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Is the Lizzo episode the one with the twerking robot butler? Twerking robot butler.
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Jul 29, 2023 11:14
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| # ¿ May 28, 2024 20:50 |
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I went to see the movie when it came out. I was 17 then but still a big fan of the golden years. I remember being so disappointed. I can't remember any bits I enjoyed, but I can definitely recall spider pig and Bart's knob.
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Aug 5, 2023 14:26
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I think classic Simpsons resonated with a British audience because it communicated human issues in a clever and funny way. It was startlingly honest for an animated sitcom, one starring outrageous yellow people at that. We didn't get all the references - one that sticks out to me is the Garrison Keillor parody in the Ruth Powers episode - but most of the themes and characterisations were familiar. I came for the jokes but I left feeling for the characters, like when Lisa lost her surrogate dad in Mr Bergstrom only for Homer to try and make it up to her at the end.
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Aug 5, 2023 20:06
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Krusty is kind of an unusual character because he could change fairly easily depending on what the writers wanted to lampoon that week. He could be a self-aggrandising jerk if they wanted to do a bit on modern celebrity culture, a mindless/jaded children's entertainer who's still unfathomably popular, a failed adult comedian, a ubiquitous corporate mascot, etc. I don't think it really mattered that he was a clown and that TV clowns were an outdated reference because all of these characterisations were still familiar to viewers of almost all ages in the '90s. For decades now, children's TV in the UK has had at least a couple of weekly "variety shows" that usually include a few cartoons, sitcoms, musical performances, loads of slapstick, interviews, etc. Krusty's show is a bit odd because it's never made consistently clear who it's actually for (not many children's entertainers have worked with both Robert Frost and Hugh Hefner), but as a kid, I felt like it was roughly analogous to shows like Tiswas or Live and Kicking, even if those shows didn't feature literal clowns. Funnily enough, in the case of Tiswas, many of its regular performers were constantly eyeing up a transition into adult entertainment, much like Krusty has attempted multiple times over the years. I'm not sure if these sorts of shows have been as consistent in the US; I know Nickelodeon had blocks like Slime Time in the '90s, but I don't know if these are still going? Hedgehog Pie fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Aug 7, 2023 |
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Aug 7, 2023 17:57
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I feel like Bart and Lisa went off in opposite directions. Lisa became a child-woman and Bart became a man-child. Lisa was always a bit of a socially guarded know-it-all, but she was effectively still a kid, which made her relatable. She excelled in school, liked cartoons, had father figure issues, teased her brother when she had her friends round for a sleepover. Bart was a brat for sure, but for the most part, he was really just a slight update on the cheeky Dennis the Menace-type character, and he could obviously apply himself when he wasn't being failed by school, his parents, etc. You could have a bit of fun with his pranks, even if he did sometimes go too far, and feel for him when he failed because they captured his internal conflict. Later on, they just made Lisa the moral compass for the show, possibly because they felt the need to get more overtly "political" after 9/11. This sometimes works for media that's already predominantly satirical, but it was annoying in the case of The Simpsons because you'd already been led to care for the characters over several years, while still enjoying the observational comedy. For Lisa, it meant she no longer acted like a child most of the time. Meanwhile, Bart lost most of his precious sympathetic qualities and was established over and over again as being literally mentally disabled. The latter isn't necessarily a bad thing in characterisation of course, but they couldn't be bothered to tackle it seriously or with any nuance. Instead, it was a punchline, and Bart was just a bland old mean kid because, well, that's easier to pull off and how merchandise had depicted him for years anyway.
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Aug 24, 2023 17:14
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Funky See Funky Do posted:Tone it down a bit there. The Simpsons had a golden age that didn't involve harassing grieving mothers that had just lost their children. I'm very often glad that I'm not up to speed on SA lore.
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Aug 27, 2023 14:03
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And old people wonder why I have no sense of nostalgia (except when it comes to The Simpsons).
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Aug 31, 2023 10:13
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4, 5 and 6 definitely struck the right balance of down-to-earth observational humour and wacky concept episodes. 2 and 3 are solid domestic sitcoms with fun morality tales, appealing emotional stories and a pinch of wry satire when it comes to American sensibilities. 7 and 8 are a bit more of a mixed bag, but I admire them for nailing multiple full parodies and trying new off-the-wall things. 4, 5 and 6 fulfil both niches thanks to writers like Conan and Swartzwelder.
