The Simpsons

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Amaris, Nov 14, 2009.

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When Did The Simpsons Lose It's Spark/Soul?

  1. Season One

    1.3%
  2. Season Two

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  3. Season Three

    1.3%
  4. Season Four

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Season Five

    1.3%
  6. Season Six

    1.3%
  7. Season Seven

    3.9%
  8. Season Eight

    6.5%
  9. Season Nine

    14.3%
  10. Season Ten

    9.1%
  11. Season Eleven

    6.5%
  12. Season Twelve

    5.2%
  13. Season Thirteen

    6.5%
  14. Season Fourteen

    6.5%
  15. Season Fifteen

    2.6%
  16. Season Sixteen

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  17. Season Seventeen

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  18. Season Eighteen

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  19. Season Nineteen

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  20. Season Twenty

    1.3%
  21. Season Twenty-One

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  22. The Simpsons Is Still Good

    32.5%
  1. TheGodBen

    TheGodBen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Al Gore doll: "You are hearing me talk."

    I didn't even know who Al Gore was at the time but that still cracked me up. :lol:
     
  2. LitmusDragon

    LitmusDragon Commodore Commodore

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    "The Mysterious Voyage of Homer" is one of my favorites.

    Chief Wiggum: "That Simpson, he thinks he's the pope of chilitown!"

    and Homer's distress when he finds out he's missing the chili cook-off is priceless.

    "I'm missing the cook off! I'm missing the coooook offfffff!" :lol:
     
  3. Zulu Romeo

    Zulu Romeo World Famous Starship Captain Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2004
    And, from "Bart Gets An Elephant":

    Marge: Oh my, it looks like it could gore!
    Homer: Heh heh, it DOES look like Al Gore...
     
  4. The Borgified Corpse

    The Borgified Corpse Admiral Admiral

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    Stupid cocaine-addicted wife. Not only did she kill someone. She also had to ruin TWO TV shows for millions.:(

    Reading all of these old school Simpsons quotes makes me feel all warm & fuzzy inside. Being able to quote Grandpa's story that doesn't go anywhere is one of my most prized useless skills.

    Even in its prime, I rarely followed the show during its initial run. Somehow, episodes, even ones I hadn't seen before, always seemed better in reruns. So it's hard for me to pin down a single moment where the show went completely off its rocker. I'd guess somewhere around Season 12. The last really great episode I can recall was the one with Mel Gibson.

    The single scene I can recall that made me realize the show had become an empty husk of its former self was in some episode where Homer took over Moe's Tavern. Homer tries to be like Fonzie and make the jukebox work by hitting it. Instead, he breaks the glass and his hand bleeds profusely all over the place. Apparantly, this was the best the episode could come up with, since this was the scene that FOX played over & over in its ads.

    Ultimately, the show lost its soul when it became simply about watching Homer injure/humiliate himself, rather than about his good-hearted (if ill-advised) attempts to make things right.
     
  5. The Borgified Corpse

    The Borgified Corpse Admiral Admiral

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    Ouch! Forgotten already? You were just down ther
    I sort of agree. However, it's difficult to compare the two shows. What made The Simpsons work so well was how much heart it had. Even after all of the bizarre stuff that happened, Homer always figured out a way to make it right by the end.

    Family Guy has almost never had that. During the few episodes that it did, it felt very disingenuous. On the contrary, what makes Family Guy so brilliant is its unwavering commitment to making its jokes as extreme & surreal as possible, regardless of how unlikable it may make the characters.

    But while that formula works very well for Family Guy, it doesn't work for The Simpsons for a few reasons:
    1.) I don't think the writers of The Simpsons have the cojones to take their characters as far as they would need to to make that really effective.
    2.) Even if they did, it still probably wouldn't work because it would clash so badly with everything that has come before.
    3.) The Simpsons writers are too well educated to become quite that random. Maybe that's changed over the years but in the beginning, The Simpsons had the best educated writing staff of any comedy series on TV. If you closely watch the early episodes, it's amazing how many really intellectual jokes were just slipped in there, like when Marge left Maggie at the Ayn Rand daycare center...

    "Do you know what a baby is saying when he asks for his bottle?"
    "'Ba ba?'"
    "He's saying, 'I am a leech.' Here we try to nurture the bottle within."

