The Simpsons

Okay, I just read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3412515.stm
and thought, what a load of crap.

Personally, I think since about series 12 or so (same time Groening started with Futurama?), new Simpsons have sucked monkeys- the stories are too wacky and don't go anywhere (and usually just shamble along in a random direction), they always have to go to another country or have a famous person randomly appearing in it, jokes in general are blatantly obvious Scary-Movie-type humour, and all the characters have changed. Homer is now just obnoxious and borish, Marge now tries to be cool, Bart has turned gay, Burns just turns up to make random old people jokes, etc... New ones just don't seem to be either funny or clever any more. Am I getting old, or am I right?

Series 11 ends on BBC2 tonight with "Behind the laughter" for those of use in the UK without Sky, (Digital telly with a sunscription charge of like ?40 per month) the BBC is the only way we get new simpsons episodes. So just spare a thought for the lowal fans in the UK who have to put up with the BBC and their scheduling bastards. God knows when we'll be able to see series 12. Wanted to see that episode with the Queen, but now sky, no new simpons. sighs

For the most part I'd have to agree with you. But there have been a few episodes in the last few seasons that were great. Such as the one where Comic Book Guy gets involved with Skinners mom.

I'm just sad that they canceled Futurama, I mean the Simpsons aren't going anywhere, it's a franchise, but Futurama was still relativly young and now it's gone, besides re-runs on cartoon network. Fox, as usual, cancels the wrong shows (Futurama, Family Guy) so they can have a new reality show (shudders).

The best thing that's become of the Simpsons recently is Hit and Run, it's icredibly fun, however even at some point it becomes a pain in the ass.

The show consists of highs and lows now. And thats sad. But they're getting better, they're not as random anymore.

I agree, I saw that one at a friends, the one when bart looks after the comic store is a great episode.

Hmmm, well series 11 is pretty bad too, did it kick off with the lame Superbowl episode? The episode yesterday with Otto's marriage was utterly crap, except for the brief scene with Homer and the ice cream :biggrin: It's quite disturbing how the writers/animators are trying to make Marge sexy in newer episodes, too...

Yeah. I tend to block the bad ones from my memory.

I just remembered the chili cook off one (Guatemalan Insane Asylum Chili Peppers). The whole part with the dog when he wakes up is great

Homer:"Wait a minute, dogs can't talk"
Dog:"Woof woof"
Homer:"Damn stright!"

Yeah, the whole marge-erotica isn't going over well. I can't wait until these writer's contracts are up, or some of them leave.

It's kind of like the Bond movies, the games are starting to have better storylines.

[EDIT]
To matt downbelow: I don't really remember that one . . . Probably blocked it from my memory, but the Jebus thing was hillarious so was "I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Super-Man".

Anyway I wanted to add that, when I get a lot of free time, I'll get working on a picture I've been wanting to make:

Homer in an HEV suit running away from some head crabs. . .and maybe one with him kicking the charge-dog things in the ass. I'm making them for my friends store, so he can hang em up, like a double sided poster thing.

Any suggestions on that front are welcome
[/EDIT]

The only really lame episode I've seen from a later series is whe homer starts asking god for everything, and it end up on top of the church flooded with god being fed krispa' chicken from the kernal!

I agree... since 11 or 12 it has gone seriously down hill.

Simpsons: Used up a lot of the genuinely ingenious storylines, what do they do?

EXTEND THE BIT CHARACTERS PERSONALITIES AND ROLES!

Theyre doing more or less the same as Itchy and Scratchy with the addition of Poochy - and like Leprous said, it certainly does show...

Theyre doing more or less the same as Itchy and Scratchy with the addition of Poochy - and like Leprous said, it certainly does show...

Oh, the irony of it all.

Maybe it's on purpose? :razz:

Even the worst Simpsons episode is better than almost all of TV right now. The only things better written than the current episodes were the old episodes. Those old episodes were miles beyond everything and, to be honest, are tough to continually make after 15 seasons.

Crono said:
Homer in an HEV suit running away from some head crabs. . .and maybe one with him kicking the charge-dog things in the ass. I'm making them for my friends store, so he can hang em up, like a double sided poster thing.

Any suggestions on that front are welcome
[/EDIT]

Give me a slice!

/end simpsons quote

Yak_Fighter said:
Even the worst Simpsons episode is better than almost all of TV right now. The only things better written than the current episodes were the old episodes. Those old episodes were miles beyond everything and, to be honest, are tough to continually make after 15 seasons.

Yak, perhaps you need to live the UK television revolution that I hear you're having over there Less reality TV and more Office, I say.