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Sep 4, 2023 15:17
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Honestly, there were so many really good guest stars in the golden years that I probably couldn't pick a favourite. Leonard Nimoy, Tom Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, Adam West, Laurence Tierney, George Harrison, Buzz Aldrin, James Brown, Barry White, Penny Marshall, etc. I don't feel like it got especially stupid until circa season 10. I think Bojack Horseman got the right idea with guest appearances, as opposed to later Simpsons. Thank them for doing it, but pick some light-hearted barbs too.
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Sep 4, 2023 17:56
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I think Bojack is simultaneously an extremely difficult watch at times - especially if you yourself are not in a good place - and one of the best treatments of mental illness I've ever seen in popular culture. It makes jokes at the right time but also takes itself deadly serious on multiple occasions without ever becoming too pathetic. Ideally, you understand the characters without identifying with them. It can be very coarse but also a lot of fun, especially if you like stupid animal puns. I heavily recommend it with an equally heavy asterisk.
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Sep 5, 2023 17:47
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To be honest, I don't think the early episodes of Bojack are even that bad. It's different, but it's not as jarring a change as Simpsons from seasons 1 to 2.
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Sep 6, 2023 21:57
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I feel like the "Meg is hideously ugly" thing was supposed to be this sort of meta-joke about how she's voiced by Mila Kunis, who is obviously very attractive, then they just kept going with it because more = funny. And now, Conway Twitty!!!
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Sep 14, 2023 23:56
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For a moment I thought they brought back the screampillar to do a covid parody, reminding me that that was the first episode I remember watching and immediately thinking "what the hell was that".
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Sep 21, 2023 17:42
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People ask me why I, as someone born in 1990, have no sense of nostalgia or place in present-day society. Am I so out of touch? No, it's the boomers who are wrong.
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Sep 22, 2023 01:04
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Hello Mr Thompson.
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Oct 6, 2023 18:03
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Loss is literally the only thing I know about that comic.
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Oct 7, 2023 03:31
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I think a lot of the songs in old Simpsons were good in part because they were affectionate parodies of well-loved songs that already existed in popular musicals - Monorail (The Music Man), See My Vest (Beauty and the Beast), Spring in Springfield (Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, arguably) etc. Then you had songs like the Streetcar Named Desire ones, which were great parodies of musical adaptations of otherwise quite brutal material in general. Later, they just became songs for the sake of it/residuals and/or shallow parodies that were done with nowhere near the level of love as before.
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Oct 24, 2023 17:58
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Well, I'm glad we didn't turn into mindless zombies.  Shh. TV.  Man fall down. Funny. 
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Oct 26, 2023 06:14
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Oh boy, a spook house!
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Oct 26, 2023 22:24
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Halisnacks posted:Reminiscing about the golden era is way less depressing than trying to pinpoint the lowest point. For me, yes.
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Oct 27, 2023 18:15
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I've caught one or two of the later Halloween episodes before and I seem to recall that being a recurring thing, that they more or less became straight horror with fewer funny bits for levity. In particular, there was more extensive and gruesome violence a la something like Rick and Morty. This then extended into non-Halloween episodes with bizarre poo poo like Sideshow Bob cutting his face off and Grampa's eyes falling out. I know some of the older ones had some pretty nasty things in them too, but they usually went circle with it until it was funny again, like them turning inside out and then doing a parody of A Chorus Line. I like horror, but I don't think straight horror works with something like The Simpsons, which (at its peak) was otherwise super charming and let you develop a connection with the characters in a domestic setting, despite said characters being yellow cartoon people. That, and they were also very funny, but like the Bad Dream House salesman, I think I've mentioned that five or six times.
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Nov 7, 2023 03:44
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Khanstant posted:I think it's best when there's a mix of straight horror tales with others that are more like surreal or bizarre Simpsons twists too weird for the normal episodes. It's the worst when it's just jokes and goofs on some horror franchise or story, just thoughtlessly running the cast through a parody. I think parody works best when the creators clearly enjoy and respect the source material. Some of the parodies in the older Halloween episodes are some of my favourite segments, like The Raven, King Homer, The Shinning, most of the Twilight Zone ones, etc. If you're just doing a parody for the sake of it and/or the creators aren't invested, you usually get shallow, lazy, lame stuff (like Family Guy at its worst or those awful ___ Movie movies from the 2000s). This has the added bonus of you not even needing to know the source material; I barely saw any horror movies when I was a kid, nor was I familiar with The Twilight Zone or Edgar Allan Poe, but I still loved the segments because they were, at heart, good Simpsons episodes with some spooky bits in them. As an aside, I still laugh at the bit where King Homer appears at the window, Marge gives a nonchalant "Oh hi Homey!" (like Marge would do) and then there's an awkward cut to a shot where his arm slowly yanks her out of the room as she screams wildly. This is based on a single shot in the film that looks really crude by modern standards. It's such a small part of the segment and they didn't need to include it, but they did because they saw the film and noted how funny it looked. I think a good example of a modern equivalent that's more up my street is something like Inside No 9, which is obviously scary when it wants to be but also very funny as it picks up on little things. Shearsmith and Pemberton also clearly love the things they parody, which is obvious when they make nods to things like The Wicker Man.