    Agreed. I love The Critic. At the time, I loved it even more than The Simpsons. Pairing them up on Sunday nights was the best thing FOX ever did. And I'm a huge fan of crossovers, so I don't see what the problem is.

    If anything bothered me about that crossover, it was the scene where Homer's stomach out-growl's Jay's. Now, Homer may have a voracious appetite. But as any fan of The Critic knows, Jay's stomach has achieved independent self-awareness. It speaks to Jay the way that Simpsons characters talk to their brains.

    But then, Homer's liver seems to be at least mildly sentient.
    Homer: "...I'll have to stop drinking."
    Homer's liver: "Yay!"
    Homer: "Shut up, liver!" (Punches himself.) "Ow. My liver hurts."
     
  6. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Dec 25, 2002
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    United States
    And thus we have the beauty of the Simpsons. I read this line and instantly saw that scene in my head and just started busting out laughing. :lol:


    J.
     
  7. D Man

    D Man Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Apr 14, 2004
    Location:
    Tropical Wisconsin
    This reminds me of a snippet that's been floating around in my head, but I don't remember which ep it's from...

    Homer: "I'll never drink again."
    Beer salesman: "Beer here!"
    Homer: "I'll take ten."

    At least, I THINK it was Homer. Maybe at a ballgame?
     
  8. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It was from Season Six's "A Star Is Burns", where Springfield held a film festival. Homer, who is one of the panel judges for the film festival, says this after watching Barney's production of "Pukahontas" where Barney depicts the sad details regarding the life of a man enslaved by alcohol. Right after the movie, he starts tearing up and looking sad and that's where your quote comes in. That's also the episode that has the crossover with The Critic. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, I'm going off of memory (and if I'm right, then Jesus Christ what have I done with my life? :lol: ).

    J.
     
  9. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I just watched the latest episode last night on Hulu, "Rednecks and Broomsticks", and I have to say I laughed very hard. This has to be one of the better episodes I've seen. One of my favorite quotes of the episode had to be Homer's quote when the "Bonk It!" game got stuck under the brake pedal, "Oh, why do all of my actions have consequences!?". It took me back to some of the much earlier seasons (around 5 and 6), and it was nice to really belly laugh at a Simpsons episode again.

    J.
     
  10. Thespeckledkiwi

    Thespeckledkiwi Vice Admiral

    Best quote ever:

    Billy Corgan: Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins
    Homer Simpson: Homer Simpson, smiling politely

    :lol:
     
  11. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    You're dead right. As I affirmed, a very funny episode -where else does Lost Weekend compete with Ben Hur only to become deadlocked by America's Funniest Home Videos? Genius comedy!
     
  12. Davros

    Davros Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    From that same episode.
    Grandpa Simpson: " I used to be with it and then they changed what it was and I wasn't it."
     
  13. QuasarVM

    QuasarVM Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2008
    I don't think The Simpsons has "lost its spark and soul"...it's been on 20 seasons and is still funny. I can't think of a single series that has gone on for over a decade and was still enjoyable or interesting other than The Simpsons.
     
  14. Kelthaz

    Kelthaz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Toronto, Ontario
    ^ Doctor Who? Mash? Cheers? Frasier?
     
  15. barnaclelapse

    barnaclelapse Commodore Commodore

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    I'll take a mediocre Simpsons episode over just about anything else that's passing itself off for comedy on TV these days.
     
  16. QuasarVM

    QuasarVM Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Oct 30, 2008

    Dr. Who...yes. I don't think those others were on for over a decade...maybe Mash...but not by much.
     
  17. Islander

    Islander Commodore Commodore

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    Plus it's Sideshow Bob that gave those other 2 shows any value in the first place... :lol:
     
  18. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Mash, Cheers, Dr. Who and Frasier all went over a decade in first run.

    J.
     
  19. RandyS

    RandyS Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Randyland
    I feel the same way about Star Trek. As much as the latter half of VOYAGER, and pretty much all of ENTERPRISE annoyed me, I'd still rather watch those than anything else on TV now.
     
  20. RandyS

    RandyS Vice Admiral Admiral

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    MASH, Cheers, and Fraiser all ran 11 years each, so you're both right and wrong.