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Nikumatic posted:the 2016 flintstones comic is actually shockingly good at this. To be fair, that doesn't exactly update the setting as much as play into the anachronism instead. The setting's simultaneously the Stone Age, the 60s, and modern day all at once depending on the needs of the joke/social satire/story arc. ...which, also to be fair, is a pretty valid approach. I suppose similar to Archer, a lot of what makes it work is that they keep the world vague enough that they can do whatever they want with it.
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Apr 8, 2024 13:10
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The Simpsons were pretty notoriously mired in the early 90s as a satire of contemporary media; most prominently the nuclear family sitcom which may have totally died out by now, but it generally relied on the whole monoculture thing of TV in those days, where it could expect everybody in its audience to have been aware of all the same things so it could make a lot of very specific references that the audience would immediately get. I think it successfully managed to be well-written enough that it could pivot away as the TV monoculture started to die with the rise of cable, and it couched itself in surrealism, but that burnt out after a while, and every time it did fall back on parodies and references they were a little weaker. Bart in particular was already extremely dated at his conception, as being a lot like children in old 80s movies and being heavily defined by his love for an already extinct form of show: the local TV presenter for licensed theatrical shorts (and clowns in general have only aged worse over time). But since Bart became an idol to much of the rest of Gen X who now write the Simpsons, he has maintained his prominence on the show from that. Open Source Idiom posted:This is how I feel about a lot of legacy characters / stories. Superman runs into this a lot, or at least the Daily Planet supporting cast do. A lot of classic superheroes are heavily based in the power of organized crime and the mafia, who hit their peak in like the 50s, and now barely exist as a force in America after major governmental successes in fighting them. Batman and Superman and even Spiderman were all strongly mob-based in their earlier days, and though they mostly managed to pivot, a whole lot of their big villains are some kind of mob boss. The steady demise of newspapers and local journalism in general that left the original forms of the Daily Planet and Daily Bugle orphaned is more complex.
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Apr 8, 2024 14:28
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Doctor_Fruitbat posted:The characters just don't work in the modern world anymore. They're all archetypes of the 50s - 80s that were pretty anachronistic by the time the early 2000s rolled around, and now it's like watching someone try to make the Flintstones culturally relevant again. Just let it die. The Simpsons can work but you'd need to reconnect it to being a real satire of contemporary society, which would require a complete reboot that changes up a LOT of the core aspects of the show. Take Mr Burns, for example. He's a funny character but also kind of a throwback to kind of oligarch that's not all that common anymore. When you think about rich assholes that are the main villain of society you don't think about the 100 year-old owner of a nuclear plant (which has ironically become a green alternative form of power these days), you think of some tech dipshit like, I don't know, Elon Musk. So were you to remake The Simpson's from scratch you'd probably have the family living in a 3-bedroom apartment and Homer doing gig work for a 40-something megalomaniac he never actually sees in person. Honestly, I'd kind of be into it if you got the right team involved. Also, for fucks sake they'd need a new animation studio with like a third of the budget. The Simpsons was supposed to have a kind of indy comics vibe and making everything so overproduced actively undercuts that. readingatwork fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Apr 8, 2024 |
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Apr 8, 2024 15:28
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readingatwork posted:Yeah, a lot of people fail to realize that early Simpsons was good because Matt Groening was a bitter socialist who had sincere contempt for both America and it's institutions (especially the nuclear family, which sitcoms normally treated as sacrosanct). All of that perspective is long since gone now though, so what we're left with is some very mild surface-level critiques of obvious targets with an underlying worldview that ultimately supports and reinforces the systems of power the show was originally created to undermine. It's really sad to see. 
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Apr 8, 2024 15:32
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readingatwork posted:The Simpsons can work but you'd need to reconnect it to being a real satire of contemporary society, which would require a complete reboot that changes up a LOT of the core aspects of the show. Rugrats did this and it was pretty smart about it. Stu and Didi don't own a house, but live at grandpas. Didi runs an online crafting store out of her backyard, Stu is a frequently unemployed gig working computer toucher.
