“All this senseless violence, I don’t understand its appeal.” – Marge Simpson “We don’t expect you to, Mom.” – Bart Simpson “If cartoons were meant for adults, they’d put them on in primetime.” – Lisa Simpson Sam Simon would’ve been 64 yesterday. Happy (one day belated) birthday.
Tag: Sam Simon
Quote of the Day
“Ironic, isn’t it, Smithers? This anonymous clan of slack jawed troglodytes has cost me the election, and yet if I were to have them killed, I would be the one to go to jail. That’s democracy for you!” – C.M. Burns “You are noble and poetic in defeat, sir.” – Mr. Smithers Sam Simon would’ve been 63 today. Happy birthday.
Quote of the Day
“Doc, this is all too much. I mean, my son a genius? How does it happen?” – Homer Simpson “Well, genius level intelligence is usually the result of heredity and environment . . . although in some cases it’s a total mystery.” – Dr. J. Loren Pryor Sam Simon would’ve been 62 today. Happy birthday.
Quote of the Day
“Son, your family may be watching. Is there anything you’d like to say to them?” – Kent Brockman “Yes there is, Kent. Ha ha, I didn’t apologize!” – Bart Simpson Sam Simon would’ve been sixty-one today. Happy birthday.
Quote of the Day
“Bart, I’m flabbergasted! Surely you knew as you were writing your own name in forty-foot high letters on the field that you would be caught.” – Principal Skinner “Maybe it was one of the other Barts, sir.” – Bart Simpson “There are no other Barts!” – Principal Skinner Sam Simon would’ve been sixty-years-old today. Happy birthday.
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 Springfield in Minecraft to recreate the ‘Simpsons’ opening – Now this is an impressive act of geekery: There’s a little tour of the place at the link. Dark Ink Art To Release Dave Perillo’s Second Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Print On March 17, 2015 – I do not have $50. But that is gorgeous. (And no Zombie Simpsons!) The secret heart of The Simpsons – Our old friend Alec Nevala-Lee takes a look at the creative mix that made the show and how it’s impossible to either pin down or overstate Simon’s contribution. Remember Sam Simon – Well put: Sam Simon’s legacy for The Simpsons was the creation of a cartoon that an educated person could watch and not be ashamed at; the humor would be intelligent and not dumb itself down for the lowest common denominator. The Simpsons pub trivia is SUPER SERIOUS. – A great writeup of the last trivia in Chicago. Easton Hospital buys site for new hospital in 1915 – Almanac March 11, 2015 – Look at all the neat stuff you can find digging through newspaper archives: 25 years ago: Be cool, dude: In answer to an Express Street Talk question about U.S. Postal Service plans to raise the price of stamps from 25 cents to 30 cents, “Who do you think should be on the new stamp?” Donna Snyder, of Allentown, said, “Tom Petty. I like his tunes.” Joanne Panulla, of Belvidere, said, “Boomer Esiason, he looks great on a football card and he would look even better on a postage stamp.” Said Phillipsburg student Robin Torquati, “Bart Simpson. He’s a cool dude and he’s my idol.” Bartmania lives on. Simpsons Homer Dan Castellaneta Remembers Sam Simon – Some nice words from Homer himself: “I first met Sam while we were doing “The Tracey Ullman Show.” My first memory of him from those days was that although he had already been in the business for a while, he was still kind of a wunderkind. He’d be sitting there with all these experienced guys — Jerry Belson, Jim Brooks — and there’d be times when people would be stuck for a line. I’d see Sam thinking and talking to himself, and then he would say something. At least 70% to 90% of the time, it would be a really great, succinct line. Mad Men’s Peggy Olson and the allure of TV spin-offs – Excellent usage: “Spin-off”! Is there any word more thrilling to…
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 show. By Ken Levine: My thoughts on Sam Simon – I will leave you with two brief excerpts from Ken Levine’s goodbye note, but it’s worth clicking on in full right now: In 1985 David Isaacs and I created a series for Mary Tyler Moore. For reasons I won’t go into here, it was a nightmare. We knew Sam Simon from our time on CHEERS. He graciously agreed to join the staff and help on this Mary project. As things went from bad to worse to the brink of thermonuclear war, Sam stood by us. Most of the other writers bolted. Not Sam. He steadfastly hung in there with us. Honestly, we could not have done it without Sam. For that and that alone I have always loved Sam Simon. He could do no wrong in my book. And: I worked with Sam on seven series and pilots. He attended family seders, special occasions, and he spoke at my SITCOM ROOM seminar (telling students that sitcoms were dead – thanks for that). He had a wicked sense of humor, even during his recent suffering. A few months ago, when PBS aired the Roger Ebert documentary he was tweeting “get to the cancer already.” Ha. ‘Simpsons’ producer Al Jean remembers Sam Simon – It always has been one of my favorite lines: “Here’s a joke that he put in in a show that was written with him and Matt [Groening, the show’s creator] and Mike and me. Bart is doing something to be popular and Homer goes, ‘Son, being popular is the most important thing in the world.’ And that kind of summed up The Simpsons, where it’s this dad giving what seems to be TV Dad advice, but it’s the worst advice in the world. It’s what no TV Dad should ever say. There were very few jokes that encapsulated The Simpsons as perfectly as that one. Sam Simon (1955 – 2015) – Our old friend over at rubbercat.net/simpsons wrote the best and most complete obituary I saw, and it’s got a ton of great links. RIP, Sam Simon: How a lone fear led to creating a key character on ‘The Simpsons’ – Great story: “He was a hard guy. He was a really tough guy,” Silverman tells Comic Riffs. “He gave me a dismissive hand at first.” One of the show’s first-season episodes, though, proved a turning point. Silverman — who had also…
Quote of the Day
“Did you see their faces, Smithers?” – C.M. Burns “Sir, you’re my god of generosity.” – Mr. Smithers Rest in peace, Sam Simon.
