What was the lowest point of the Simpsons

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What was the lowest point of the Simpson
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Fingerless Gloves: May 21, 2011; ... aaand also go away and don't come back

They would get Professor Frink to explain how aurora borealis could appear in the kitchen and the fire truck would have a celebrity guest on it save Agnes who would try to hit on them and Skinner would say Moooothheeer

# ? Mar 24, 2023 09:21

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 03:02

Gym Leader Barack: Oct 31, 2005; Grimey Drawer

Halisnacks posted:

I think this incorrectly assumes that a �good� Simpsons could even exist with the right variables tweaked today. The show has too much baggage to be good again, really.

Like, if Steamed Hams came out today, but with the current state of the voice actors, the current animation style, and most importantly, the general impression that people have that the Simpsons is not good now, could it deliver laughs?

If the show earns a laugh I don't hold it back out of spite, a few weeks back I saw the roblox one which overall was pretty rubbish but there was a scene of skinner saying the school could really use some money to fix it's many problems and immediately a ceiling vent fell down and a bunch of snakes came out. It got a genuine laugh out of me, was a quick immediate sort of joke that didn't hang around and wasn't overexplained or ever referenced again, really reminiscent of the classic era but then immediately the show pivots back into nuSimpsons and the magic was gone. They could easily just make a solidly funny episode in the hands of people that actually cared, the animation itself isn't terrible but some framing changes would need to be made for sure, but if they managed to revive the show in a genuine, lasting way I think a lot of the sort of people that hang around in this thread would be happy to check it out.

Honestly in a couple of years this conversation won't matter because we can just ask an AI video app to spit out a new episode of the Simpsons with the humour of the golden age eps and we will be able to forever wallow in the peak days of our favourite nuclear family.

# ? Mar 24, 2023 09:26

emgeejay: Dec 8, 2007

Gym Leader Barack posted:

Honestly in a couple of years this conversation won't matter because we can just ask an AI video app to spit out a new episode

That�s already what this bit sounds like

quote:

a scene of skinner saying the school could really use some money to fix it's many problems and immediately a ceiling vent fell down and a bunch of snakes came out

# ? Mar 24, 2023 10:36

Halisnacks: Jul 18, 2009

Gym Leader Barack posted:

If the show earns a laugh I don't hold it back out of spite

I wouldn�t call it spite operating when (rare) solid jokes appear in post-golden age episodes and they have a harder time getting a laugh.

The golden age episodes create an atmosphere where you are primed to laugh, and so even modest jokes feel funnier. New Simpsons just feels less funny so jokes get a tougher hearing. Warm-up acts in music and comedy exist for a reason: they get the audience in the mood for what�s to come. New Simpsons completely fails to create that mood.

# ? Mar 24, 2023 11:11

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:

Simpsons should just fire everyone involved with the show and then only hire 25-35 year olds who can answer an intense trivia questionnaire about the golden seasons, that's honestly the only way to breathe some life info this dead monstrosity that shambles forward

One of the show�s best legacies is that costumed trivia contest I think in Chicago where my reaction to folk dressed as the Sciencetican and Ranger McFadden made me wish blessings on those maniacs.

https://mobile.twitter.com/woohootriviaCHI/status/1582219088197087232?cxt=HHwWgMCjzZb4lfUrAAAA

https://mobile.twitter.com/woohootriviaCHI/status/1582221532499439617?cxt=HHwWgsDTibqGl_UrAAAA

https://mobile.twitter.com/woohootriviaCHI/status/1583262877279866880

https://mobile.twitter.com/woohootriviaCHI/status/1583264009889157123

# ? Mar 24, 2023 13:40

Greg12: Apr 22, 2020

is angry astronaut with convertible and golf club someone specific, or just

"astronauts in the right stuff all had corvette convertibles, and that one astronaut played golf on the moon, so here's an astronaut is stuck in a traffic jam in his corvette and late for his tee-time on the moon"

A+ two-second joke, either way

I know it's not "diapers astronaut driving non-stop across the country to stalk her work crush"

edit:

I think it's

this: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/23-years-ago-jack-nicholson-infamously-smashed-a-windshield-with-a-2-iron-in-a-fit-of-road-rage

+

this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_Endearment

Greg12 fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Mar 24, 2023

# ? Mar 24, 2023 14:06

Data Graham: Dec 28, 2009; 📈📊🍪😋

Greg12 posted:

this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_Endearment

Lol I finally watched that just a few months ago and now I know where that Space Ghost routine about "I love you both very much, and you'll miss me when I'm gone" came from

# ? Mar 24, 2023 14:24

SlothfulCobra: Mar 27, 2011

This is the worst bit of The Simpsons to me, and how bad it is goes deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QEHvs7BLDg

First off, a bunch of ivy league jokes that only the writers get because they're all out of touch ivy leaguers.

Then it turns out that the scene is all trying to make fun of college SJWs and how they're all trying to cancel culture because they're too sensitive about things like halloween costumes. Not a funny joke, and a pretty gross thing to be making a big point about.

And then there's the fact that Mr.Burns is the protagonist of the scene, as the one sane man against the absurd SJW madness, which is part of how the series is kind of decaying and can't really use Mr.Burns as a villain anymore because it's too sentimental about him as a longterm character.

And then there's the fact that it's a real thing that there's a lot of public bias against the idea of nuclear power despite the fact that it's environmentally friendly from its lack of emissions and relative efficiency. Part of that is a few big scares historically, but another part of that is just pop culture portrayal of nuclear power as a scary, threatening thing.

The Simpsons is probably the biggest, most famous pop culture portrayal of nuclear power as a scary, unsafe, threatening thing. Which at the time was just one of many wacky silly choices out of nowhere. A wealthy industrialist whose apparent only revenue is from running an electrical utility is weird, but it doesn't matter, you don't need to research or think about the cultural impact when making a primetime sitcom in the 90s. But now that The Simpsons is one of the longest running shows on TV with a worldwide reach, it has to reckon with having this cultural importance that it doesn't know what to do with. It has long outlived all of the things that it was originally a playful satire of.

But if they wanted to address people's misapprehensions over nuclear power, they could build an episode around that instead of making an episode about how unreasonable these college students are for getting upset over blackface halloween costumes.

# ? Mar 25, 2023 23:15

Data Graham: Dec 28, 2009; 📈📊🍪😋

I for one have thought MANY times about how bizarre and inherently funny (maybe unintentionally) it is that the nuclear power utility is owned by a billionaire mogul who runs the place from a mahogany-lined office directly on the premises

# ? Mar 25, 2023 23:23

PhazonLink: Jul 17, 2010

lol at like 3 adult comedy cartoons being a decent non zero influence on american history/world history.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 01:55

Toxic Mental: Jun 1, 2019

The ending of The Day The Violence Died is so insanely loving good, everything about the subversion of the moral happy ending, the squint, that pan shot of the window and the music

# ? Mar 26, 2023 02:12

Riptor: Apr 13, 2003; here's to feelin' good all the time

Data Graham posted:

I for one have thought MANY times about how bizarre and inherently funny (maybe unintentionally) it is that the nuclear power utility is owned by a billionaire mogul who runs the place from a mahogany-lined office directly on the premises

Mr Burns' father firing the guy for stealing six atoms is still so goddamned funny

# ? Mar 26, 2023 03:52

Cocaine Bear: Nov 4, 2011; ACAB

SlothfulCobra posted:

This is the worst bit of The Simpsons to me, and how bad it is goes deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QEHvs7BLDg

Now let's compare:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfDt9LQQ7q0

# ? Mar 26, 2023 04:02

Ghost Leviathan: Mar 2, 2017; Exploration is ill-advised.