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Apr 8, 2024 16:10
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readingatwork posted:Take Mr Burns, for example. He's a funny character but also kind of a throwback to kind of oligarch that's not all that common anymore. When you think about rich assholes that are the main villain of society you don't think about the 100 year-old owner of a nuclear plant (which has ironically become a green alternative form of power these days), you think of some tech dipshit like, I don't know, Elon Musk. So were you to remake The Simpson's from scratch you'd probably have the family living in a 3-bedroom apartment and Homer doing gig work for a 40-something megalomaniac he never actually sees in person. I agree, but that's basically Bob's Burgers which is now in its 14th season, so you'd have to do something different again to make it a worthwhile venture.
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Apr 8, 2024 16:27
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readingatwork posted:The Simpsons can work but you'd need to reconnect it to being a real satire of contemporary society, which would require a complete reboot that changes up a LOT of the core aspects of the show.
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Apr 8, 2024 16:54
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DoctorWhat posted:I watched "A Serious Flanders" last night and had a really good time with it. The biggest advantage the Simpsons has right now is that their characters are so well-established that you can tell really efficient genre stories with them in limited runtimes. This is how things like The Shinning worked so well. I think "shallow 7 minute parody of a specific pop cultural artifact" is a dead end, but middle-form genre pastiche could be a really healthy venue, especially as an incubator for animators and writers. The characters being so established is something that's underrated in a series and is less common now due to streaming and what not flipping series every few seasons. Same with the recurring extensive secondary and tertiary cast that allows them loads more flexibility in who they can throw into these sorts of pastiches without necessarily just inventing characters out of whole cloth. And because the setting of the Simpsons is so "flexible," it's easy enough to tell more real and grounded stories that are more popular nowadays along side more off the wall ones that early Simpsons was known for. The other thing to add is that it's ultimately a pretty safe space for aspiring writers to get used to the industry and even try some of their writing chops If they fail, that's just one episode of a season that'll ultimately get forgotten about and the costs were baked in so far ahead of time that the accountants aren't gonna bat an eye when the episode finally drops. The consequences ultimately begin and end with the writer and the show isn't jeopardized because of it even with more than one of these failures. If they do well, the series gets a memorable episode like the aforementioned "A Serious Flanders" (a pastiche) "Homer's Adventures Through the Windshield Glass" (an experimental episode set over a few seconds) or "Pixelated and Afraid" (a wilderness thriller focused on Homer and Marge) and the writer gets something impressive to put into their portfolio when they move on. There's certainly attempts to reach out to modern issues now too, typically in episodes towards the tail end of a season such as "Poorhouse Rock" which deals with the disappearance of classically middle class jobs like the one Homer occupies or "Night of the Living Wage" from this most recent season where Marge has to pick up a job in a ghost kitchen to pay off some bills and convinces the staff there to unionize. But these obviously don't quite have Groening's bite or wit that was more prevalent in early Simpsons and not something he, himself, is contributing much of anymore in anything with his name on it. And as a sitcom, the status quo reigns above everything so no matter what they might do, there's no lasting change to the world for the most part. This reminds me that I still need to watch that Treehouse of Horror ep that has a Westworld pastiche, but instead of the Wild West, it's literally the Simpsons.
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Apr 8, 2024 17:40
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The main thing the show has to fall back on is being self-referential, which many long-term media projects actualy do, but the fact that The Simpsons was born as a satire and parody works against it, because it spent so long undermining a lot of the aspects of what would later have to become the pillars the current show stands on, so not only does the show have to switch genres as it is no longer capable of doing satire like it used to, but all its attempts at sincerity have to backpedal on a decade of making fun of the idea of sincerity.Xelkelvos posted:There's certainly attempts to reach out to modern issues now too, typically in episodes towards the tail end of a season such as "Poorhouse Rock" which deals with the disappearance of classically middle class jobs like the one Homer occupies That one I think showed a lot of the severe flaws with the show having outlived all the things it had been meant to lampoon and the writers aren't even old enough to intrinsically understand what it was doing. Middle class jobs (supposedly) like Homer's had already largely died out by the time of the show's beginning. Homer Simpson's job at a nuclear power plant being treated like a factory or like Fred Flintstone at the quarry was a joke.