The problem is that if the writing actually changed, we wouldn't even know until 2006 (Season 17). Since how they write and produce the shows. Right now, they're finishing up animating the last episodes for season 16. The writers are allready writing, or possbly done for season 17.

Reality shows are evil. they're also poinless:

Host: "If you survive this truckload of rocks, you win 1 million dollors"

Annoying Contestant: "Woooo, bring it on!!!!"

Wouldn't it be easier to just shoot everyone who tries out for a reality show?

That includes the Real World and Road Rules.

And there's Big Brother in the UK. Hooray, let's all watch people sit in a house for several months. I see more excitement in retirement homes.

Sim said:
I see more excitement in retirement homes.

Wheelchair races are the next big thing.

The only things better written than the current episodes were the old episodes.

Do you live in the US? I have to say, some of your programming when I went on holiday there was downright shameful. :smile:

Yeah, I'm American, and I really don't watch the telly outside of the Simpsons, Futurama, local news, sports, and movies.

There's so much crap it's beyond my ability to comprehend. My house has satellite TV and I only watch one out of the 700 or so channels (which is ESPNews)

Leperous said:
Personally, I think since about series 12 or so (same time Groening started with Futurama?), new Simpsons have sucked monkeys- the stories are too wacky and don't go anywhere (and usually just shamble along in a random direction), they always have to go to another country or have a famous person randomly appearing in it, jokes in general are blatantly obvious Scary-Movie-type humour, and all the characters have changed. Homer is now just obnoxious and borish, Marge now tries to be cool, Bart has turned gay, Burns just turns up to make random old people jokes, etc... New ones just don't seem to be either funny or clever any more. Am I getting old, or am I right?

OMG Lep! Its like youve taken my thoughts and put them into words, and did a better job of it than myself. I stopped watching new simpsons a while ago... the only simpsons I watch now are repeats of the old ones.

Leperous said:
Yak, perhaps you need to live the UK television revolution that I hear you're having over there Less reality TV and more Office, I say.

I havent seen the Office yet... best UK show ever IMO is Dead Ringers... it is impossible not to laugh all through that show.

Yak, what about Family Guy?

However, Futurama doesn't get enough credit, not by a long-shot.

Futurama sucks.

Futurama WAS a gd show, but that 1 where 3 of them became super heros was absolutly shamefull.

does ne 1 remember south park?

Yeah, it's still running with new episodes, it hasn't been canceled or anything.

My distaste for that show lessened when they started ridiculing politics and world events.

It's still not that good though.

Family Guy has its legendary moments- usually cartoon piss-takes and 'what ifs' :biggrin: - but it's not thaaaat good... And Futurama is pretty good- methinks they share a couple of the bad script writers with the Simpsons, going by some of the 'jokes' in the newer episodes where they drag things out for about 20 seconds- but it's never really got a lot of attention, and perhaps it would be 'better' if it had...

blah!!! the office is the biggest, most boring, vile comedy ever to grace tv. I cant bloody stand that s**te.

All the best comedy is the old stuff, Monty python, Red dwarf, black adder, dads army.

Black Adder (All 4 but I particulaly like the 3rd Series and the 4th), Red Dwarf, are both classics. I just got red dwarf series 1 and 2 on DVD, classics i'm telling you!

Family Guy is lame. There, I said it. It goes for shock value or random pop culture references that I don't find all that funny.

Now, Monty Python...there's some good stuff

Sorry KoRnFlakes, i'm going to have to disagree and say The Office is truly comedy gold :smile: Appreciate it for being cringeworthy (the characters) and the "gags" (like gareth doing the sponsored "stand on one leg"). It blends a harsh mockery of the the deadbeat workers, the awful-ness of docusoaps with heavy ladlings of humour thrown into the mix :biggrin:

COMEDY GOLD!

I love family guy. South park however was good until the novelty of cartoon people saying f**k and doing disgusting things wore off. (3 episodes)

lol yea they took it too far in the first aired show with the abductions when cartman was tied to a tree and then kyle said some sh*t and it went on for ages, it got so boring, i cant even b bothered to dl the new episodes.

even this is more fun

KoRnFlakes said:
blah!!! the office is the biggest, most boring, vile comedy ever to grace tv. I cant bloody stand that s**te.

All the best comedy is the old stuff, Monty python, Red dwarf, black adder, dads army.

Hear hear!

KoRnFlakes said:
blah!!! the office is the biggest, most boring, vile comedy ever to grace tv. I cant bloody stand that s**te.

All the best comedy is the old stuff, Monty python, Red dwarf, black adder, dads army.

My brother got the complete Flying Circus set for Christmas.

