The Simpsons

[SuperBacon]

15 minutes ago, wordsfromlee said:

But when they do an episode that involves the family going to a different major US city, it's just 20 minutes of them saying how amazing the place is.

Apart from New York.

[gmoney]

12 hours ago, wordsfromlee said:

This was my bible growing up. I took it everywhere with me and would always have it to hand when watching the show so I could read about the episode along with it. Basically like reading the episodes IMDB page. It lists all the episodes, and their writer/director/release date/couch gag/characters featured/homages to other movies & TV/trivia/notes. Proper nerd shit. There aren't even any pictures. I loved it though.

 

I got this out of the library when I was a kid, and the librarian warned me and my mum that it was a a bit dull and not Simpsons stories or anything. Oh dear Mr Librarian, you hath misjudged me...

[Chest Rockwell]

1 hour ago, wordsfromlee said:

I agree that the golden era was packed full of jokes, but the modern stuff seems to have every single line of dialog as a joke, whether is needs it/it works or not.

So it's the quality of the joke writing then, rather than the number of jokes.. I do get what you're saying though. 

[Tommy!]

From what little I've seen of the really modern stuff it's fine enough, it's not series 2 to 10 but it's serviceable family friendly light entertainment.

The ones I can't watch are the run of series after that early peak where seemingly every episode felt like it was built around the thought it'll be hilarious for homer to be both an idiot and a massive cunt each week with little else spooned in for plot, depth  or humor.

[Lorne Malvo]

Homer getting raped by a panda was the tipping point for me. Absolutely mean-spirited shite that was a million miles away from the original ethos of The Simpsons. I've watched a couple of recent episodes and they're fine, but still nowhere near the glory days of Bart Of Darkness.

"Grace, come here. There's a sinister-looking kid I want you to see."

[lanky316]

2 hours ago, Tommy! said:

From what little I've seen of the really modern stuff it's fine enough, it's not series 2 to 10 but it's serviceable family friendly light entertainment.

The ones I can't watch are the run of series after that early peak where seemingly every episode felt like it was built around the thought it'll be hilarious for homer to be both an idiot and a massive cunt each week with little else spooned in for plot, depth  or humor.

 

All a part of the aforementioned Flanderization of characters. Homers idiocy is funny so let's play that up, and forget that while Homer has always been an idiot but his heart is in the right place. Having his stupidity leading to him being painfully selfish and obnoxious become his main trait and forget the heart of it all and it's neither particularly funny or offer any chance of poignance. In the past you'd get the odd episode of difficulty between Homer and Marge, due to either internal or external factors, but the love was so strong and evident that you could see why Marge keeps him around due to how loving and caring he is despite his flaws.. In later episodes the "why does Marge put up with him?" becomes a lot harder to explain away.

[wordsfromlee]

It's been on so long that theres now two different origin stories for Homer and Marge's relationship. One set in the 70s and one in the 90s.

[LCJ]

Old Simpsons (‘89 until say, ‘98) was superb TV. Well written and very funny most of the time. I’ve watched some new episodes and while the animation quality is arguably better, the quality of the episodes are not. I think that while the Simpsons still makes big money around the world though, it’ll stay on TV. Blows my mind that an animation series can last 34 years though.

[RedRooster]

I’ve started watching from the show from season one, with a new baby in the house I kind of need something that doesn’t require much focus. Season 1 is much better than I remembered, although it’s bizarre watching it knowing that 33 seasons follow. 

[gmoney]

1 hour ago, LCJ said:

Blows my mind that an animation series can last 34 years though.

Maybe a conversation for another thread one day, because it's a completely different medium, but you've reminded me of my occasional fascination with long running American newspaper comic strips. The Kazenjammer Kids and Gasoline Alley  both ran over a hundred years, and the second one is still going today. And it sounds shit. They all do. 

Edited August 19, 2023 by gmoney

[Mr_Danger]

7 hours ago, lanky316 said:

All a part of the aforementioned Flanderization of characters. Homers idiocy is funny so let's play that up, and forget that while Homer has always been an idiot but his heart is in the right place. Having his stupidity leading to him being painfully selfish and obnoxious become his main trait and forget the heart of it all and it's neither particularly funny or offer any chance of poignance. In the past you'd get the odd episode of difficulty between Homer and Marge, due to either internal or external factors, but the love was so strong and evident that you could see why Marge keeps him around due to how loving and caring he is despite his flaws.. In later episodes the "why does Marge put up with him?" becomes a lot harder to explain away.

The peak of this was in the film. How can they get something so pivotal about the main character wrong. It’s not like he needed evolving or anything but he certainly didn’t need devolving.

