“You kids don’t know what you want! That’s why you’re still kids, cause you’re stupid! Just tell me what’s wrong with the freakin’ show!” – Roger Meyers Jr. I just did something I didn’t think I’d ever do: put The Simpsons Movie back on my Netflix queue. Prior to now, I’ve seen it two and a half times. The first was in the theater, and I was disappointed. The second was a few days later when, out of respect for one of the few genuinely clever jokes, I downloaded it illegally and watched it with a couple of other real Simpsons fans (Mad Jon included). They were about as disappointed as I was. The half time was when I got it from Netflix shortly after it came out on DVD and tried to give it a second chance. I turned it off. Twice, it turns out, was more than enough. What caused me to want to wade back in was this two year old piece from Bob Mackey (not the original): Listening to the commentary, it wasn’t shocking to hear current showrunner and head writer Al Jean explicitly state, "We made this movie for people who don’t watch the show," nor was I surprised when the discussion of every joke and scene eventually led to a discussion of said joke/scene’s effect on test audiences (and in some cases, which specific test audience liked or didn’t like certain things). Most filmmakers despise the idea of test audiences, as they often force movies to be dumbed down for the lowest common denominator; on The Simpsons Movie, however, the writers embraced the idea of the test audience. The commentary discussion made the writers’ relationship with test audiences sound like an elaborate courtship ritual: they would change joke after joke after joke until test audiences stopped thinking things were "too scary," or when certain jokes were too subtle to make anyone laugh. And from the obscenely self-congratulatory tone of the commentary, it didn’t seem like the writers cared that they had to rewrite jokes multiple times–often getting rid of funnier alternatives–in order to win the favor of fickle test audiences. Oh, and surprise, surprise; test audiences laughed the hardest at pain jokes, which explains why the movie is full of so many uncreative, unfunny instances of "Man fall down… funny." Prior to reading those paragraphs of horror, I had no interest in ever seeing the movie again. But Lies Make Baby Jesus Cry, and now I have no choice but to document the atrocities. It ought to be up sometime next week. Mackey, who writes under the screen name bobservo (I love his brother Tom), was kind enough to literally flatter us with a link. In that post he adds further weight to the idea that the continued production of Zombie Simpsons is primarily motivated by merchandising dollars: I’ve always held a somewhat reasonable conspiracy theory that his return to the show in 2001 was for the sole purpose of making The Simpsons "softer"…
Tag: The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show
Out of Frame, Out of Mind
“I have to go now, my planet needs me.” – Poochie There is a lot to dislike about last night’s craptacular Zombie Simpsons. But I’d like to draw your attention to what may be it’s most persistent conceit: the dropping of characters, sometimes right in the middle of a scene. First, consider the scene where Lisa is briefly popular before Ms. Hoover illogically shows up on the playground to hand back her corrected test. Is there any reason for Hoover to be on the playground at that moment? Was this so critical that she ran screaming out of the teacher’s lounge after realizing her mistake? Of course not, but the episode needed Lisa to get the test back then and there and so Hoover appeared as if conjured from thin air. Then this callous disregard for the audience is compounded as the other children surround and taunt Lisa. That seems like the kind of thing Hoover would’ve stopped. Was she still there? Was she helping the other kids taunt Lisa? Did she vanish back into thin air? The instant her presence was no longer required, she disappeared. This exact same thing happens numerous times in this episode. The entire “other” fourth grade shows up, and then they all vanish for the rest of the episode. Not only do we never see most of them again (including the teacher), but we never even visit the classroom where the kids are force to share their desks again. Yet another example is towards the end, Ralph shows up wearing a swimsuit so the show can attempt to make a joke out of “flotus”, and then he’s gone. No explanation, no reason, just gone. But the most egregious example are the lawyer parents. Their threat to sue the school is theoretically the point on which the entire A-plot turns, and yet it’s over in one scene. They show up in Skinner’s