Data Graham posted:

I for one have thought MANY times about how bizarre and inherently funny (maybe unintentionally) it is that the nuclear power utility is owned by a billionaire mogul who runs the place from a mahogany-lined office directly on the premises

I feel like Burns is very influenced by Scrooge McDuck in that sense, the comics made some one-off jokes about it.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 05:49

PostNouveau: Sep 3, 2011; VY till I die; Grimey Drawer

In the newest one, the Bowl-a-Rama closes. Homer, Lenny, Carl, and Moe go down there to be pissed and some dude named Terrance (Fred Armisen, in a returning role from some other poo poo episode) is there talking about how he bought it and is gonna turn it a coffee shop. The gang tries to prove to him bowling can be profitable and but can't get enough people in. Homer tries to get Marge to go, but she doesn't want to go because she remembers that Jacques guy she almost cheated on Homer with in Season 1.

She bowls a 267 in a stupid montage, and Terrance offers her a challenge that she'll play someone of his choosing and he'll keep it a bowling alley if she wins. No real clear motivation for why he'd do this. Marge gets more and more guilty about Jacques and it throws off her game. Homer hires Jacques to instruct her. He promises her he's only interested in her professionally.

Albert Brooks sounds weird now.

https://twitter.com/TheSimpsons/status/1637608946075590658

Jacques starts hitting on Marge as soon as the lessons start. Homer and Jacque have a really dumb fight where they have their fingers in bowling balls punching at each other.

Terrance gets Jacques to be his player. Marge picks up a difficult spare by doing a Queen's Gambit on the ceiling to win. Jacques gets arrested for being there on an expired visa.

Bad ep

# ? Mar 26, 2023 07:35

Teriyaki Hairpiece: Dec 29, 2006; I'm nae the voice o' the darkened thistle, but th' darkened thistle cannae bear the sight o' our Bonnie Prince Bernie nae mair.

SlothfulCobra posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QEHvs7BLDg

quote:

A softball match is being played to little athletic achievement between teams from the Indian Point and Springfield Nuclear Plants. After Homer collapses on the field, Mr. Burns and the other coach talk about how the market for nuclear energy will be lucrative forever.

Burns goes to his alma mater, Yale University, to endow a chair in nuclear plant management, only to learn that the entire student body is now made of "highly entitled wusses" from the Whiffenpoofs on down, and who follow left-wing views that appall Burns. He then finds out that running a university can earn him a lot of money from a member of the Skull and Bones society named Bourbon Verlander. Burns then cuts a deal with Bourbon and withdraws all of his financial support to Yale in order to set up his own for-profit university, hiring the power plant workers including Homer, Lenny and Carl as the teachers.

Homer is not doing well with his students and Lisa, who is horrified that Homer became a professor mainly because he did not take the responsibility of educating people seriously, gives him a DVD box set of inspirational teachers movies. After watching them, he gets better at teaching and Burns sells Homer to Bourbon.

Homer meets Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ken Jennings, Suze Orman, and Robert McKee, and sees them being introduced to a group of young female "students" who are actually life-like humanoid robots that will all get into Yale and earn "financial aid" that gets funneled directly to Bourbon. Six months later, Homer ruins Bourbon's integration of the robots at Yale University with a microaggression that makes them all explode.

In the final scene, the teachers then start teaching Lisa, Marge, and Bart at the Simpson residence.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 07:35

Annabel Pee: Dec 29, 2008

SlothfulCobra posted:

This is the worst bit of The Simpsons to me, and how bad it is goes deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QEHvs7BLDg

First off, a bunch of ivy league jokes that only the writers get because they're all out of touch ivy leaguers.

Then it turns out that the scene is all trying to make fun of college SJWs and how they're all trying to cancel culture because they're too sensitive about things like halloween costumes. Not a funny joke, and a pretty gross thing to be making a big point about.

And then there's the fact that Mr.Burns is the protagonist of the scene, as the one sane man against the absurd SJW madness, which is part of how the series is kind of decaying and can't really use Mr.Burns as a villain anymore because it's too sentimental about him as a longterm character.

