“Forget the hair, just give me the blush! Oh, we’re on.” – Kent Brockman Fucking CNN. This one is bad even by their impressive standards of idiocy and misinformation. Thanks to their sloppiness, the internet went briefly nuts this week over the supposed “revelation” that Homer and Marge were going to permanently separate in the upcoming season. Here’s what happened. On Sunday, Variety published a bog standard publicity interview with Jean about the upcoming season. The penetrating and hard hitting questions included, “How does it feel to reach season 27?” and “How do you still manage to keep it fresh and…
Category: Reading Digest
Reading Digest: Pondering the Absence of Shearer Edition
“Oh, sir, what will you do next?” – Mr. Smithers “Well, first I’ll get that new hip I’ve been hankering for, then, who knows? Beekeeping, boxing, bocce ball, the world is my oyster, Smithers! Farewell.” – C.M. Burns I’m finally digging out all the Shearer related stuff I didn’t have time to get to over the last couple of weeks, and I have found a couple of gems. There’s a Hollywood insider take, a journalist take, and a fan take, all on what his (potential) leaving means for the show. In addition to that, we’ve got some excellent references, great…
Reading Digest: Open Audition Edition
“Sir, the actors are here to audition for the part of you.” – Mr. Smithers “Excellent.” – C.M. Burns It’s a short Reading Digest this week because I’m still behind the eight-ball, and the Dead Homer Society inbox still has rainbow wigs and floppy shoes everywhere, but some Reading Digest is better than no Reading Digest (right?). Since the announcement of the (possible, still very unconfirmed) departure of Harry Shearer, plenty of people have been throwing their voices into the ring. This week, we’ve got three of them (kinda). We’ve also got some excellent usage, another Simpsons recasting, globetrotting Nancy…
Reading Digest: The Show Will Go On, The DVDs Will Not Edition
“Come on, who wants to complain with me?” – Lisa Simpson The obvious big news this week was the renewal. For those of us who were paying attention, it wasn’t the least bit surprising. For the overwhelming majority of people who have the good sense not to be paying attention, it was big news. So the Simpsons signal-to-noise ratio went bonkers and, as is always the case when that happens, this is a pretty short Reading Digest. We’ve only got one renewal link, and that was just because it has a marvelous headline. In other not-news news, there will be…
Reading Digest: Real Life Soul Donut Edition
“Well, well, finishing something?” – The Devil This week, someone not only made Simpsons donuts and posted the recipe, they made the Soul Donut! Excellent. In addition to that we’ve got fan art everywhere from crosstitch and felt to statues and house paint. Plus there’s some excellent usage, more episode rundowns and reviews, and more. Enjoy. Note: Still no news on contract renewal. I continue to assume there will be a full Season 27. Homer Simpson’s Donut Recipe – Just what it says, with easy to follow instructions and this: Etsy: Marge Simpson Cross Stitch – Excellent and for sale. Works in…
Reading Digest: Perfectly Timed Door Slam Edition
“I’m glad I’m not crying, because I would hate for you think that what I’m about to say is based on emotion. But you, sir, are a baboon!” – Lisa Simpson “Me?” – Homer Simpson “Yes, you! Baboon! Baboon! Baboon! Baboon!” – Lisa Simpson “I don’t think you realize what you’re saying.” – Homer Simpson “Baboon!” – Lisa Simpson First off, sorry for the lack of Compare & Contrast this week. I’m still in the thick of it at work and didn’t have time. (Things will – he typed hopefully – ease off starting next week.) In regular news, we’ve…
Reading Digest: Still Waiting For Renewal Edition
“You’ve been flushing for twenty minutes. Is there a problem?” – Principal Skinner “Uh, no, Principal Skinner.” – Jimbo Jones “Very well. I’ll continue to wait.” – Principal Skinner As near as anyone can tell, the show remains without an official renewal. Eika Isabel Vega, who’s been a real good sport about me using her Twitter feed to track the potential death of her job, tweeted this an hour ago: My guess is still that it’ll be renewed, but it looks like production is beginning to shut down, so we’ll see what happens. In regular link news, this week we’ve…
Reading Digest: Eating Like Homer Edition
“Gentlemen, there’s only one solution: we place this last donut in the reactor core, exposing it to radiation, thereby making it big!” – Homer Simpson This week we’ve got two links to great moments in food related Simpsons fandom, one on the consumption side and one on the production side. Happily, both of them are even videos, so you don’t have to reduce your boredom by reading anything. In addition to that, the play is spreading like the Osaka Flu, we’ve got three late obituaries, lots of drawings of Milhouse, a couple people who agree with us, another Simpsons-movie casting…
Reading Digest: The Simpsons Will Outlive Us All Edition
“Hey, Bart, according to this magazine, in another million years man’ll have an extra finger.” – Lisa Simpson “Five fingers? Eww, freakshow.” – Bart Simpson For obvious reasons, this site takes the position that The Simpsons was and is the greatest show ever. (Zombie Simpsons naturally excluded.) Of course, plenty of people disagree about that for one reason or another, but the nice thing about being a Simpsons advocate is that I get to cite examples, lots of them. For instance, this week we have a link to an article about the best sitcom of the 1990s, the author presumes that The…
Reading Digest: Moar Sam Simon Tributes
Sam Simon was so widely beloved that there was no way to sort through even a part of people’s tributes to him last week. Now that the noise has settled down and big media outlets are on to the next thing, this week we’ve got a ton more great stuff about the man. There’s other stuff too, of course, but mostly it’s Simon. Enjoy. My buddy Sam Simon. – Smooth Charlie’s Link of the Week is this long and loving encomium for Simon by a writer who met him over poker. It’s long, but it’s a great read. Someone built all of…
