“I can’t wait to see that play.” – University Student
Futurama went off the air for the third time on Wednesday. (I’m saving the last episode for this weekend and haven’t watched it yet, but the internet seems to have generally liked it.) That departure prompted a slew of eulogies and comparisons to The Simpsons, and we have some of them. In addition to that we’ve got some really cool fan made stuff, a lot of video game links (two of which aren’t about Tapped Out), the return of Me Blog Write Good, and lots more.
Enjoy.
I WANT A BABY! – Smooth Charlie’s Link of the Week puts the Tapped Out game to a good end. The author used shrubs, lawn chairs and various other in-game items to create a great picture of Maggie . . . with Bobo! Excellent.
So… – Our old friend Mike is back at Me Blog Write Good:
Here’s the lowdown: after finishing those final extra reviews, I intended on writing up a grand finale, a “What Have We Learned?” if you will, to serve as a final recap of my thoughts about the entire series, or at least the first 444 episodes of it. But, alas, reality intervened. Hours at my new job skyrocketed, to the point that I was working six, seven day weeks up from February to about mid July, with nothing to show for it but crazy overtime pay and IMDB credit on six summer movies. At that point, my heart wasn’t up to completing the recap.
Very understandable. Also, couldn’t have said this better:
But is it even worth it? By the last couple seasons, I felt I was spinning my wheels with my reviews, because my complaints were becoming repetitive, since the show kept pulling the same shit over and over, whether it be ineffective joke telling, piss poor characterization, or inept attempts at parody or satire.
Just remember, you’re in show business now. Repetitiveness is your job. Your job.
Should Futurama Stay on the Air Until the 31st Century? – A point by point comparison of Futurama and its elder sibling (so Burns gets compared to Mom, Brockman to Morbo, etc). Unfortunately, it makes the classic blunder of conflating The Simpsons with Zombie Simpsons:
Score: 6.75-6.5 Simpsons
But wait! The Simpsons has 727 episodes while Futuramahas 140 which means the latter has run for 19.25% as long as The Simpsons. Futuramais 96.3% as good as The Simpsons (6.5/6.75) which means that Futuramashould ideally run for 700.1 episodes.
I love Futurama, but believe me when I say that making another 560 episodes would be a soul crushing thing to sit through. Shows that go on too long are not a good thing.
5 Soul Crushingly Sad Fry Moments from “Futurama” – Yet more comparisons between the show and Futurama, and while you get three guesses as to which is #1, you’re only going to need one.
i’m back. – The epic last nine months of a graduating nursing student as told with multiple Simpsons YouTube videos. Bravo on the Simpsons references, and congratulations on everything else!
Blog Archive Starbucks Coming To Kings Highway – Click through for the awesomely amateur dubbed Russian YouTube of Bart getting his ear pierced. (And speaking of Russian Simpsons hybrids that deserve more attention: this, which was on the related videos. I have no idea what it is beyond vaguely Christmas-y, but it’s wonderfully weird.)
Homer Simpson Donuts! – Recipe with step by step instructions for how to make perfect Homer donuts. Look at these:
Transcendent. As the post says:
Dunk the donuts in the glaze and then place on a cooling rack. Add sprinkles. You have to. It’s part of the recipe. I swear. Now devour the donuts.
Yes, ma’am. Well done.
‘No Prostitution’: The Simpsons instruct Chinese nightclub patrons on the house rules – From Wesley comes these Simpsons warning signs. Damn do the kids look pissed in the “No Gambling” sign, but my favorite is Bart getting picked up by a Krusty-looking officer for “No Drugs”. Because if there’s one person you can trust to confiscate narcotics, it’s Krusty.
IT’S THE APOCALYPSE. DOH! Anne Washburn brings The Simpsons post-electric – High praise for the Mr. Burns play, including some explanation and sample dialogue:
“In the Cape Fear movies the father is able to protect his family when he throws aside his civilized values and abilities, and engages the villain on his own primal terms; Bart can’t take this villain on; in some ways the play is about what strategies you develop in a world where you are truly helpless.”
From Act Two, Mr. Burns:QUINCY
I hear they’ve got a stash of lithiums, and 10 of those super powerful camping flashlights, and they’re going to do a dusk to dark showing of “A Streetcar Named Marge,” with a spotlight finale at the end.
A bit of a pause.
JENNY
They can’t keep that up for long.
MARIA
Long enough though, right?
MATT
It still kills me they’ve got “Streetcar.”
A pause.
QUINCY
Our commercials are excellent though.
MARIA
Our commercials are great.
"Mr. Burns" drops the Simpsons in a post-apocalyptic musical – And a bit more about the play:
Take the arrival of Mrs. Krabappel (Nedra McClyde). She’s Bart’s teacher on The Simpsons, but here, she’s the all-knowing Chorus, guiding us through the history and ethics of what’s on stage.
Someday this play will be on in a part of the country that isn’t prohibitively expensive from me to reach, and then I will finally get to see it.
