“Dad, can I talk to you something?” – Bart Simpson “Sure, boy, what’s on your mind?” – Homer Simpson “Well, I was wondering, how important is it to be popular?” – Bart Simpson “I’m glad you asked, son. Being popular is the most important thing in the world!” – Homer Simpson “So, like, sometimes you could do stuff that you think is pretty bad so other kids will like you better?” – Bart Simpson “You’re not talking about killing anyone, are you?” – Homer Simpson “No.” – Bart Simpson “Are you?!” – Homer Simpson “No!” – Bart Simpson “Then run…
Tag: The Telltale Head
Quote of the Day
“Nice dismount, man.” – Jimbo Jones “Didn’t hurt.” – Bart Simpson “Oh, yeah, well, do it again.” – Kearney “Nah. Might land on my face and end up looking like you.” – Bart Simpson Happy 30th anniversary to “The Telltale Head”!
Quote of the Day
“Look! It’s glorious!” – Dr. Marvin Monroe“It’s beautiful, man.” – Otto“I love you, Smithers.” – C.M. Burns“The feeling is more than mutual, sir.” – Mr. Smithers
Makeup Quote of the Day
“Jebediah Obadiah Zachariah Jedediah Springfield came west in 1838. Along the way he met a ferocious bear and killed him with his bare hands. That’s b-a-r-e hands. Although modern historians recently uncovered evidence that the bear, in fact, probably killed him.” – TV Narrator
Quote of the Day
“Murderous mob! I beg you to spare our lives! At least until you’ve heard the story of how we ended up with the head of our beloved town founder.” – Bart Simpson “How long will this story take?” – Barney Gumble “About twenty-three minutes and five seconds.” – Bart Simpson “That’s too long!” – Mob Member
Quote of the Day
“Homer, you embarrassed us in front of the whole congregation! And today’s sermon was one you should’ve really listened to.” – Marge Simpson “What was it about?” – Homer Simpson “Gambling.” – Marge Simpson “Oh. He didn’t by any chance say that under certain circumstances it was alright, did he?” – Homer Simpson “No!” – Marge Simpson
Quote of the Day
“Will my dog Pepper be there?” – Janie “I’m sorry, but the answer is no.” – Sunday School School Teacher “Why not?” – Janie “Because Heaven is for people.” – Sunday School Teacher “What about my cat, Snowball?” – Lisa Simpson “I’m sorry, but the answer is no.” – Sunday School Teacher “Will there be cavemen in Heaven?” – Milhouse van Houten “Certainly not!” – Sunday School Teacher “Um, ma’am, what if you’re a really good person but you’re in a really really bad fight and your leg gets gangrene and it has to be amputated, will it be waiting…
Quote of the Day
“Ooh, look at this one: The Hammer of Thor. It will send your pins to . . . Valhalla? Lisa?” – Homer Simpson “Valhalla is where Vikings go when they die.” – Lisa Simpson “Oh, that’s some ball.” – Homer Simpson
Quote of the Day
“Good going, son! But remember, most lynch mobs aren’t this nice.” – Homer Simpson Happy birthday Sam Simon!
