hey, what are these axes for?” – Barney Gumble “I don’t know. Chopping stuff.” – Chief Wiggum “Gotcha.” – Barney Gumble “That’s some nice choppin’.” – Chief Wiggum
Quote of the Day
“Wow, a houseboat. You know, the great thing is, if you don’t like your neighbors, you can just pull up the anchor and sail someplace else.” – Homer Simpson
Behind Us Forever: The Wreck of the Relationship
“Smithers, I seem to recall you had a penchant for bell bottomed trousers, back in ’79.” – C.M. Burns “Sir, that was my costume from the plant production of HMS Pinafore.” – Mr. Smithers “Oh, yes, of course. Your spirited hornpipe stole the show as I recall.” – C.M. Burns Another week, another forgettable episode from Zombie Simpsons. Homer and Bart get into a fight about broccoli, then end up on a father-son sailing ship. Along the way, Homer gets scurvy, is thrown overboard a couple of times, vomits, and gets attacked by an octopus. Meanwhile, in the B-plot, Marge…
Quote of the Day
“Perhaps this pamphlet will prove helpful.” – D. Hibbert “So You’ve Ruined Your Life.” – Marge Bouvier
Sunday Preview: The Wreck of the Relationship
Bart’s disrespectful behavior leads Marge to book him and Homer for a conflict-resolution cruise on the Relation Ship, and while Homer’s away, Marge takes charge of his fantasy-football team, with surprising results. Nick Offerman guest voices tonight, and one of the ‘plots’ involves fantasy football apparently. These are two of my favorite things, but not watching this episode will still be the best decision I make today.