And then there's the fact that it's a real thing that there's a lot of public bias against the idea of nuclear power despite the fact that it's environmentally friendly from its lack of emissions and relative efficiency. Part of that is a few big scares historically, but another part of that is just pop culture portrayal of nuclear power as a scary, threatening thing.

The Simpsons is probably the biggest, most famous pop culture portrayal of nuclear power as a scary, unsafe, threatening thing. Which at the time was just one of many wacky silly choices out of nowhere. A wealthy industrialist whose apparent only revenue is from running an electrical utility is weird, but it doesn't matter, you don't need to research or think about the cultural impact when making a primetime sitcom in the 90s. But now that The Simpsons is one of the longest running shows on TV with a worldwide reach, it has to reckon with having this cultural importance that it doesn't know what to do with. It has long outlived all of the things that it was originally a playful satire of.

But if they wanted to address people's misapprehensions over nuclear power, they could build an episode around that instead of making an episode about how unreasonable these college students are for getting upset over blackface halloween costumes.

Urghh yeah this is the worst scene for me. Plus maybe the one about the Apu controversy. I can handle something just not being funny, but this stuff honestly makes me feel worse about being a Simpson fan and watching the classic episodes.

Is the thing with them all being robots even part of the story or just Elon musk npc right wing bullshit?

# ? Mar 26, 2023 11:47

The Moon Monster: Dec 30, 2005

Riptor posted:

Mr Burns' father firing the guy for stealing six atoms is still so goddamned funny

I like how they draw a bunch of specks on the liner of the guy's pockets so you can tell that he did, in fact, have atoms in there.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 13:22

bone emulator: Nov 3, 2005; Wrrroavr

SlothfulCobra posted:

This is the worst bit of The Simpsons to me, and how bad it is goes deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QEHvs7BLDg

First off, a bunch of ivy league jokes that only the writers get because they're all out of touch ivy leaguers.

Then it turns out that the scene is all trying to make fun of college SJWs and how they're all trying to cancel culture because they're too sensitive about things like halloween costumes. Not a funny joke, and a pretty gross thing to be making a big point about.

And then there's the fact that Mr.Burns is the protagonist of the scene, as the one sane man against the absurd SJW madness, which is part of how the series is kind of decaying and can't really use Mr.Burns as a villain anymore because it's too sentimental about him as a longterm character.

And then there's the fact that it's a real thing that there's a lot of public bias against the idea of nuclear power despite the fact that it's environmentally friendly from its lack of emissions and relative efficiency. Part of that is a few big scares historically, but another part of that is just pop culture portrayal of nuclear power as a scary, threatening thing.

The Simpsons is probably the biggest, most famous pop culture portrayal of nuclear power as a scary, unsafe, threatening thing. Which at the time was just one of many wacky silly choices out of nowhere. A wealthy industrialist whose apparent only revenue is from running an electrical utility is weird, but it doesn't matter, you don't need to research or think about the cultural impact when making a primetime sitcom in the 90s. But now that The Simpsons is one of the longest running shows on TV with a worldwide reach, it has to reckon with having this cultural importance that it doesn't know what to do with. It has long outlived all of the things that it was originally a playful satire of.

But if they wanted to address people's misapprehensions over nuclear power, they could build an episode around that instead of making an episode about how unreasonable these college students are for getting upset over blackface halloween costumes.

This was awful, and knowing the youtube algorithm I'll be plagued with recommendations for culture war bullshit for years after watching 10 seconds of that video.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 14:55

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

The Moon Monster posted:

I like how they draw a bunch of specks on the liner of the guy's pockets so you can tell that he did, in fact, have atoms in there.