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Apr 8, 2024 18:58
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I’m not sure if there’s any shows I would want to last as long as the Simpsons. At one point I hoped Adventure Time would run for 1000 episodes. But I’m also happy with what we got and hey, it might manage to keep on keeping on with a diverse cast of side characters through future Fiona and Cake seasons.
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Apr 9, 2024 00:02
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Speaking of, there haven’t been any recent updates on F&C Season 2 yet has there? I’m still kind of curious what they’re going to do for it (I kind of wish they’d decided to focus on another set of characters instead though as the first one ended fairly conclusively) Larryb fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Apr 9, 2024 |
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Apr 9, 2024 00:05
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Larryb posted:Speaking of, there haven’t been any recent updates on F&C Season 2 yet has there? There is a moment when they pop out of the the vampire world and the king says he's seen a new thing. He'd probably be down for trying to break into the multiverse.
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Apr 9, 2024 02:43
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The "Tom Petty" stuff in this week's Grimsburg was a lot of fun. Also got big laughs at the shattering cat.
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Apr 9, 2024 03:04
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https://twitter.com/adultswim/status/1777713204560286133 Smiling Friends trailer. One of the things in this absolutely blew my loving mind.
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Apr 9, 2024 17:15
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MJeff posted:https://twitter.com/adultswim/status/1777713204560286133 apperently mike(again) and rich evans are in it too. i think my favorites are desmond and mr frog. also the frowning friends poo poo was great. "hey relax man, i was just gonna shoot you in the head and kill you" Dapper_Swindler fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Apr 9, 2024 |
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Apr 9, 2024 17:48
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MJeff posted:https://twitter.com/adultswim/status/1777713204560286133 Was it the weird hosed up texturing on that 3D dude?
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Apr 9, 2024 19:33
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Warbird posted:Was it the weird hosed up texturing on that 3D dude? I'm assuming its the bit with Joel Haver in it.
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Apr 9, 2024 19:38
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IShallRiseAgain posted:I'm assuming its the bit with Joel Haver in it. I had to go look who that was, but yeah that part.
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Apr 9, 2024 19:40
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I love Joel Haver’s weird rotoscoped skits, I’m delighted they got him on to do more of that poo poo
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Apr 9, 2024 20:35
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Warbird posted:Was it the weird hosed up texturing on that 3D dude? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY3y6zNTiLs
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Apr 9, 2024 22:17
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That's a good one but I think this is my favorite from him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7M24KrqhBw
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Apr 9, 2024 23:27
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW5Om3esqGI This one is my favorite because the best joke isn't even the point.
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Apr 9, 2024 23:32
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muscles like this! posted:That's a good one but I think this is my favorite from him. his lower register as joker is way too close to hamill's, it's messing with my head
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Apr 10, 2024 00:17
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I’ve been working my way through Smiling Friends s1, and I got to the Brazil episode. Had to turn it off a few minutes in when I realised what they were doing. I’ve had too many experiences arguing like that with my family, I was getting anxious watching it.
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Apr 10, 2024 00:42
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Just finished Hazbin Hotel. I must admit the character design was a bit off-putting at first, but once I got used it, I enjoyed the show. Now working on Helluva Boss.
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Apr 10, 2024 01:07
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I can't get over the writing or worldbuilding of those shows. That is the biggest hurdle for me. Edit: I consider "humor" as a part of "writing". Neeksy fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Apr 10, 2024 |
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Apr 10, 2024 01:46
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It's mainly the humour which doesn't do it for me. It's very theatrical and corny, contrasted by most of the characters being designed to be transgressive. I think the effect is supposed to be 'scandalously fun' but it just all feels so obvious and dumb to me. In the first ep of Hazbin, there was also long disney style musical number which just isn't my thing. Pretty much everything about it aimed in direct contradiction with my taste, really. The concept itself, of a hotel in hell trying to save demons and improve it, is cool - I could get on board with that, but they'd have to change everything else about it. It really feels like something for teens and I dunno, adult pseudo goths. roomtone fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Apr 10, 2024 |
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Apr 10, 2024 01:49
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Don't worry, the show abandons the hotel premise almost entirely in favor of two songs per episode and introducing more characters. The same premise-abandonment happens to her other show as well, with the same issues that can't be blamed on a low-episode order from Amazon.
