The Simpsons

noooooo

They brought Monroe back to life apparently.

I missed that one too.

fan service

Although it was never specifically shown Dr. Monroe was considered to have died. He stopped appearing on TV and his business closed down. Many people in Springfield also believed him to be dead because several things had been named after him, such as the Marvin Monroe Memorial Hospital[7] and the Marvin Monroe Memorial Gymnasium.[8] His grave is also shown,[9] and Troy McClure reported his death "over the past year".[10] However, several years later, he spontaneously appeared at Marge's book signing, buying a copy of her book The Harpooned Heart. Marge, shocked to see him, said that she thought he was dead. Dr. Monroe explained that he had "been very sick".[11]

...

After all that shit, killing him off as a hook for an episode would be kind of funny.

This has probably been asked like a dozen times in this thread already, but who is The Simpsons for at this point? I can't imagine these damn kids today being into it, and the old-school diehards have mostly drifted away, I'm sure. There's been nothing special/captivating/unique/particularly funny about it the handful of times I've watched it in the last fifteen years so I don't understand how it maintains an audience or attracts new viewers, as I presume must be the case (Family Guy crossovers notwithstanding).

I feel like it's just this huge mass of sporadic viewers at this point. There's no actual fan base left. That might explain why it's impossible for them to tweak the formula or make big changes. Anyone watching now can only be assumed to have knowledge of Simpsons canon up to about season 12, and so they can't build upon or leverage jokes from any later.

I didn't intend to watch this, just left the TV too long on after football

This is probably a lot of the audience.

It's like whoever the hell Leno's audience was for all those years; I think it's more out of habit and "hm, someone left the tv on" than anything else.

I definitely would rewatch that couch gag again, I know it comes from an outside animator but that may be one the most WTF thing they've ever done

just watch rejected
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_TVAnd4qbs

the hertzfeldt couch bit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m78gYyTrG7Y

wow that is really good

"The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening is so angry with executive producer James L. Brooks for cross-promoting "The Critic" on this Sunday's episode that he has yanked his name from the credits.

...

"The two reasons I am opposed to this crossover is that I don't want any credit or blame for 'The Critic' and I feel this (encroachment of another cartoon character) violates the Simpsons' universe," Groening said. " 'The Critic' has nothing to do with the Simpsons' world."

He fears that fans of "The Simpsons" will "accuse us of making the crossover episode just to advertise 'The Critic.' That's why I've had my name removed on this episode."

http://www.tmz.com/2014/10/21/the-simpsons-frank-sivero-lawsuit-character-louie-goodfellas

Is there an expiration date for copyright lawsuits? Because apparently it took this guy 24 years to realize The Simpsons "stole" his character from The Goodfellas.

see Goodfellas thread

Coming soon, lawsuits from the estates of Jack Lemmon and Frank (EEE-Yeeeeeeessss?) Nelson.

http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/clamps_futurama.gif

Good fucking god JUST KILL THIS SHOW

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/simpsons-composer-alf-clausen-fired-1202543183/

Two-time Emmy winner Alf Clausen has been fired from “The Simpsons” after 27 years of providing music for Bart, Lisa, and company.

Clausen told Variety that he received a call from “Simpsons” producer Richard Sakai that the company was seeking “a different kind of music” and that he would no longer be scoring the longtime Fox hit.

Alf was called back to his planet?

psyched for the all-dubstep new episodes, coming this fall on fox

nothing but overused pop songs from now on

fully expect everyone to gradually die off/get fired at which point show will be entirely automated/AI-script driven

new music will turn the show around

i shouldn't even talk. i think i've seen 1 or 2 simpsons episodes from the last 5 years

i think it would have been interesting if the characters were permanently stuck in the late 80s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlRV6yxZUSQ

We already know what kind of music Richard Sakai likes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkmq2lR3fBM

http://www.tmz.com/2014/10/21/the-simpsons-frank-sivero-lawsuit-character-louie-goodfellas

Is there an expiration date for copyright lawsuits? Because apparently it took this guy 24 years to realize The Simpsons "stole" his character from The Goodfellas.

