“Wow, this is so much like my dreams, it’s scary.” – Bart Simpson The robot apocalypse has been a staple of fiction literally since “robots” were first imagined. According to Wikipedia, the word “robot” was first coined for a Czech play about robots who, you guessed it, rise up and defeat us squishy humans. (Apparently, it’s a translation of the Czech word for “slave”. I learned something today.) That idea has been the foundation for who knows how many works of fiction, and has so thoroughly penetrated mainstream culture that making jokes about it is more or less obligatory every…
Tag: Itchy and Scratchy Land
Quote of the Day
“Man, if this is happening here, I hate to think what’s happening at Euro Itchy and Scratchy Land.” – Professor Frink “Hello? Itchy and Scratchy Land open for business! Who are you to resist it, huh? Come on, my last paycheck bounced! My children need wine!” – French Ticket Guy
Swarming with Magic Robots
“See all that stuff in there, Homer? That’s why your robot never worked.” – Marge Simpson The chalkboard gag for Zombie Simpsons this week read “It’s November 6th – – How come we’re not airing a Halloween Show?”. Unfortunately for us, I think they may have actually been confused about it. How else to explain having what passed for the main plot revolve around switching magic robots from good to evil and back again? That wouldn’t have been out of place in a Treehouse of Horror episode and it felt more than a little strange in a normal one. What…
Quote of the Day
“Kids, you heard the cartoon rat. If you haven’t already run to your parents begging to go, do it now. You won’t be missing anything funny, I’ll just be sitting here reading this grown-ups newspaper.” – Krusty the Klown Happy birthday Brad Bird!
Compare & Contrast: Shortcuts & How Not to Ruin Jokes
“Alright, we’re here. Let us never speak of the shortcut again.” – Homer Simpson Of all the digressions and clock killing asides that make up “500 Keys”, the one that’s most out of place has to be the not quite Wages of Fear/Sorcerer drive back from the cake store (which made a lot more sense and was vastly funnier in “Mr. Plow”). This episode had four simultaneous plots going on, three of which managed to roughly collide near the end, and yet this wasn’t involved in any of them. It didn’t even have anything to do with the cake that…
Reading Digest: Robot Apocalypse Edition
“Die bad robots, die!” – Homer Simpson The internet had a minor conniption this week because a computer beat the living snot out of a couple of meatbags at Jeopardy!. One of the meatbags made a Simpsons joke during the final round, and so we have two links about it. The first is highbrow and long, the second is the opposite of those two things, but does have a picture. There’s also lots of links to other meatbag endeavors, like writing about television shows, creating animated .gif files, and bitching about the commercialization of Bacon Day. Attention Scottish readers: Harry…
Quote of the Day
“You’ve got to listen to me! Elementary Chaos Theory tells us that all robots will eventually turn against their masters and run amok in an orgy of blood and kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving.” – Professor Frink “How much time do we have, professor?” – Itchy & Scratchy Land Technician “Well, according to my calculations, the robots won’t go berserk for at least twenty-four hours . . . . . . oh, I forgot to, uh, carry the one.” – Professor Frink
Compare & Contrast: Disney, The Simpsons, & Zombie Simpsons
“Yeah, I used to be rich. I owned Mickey Mouse Massage Parlors, then those Disney sleazeballs shut me down. I said, ‘Look, I’ll change the logo, put Mickey’s pants back on!’ Pfft, some guys you just can’t reason with.” – Railroad Bridge Bum Walter Elias Disney is an inescapable presence in American animation. Whether or not you like him, his work, or the giant company he spawned, when it comes to animation you are living in a world he did a great deal to shape. The Simpsons always had some fun with this, enough that SNPP has an entire page…
Well, At Least They Didn’t Make a “Face”book Joke
“I really wish they wouldn’t scream.” – Itchy & Scratchy Land Technician There’s not much to be said about an episode that spent most of its time expositing its many loopy story conceits. Of course, in between bouts of joke free exposition there were any number of recycled premises, sloppy scene staging, and all of the rest of the usual problems. Four year olds who have to pee very badly can tell a funnier and more coherent story than this. Happily, there’s only one episode left before we’re free for the summer. The numbers are in and though they remain…
Crazy Noises: The Squirt and the Whale
“Ahhhh! Shark-boy!” – Homer Simpson 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 “environmentalists”). A couple of weeks ago I pointed out how Zombie Simpsons is extremely careless when it comes to staging and continuity, even…
Quote of the Day
“Please, kill me.” – T.G.I. McScratchy’s Waiter
Quote of the Day
“Wait a minute! What was that last thing you said? ‘Grampa’s Little Helper’… what’s that? Which one of you is the mailman?” – Grampa Simpson
Stained Glass Simpsons
On the same day we’re talking about St. Eleutherius of Nicomedia, I come across the work of Joseph Cavalieri, an artist who makes stained glass windows with Simpsons characters. The one on the left is from Cavalieri’s site, the one on the right is from Stuff Boston. Much like that hyper-elaborate Homer drawing from a couple of weeks ago, I’m just incredibly impressed by the skill it must take to create something like this. It’s the little touches that really make it, like Patty & Selma having those conical bras and all of the scrapped televisions beneath Bart & Lisa.…
Dead Homer Society, Meet Twitter.
Lisa: Forget it, Dad. If I ever become famous, I want it to be for something worthwhile, not because of some obnoxious fad. Bart: Obnoxious fad? “Forget it, Dad. If I ever become famous, I want it to be for something worthwhile, not because of some obnoxious fad.” – Lisa Simpson “Obnoxious fad?” – Bart Simpson Have you ever taken a shit or clubbed a baby seal and thought to yourself, “Gee, I wish I could share this meaningful experience with everyone who has a web browser?” Twitter, the obnoxious Internet fad-of-the-moment, is your outlet. And now, it’s ours too. Think…
Quote of the Day
“With a dry, cool wit like that, I could be an action hero.” – Bart Simpson