Yesterday Morgan Spurlock was at an Albuquerque Isotopes game filming for his special. The local news did a report on it. You can watch it by clicking here. It’s pretty run of the mill celebrity-visits-local-attraction type reporting. However, there is one useful bit of information. Right around the 1:00 minute mark, we catch a glimpse of this guy: He’s a Simpsons fan Spurlock brought with him to the park. Spurlock described him to the reporter thusly, “He’s been a fan for years, he just thinks that, you know, the show should be retired, maybe the show’s been going on long enough.” WHAAA? I’m going to repeat that. “He’s been a fan for years, he just thinks that, you know, the show should be retired, maybe the show’s been going on long enough.” Could this be the hook of Spurlock’s special? Or at least a decent chunk of it? A fan who wants the show ended? Could we be that lucky? Even if the special ends with the bearded man converted and shouting for twenty more years it would still be sweet. Godspeed, bearded guy with Spurlock. Godspeed.
Tag: Morgan Spurlock
Spurlock’s Choice
“The latest polls indicate you’re in danger of losing touch with the common man.” – Burns for Governor Campaign Manager “Oh dear, heaven forfend.” – C.M. Burns A couple weeks ago thetwocents.com had an interview with new Simpsons power broker Morgan Spurlock. The whole thing is worth reading, but there is one thing I wanted to flag. Q: What will the special entail? MS: Well, for me I think that the special will entail kind of us talking about the history of this show. I think the reason that they called me to begin with was to not have a show that would kind of be a glad-hand, pat everyone on the back special. We really want to dive in and find the interesting people, the interesting stories, the things that are a little more than just like a typical kind of “look how great we are” kind of special. And so for me, that’s why really trying to root it in the fans and the people who really kept this show on the air for the last 20 years I think is important and kind of hearing how people have been affected by this. He’s saying the right things here, but I’ve got my doubts. Obviously he’s not going to produce the kind of Zombie Simpsons hit job that would cause me to stand up and applaud. I’m okay with that and certainly the show deserves to be celebrated; but if he’s really serious about “root it in the fans” he’s going to run into the fact that a lot of self described fans will say that the show isn’t even remotely as good as it used to be. Not everybody takes that opinion as far as we do here, but it’s common enough that I’d have no trouble calling it the majority opinion. Obviously I have no idea what Spurlock’s special is going to be like, but when it comes to the treatment of the decline of the show he’s really only got three options: Ignore it – Just stick his hand down FOX’s trousers and jerk them off with how great the show has always been, how smart and relevant it still is after all these years. Acknowledge it but argue against it – This is the tack the show itself has usually taken over the years, starting with the Poochie episode. “Who are you to criticize us? We’re The Simpsons!” It’s rarely as funny as they think it is and it’s always arrogant. Acknowledge it and at least kinda embrace it – The show has taken this approach at times as well, most prominently in “Behind the Laughter” where they wink at the camera and acknowledge that, yeah, things have kinda sucked. The closer he gets to #3 the more honest the special will be, though my money would be on some weak sauce version of #2 with #1 as a distinct possibility. Ultimately this isn’t important in the least. This special is going to air…