― Tuomas, Monday, October 27, 2014 12:58 AM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"The Goodfellas"

fully expect everyone to gradually die off/get fired at which point show will be entirely automated/AI-script driven

they must easily have enough voice samples of the cast on file for every possible eventuality, and god knows the scripts have felt computer-generated for years at this point, so it's gonna happen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xbyJGM1iUY

I've been listening to too much Chapo Trap House, they've referenced that gag many times

i think it would have been interesting if the characters were permanently stuck in the late 80s

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, August 30, 2017 10:39 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

iirc Homer is supposed to be 38 years old, so he is now p much a millennial

gah

Does anyone here still watch the Simpsons? I haven't seen a full episode since the end of season 10. I still really liked most of season 10, just stopped watching due to life reasons, mainly. I've subsequently heard most people say season 10 was the last good season. Either I was really lucky in choosing when to stop, or my post-season 10 perception is wrong.

So I guess my question is, when did the show reaaalllly fall off the cliff? Season 11, 12, later? I own seasons 3-10 on DVD. I'm going to start re-watching them soon, as it's been many years since I've last done so.

Here's what you missed

Lisa Simpson was killed by a massive brain hemorrhage after being struck in the head by a "non-lethal" round fired by a private security firm during a protest over the Dakota Access Pipeline in early 2016. Her death was ruled "accidental." She didn't vote.

— Jacob "Blockchain" Bacharach, LLC (@jakebackpack) February 22, 2018

I think the season 13 dvd set was when I realised, "This is actually a chore, I am not going to buy these anymore."

I've watched a few new episodes recently and imo the show is slightly less terrible than at its nadir (which I'd say was about 10 years ago) but also feels even more disconnected from 1990s Simpsons, it's just like a generic comedy cartoon now. the best jokes in the new episodes are generally bits that don't include any of the regular characters or anything specific to The Simpsons, the fact it's The Simpsons is now actively an impediment to it being any good

really weird to think that, with more than 600 episodes of the simpsons out there, i've probably seen less than half of them and that while a decent chunk of those episodes are some of the best tv ever made, i have no desire to seek out any of the ones i've missed out on

can't think of any other tv show that has that distinction

Last of the Summer Wine is the only thing I can think of with a similar ratio of great/terrible episodes

hmmm

1998, for me, was the last season with good episodes outnumbering bad; so I like to imagine that it was canceled that year out of respect for the memory of Phil Hartman.

that's one of those challops which might actually be true but which no force on earth could conceivably make me attempt to verify or refute xxp

looking again at the number of epiosodes, the % of Last of the Summer Wine that's good is probably lower than the % of The Simpsons that's good (though this will surely change if they keep making new episodes of the latter for much longer) but seriously, Last of the Summer Wine was great, certainly until Michael Bates left, and if they'd stopped it after 12 episodes or something they did with Fawlty Towers and Porridge etc then I think people would regard it as up there with them in quality.

I used to be of the opinion that it didn't matter that they kept making The Simpsons long after it stopped being funny rather than cancelling it, that the good episodes were still good so what was the problem, but it's annoying that whenever I see it on TV there's now a 70% chance that it will be one of the bad episodes. why do they even bother repeating the new episodes? just repeat the 90s episodes on a loop

soref pretty otm there. I catch an episode or two each year and they're honestly not all that bad, but they're definitely better when they're not actively trying to appeal to the old fans by bringing back one-off characters from 20 years ago. it plays like Simpsons fan-fiction now and I think the same exact crew making a totally different show would probably be a lot better, but what can ya do

last new Simpsons i saw was a retro episode where they actively ruined a beloved episode from the earlier seasons. "Kamp Krustier" revisited the season 4 episode and had a storyline about Bart & Lisa having PTSD from the experience. it was needless, unnecessary, unfunny, and ultimately pointless (the source of their PTSD was seeing a kid die, and it goes away when they realize it never happened).

i caught another new episode and in it Homer became a rap mogul and was also paired with a pet goose and the whole thing was embarrassing and tryhard

the movie was good tho. last decent thing they did

It's so ridiculous to me how easy it would be to make and market an amazing Simpsons season in the "peak TV" era.

Maybe there's just some sort of contractual deal to keep things cheap/easy/uncomplicated or some bureaucratic reason the wrong person or persons is in charge of the wrong thing or things. Ultimately, who cares tho

We dooo. We dooo.

The History of Hans Moleman:

https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/hans-moleman-simpsons-character-al-jean.html

liquors drunkened me

Jesus christ this "addressing the racism of Apu" episode is fucking painful

And racist

^^Speaking of...: https://www.thewrap.com/hank-azaria-wont-voice-apu-anymore-on-the-simpsons/