Then he�s immediately sealed up to perish in a coke oven, executing a child worker in front of young Burns. Wonder if that influenced him.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 16:37

Data Graham: Dec 28, 2009; 📈📊🍪😋

I'll always love how he counts mumblingly to himself "ohhne, hhh, thh..... SIX of them! :byodood:

# ? Mar 26, 2023 17:14

No Dignity: Oct 15, 2007

Cocaine Bear posted:

Now let's compare:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfDt9LQQ7q0

Exactly, they used to be so good at making fun of themselves for for being posh Havard guys! What a tragic decline

# ? Mar 26, 2023 17:38

PhazonLink: Jul 17, 2010

PostNouveau posted:

Marge picks up a difficult spare by doing a

Queen's Gambit

on the ceiling to win.

is that the show's words or what? what does that even mean.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 18:27

SweetMercifulCrap!: Jan 28, 2012; Lipstick Apathy

I�m assuming it�s a parody of the miniseries The Queen�s Gambit where she visualizes all of the possible chess moves on the ceiling.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 18:29

You Are A Werewolf: Apr 26, 2010; Black Gold!

SlothfulCobra posted:

This is the worst bit of The Simpsons to me, and how bad it is goes deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QEHvs7BLDg

Quite literally every �joke� is pointed out, explained, reiterated, and then pointed out again.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 18:51

PostNouveau: Sep 3, 2011; VY till I die; Grimey Drawer

SweetMercifulCrap! posted:

I�m assuming it�s a parody of the miniseries The Queen�s Gambit where she visualizes all of the possible chess moves on the ceiling.

Yeah she visualizes the shot on the ceiling

# ? Mar 26, 2023 19:32

iamsosmrt: Jun 14, 2008

You Are A Elf posted:

Quite literally every �joke� is pointed out, explained, reiterated, and then pointed out again.

Yeah this is just about the most direct overview of what's changed from the golden years to the poo poo we've had for the past 20 years. Though being that people are still actively watching and apparently enjoying it, I think it's also a statement on the change in audiences since then. I've met quite a few people over the years who seemed to enjoy any lame jokes for the mere fact that they "got it."

# ? Mar 26, 2023 19:53

Keromaru5: Dec 28, 2012; Pictured: The Wolf Of Gubbio (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund

You Are A Elf posted:

Quite literally every �joke� is pointed out, explained, reiterated, and then pointed out again.

The Whiffenpoofs bit alone could have been trimmed to three lines.

# ? Mar 26, 2023 19:59

bone emulator: Nov 3, 2005; Wrrroavr

The amount of youtube videos with multiple millions of views 'explaining' the most trivial and telegraphed piece of storytelling seems to suggest must people do want everything spoon fed like that

# ? Mar 26, 2023 20:59

Maximum Sexy Pigeon: Jun 5, 2008; We must never speak of this!

Ghost Leviathan posted:

Lemon of Troy I always felt is a really weird and unique episode. You see a kinda very different dynamic with the schoolboys all teaming up, involving characters that don't often get that kind of focus, and overall it feels almost like a different kind of show for a bit.

You know what? It kinda feels more like a Bob's Burgers episode than a Simpsons episode. A lot.

# ? Mar 29, 2023 01:06

SweetMercifulCrap!: Jan 28, 2012; Lipstick Apathy

Yeah, Bob's Burgers nailed the "kids go on an adventure" episodes for a while. I always wished there were more Simpsons episodes like Lemon of Troy, but that also makes it special. It's easily a top 10 episode for me.

# ? Mar 29, 2023 01:50

Ghost Leviathan: Mar 2, 2017; Exploration is ill-advised.

That makes sense, I think. Though I was thinking it's more like, Recess? Or even Dennis the Menace... basically the whole old genre of a varied group of kids going on wacky but grounded adventures over relatively low stakes.

I think it stands out because it's one of the cases of the show making a shift up in genre without making a big deal out of it. That Lisa isn't part of the group is a big thing, there's no way she wouldn't be involved in a later episode because you have to have every main character in it. See the Lord of the Flies riff.

Also, feeling called out by Bart's lemonade being a squeeze of lemon juice and a glass full of sugar.

# ? Mar 29, 2023 04:31

Maximum Sexy Pigeon: Jun 5, 2008; We must never speak of this!

The previous talk about Homer At The Bat possibly being the best episode holds up.