So Long, Sam Simon
“You’re a comedy writer? My God, you’re so old!” – Roger Meyers Jr. “I want my check!” – Abe “Grampa” Simpson “Haha, you’re a writer alright!” – Roger Meyers Jr. Sam Simon, one of the three godfathers of The Simpsons, died today at the age of 59. It was almost exactly two years ago that he announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer, and from that moment until his death today he handled it with grace, generosity, and, befitting Simon, a lot of humor. They gave him three-to-six months; he lasted nearly two and a half years, laughing about it all the way. The tributes to him are pouring in from people who knew him and those who just knew his work. I’ll only say this, the show he did so much to create treated life and death with a mirthful contempt that resonated with hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. He’s gone, but he’ll still be making people smile for a long time to come. Sayonara, Sam.
Quote of the Day
“I got separated from my platoon after we parachuted into Dusseldorf. So I rode out the war posing as a German cabaret singer . . . Won’t you come home Franz Brauser, won’t you come home?” – Abe “Grampa” Simpson “Yoo-hoo . . . Ach du lieber! Das is not eine booby!” – Adolf Hiter Happy Birthday Sam Simon!
Quote of the Day
“Good going, son! But remember, most lynch mobs aren’t this nice.” – Homer Simpson Happy birthday Sam Simon!
Reading Digest: Sam Simon Rocks His Cancer Edition
“Now, a little death anxiety is normal. You can expect to go through five stages. The first is denial.” – Dr. Hibbert “No way, because I’m not dying!” – Homer Simpson “Second is anger.” – Dr. Hibbert “Why you little!” – Homer Simpson “After that comes fear.” – Dr. Hibbert “What’s after fear? What’s after fear?” – Homer Simpson “Bargaining.” – Dr. Hibbert “Doc, you gotta get me out of this. I’ll make it worth your while.” – Homer Simpson “Finally, acceptance.” – Dr. Hibbert “Well, we all gotta go some time.” – Homer Simpson “Mr. Simpson, your progress astounds me.” – Dr. Hibbert The big, endlessly repeated Simpsons story this week was a piece of non-news: that there still isn’t a movie sequel in the works. Groening and Silverman made an appearance and basically said that there are no plans right now for a second movie. Since the pop-culture internet is often an inch deep/mile wide kind of affair, that became countless misleading headlines like this “The Simpsons Movie ‘ Sequel Should Be Here In ’10, 15 Years’”. That’s not what they said at all, but run through copy & paste long enough, that’s what it becomes. They said they weren’t working on a new one, which is unchanged from last year, and the year before that. Carry on. There was another piece of Simpsons news this week, though it didn’t get picked up in near as many places: Sam Simon has cancer, the really bad kind. He announced it publicly on a radio show hosted by one of Howard Stern’s acolytes, and . . . well, you can listen for yourself. Suffice to say, if cancer is what ends up getting me, I hope I handle it half as well as he is. All the best to him. On more usual topics, we’ve got a beer review, the intentionally broken downside of “freemium” games, a great Homer cosplay, a Simpsons joke I’d never caught before, some Simpsons related roommate love, and a kid who wants to try out The Simpsons and needs some advice. Enjoy. (Oh, and today is Issue #2 of the Ann Arbor Review of Books. Get ’em while the pixels are still wet.) Sam Simon announces he has colon-cancer on HOWARD 101 – The cancer part starts at the 6:30 mark: I started to transcribe some of what he said, but it really doesn’t come across in print. The radio guy is kinda flustered and screws up a few times, but Simon is laughing, bullshitting, and as at ease as it is possible for someone in his situation. Sam Simon fucking owns. Matt Groening: ‘Simpsons’ Movie Follow-Up is Far, Far Away – No new movie is in the works. We can all breathe easy, but if they wanted to make some more theatrical shorts, I’d be okay with that. Top 10 Simpsons Episodes – A great opening to a great list: My forehead is creased beyond measure. Sweat pours of out my…uhh, pores. I grunt…
Quote of the Day
“You may find his accent peculiar. Certain aspects of his culture may seem absurd, perhaps even offensive. But I urge you all to give little Adil the benefit of the doubt. In this way, and only in this way, can we hope to better understand our backward neighbors throughout the world.” – Principal Skinner Happy birthday Sam Simon!