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Apr 10, 2024 01:53
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The_Doctor posted:I’ve been working my way through Smiling Friends s1, and I got to the Brazil episode. Had to turn it off a few minutes in when I realised what they were doing. I’ve had too many experiences arguing like that with my family, I was getting anxious watching it. I generally liked season 1, but the Brazil vacation episode was one of the funniest things ever. It gets so uncomfortable in such a relatable way.
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Apr 10, 2024 02:10
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Mister Kingdom posted:Just finished Hazbin Hotel. I must admit the character design was a bit off-putting at first, but once I got used it, I enjoyed the show. roomtone posted:It's mainly the humour which doesn't do it for me. It's very theatrical and corny, contrasted by most of the characters being designed to be transgressive. I think the effect is supposed to be 'scandalously fun' but it just all feels so obvious and dumb to me. 
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Apr 10, 2024 02:15
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Cugel the Clever posted:Did you go in completely blind or something? yeah, i usually do Big Mouth Billy Basshole posted:I generally liked season 1, but the Brazil vacation episode was one of the funniest things ever. It gets so uncomfortable in such a relatable way. yeah i loved the brazil episode. very funny and i appreciated them using the limited animation as a strength of the episode. i think that and the episode where charlie goes to hell were my favourites. looking forward to s2. roomtone fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Apr 10, 2024 |
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Apr 10, 2024 02:33
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I dont usually like musicals, but something about Hazbin hooked me. It also gets better after Episode 4 HelluvaBoss is just.. like that the entire time. It does nothing for me.
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Apr 10, 2024 02:34
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Helluva has a co-writer/creator/voice in Brendon Rogers who is (mostly) absent from Hazbin so yeah, not everyone will jive with one just because they jive with the other.
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Apr 10, 2024 03:55
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I’m in the same boat where there are parts of HH/HB that I like, but as a whole it’s trying way too hard to do that edgy teen Newgrounds culture deal that I just can’t.
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Apr 10, 2024 04:18
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I don't get how the cosmology even functions and a big plot point turns out that nobody does, which is the most spineless and boring answer they could have come up with.
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Apr 10, 2024 05:14
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Oxxidation posted:his lower register as joker is way too close to hamill's, it's messing with my head Batman sounds like he's about to turn into John H Benjamin
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Apr 10, 2024 05:36
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Captain Oblivious posted:I’m in the same boat where there are parts of HH/HB that I like, but as a whole it’s trying way too hard to do that edgy teen Newgrounds culture deal that I just can’t. It doesn't have to try, it was born in it, moulded by it.
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Apr 10, 2024 05:37
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I actually really like both HH and HB.  I mean, yeah they have their flaws (especially HH) but a) I think a lot of the jokes/emotional beats are phenomenal and b) I like that a project like this exists where the writers/artists were allowed to do whatever the hell they wanted for such a large audience. It's got that webcomics energy where you can see the artist's personality in every frame, for better or for worse. In a world where I increasingly feel like I'm drowning in shows that were made by an algorithm (in some cases literally), that human spark is something I really appreciate.
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Apr 10, 2024 06:04
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Ghost Leviathan posted:It doesn't have to try, it was born in it, moulded by it. Oh I know. But a general sense of trying too hard is exactly what that entails.
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Apr 10, 2024 06:06
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readingatwork posted:I actually really like both HH and HB. Sure, I'm glad it exists in the abstract, it's just that the execution is not there. I can get an indie project having the webcomics energy, or not having any ability to write connective tissue between the big moments, but this was A24/Amazon-invested project and I am judging it by that standard. Plus a 10-year development period.
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