The Telltale Head Spews Truth
Today’s post is another installment in our long-running “series” of DVD commentary posts; the lucky victim this time is Season 1’s classic “The Telltale Head.” Featured speakers on the commentary are the episode’s director Rich Moore and writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss. I’ll keep it short and simple (read: descriptive and lacking in any meaningful/substantive analysis), but here are the highlights from their conversation for me: (Times are approximate) 00:17 – Supposedly there were a lot of Elvis sightings when this episode was written, hence the chalkboard gag 00:31 – Early intro didn’t have Burns or Smithers in the…
Permanent Record: Jimbo Jones
“That one looks like a school bus going over a cliff in flames with kids inside screaming.” – Jimbo Jones Like any other organization or group of people, a school has a natural hierarchy. The adults are separate from the kids, obviously, but even within groups there are levels and layers. For the adults there are staff and faculty, for the students there are grades, gender, circles of friends and lots of other ways the students sort themselves out. One of the things that made Springfield Elementary so compelling and recognizable as a place, even though it’s fictional and inhabited…
Quote of the Day
“Well, that’s my story. And if you still want to tear apart this young Sunday school student as he stands on the brink of salvation, I await your wrath.” – Bart Simpson “Aww.” – Crowd “Somehow I don’t feel like killing anymore.” – Krusty the Klown “Neither do I.” – Mrs. Krabappel
Highlights from Jay Kogen on Reddit
“Alright, Kogen’s got Wolodarsky open in the end zone . . . he throws it . . . it’s complete, touchdown!” – Radio Announcer Yesterday, Jay Kogen, one of the original writers who departed in Season 4, went on Reddit for one of their “Ask Me Anything” posts. He talked a lot about the old days of the show, working with Bryan Cranston on Malcolm in the Middle, and just television writing generally. I’ve pulled some of the highlights below, though there is much, much more at the link. Turns out they had to fight for one everyone’s favorite sequences:…
Compare & Contrast: Social Relations Among Male Juveniles
“You don’t need an introduction, you’re the worst kid in school.” – Bart Simpson “Thanks.” – Jimbo Jones Among the many, many things that made The Simpsons great that Zombie Simpsons has lost and/or squandered is any sense of relating to the characters or even simple reality. For all of its energy and outlandish plots, on The Simpsons you always knew that the people involved were reacting in a way that real people might react. The characters had character, and they stayed within those bounds. Homer gets involved in outrageous situations, but he’s still a bungling amateur. Even when Marge…
Reading Digest: Bart Flickr Edition
“Ready for inspection, Mom.” – Lisa Simpson “Very nice, Maggie. And Lisa, you look lovely. Bart, assume the position.” – Marge Simpson This week we’ve got two Flickr users putting Bart to creative use, one thanks to a big street mural, the other with a statue. There’s also some excellent usage, an apathetic Zombie Simpsons fan, lots of short YouTube clips, and new blog that holds the promise of cool Simpsons stuff. Oh, and Lenny Tunes was killin’ it this week. Enjoy. Love is in the Air in Springfield and ‘The Simpsons’ Fans Get to Play Cupid – FOX is…
Reading Digest: Bart vs. The Space Mutants Edition
“Oh, cool man, Space Mutants 4, drop me off, drop me off!” – Bart Simpson “No way Jose.” – Marge Simpson “Marge, they’re only space mutants.” – Homer Simpson “I know what those movies are like, killing innocent people, eating human flesh. You just get a lot of bad ideas.” – Marge Simpson Two links this week to the original Simpsons video game, “Bart vs. The Space Mutants”. It came out during Season 2, which is why the “Space Mutants” of the title are the ones from “The Telltale Head”, not Kang and Kodos. If you’re under the age of…
Quote of the Day
“Lisa, Bart, what did you two learn in Sunday school today?” – Marge Simpson “The answers to deep, theological questions.” – Lisa Simpson “Yeah, among other things, apes can’t get into heaven.” – Bart Simpson “What? Those cute little monkeys? That’s terrible, who told you that?” – Homer Simpson “Our teacher.” – Bart Simpson “I can understand how they wouldn’t let in those wild, jungle apes, but what about those really smart ones who live among us, who roller skate and smoke cigars?” – Homer Simpson
Watching It All Again (& A Little Season 1 Context)
“Okay now look, my boss is gonna be at this picnic so I want you to show your father some love and or respect.” – Homer Simpson “Tough choice.” – Lisa Simpson “I’m picking respect.” – Bart Simpson Over at her new blog, commenter Kokairu has gone back to the beginning, all the way. She’s watching everything Simpsons, starting with the shorts and going from there. Part 1 is about the Tracey Ullman shorts; Part 2 deals with the question of which was really the “first” episode. While I’ve never gone back and watched all the shorts, I think this…
Quote of the Day
“You know Bart, I’ve been kicked out of all four Space Mutant movies.” – Jimbo Jones Happy birthday Tress MacNeille!
Bonus Quote of the Day
“The ventriloquist goes to heaven, but the dummy doesn’t.” – Sunday School Teacher “Oh oh oh, me!” – Bart Simpson “Bart.” – Sunday School Teacher “What about a robot with a human brain?” – Bart Simpson “I don’t know! All these questions, is a little blind faith too much to ask?” – Sunday School Teacher Happy 20th Anniversary to “The Telltale Head”!