/me feels the urge to castrate KoRnFlakes for his heresy

:smile:

Time for my words:

The Simpsons:

To me, the simpsons will always have a place in my heart. Believe it or not, Ive watched the Simpsons since I was 1 from my crib, when they first aired in `89. I havent seen too much of a radical change in comedy in the newer episodes, besides the obvious fact that celebritys are basically mass producing in spring-field now. Like others said too,the simpsons newer episodes are still better than half the s**t on tv today (excluding american idol..Well some of it, I watch until they are done making fun of people ), and after 15 seasons you have to give them credit for still thinking of comedic adventures, instead of episode after episode of same plots.

Futurama:

Yes, the show is another look into that comedic spot inside groiens mind, its pure genius. From bender robbing his own friends, to the professor sending them to the forbbian planet (Which is not just a name ). Shame on FOX for canceling it to show some damn reality show...But how could we live without another Survivor, or the newest Fear factor!? </sarcasm>

Family Guy:

I love Family Guy. Straight and foreward, its among the top 5 funniest animated shows Ive seen on american TV to date. I love how they actually show the "Remember that time" scenes or Flashbacks. And who could forget..

"Lois: Pfft. You could tell a man made that commercial, its got nothing but beer and sex!

Peter: Of course a man made it lois, its a commercial, not a deliscious turkey dinner."

Ah, all done now.

</rant>

You watch American Idol? You might as well shoot heroin in your eyes.

It cracks me up when Family Guy will make a joke and then cut to some other scene for an absolutely tasteless throw-away gag. Unfortunately some of the episodes don't really use this style of comedy and they're the worse off for it.

Peter (imagining Hell): Wow. Adolf Hitler, Al Capone, John Wilkes Booth, eh, hey, what are you doing here?
Superman: I killed a hooker. She made a crack about me being faster than a speeding bullet so I ripped her in half like a phone book.

As for FOX, they have cancelled a bunch of good shows: Titus, Andy Richter Controls the Universe... Hopefully they are smart enough not to can Arrested Development, that show made me laugh all through winter break.

Read the post right...I watch the tryouts. When they start making fun of everyone, thats comedic gold :biggrin: ! But, when they start singing for real, Id rather watch ++20 hours of Darma and Greg.

That's no excuse, you still watch it. Don't try to weasel your way out of it, it doesn't matter how much of it you watch. :razz:

Those judges just annoy me. Especially that incredibly mean one. Reminds me of Tal-N, so cynical. :biggrin:

Kage_Prototype said:
That's no excuse, you still watch it. Don't try to weasel your way out of it, it doesn't matter how much of it you watch. :razz:

Those judges just annoy me. Especially that incredibly mean one. Reminds me of Tal-N, so cynical. :biggrin:

don't worry those judges aren't bullet proof.....or are they?!! :eek:

Vash: Finally someone else who feels the same as me!
I got the season1/2 DVD box set of Family Guy and most of the episodes you'd probably remember being the funniest aren't there. they're all in season 3. Also, I don't think the fan base really helped either shows, because the fan base was huge.

FOX seems to have a system for getting rid of shows. They change the time schedule around so people don't know when the hell stuff is on. Like with Futurama the times changed like every week. That way, I imagine, they could be like "Oh, sorry the ratings dropped like a rock" and can it. Thats also what happened with Family Guy, they kept changing the time and the day, it was rediculous. However, I think with Family Guy they kind of drew a line (Wish Upon a Whinestine) and they refused to air that episode, they wouldn't even edit it which was odd. Its not even that offensive which doesn't make sense.

I would hope that since Cartoon Network has picked up both shows, they might pay for another couple seasons, that would be awesome.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Simpsons. But there are just some thing in Futurama that are better (Story lines are more dynamic, since it's a newer show). sigh I'll stop ranting now.

They ARE making another series of Family Guy, due to the incredible popularity of the DVDs. :smile:

I = Got the simpsons seasons 1-3 on DVD, and family guy season 3 on DVD :biggrin: !

Vash: Rock on.

Kage: What??!?!?! really? that's awesome!

"You know what Lois, if I'm a child then you know what that makes you? A Pedophile and I'll be damned if I'm going to stand here and be lectured by a pervert."

You can blame the UK for American Idol (from Pop Idol). And it's just as crap here. I've never seen family guy before, I assume you need Sky or something to see it in the UK. It makes me so angry when they put on a load or reality TV crap that goes on for hours a day when they could be showing decent programs that are funny, or just good.

I'm sorry.

If it makes you feel better, in the US, when you get cable tv half the channels you pay for are Turner news channels . . .

"Ladies and gentlement I've done the world a favor and colorized the moon" -Ted Turner, Family Guy