i'd say the most likely return of "good simpsons" would be a spin-off focused on a single character that could exist outside of canon and the rules of the show and follow a single creator/pair of creators vision with a different art style. I don't know how many years away from that we are, maybe when they have to change the voice actors.
― G.A.G.S. (Gophers Against Getting Stuffed) (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 13 March 2021 17:22 (three years ago) link
Yeah I mean South Park is also in this situation, it’s on like Season 26 or something but it’s never had an extended run that was particularly good or bad. The problem the Simpsons has is it’s been so mediocre for so long that everything after Season 8 or 9 just doesn’t register, so like if you go on Bortposting it’ll only be references to 25 year old episodes, because they just assume everyone stopped watching after that.
That said if they got a decent writing staff nobody would care but idk how many talented tv writers would want to work on the Simpsons right now
― frogbs, Saturday, 13 March 2021 17:27 (three years ago) link
every sitcom writing class ever involves the room collaboratively writing an episode of the simpsons afaict so i think literally anyone could do it
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 13 March 2021 17:31 (three years ago) link
agreed that... why would Fox change the formula now? the ratings have been in slight decline, but to me more remarkably steady for the past 20 yearshttps://www.ratingraph.com/tv-shows/the-simpsons-ratings-3857/
― Nhex, Saturday, 13 March 2021 23:30 (three years ago) link
Awesome.
Holy shit, John Swartzwelder has given an actual interview. "Assembling a writing staff for a new show is difficult to do, because you’ve got to find people who are great at their jobs but who can’t find work anywhere.” https://t.co/XiJpzfI6i7— Elvis Buñuelo (@Mr_Considerate) May 2, 2021
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 2 May 2021 16:59 (two years ago) link
Words to live by: "Write what makes you laugh. At least you’ll get a laugh out of it."
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 2 May 2021 18:33 (two years ago) link
would love to read the Swartzwelder Fearless Fosdick script.
― JoeStork, Sunday, 2 May 2021 19:56 (two years ago) link
prob done on the back of the Dick Tracy movie's success? Yeah, i would've loved to see that too.
― Draymond is "Mr Dumpy" (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 2 May 2021 20:00 (two years ago) link
the all ighty ollar
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 5 November 2021 19:37 (two years ago) link
we did a mini Treehouse of Horror marathon over the Halloween weekend, some of those were really great!
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Friday, 5 November 2021 19:48 (two years ago) link
yea I've been watching them too, I remember them pretty well (I think I had like 6 of them recorded on VHS) but since they aren't in regular rotation during the other 11 months I don't see them often. I'm surprised at how fast paced they are. some of those scripts are super tight almost to the point where the plots make zero sense, not that this really matters
― frogbs, Friday, 5 November 2021 19:52 (two years ago) link
even with the seasons i dont like, i find i can always enjoy the treehouse of horror eps, bc being highly compressed, zany, nonsensical, and meta is part of the blueprint for those vs being an unfunny annoyance in the 'normal' eps
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Friday, 5 November 2021 20:40 (two years ago) link
Anyone else kinda weirded out by all the blood and violence at the end of last night's episode? I understood what they were going for, but it really struck me as being wildly off-brand and I was kind of disturbed by it.
― InternationalWaters, Monday, 8 November 2021 16:03 (two years ago) link
"I believe I'll start, as you've so often suggested, by eating your shorts" is one of my favorite line readings in the whole series
― frogbs, Monday, 8 November 2021 16:16 (two years ago) link
Yeah, last night's episode was unnerving with the bloody deaths of major characters not in the context of a treehouse of horrors.
― BrianB, Monday, 8 November 2021 19:30 (two years ago) link
Kudos for trying something new I guess. I’m not really sure who the audience for that was. Stand-off scene was at least pretty funny
― frogbs, Thursday, 16 December 2021 18:54 (two years ago) link
i never got into it as it bores the hell out of me!
― xzanfar, Sunday, 30 January 2022 17:45 (two years ago) link
Cool
― he's very big in the region of my butthole (Neanderthal), Sunday, 30 January 2022 18:11 (two years ago) link
I just rewatched "22 Short Films About Springfield" and it's amazing how like half the big Simpsons memes come from that episode alone. way ahead of its time I guess.
― frogbs, Monday, 31 January 2022 05:11 (two years ago) link
alright this show has gone long enough
Homer gets canceled, meets Joe Rogan in new 'Simpsons' episode https://t.co/q5MKNCWVVk pic.twitter.com/77fivcWaUH— New York Post (@nypost) March 15, 2022
― frogbs, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 20:36 (two years ago) link
Next episode, Homer gets covid, makes his whole family sick.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 20:39 (two years ago) link
Homer got cancelled in Season 6!
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 20:43 (two years ago) link
Randy Marsh went on the Wheel of Fortune in 2007
― a hoy hoy, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 20:47 (two years ago) link
haha I love the cut to Stan in the audience in that bit
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 20:51 (two years ago) link
Cartman was cancelled in 2005.
― everything, Tuesday, 15 March 2022 23:55 (two years ago) link
Not a defence, but it is worth clarifying that Rogan does not actually appear in the episode--something I had to read the article itself to find out.
― Les hommes de bonbons (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 00:02 (two years ago) link
I continue to pretend the Simpsons has been off the air for 2 decades.
I rewatched season 3 - 7 or thereabouts recently, even though I rewatched the first 9 seasons last year. still one of the most wondrous runs of television we'll ever witness
― 《Myst1kOblivi0n》 (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 00:06 (two years ago) link
I went to a friend's for Turning Red on d+ and we followed it with "Bart Sells His Soul" - was surprised to find they'd decropified it. so at least there's that. the last one I saw on there looked ghastly.
