The Simpsons

how old are you exactly?

who was that aimed at?

I like Futurama a lot but to suggest it was at any point better than peak period Simpsons is crazy

I dont agree! Not entirely.

I didnt say Futurama was better than all Simpsons. I said it's in a different league. Apples n oranges. When Futurama appeared it was a breath of fresh air compared to Simpsons - not talking down to its damn audience as much, imo.

The veneration for S2-8 of the Simpsons has always been deeply weird, to me. Its good, but theres plenty good later on, there's plenty good in season one, and I cant help but wonder if people who lament it sharkjumping that early on are people who like, havent actually *watched* it much since it orginally aired and are leaning on memories.

And Im not sure what my age has to do with anything. (fwiw I've seen both shows right from their beginnings and have all of them on DVD, if that helps?)

"In a different league" doesn't mean the same thing as "apples and oranges"

and to say the two shows aren't comparable is kind of weird anyway

There are Futurama episodes I personally think shit all over much of the Simpsons, thats all I'm sayin. I just dont agree with frogs's assertion that implied when it came out people were saying "pffff its no Simpsons". They werent, no one I knew was anyway.

xpost well no of course there's comparable areas, theyre both Groening shows! Anyway.

I'll tell you what really lost its quality control, is Life In Hell.

tbh I haven't read it since it was 16 panels of Akbar & Jeff talking about Bush and WMDs

Haha :D Does he even still do LiH? I have a couple of hardcover books of it stashed away at home somewhere.

xpost

Now, that really is apples & oranges inasmuch as you believe the almost nonexistent input Groening had on the creative process of either The Simpsons or Futurama. That Simpsons oral history was an eye-opening tome, I tells ya.

I know Futurama is really Cohen's baby. But the genesis of it was def both him and Groening, doodling bored in Simpsons meetings, coming up with the idea for a sci-fi cartoon.

"theyre both Groening" shows doesnt mean "he writes and draws every episode himself! By hand! omg heeroe!~"

tbh I haven't read it since it was 16 panels of Akbar & Jeff talking about Bush and WMDs

Me neither. And my alt weekly stopped running it so I have no idea if it is any good or not these days.

xpost

No, seriously, in that oral history, several people pretty blatantly say that Groening was largely hands-off from the start. Like, "do some doodles and collect a check" hands-off.

well, he's the creator. it's his drawing style, his characters, his general sense of humor. at a certain point it doesn't really matter how much else he did beyond that.

Thanks to ILX, I've finally come to fully understand the purpose behind that old term paper saw about restating the thesis in your closing statement.

The veneration for S2-8 of the Simpsons has always been deeply weird, to me. Its good, but theres plenty good later on, there's plenty good in season one, and I cant help but wonder if people who lament it sharkjumping that early on are people who like, havent actually *watched* it much since it orginally aired and are leaning on memories.

S1 is pretty great too, but yes, I've watched the 'classic' ones whenever I could, and they're still great

Around me the Simpsons and Futurama got compared A LOT, even though we knew you're not really supposed to

well, he's the creator. it's his drawing style, his characters, his general sense of humor. at a certain point it doesn't really matter how much else he did beyond that.

part of what i like about the first couple seasons is that it's very groening-ish humor -- like, you can read 'childhood is hell' and 'school is hell' and watch those episodes and recognize that, whether he wrote any of it or not, it's definitely stamped with his sense of humor and general outlook on life. i haven't read that oral history but i assume he had at least some more input in the early days?

the only episode that matt groening actually wrote, 'colonel homer' (where homer is lurleen lumpkin's manager), has always been one of my least favorites.

uh, 'whether he wrote any of it or not' referring to the simpsons, not LIH.

I remember being all excited when I heard that the Life In Hell guy was going to have his own animated show (I somehow missed the Tracey Ullman shorts). I hoped that the series would spend a season on an animated version of Groening's 5th grade diary (from School Is Hell). I'm glad it didn't, though.

When Futurama appeared it was a breath of fresh air compared to Simpsons - not talking down to its damn audience as much, imo.

lack of back-patting science nerd references /= "talking down"

i think the tracey ullman shorts are great but apparently few other ppl do since they've never been released on dvd (unless there's some rights issue or something).

Yeah, I used to check the ...In Hell collections out of the library (and subsequently sneak them into the house) all the time in elementary school, so I was on top of it when Ullman started.

somedude: granted, but I guess I also meant that it does that nerdlolz without stopping to blatantly explain it, whereas - to me anyway - it feels like the Simpsons (like Family Guy) sometimes overexplain a ref/joke/thing/person.

Certainly, they do so NOW, but that isnt what we were talking about, so fair cop.

"Pureed Moods (Trayce)
Posted: 22 May, 2012 19:38:12
And Im not sure what my age has to do with anything. (fwiw I've seen both shows right from their beginnings and have all of them on DVD, if that helps?)"

There is a bit on How I Met Your Mother where Barney postulates that if you watched Star Wars prior to the age of 8, you'd love the ewoks because they're cute versus hating them for ruining the movie; this may come into it a bit. We were younger & Simpsons fresher when it started out..

...but I was 20 when the Simpsons started lol :|

THANKS YALL FEEL OLD NOW :(

deric, what's the title of that oral history? would like to check it out

LOL at Klassic Simpsons "talking down to its audience." That's . . . not the case? They put Ayn Rand jokes in, probably not figuring anyone would get them at all. Or stuff like:

Bart: I know that's funny, but I'm just not laughing. [taps head]
Lisa: Hmm. Pablo Neruda said, "Laughter is the language of the soul."
Bart: I am familiar with the works of Pablo Neruda.

But yeah, Futurama was a very different animal. I had different expectations from them and got different things. But I will disagree w/Trayce on The veneration for S2-8 of the Simpsons has always been deeply weird, to me. Its good, but theres plenty good later on, there's plenty good in season one, and I cant help but wonder if people who lament it sharkjumping that early on are people who like, havent actually *watched* it much since it orginally aired and are leaning on memories.

I'll go as far out as season 13 in saying there was still more good than bad, and I've watched fairly loyally over the years for the one or two episodes per season that provide a ton of laughs and pleasure, but almost never (and that almost is a very generous hedge) do the reach the dizzying heights of classic after classic like season 4 or 5.

shaving my shoulders... i'm gettin it all shaved off

Season 1 of the Simpsons is a revelation. SMH at anyone who thinks otherwise

deric, what's the title of that oral history? would like to check it out

I think it's An Uncensored, Unauthorized History of The Simpsons? The cover looks like this:

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/wp-content/uploads/ortvedsimpsons.gif

awww, sorry Trayce! What I was getting at is that the Simpsons are something we (I) *grew up with* instead of just having the option to check them out as an adult (which is when Futurama came onto my radar. Which I like, but only find okay.)

thanks! will seek out xp

I hear that simpsons history is bad news fwiw

In what way? I mean, some of the key players didn't participate, but the people who did (including Conan) were legit. I read it and it was pretty revealing without being, y'know, salacious or whatever.

i found it second hand on amazon for a penny, will take my chances at that price tbh

dead homer society just released an ebook on the decline of the simpsons. Could be interesting...

what the fuck is that

this is fun
http://moviesimpsons.tumblr.com/

i love that

just saw the "Try-n-save" episode where Brat shoplifts Bonestorm and that episode is classic as ever, it's not just a nostalgia thing, this show was awesome

Bart

don't question the man, Brat

do the bratman

"Just take it! Takeittakeittakeittakeit! Take it!"

"How's that game gonna help your putting, son?"