[SuperBacon]

26 minutes ago, gmoney said:

Maybe a conversation for another thread one day, because it's a completely different medium, but you've reminded me of my occasional fascination with long running American newspaper comic strips. The Kazenjammer Kids and Gasoline Alley  both ran over a hundred years, and the second one is still going is still going today. And it sounds shit. They all do. 

These dickheads are the worst.

I don't even know how I know them, but it winds me up so much. 

[Jazzy G]

On 8/18/2023 at 9:06 PM, Bellenda Carlisle said:

I quite like some of this guy's Simpsons deep dives https://youtube.com/@TheRealJims

 

He's really good. I did used to listen to Everything's Coming Up Simpsons, but they changed their name (I think to "Round Springfield") and I kind of lost track of it. 

I loved it as a kid. I remember half jokingly saying to my mum at the end of Who Shot Mr Burns part 1 that it was probably Maggie or something silly, then being flabbergasted by the reveal. There are some amazing episodes. A friend of my mum's gave me a 3 hour video with 12 random season 1 episodes in it that I watched to death, I had a couple of the other home video releases as well. I used to dip back in now and again to watch an episode once in a while, and it had its moment.

A friend and I are obsessed with the meme juggernaut that is Steamed Hams and all the various edits of it on YouTube, and I remember us bring in fits of Hysterics at the Incredible Hulk melon baller gag in the episode where Skinner and Mr Krabappel split up. 

Every time I fire up Disney+ The Simpsons is right there on the home page, and I'm really tempted to give it all a watch, except the Michael Jackson episode, of course. 

@SuperBaconI think Love Is used to be in the Mail on Sunday pull out comics. When I was a kid my mum and my gran and I would go round to my great aunt and uncle's and he'd read the comics to me. I remember being there during the 1986 World Cup, and I used to have my juice in a mug with Narajita from the 82 World Cup on it. He somehow ended up being called Pedro Orange. 

Edited August 20, 2023 by jazzygeofferz

[air_raid]

7 hours ago, jazzygeofferz said:

A friend of my mum's gave me a 3 hour video with 12 random season 1 episodes in it that I watched to death, I had a couple of the other home video releases as well.

This was my story (similar) as a kid. My mate Simon who’s the one whose Hasbros and trading cards got me into the WWF, also got me into Simpsons. His family money and thus had Sky when nobody in my town did yet so having seen a bit, he lent me his tape which had Principal Charming, Bart The Daredevil, Bart Gets Hit By A Car, One Fish Two Fish Blowfish Blue Fish, The Way We Was, Homer vs Lisa & The 8th Commandment and, umm, Principal Charming again. In that order. I made a scart to scart copy and eventually wrapped a vhs box in paper and coloured it with felt tips to mimic the Simpsons Collection design and made up episode titles as they didn’t bare onscreen titles (apart from, really incongruously, Bart Gets Hit By A Car) and drew a crude picture of Bart on his skateboard in his skull and crossbones vest half way up a grassy slope and entitled the release “Bart The Daredevil”. I copied the design from this, which I’d just had for Christmas ;

Eventually I got the Call Of The Simpsons tape too then the year after they did the redesigned boxes with the Halloween Special and Treehouse of Horror releases too but progress on the collection was slow as most of my pocket money went on Hasbros or Silver Vision at the time.

Childhood working how it does, those six episodes from s2 in particular have always been my benchmark for when the show had found it’s feet and delivered on what it was when it was at its best ; all the familial drama and conflicts to resume, interesting but never unrealistic events, perfect handling of but no over reliance on Burns, Moe, Barney, Dr Hibbert, Flanders, Krusty, Apu, Skinner, Krabapel, Patty & Selma, Grandpa, Otto etc (no, none of them show up every episode nor should they, they’re peripheral to the family, who the shows about) and great introductions to Lionel Hutz, Dr Nick and Troy McClure. But nobody outshines the family or has a role bigger than they should. And of course, it’s funny. And as minor nerd note I feel the musical score is the best in s2 that it ever was.

As an aside, in remembering the brilliant cable episode (I took a stab at “The Simpsons Get Cable” on my homemade box) I chuckled thinking about the beleaguered Miss Albright, the Sunday School teacher, and wondered if she was unnecessarily fleshed out later like Comic Book Guy and the sea captain etc. I always found it odd how they went round to talk to Akira at the Happy Sumo in the Mr Sparkle episode, like it was pulling at straws to randomly return to the restaurant from Blowfish, but in hindsight maybe it’s perfectly in keeping with small town America where everyone knows everyone and nobody ever seems to leave. Either way, s2-3 was a peak for me.

[SuperBacon]

16 minutes ago, air_raid said:

I always found it odd how they went round to talk to Akira at the Happy Sumo in the Mr Sparkle episode

Not really. It just stands to reason that he's the only Japanese person they know.

Hey chief, let's talk, why not?

Edited August 20, 2023 by SuperBacon