office . . . and then are never heard from again. We see them briefly at that clock eating assembly, but they don’t speak. We never find out if they’re satisfied with the school’s response, we never see them with their daughter again. Just like Hoover on the playground and the other fourth grade class, they’re gone in a flash once they are no longer needed. Family Guy takes a lot of flak for putting many of its jokes in flashbacks that are unrelated to the plot, or even to the scene at hand. But what Zombie Simpsons is doing here (and this is far from the only episode in which they’ve done this) is even worse than that. A flashback is a relatively well understood concept, one that’s employed in a lot of narrative fiction. It can be overused, it can be used poorly, but the concept itself is sound. But having characters appear and disappear at random? Even a comedy sketch with no outside plot whatsoever wouldn’t do that. Individual scenes should never require these kinds of desperate storytelling shortcuts. …
Crazy Noises: The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show
“Excuse me, but ‘pro-active’ and ‘paradigm’, aren’t these just buzzwords that dumb people use to sound important? Not that I’m accusing you of anything like that. I’m fired aren’t I?” – Itchy & Scratchy Writer “Oh, yes.” – Roger Meyers Jr. In an attempt to fill the summer with love, hate and pointless Simpsons commentary we at the Dead Homer Society are going to spend some time overthinking Season 8. Why Season 8? Because Season 8 is when The Simpsons really began to deteriorate into Zombie Simpsons. That’s why. Because we’re cutting edge and ultra-modern we’re using a newfangled, information-superhighway fad called a “chatroom” to conduct our conversation. This text has been edited for clarity and spelling (especially on “scotch” and “crotch”). Today’s episode is 814, “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show“, and tomorrow is 820 “The Canine Mutiny“. Charlie Sweatpants: I hadn’t seen the Poochie episode in years and there’s a reason. It’s bad. Mad Jon: It had been a while since I last watched the Poochie episode too but I think the first 5 minutes are almost perfect Dave: I might be the outlier here, but I enjoy the Poochie episode Mad Jon: Right up through the writers meeting where they come up with Poochie Charlie Sweatpants: Okay, I may be more down on this one than you guys. Though I’ll agree that the first part is the best part of the episode. Mad Jon: But yeah, the rest is meh Its like going to see a fireworks show where the finale is a bunch of autistic kids holding sparklers Dave: I guess I just enjoyed the poking fun of the hardcore fans i.e. us Charlie Sweatpants: Those are some of the parts I did like, the nerds in the comic book store are funny, especially when the one gets put in his place and then quietly eats his candy bar. Mad Jon: No, there is definitely a bit of self-defense/first strike stuff going on there And once again Homer working but not in the nuclear plant is a crap-fest Charlie Sweatpants: The problem I have is that the whole thing just feels too meta. They know Poochie isn’t funny, but they do it anyway and try to bring themselves in on the joke with Roy, but ultimately the whole thing is an exercise in not being funny on purpose and the fans just have to take it. Mad Jon: And I have never been able to defend any tv show that ends an episode with the fuzz on screen Charlie Sweatpants: Well, let’s not go nuts. Homer vs Lisa and the 8th Commandment ends with fuzz. Mad Jon: Oh that’s right Dave: Yeah, I didn’t mind the fuzz Mad Jon: Sorry, sorry everyone Still, weak ending Dave: It’s heavy handed to be sure See, I think the meta-ness is what works for me Charlie Sweatpants: Go on. Dave: We’re in on the joke and the combination of Poochie and Roy’s unfunniness comes together – think the rake…
Simpsons stamps to make life worthwhile
“The airplane’s upside down.” – Homer Simpson Downtrodden philatelists rejoice – the United States Postal Service has heard your desperate, needy pleas and in an act of noblesse oblige, will finally loose a series of Simpsons-themed stamps for public comsumption. In conjunction with the Fox marketing machine, these stamps are obviously intended to be another salvo in what is sure to be a clusterfuck of a Simpsons 20th anniversary media onslaught later this year. The 44-cent first class stamps will be previewed on April 9th; no word yet as to when they’ll be released into nerds’ greedy, greasy mitts. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll even get an episode where the stamps are featured in some dreadful cross-promotional plot. Hey, we can dream, can’t we? Via Reuters.