Stumbled upon this while browsing and everything about it is solid as hell, from the color design in the first bit to the pacing, the jokes, the absurdity. Even getting a bunch of baseballers to take the piss out of themselves worked magic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiSdQtcj73E

There's also some neat trivia:

quote:

All the players were cooperative except for Jos� Canseco, whom Al Jean considered intimidating. He disliked his original part and insisted it be rewritten, and the writers grudgingly made him as heroic as possible. He was originally slated to wake up in bed with Edna Krabappel and miss the game (in a parody of Bull Durham), but Canseco's then-wife, Esther Haddad, objected.He disliked his caricature, saying "the animation looked nothing like [him]" but said he found the acting was very easy.When asked in 2007 about his part by the San Jose Mercury News he responded, "that was 100 years ago," hung up the phone and did not answer any of the paper's subsequent calls.

Ken Griffey Jr. became frustrated while recording his line "there's a party in my mouth and everyone's invited" because he had trouble understanding it. He was directed by Mike Reiss, and his father Ken Griffey Sr. was also present, trying to coach his son.
Roger Clemens, who made his own chicken noises, was directed by Jeff Martin, as was Wade Boggs.
Mike Reiss directed most of the other players.
Mike Scioscia accepted his guest spot in "half a second," while Ozzie Smith has said he would like to guest star again "so [he] can get out [of the Springfield Mystery spot]".
Don Mattingly, who was forced to shave off his "sideburns" by Mr. Burns during the episode, would later have an actual "haircut controversy", while he was playing for the New York Yankees. The coaching staff forced him to cut his long hair, and he was briefly dropped from the team line-up for not doing so. Many people believed the joke in the episode to be a reference to the incident, but "Homer at the Bat" was recorded a year before it happened.
Many of the guest stars, including Terry Cashman, Wade Boggs and Darryl Strawberry all admit they are more well known because of their appearance in the episode, especially outside the United States, Cashman having "Talkin' Softball" requested more often than "Talkin' Baseball"

# ? Apr 2, 2023 15:10

Outpost22: Oct 11, 2012; RIP Screamy You were too good for this world.

That just goes to show how popular Simpsons was at their peak, only 35 years ago.

# ? Apr 2, 2023 16:37

YeahTubaMike: Mar 24, 2005; *hic* Gotta finish thish . . .; Doctor Rope

I watched American History X-Cellent last night, and that "nine misfortunes" YouTube just now. Night & day. I miss good Simpsons. :smith:

# ? Apr 2, 2023 16:46

The X-man cometh: Nov 1, 2009

I have "See my vest" stuck in my head and some of the best Simpsons episode also had great songs - Planet of the Apes and Monorail for example.

Does zombie Simpsons still have songs? They seem like too much work for the current writers.

# ? Apr 2, 2023 18:01

bone emulator: Nov 3, 2005; Wrrroavr

Yes, they have songs. Excessively so.

# ? Apr 2, 2023 18:25

PostNouveau: Sep 3, 2011; VY till I die; Grimey Drawer

The X-man cometh posted:

I have "See my vest" stuck in my head and some of the best Simpsons episode also had great songs - Planet of the Apes and Monorail for example.

Does zombie Simpsons still have songs? They seem like too much work for the current writers.

They have a lot more songs now, which are apparently cash grabs by the writers.

# ? Apr 2, 2023 18:39

YeahTubaMike: Mar 24, 2005; *hic* Gotta finish thish . . .; Doctor Rope

The X-man cometh posted:

I have "See my vest" stuck in my head and some of the best Simpsons episode also had great songs - Planet of the Apes and Monorail for example.

I've never even seen Planet of the Apes, and I only know the plotline from the Simpsons musical. RIP Phil Hartman :smith:

# ? Apr 2, 2023 18:42

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 03:02

You Are A Werewolf: Apr 26, 2010; Black Gold!

Does zombie Simpsons still do three second musical montages every episode? It seems like it was ~*a thing*~ for awhile that every episode have three seconds of licensed music for some reason.

# ? Apr 2, 2023 19:34

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