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Nov 7, 2023 06:36
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laserghost posted:Lisa records Homer strangling Bart and uploads it to TickTock or w/e is rhe bland name for the app. The video becomes a viral hit, on one hand starting a media discussion about domestic violence, on the other it attracts the kind of crowd who watch bum fights or stalk mentally ill people to harass them into public outbursts. Homer and Bart are into this for the ad revenue but when Marge decides it's enough, they fake Bart's death and wait one day for public to lose interest for next viral thrill, it being Comic's guy making terrible "wholesome" videos I 100% believe this is a real episode.
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Nov 9, 2023 22:38
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I only just realised how hilarious Kent Brockman's daughter's hair is, lmao.
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Nov 18, 2023 16:52
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I'm always thrown off by what counts as the midwest. I think it always extends some distance west in my head, definitely as far as Montana and Wyoming at least.
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Dec 2, 2023 17:09
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Yeah, come to think of it, I always thought the closest I'd ever been to the midwest was Denver (for a stopover) but upon reflection it's probably Chicago. The term just has some associations to a non-American that are somehow both broad and specific (purely rural areas that spread out over an impossibly massive area).
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Dec 2, 2023 18:44
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Is there actually anywhere where you can stand in five states at once?
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Dec 6, 2023 17:56
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I will always go to bat for Homerpalooza. Homer acts like my dad in it, the celebrities are funny, and I used to know someone who was just like the "HATE CRIIIIIIME!" girl. The freak show element is a bit of a wacky premise, but overall I think it's an entertaining episode that does a good job spoofing post-grunge youth culture and showing how tastes inevitably change across generations. Suicidal Tendencies (formerly Good Vibrations)
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Jan 2, 2024 23:29
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I'm quite a big fan of The Cartridge Family, but then again I am British, so the bit that hits closest to home is the football riot.
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Jan 7, 2024 19:59
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You know you're British when, watching the show as a kid in the '90s, people going to church every week seemed quaint and extremely old-fashioned, but your dad and his mates going to the pub all the time? Yep, relatable!
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Jan 10, 2024 19:27
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Spalec posted:Homerpalooza talk a few pages back makes me think of Grandpas "I used to be with it, but then they changed what "it" was" speech. Which lives rent free in my head every time I see or hear about some tiktok trend I don't understand. Same, but I was never with it to begin with.
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Jan 11, 2024 17:13
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This thread has the boorish manners of a Yalie.
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Jan 26, 2024 12:41
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The Yeeeeees Guy was the worst of the bunch. At least the other referential/parody characters were funny at first, he wasn't even funny the first time. Naturally, I remember him popping up more and more as well.
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Feb 25, 2024 16:13
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The babysitting episode is probably darker than most episodes of its time but I absolutely can't call it a bad episode. I think it's probably more real than some people like to admit (I also don't have any problems with Bart trying to steal Bonestorm, as previously posted), and in a way that's what makes it funny to me. Bart being a little poo poo in a not quite too over-the-top way and Lisa's all-round miserable night* has bitter comedy to it. If you don't find it funny, at least you have Moe's not faux dive for levity. * Maggieeeeeee 
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Apr 13, 2024 20:40
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Sugar, Sugar was a major international hit; it was number one for eight weeks in the UK and the best-selling single of a year/era that's maintained a good bit of influence in pop culture for better or worse. It also topped the charts in countless other countries. I didn't know what The Archies were when I was growing up, but I was definitely familiar with the song outside of The Simpsons. That said, the visuals and I GOT THAT FOR MY BIRTHDAY! make it funny even if you don't know the song.
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Apr 16, 2024 15:20
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The dog could be like four different characters.
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Apr 25, 2024 10:11
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| # ¿ May 28, 2024 20:50 |
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That's a very nice wig Kearney.
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Apr 26, 2024 00:44
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