Compare & Contrast: Vintage Duff Commercials
“Only Duff fills your Q zone with pure beer goodness. So drink up, and up, and up!” – Cartoon Doctor “Duff Beer, proud sponsors of Amos ‘n Andy!” – Narrator It’s always nice when Zombie Simpsons provides a wealth of options for Compare & Contrast. For “Waiting for Duffman”, I could’ve gone with Homer quitting drinking like he did in “Duffless”. Of course, there he quits because Marge thinks he might have a problem and we see just how awful and ubiquitous beer advertising really is, whereas here he gets a fake microchip implanted in him and screams a lot.…
Sam Simon Roundup
Did you know he drew this? I didn’t know that. “You looked so peaceful lying there.” – Marge Simpson “There’ll be plenty of time for that! I got tons of important stuff to do!” – Homer Simpson This post was originally going to go up Tuesday, then Wednesday, then yesterday, but I kept finding more great Simon articles to add. Regular Reading Digest will be back next week, including all the non-Simon stuff I missed from this week. Several of these are from @DailySimpsons and @rubbrcatsimp, both of which are great follows if you want news and quotes from the…
Reading Digest: Snowmen Edition
“Check it out, boy, it’s like looking into a living snow mirror.” – Homer Simpson Two different people in St. Louis decided to use this winter to make some snow Simpsons. One is just Homer, but the other is the whole family and the couch. It’s great. In other impressive fan feats this week, there’s glow in the dark zombie Simpsons, a zombie Springfield, a grammar rodeo t-shirt, and money. In addition to that we’ve got some excellent usage, lots of Nimoy links, reviews of old episodes and Season 7, and someone who literally agrees with us. Enjoy. Zombie Simpsons…
Reading Digest: Over the Gorge Edition
“I’m the king of the world! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!” – Homer Simpson The first and best link we have this week is a fan made poster of Homer’s disastrous attempt to teach Bart a lesson. I cannot recommend it highly enough. After that there are a bunch of other links to great fan made stuff, including Legos and crayons. And after that, we’ve got the play moving to America’s wang, a whole website dedicated to Simpsons tattoos, idiotic donut marketing, and more. Enjoy. Cool Stuff: Official Mark Englert Simpsons Poster – Smooth Charlie’s Link of the Week is this high res poster…
Reading Digest: Fan Made Donuts & Zombies Edition
“Aww, honey, that looks just like a real donut.” – Homer Simpson “Dad, it says ‘non-toxic’.” – Bart Simpson “Well, that’s a plus.” – Homer Simpson This week we have two excellent pieces of fan art, one a painting the other some CGI zombies, and both are great. Since Bacon Day is tomorrow, we also have a bunch of links involving “I Love Lisa” one way or another, plus some excellent references, Groening on live TV, a protest south of the equator, someone who agrees with me about the lameness of last week’s Zombie Simpsons, and much more. Enjoy. Zombie…
Reading Digest: Pixels Pixels Edition
“Keep cool, Simpson. Be in the game, but not of the game.” – Bart Simpson “No es bueno!” – Panamanian Strongman There was one link that dominated the Simpsons internet this week. Usually when that happens it’s yet another lame publicity stunt or the latest celebrity to do a guest voice. This time, however, it is truly worthy: Watch it. Then watch it again. It’s so slick and professional that at first I thought it was another one that Zombie Simpsons had commissioned. Nope. Just some guys who have serious skills and love the show. Excellent. Bravo. Well done. Kudos…
Reading Digest: Suggested Search Edition
“I suggest a lengthy, inefficient search, at the taxpayers’ expense, of course.” – NASA Scientist “I wish there was an easier way.” – NASA Director It’s a very short Reading Digest this week. The WordPress “Simpsons” tag wasn’t working, those Auschwitz images I linked last week went kinda big, plus all the chatter about Elon Musk meant the signal to noise ratio went to hell again. We’ve got some usage, some more play reviews, a couple of cool fan doodles, and the first few instances of Bacon Day cards, so it’s not like it’s completely barren. Things should smooth out…
Reading Digest: Cranky with the Media Edition
“Wow, a bustling metropolitan newsroom, funneling scoops from all over the globe.” – Lisa Simpson “Hi, are you interested in a subscription to the Shopper?” – Sales Dude “Low introductory rates.” – Sales Lady “No, please, you gotta help old Gil. What’s it gonna take to keep you on the phone? Dance for you? But you wouldn’t even see it. Alright, I’m a dancin’!” – Gil This week, I make only tangentially relevant complaints about several linked articles: lazy sourcing, inappropriate pageview whoring, and two instances of recycled content that sort of, somehow had something to do with the show.…
Reading Digest: Yet Moar Anniversaries Edition
“I was twenty-four years old with a beautiful girlfriend and a job with a future. . . . Hey, you’re supposed to be listening to my story!” – Homer Simpson “I thought it was over. You had a problem turning blades, you overcame it, the feel good story of the year.” – Bart Simpson So the 25th anniversary of “Bart the Genius” was this week, which gave lots of people another chance to go back and talk about all the things the show has done. Most notably, this included internet pop culture factory The A.V. Club, which had a “Simpsons…
Reading Digest: Roots Edition
“I am the wondrous wizard of Latin! I am a dervish of declension, and a conjurer of conjugation, with a million hit points and maximum charisma!” – Martin Prince This seems to be the week for rare, higher quality stuff, and while there are fewer links than usual below, what we lack in quantity we make up for in quality. There are three or four that would be a Link of the Week most of the time, including the Latin language link, the six eras of the Simpsons link, the 9 minute video about Homer, and the one about movie plots. And…