The 24/24 Challenge – PART 1 – Cleaning out a backlog of video games with one hour samples of play. This was the verdict on The Simpsons Game:
Another game I played before years ago and made another (soon to be regretful) nostalgia purchase. The saddest part (like the Ghostbusters game) is that having the voice actors reprise their roles makes this seem like a lost episode, and the writing is pretty spot-on for later Simpsons episodes. Then you have to suffer thru the game by actually picking up the controller and attempting to wring fun out of the mediocre gameplay. While the levels do look amazingly well-constructed and in-line with the look of the show, actually running around the stages is not nearly as fun as it should be. It kinda has a PS2 level of unpolish on it, if you know what I mean. Just sloppy in all the wrong ways. Fighting is just basic button mashing at its simplest and laziest. And I thought we fixed crappy cameras years ago….guess not. Another one of those “looks great plays meh” kinda games (also like Ghostbusters).
HOW MUCH DID I PAY FOR THIS GAME: Around $12 on Glyde.
WAS IT WORTH THAT MUCH: If I could have got it cheaper, I would have.
DID I WANT TO KEEP PLAYING THIS GAME AFTER THE FIRST HOUR: Not really. Is it sad to wanna keep playing just to hear the dialogue?
WILL I KEEP PLAYING THIS GAME/PLAY IT TO COMPLETION: Possibly, if I can fight my way past the horrid camera and quirky controls.
DO I PLAN ON KEEPING THIS GAME AFTER I “FINISH” IT: Don’t think so.
That’s tough but fair. Game, go with the man.
Is “The Simpsons: Tapped Out” Worth my Time? – Speaking of video games, an enthusiastic, if slightly miffed, review of the new money fountain:
If there’s one downfall to this game, it’s the fact that it’s made by EA. EA owns the rights to all Simpsons video game media (as evidenced by the surprisingly excellent The Simpsons Game) and they will use any excuse to extract your hard earned money from you. Most games today have some sort of option to pay real dollars to help you along in the game or access premium content to make your town feel….well cooler I guess, I haven’t figured it out. In this game, donuts are the form of premium currency, as they have apparently been affected by the radiation of the nuclear blast to distort time and space. A player can use donuts to speed up the timing of a building or job, or to purchase a character or building that regular in-game money can’t buy. EA puts the opportunity to buy donuts everywhere, the items that donuts buy plentiful, and the opportunity to earn donuts virtually nonexistent. Of course it’s a free app, so people can get through without purchasing anything with real money, but it really drives someone crazy when they have to wait two days for a building to complete so you can move onto the next part of the mission.
Video: Top 10 Secondary Simpsons Characters – Just what it says. And, of course, there are virtually no clips or quotes from Zombie Simpsons.
Twirl n Hurl with Kang&Kodos at Universal Studios Florida…at night – YouTube of exactly that.
Checking In – Sooner or later, everyone gives in and watches The Wire:
Pretty much ever since I posted my previous post, I have been preoccupied with binge-watching what is widely regarded as the best TV series ever* – HBO’s The Wire.
That asterisk leads to:
* Though everyone knows that title should really go to The Simpsons.
And before you say it, the new ones aren’t terrible.
How I wish that were true.
Best. Episode. Ever. (Round 62) – Season 7 thrashes Season 15. (With cause!)
Best. Episode. Ever. (Round 63) – And Season 6 similarly thumping Season 11. (Though it’s “Behind the Laughter”, so it’s easily one of the best in 11.)
Getaway…In 10 Words – I think it was called the car that couldn’t slow down.
Futurama…In 10 Words – It just won’t stay dead!
Robocop…In 10 Words – That cannon of yours is against regulation!
Homer visits Brooklyn – Oh nothing, just fan art of Homer asleep on a dumpster in a Wu Tang hat. Cool.
Why You Should Love Lisa Simpson As Much As I Do – What are you talking about? Everybody loves Lisa:
Ask anyone about their favourite Simpsons character and you will be met with a variety of responses. Highest are probably Homer and Bart followed by some lesser characters like Ned Flanders, Moe Syzlack, Lenny and Carl or even some more obscure characters like Duff Man (can’t breathe). No one, but no one, has ever said Lisa. When I proclaim my personal affection for this precocious little girl, I am met with blank looks and wails of ‘Why?
I come across posts dedicated to her all the time. Lisa rocks.
JOL #1: Neckface Bath Time! – Picture of some sweet sneakers, with a skeletal Bart on the right and skeletal Lisa on the left.
The Shinning – The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Poster Art by Olly Moss – Not sure I’ve seen this one before. Awesome that’s it’s rated R.
The Charticle: A year on from relaunch, The Simpsons is EA Mobile’s biggest earner – More data on just how filthy lucrative the Tapped Out game is.
Retrospective No.13 The Simpson’s Road Rage – In older video game news:
Copying an already successful formula is one thing but the Simpson’s Road Rage commits a second cardinal sin of failing to properly replicate the experience of the original. If you mimic an idea well then people will be forgiving of shameful attempts to piggyback on others successes but when it’s not a patch on the original any flaws in the game are magnified. In this case the driving is extremely buggy and broken causing the arcade experience to be extremely frustrating and even more so when compared to the brilliant and obvious inspiration behind this title.