― sloop johnnin' skater (geoffreyess), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 01:14 (two years ago) link
There was outrage over the cropping of The Simpsons pretty early on, and Disney responded rather swiftly. I wish they'd do the same for other shows, though; we've been watching Buffy again and, while I can't remember if the series ever switched over to widescreen during its initial run, I highly doubt it was in that format the beginning of its run (again, not sure when widescreen became the norm).
― Les hommes de bonbons (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 01:24 (two years ago) link
it was post 2000 iircThe Wire wasn’t widescreen for instance
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 16 March 2022 08:27 (two years ago) link
but it is now on HBOMax
― Piven After Midnight (The Yellow Kid), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 14:23 (two years ago) link
It didn't truly become the standard until the broadcast HD switch-over in 2009, but most TV productions had already switched in the years immediately before then. Some earlier shows/productions were shot "protected for widescreen", meaning they were framed for both full-frame and widescreen, with the latter being insurance for later syndication (and eventually streaming & BluRay). I don't know if Buffy or The Wire were one of those though.
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 14:28 (two years ago) link
The Wire wasn't, but they went over the cropped version scene-by-scene to make sure everything worked.
http://davidsimon.com/the-wire-hd-with-videos/
― adam t. (abanana), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 18:56 (two years ago) link
on Buffy, they didn't: https://www.themarysue.com/remastered-buffy-is-a-butt/
― beepy fridges (sic), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 20:44 (two years ago) link
Did Joss write that url?
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 16 March 2022 20:58 (two years ago) link
I caught a new one a couple weeks ago called 'Pixelated and Afraid' that I thought was pretty good. Bit of a throwback, maybe because of covid that it was pretty much just Homer and Marge with one story line.
― earlnash, Wednesday, 16 March 2022 22:47 (two years ago) link
growing up I remember that Simpsons arcade game being everywhere we went and I don't think I ever made it past the second level. they have a cabinet at a bar I go to and even with $4 worth of quarters I couldn't get past the graveyard level. well today I went with my son to one of those day-pass arcade places and they had one so I told him, lets go we're beating this game today. there's so much of it I hadn't seen, including a genuinely bizarre dream level which is pretty damn out there by 90s arcade standards. its so freaking hard too. by the end I was using up a credit every minute or so. is anyone actually good at this game?
amusingly my son has a Simpsons chess set and a Simpsons backpack and has now played the Simpsons arcade game, I don't think he knows it's a TV show
― frogbs, Monday, 4 December 2023 04:59 (four months ago) link
Lol dude I get exhausted playing that game at the local free play.
― a very very unfair (Neanderthal), Monday, 4 December 2023 05:21 (four months ago) link
Double Dragon is much, much shorter
― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Monday, 4 December 2023 05:32 (four months ago) link
touched by your fun dad and son arcade experience, frogbs
― flopson, Monday, 4 December 2023 06:07 (four months ago) link
he has no idea how good he has it
― frogbs, Monday, 4 December 2023 14:40 (four months ago) link
I wish they let smithers be this evil on the show
https://64.media.tumblr.com/06398f409df0b3f4fa349e3fc66e0a1f/tumblr_oruio8GgKu1qhvf1mo1_1280.jpg
― Left, Monday, 4 December 2023 15:07 (four months ago) link
thats what makes the game interesting, it was released in 1991 while Season 2 was still airing, so it was mostly developed before the show started getting good. it's got that early Simpsons bootleg weirdness to it.
― frogbs, Monday, 4 December 2023 15:19 (four months ago) link
When you didn't have cable and your exposure to this show was all the merchandise and the arcade game, you thought it was going to be Bart in blue t-shirts, Bartman this, Bartman that
None of us knew it was actually going to be about the PTA disbanding and such
― hiroyoshi tins in (Sgt. Biscuits), Monday, 4 December 2023 15:27 (four months ago) link
tbf the show WAS very Bart-focused early on
― a very very unfair (Neanderthal), Monday, 4 December 2023 15:30 (four months ago) link
people had a lot of cows back then
― Left, Monday, 4 December 2023 15:45 (four months ago) link
thoughts on the postulated season 33+ "renaissance"? I've seen a few episodes and some of them were actually pretty good considering, you know. others not so much. at least it feels like some people on staff are actually trying for once. on the animation side it's a lot less bland than I remember it being for a couple of decades (the "new" opening is still a disgrace)
people have always blamed new writers for ruining the show but if anything it's the old harvard boys in charge (who haven't been hungry or funny since the 90s) who are holding the simpsons back from becoming something really cool (in a new way, not in a "neoclassical" sort of way). in theory I think they could take it somewhere very interesting (that's if julie kavner's throat holds up, and if disney doesn't keep slashing the budget)
― Left, Monday, 4 December 2023 15:47 (four months ago) link
xpost My mother loved that Simpsons game because she was in a bowling league when I was like 9 or 10 and since dad was working she'd bring my bro and I to the alley and that video game kept us pretty much preoccupied for hours
― a very very unfair (Neanderthal), Monday, 4 December 2023 15:47 (four months ago) link
I've seen a few newer episodes that made me chuckle but admittedly haven't given it much of a go yet.
once the show started to be ok with Family Guy-ish gags and 'reference' jokes, though, it wasn't for me.
― a very very unfair (Neanderthal), Monday, 4 December 2023 15:49 (four months ago) link
idk the only reason I know johnny carson is a thing is because of classic simpsons and I'm not sure I ever needed to know
but in general I agree - actually it's shocking how family guy-esque the episodes from just before family guy started already feel. clearly it was the style at the time
― Left, Monday, 4 December 2023 15:54 (four months ago) link