Quote of the Day
“Hey everybody, if you look real close, you can kinda make ’em out.” – Bart Simpson “Hey, yeah. Yeah! I think I can.” – Homer Simpson “I think this is sick, you’re staring at a dot.” – Marge Simpson Happy birthday Sam Simon!
Reading Digest: Sam Simon Knows What’s Up Edition
“Alright leeches, I want you to see what a good writer looks like!” – Roger Meyers Jr. This week we have some excellent usage, shoes, cool fan made stuff in the form of a word poster and some Simpsons checks and, most importantly, Sam Simon telling us what we already know. Enjoy. Via SNPP’s Twitter feed comes the truth from none other then Sam Simon himself: Amen. Check Designs – Seriously well done Simpsons check designs, one each for Bart, Lisa and Homer. Hank Azaria at the WSOP – This is a YouTube video of Hank Azaria talking about how the various characters he plays would do at poker. I’m not sure if it’s recent or if it’s been on-line for years, but it’s worth a minute of your time (via Scottys Blog). Dang, I Love “Word Art” Or Typography Or Whatever This Is – Bitchin’ poster of Homer as Homer quotes (sadly, there is some Zombie Simpsons, but not much). Others, for movies like Clerks and The Big Lebowski, can be found here. Fingers You Used Are Too Fat – There are many ways to not answer your phone. This one is awesome (via). More concerns over deformed fish – You cannot talk about deformed fish without mentioning Blinky. I think it’s a law or something. Glenn Beck Uses Pies and ‘Simpsons’ References to Illustrate Obama ‘Socialism’ (VIDEO) – There’s a lot of discussion about whether or not Joaquin Phoenix’s new movie is a massive put on or not. I think it’s clever marketing either way. But Phoenix ain’t got shit on our man Glenn Beck. He’s been nationally famous for coming up on two years now and still no one has any real idea what he’s doing. As performance art, it’s brilliant. (Note: The video at the link played a little commercial for me first, but that is why we have tabbed browsing.) If the 2010 Phillies Were Characters From The Simpsons – Pretty much exactly what it says it is. Hang in there, baby! – Cool drawing of a cat hanging in there, baby. It’s accompanied by a Marge screen grab that slightly misquotes her. She actually says “Determined or not that cat must be long dead”, but it’s very close so it’s still excellent usage. Simpsons Theme – A Simpsons theme for Google Chrome. Nine Things We’ve Learned From The First Two Weeks of College Football 2010 – Being a big time college football coach comes with a lot of humiliating moments. Even given Tennessee’s recent history, this is pretty bad for head coach Derek Dooley: “We’ve had a few staph infections, so we did a clinic yesterday on proper shower technique and soap and using a rag, Dooley said. We put some new rags in — y’all think I’m kidding, but I’m serious. We had, I told them, the worst shower discipline of any team I’ve ever been around. Which prompts this wonderful snark: Oh, the questions this raises…How bad at showering and cleaning yourself…
Quote of the Day
“Can it be that the champion of child literacy can’t even read himself?” – Judge Snyder “Is it a crime to be illiterate?” – Krusty the Klown “Alright, alright, see this, Krusty? This is a B, and this is Exhibit B: betting slips! Obtained by this court, indicating you have lost substantial sums of money on sports gambling!” – Prosecutor “Is it a crime to bet on sporting events?” – Krusty the Klown “Yes, it is!” – Prosecutor “Oh.” – Krusty the Klown Happy birthday Sam Simon!