Reading Chilli Cook-off adds some spice to the Tilehurst Festival – Cool:
Reading has become the epicentre of chilli cook-offs since the first one at the College Arms in August 2011.
The first cook-off in the Wokingham Road pub was the brainchild of Jon Doody, who got the idea when watching an episode of The Simpsons.
’90s Cartoon Characters Take on New York Fashion Week – I’m not sure who looks more out of place here, Daria or Butthead, but it’s close.
THE SIMPSONS: See the Real Version of Homer’s Dream Car! Plus, Teases For Season 25 – This and the next link are blogger video from a little press event with those guys who built the Homer car. Even Groening and Brooks are there.
THE SIMPSONS: Al Jean on The Homer, the Very Special Season 25, and More – A little more video from the above.
Hardly Thunderstruck – Excellent reference:
The issue was in the singer’s voice. He did a fairly passable imitation of Brian Johnson at times, but it quickly became obvious that he has not yet mastered control of that howl. Did you ever see that episode of the Simpsons where Homer’s shirts turn pink in the wash, and he gets sent by Mr. Burns to a mental institution for being a free-thinker, and while inside he meets a guy named Leon who thinks he’s Michael Jackson? This sounded like that – at times, kinda like AC/DC, at times exactly like a 40-something factory worker who smokes a pack a day. The between-song banter was all in the factory-voice, causing the whole thing to be a little surreal, and it took a few lines into the songs for him to get back up to where he wanted to be in the growl. Strange, indeed.
Day Two – what a day! – More photos from the Simpsons area at Universal Studios (which is neither universal nor a studio, but that’s another matter). This one gets bonus points for the t-shirt with Homer and Marge as they looked on prom night.
SONG OF THE DAY: “Do the Bartman” – Bart Simpson (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) – I’d pretty much forgotten it at one time as well:
So, I totally forgot that this song even EXISTED until someone played it for me the other day, and I DIED as I was transported back to the early nineties.
Tuesday Tropes 1: The Fourth Wall Greeting – Our old friend David on the essence of looking at the camera:
Generally, the Fourth Wall Greeting is a comic trope, which makes sense given how silly it is – Stephen Colbert and The Simpsons’ Troy McClure being two of the more notable users of the trope. (The 138th episode spectacular features the show returning from an advert break to find McClure asleep on the couch.)
But not so cool as Tarantino – Heh.
Simpsons and Spinal Tap star Harry Shearer: ‘I never know what voice people are going to come up to me with’ – Shearer, the hardest working man in show business, is in London doing a play called Daytona.
Battle Red Blazin’ Hot NFL Picks: Week 1, Homer Simpson Opines On Physics Edition – Excellent video usage:
Get ready to double your kids’ college funds because these stone cold LOCKS are also blazin’ hot. That’s right. In this blog we do not, in fact, obey the laws of thermodynamics… unlike some people:
Lou Reed, Sarah Siskind and Bart Simpson on this week’s Anti-hit List – It’s “Do the Bartman” set to the “Blurred Lines” beat:
9. ROBIN THICKE VS. BART SIMPSON
“Blurred Bartman”
Forget all that song-of-the-summer twaddle. You know “Blurred Lines” has achieved pop-culture prominence when someone spots a potential Simpsons adjacency and decides to do something about it. After hearing this mash-up, Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” might not be the only song that “Blurred Lines” reminds you of. (bit.ly/1aFDiEz)
Should you wish, here is the .mp3 link.
20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About The Simpsons – This is major pageview whoring since you have to click through for each one, and there’s nothing likely to be all that fresh for readers of this blog, but it’s not a bad time waster. Also, it explicitly and frequently agrees with us:
If it had ended before the turn of the century The Simpsons would have been crowned the Greatest TV Show Of All Time. Sadly with a twenty-fifth season starting at the end of this month it’s now more deserving of the title Greatest TV Show To Ever Fall So Far Into Mediocrity.
Indeed.
Futurama is better than The Simpsons in GIF form – Just a bunch of great Futurama .gifs. And while he agrees with us, I would like to quibble slightly with this:
For the last few years, even the most hardcore Simpsons’ fan would have difficulty arguing against the fact the show has seen a big decline in the quality of its funnies.
I realize that mainstream publications are used to thinking of “hardcore” fans as diehard defenders of whatever program or franchise they don’t think gets sufficient respect. When a beloved show gets cancelled or has a terrible movie adaptation come out, it’s always the “hardcore” fans who make the ruckus and defend things against all comers. But the continued march of Zombie Simpsons has reversed that when it comes to “hardcore” Simpsons fans. For us, it’s the casual fans who defend the show and the hardcore ones who rip it. Odd, I know, but since it isn’t going to change any time soon it’d be nice if newspapers, magazines and the like would pick up on it.
