Well, it's certainly not for the quality animation, and - let's be honest - it's not even for the quality story lines.
No, the fun of the Simpsons is seeing if you can pick up on all the subtle (and not-so-subtle) pop-culture references that they work in. It's like a videographic Word Find puzzle.
He makes some other thoughtful observations on the Simpsons' role as society's mirror in the rest of his post. About a 3-minute read. Check it out.
1
The Simpsons do not rock. They haven't rocked for years. I really don't give a crap about Gould. Gould isn't funny, and he isn't significant. You don't have to know anything about reality or something that isn't reality but is reality based to know about him -- you just have to be a
nerd.
If you want social commentary, watch
South Park. If you want hip pop culture references, watch
Family Guy or even better
Sealab 2021 and
Robot Chicken.
Posted by: Phelps at May 24, 2005 07:31 PM (KyIXe)
2
Hey, I like this guy above's http address. I assume he's had issues being a dumbass before.
Posted by: Sissy at May 24, 2005 08:46 PM (uXS+O)
3
Well... THAT could've gone better.
Anyway, I have to admit that - for reasons of maintaining marital bliss - I haven't caught a lot of Simpsons since about season 9 and am therefore not qualified to comment on those episodes.
Before THAT, though, I enjoyed the Simpsons for the pop-culture references.
Family Guy - ditto. And FG has snappier pacing, so it's more fun to watch.
South Park - well, I'm a fan of "immature toilet humor", so I like that, too :-)
Sissy - although I appreciate your coming to my defense, Phelps and I actually go way back with the Alliance, and he wasn't trolling me, he was just being opinionated.
Posted by: Harvey at May 24, 2005 09:29 PM (ubhj8)
4
Is that what that meant? Hell, I checked to make sure that my link wasn't broken. I guess since it wasn't... what the hell does that mean?
Posted by: Phelps at May 24, 2005 09:50 PM (KyIXe)
5
I guess I should have put a ;-) after that! Sorry, I'm a Simpsons fan! Dad has raised us on Simpsons!
No troll performing intended...just my dumb sense of humor and my lack of ability to communicate it :-)
Posted by: Sissy at May 24, 2005 10:02 PM (uXS+O)
6
Actually, that IS an odd URL... is there a story behind the "donotremove" thing, Phelps?
Posted by: Harvey at May 24, 2005 10:05 PM (ubhj8)
7
The thing I have always loved about the Simpsons is the show works on so many different levels. Yes there is the easy stuff "man hit in groin by football" but then there is the stuff that falls under the "Dennis Miller Factor" you know when you are the only one in the room laughing.
Best example of this the episode where Bart sells his soul to Milhouse.
the following exchange between Bart and Lisa
Lisa "Pablo Neruda says that laughter is the language of the soul"
Bart "I am well aware of the works of Pablo Neruda" smugly.
Stuff like that goes over the heads of 75%-85% of the people watching.
and yes the show has fallen off in last couple of seasons but come on still one of the greatest shows of all times
sorry for running on there Harvey. Simpsons are the closes thing to a religon I have got lol.
Regards
GBfan
Posted by: gbfan001 at May 24, 2005 10:20 PM (+ghkI)
8
GBFan - Of course, if you're going to name an altar of pop-culture references to worship at, I think it's only proper to genuflect in the direction of MST3K (praise be their name).
Posted by: Harvey at May 24, 2005 11:06 PM (ubhj8)
9
The Simpsons do Rock. I love the Simpsons. Yes, they have been sliding down hill. But look how long they have been on the air, I think the writers/story lines are just plane running out of viable good material.
Family guy is funny, It's another show I like to watch.
South Park. I enjoy South Park, especially when I want to shut my brain down sit on the couch and just veg out.
Posted by: Contagion at May 25, 2005 07:26 AM (Q5WxB)
10
I used to love the Simpsons and had a theory about the show, that just about every big event in your own personal life can probably correlate to the show in some way - sorta like that episode of South Park "Simpson's did it!"
Posted by: Oddybobo at May 25, 2005 07:52 AM (6Gm0j)
11
The story is that I had the intention of possibly expanding to host other people too (which I have indeed done) and it was kind of a lame attempt at turning the spammers against themselves. They slurp addresses from Usenet, and are smart enough to remove the REMOVE stuff that people put in thier email addresses. I figured that if remove really
was part of the address, then all the spam bots that use that method would instead break my address.
I don't think it worked that well (it seems that there are a lot more that slurp DNS records) but it was cute.
Posted by: Phelps at May 25, 2005 08:20 AM (KyIXe)
12
It took me a couple of years to be able to watch the Simpsons (ditto Rugrats--I have nieces and nephews) because the animation was so jarring visually. I grew up with Bugs Bunny and Walt Disney, and it looked to me like it was done by someone who couldn't draw. Now ALL animation looks like that...
Posted by: Susie at May 25, 2005 10:10 AM (V1YvO)
13
Oddy - Have to agree. There's a Simpsons quote for nearly EVERY life situation.
Phelps - Ah. That makes sense. That domain name's been making me curious since the first time I saw it.
Susie - I blame Hanna-Barbera for the decline in American animations standards. At least the Simpsons don't constantly re-use backgrounds and hope that no-one notices.
GOD! I *hate* Hanna-Barbera! Top to bottom, nothing but cheap animations & crappy dialogue.
Bastards.
Posted by: Harvey at May 25, 2005 12:48 PM (tJfh1)
14
If you hate HB Harvey never I repeat never watch Cartoon Networks Boomarang channel TNT will find you with your head in the oven and a no funeral sign on your back lol
GBfan
Posted by: gbfan001 at May 25, 2005 04:17 PM (+ghkI)
15
You're wrong Harvey: You should only praise MST3K when Joel was on. Mike is ok, but he's no Joel. Didn't they get a chick now?
As for HB, they suck, but have you watched Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law?
Genius. I especially enjoyed the "Fred Flintstone/Soprano" and the "Shaggy and Scooby running from the police" episodes.
Posted by: Graumagus at May 25, 2005 07:48 PM (1LZ5i)
16
Grau - Agreed, Joel was The One And Only.
Posted by: Harvey at May 25, 2005 08:21 PM (ubhj8)
17
What's that, little birdie? "Caw-caw-caw..." Loosely translated: "Polly want a beating?"
Posted by: Peeeeeeeeeeanut at May 26, 2005 08:52 AM (8Ra2V)
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