The Simpsons is running episode 400 tonight.
Let the trivia geeks have their day in the sun!
The part I think is the coolest: the show has literally been around for a generation:
“We’ve got writers now who are so young that they grew up watching the show,” [creator Matt] Groening said. “They’re always reminding those of us who have been around longer that we’ve already done a joke that somebody is pitching.”
However…:
His sitcom, “The Simpsons,” presents its 400th episode tonight, capping 18 seasons with no finish line in sight.
And the characters may just be hitting their stride.
By “hitting their stride”, does the writer mean “the show doesn’t suck anymore”?
Because I think it’s been a couple of years since the show was actually funny.
Please advise.
I stopped watching a few years ago – a hard habit to break, since I really loved the show, and have the first ten years memorized. But I’d watch a new episode, and the first ten minutes would provide no detectable mirth. The show that invented the term “meh” came to define it, too.
Ridiculous as it sounds, the first five years actually had heart. Then: “Lisa has a crush on her teacher.” Now: “An Amazonian razor-fish swims up Homer’s urethra!” Then: “Bart shoplifts.” Now: “Marge’s shoplifting addiction leads to a stint on a reality-show version of ‘Prison Break.’ Guest Star: Ricky Gervais.” It lost some soul as it aged, but it was still brilliant. Then it turned into a loud cardboard parade.
Incidentally, when Bush the Elder said the country needed more Waltons and less Simpsons, he probably drove off 20 million potential GOP voters.
You want geekery? Tell me the answer to this: What was the name of the comic strip that was Groening’s incubator for the Simpsons?
No Googleing. If you don’t know, be honest.
(Without looking)
Life in Hell?
That’s not geekery, Kermit! Name the rabbit. (And that’s still not geekery, but it’s getting close.)
Jeez – I don’t remember the rabbit, but I still have nightmares about Akbar and Jeff.
Don’t remember the rabbit? The strip was built around the rabbit!
Akbar and Jeff were Groening’s way of showing us he was busy. Twelve indistinguishable panels ending with the two guys touching index fingers. It never failed to fail to deliverl. When you compare those to the original Life in Hells, which were amazingly dense and generous, you can detect the exact moment when the TV money started rolling in.
(Binky was the rabbit.)
Doh!
I knew that!
I haven’t watched for years but will someone tell me: Did Bart ever find Amanda Huggendkiss? Hewould U. Cuddleme? Oliver Clothesoff? Mike Rotch? Hugh Jass?
I am appropriately humbled. Everything my 20 year old son says about blogging is true!
The Simpsons seem to have lost a bit over the years. I think it still has its moments, but after watching the 4th season on DVD (and a few 8-10 season episodes in syndication), it seems like they’ve exhausted a lot. I just hope the movie has some of the old-time spunk in it.
On the other hand, a 17th season episode of the Simpsons is still funnier than any episode of Family Guy. The one where we see Bart and Ralph in a band in the future (voted “Worst Episode Ever” by a few polls) is a witty and original compared to American Dad.
I saw one of the new Family Guys last night. Aaaaagh, how that show has decayed. I liked parts of its first run, but since it was “resurrected” it’s been just awful – like American Dad with Rhode Island accents. Wretched stuff.
I do remember enjoying the Simpsons with some coworkers during the early years of the show. Are current episodes “serious” and preachy, like the last years of “M.A.S.H.” and “All In The Family”?
I appreciate a random episode of Futurama more consistently than of Family Guy, but some of them have been pretty good.