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Matt Groening on Futurama, Simpsons and Fox
dipfan writes "Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening, in an interview with the FT, says that the Fox network didn't understand or support Futurama. Groening says: "They haven't really supported it. I think it's a worthy companion to The Simpsons and we're really proud of it. But Fox gave it a bad slot and zero promotion for the last three years." He also accuses the channel of meddling with the show, making complaints that the characters were "too mean". He's hoping to change Fox's mind, and endorses the online petition to try and save the show. The good news is that he's got other ideas for new shows if Futurama really does get canned, and talks about new Simpsons plots involving Enron, and Krusty The Clown running for Congress." His feelings shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who saw the first act of "Homer the Moe", but what I thought was interesting was his comments on Fox and how he's not interested in moving networks over the futurama thing.
Fox has a long history of utterly failing to pay attention to the worthwhileness of their shows - giving good shows the boot while bad shows - say, for instance, Greg the Bunny - get prime airtime. The Simpsons just happened to be the right combination of edgy and comfortably marketable to get and keep a prime spot for so long - and any show that doesn't live up to those standards seems to be summarilly dropped, despite the fact that the bar is unreasonably high...
This flies in the face of science.
Fuck, that's the reason I gave up on the Simpsons years ago, and love Futurama!
Hey, FOX, why don't you bite my shiny metal ass? I'm an adult. Now that Bugs Bunny's been censored to hell, I'm left craving cartoons I can enjoy as an adult. If there's a demographic that leaves room in the lineup for Greg The Bunny (who's funny, but is hardly broadly-based social satire), there's gotta be room for Bender and the baby in "Family Guy".
Fox has had some gold in the past that they gambled on and won, and gambled on and lost. Greg the Bunny is boring, Family Guy is great. Although I did not like them, 90210 and Melrose Place were gold for the network. X-files will be generated only syndication funds, nothing substantial.
There has got to be something that I missed, I do not understand how they could cancel shows like Futurama and Family Guy.
What are your thoughts?
I wouldn't mind The Simpsons ending its run at this point. Better that than risk something awful happening, like one of the voice actors quitting or getting canned or Fox insisting on some egregious change.
Anyway, there are so many episodes in syndication that I can watch reruns for weeks without getting bored.
What WOULD be tragic: Groening not having a shot at another show. Surprise us, Matt!
Stefan
* #1 Candidate for overused annoying chic media term.
"Futerama would be good if it had better characters, better animation, better plots, better jokes, better acting, and better flow."
That's kind of funny, I was just thinking your post'd be good if it had better spelling, better presentation, a better point, better use of grammar, a better style of writing, and better use of commas.
Wouldn't have been easier to type "I don't like Futurama?". Even so, you picked a bad topic to post that under.
"Derp de derp."
As some of you are aware, when J. Michael Straczynski attempted to make a sequel to his popular Babylon 5 series, the network in charge (TNT) tried to control the creative direction of his show, Crusade. After only 13 episodes, Straczynski walked away saying that he either does Crusade his way or not at all. TNT had refused to relinquish creative control to the creator. Apparently, a similar showdown occurred between Simpsons creator Matt Groening and the FOX network while developing the Futurama series.
Groening said in a Playboy interview: "The current atmosphere in television is one of anxiety and fear. And Fox has been worried that Futurama isn't like the Simpsons. And I've said, 'No, it's exactly like the Simpsons: It's new and original.' But that hasn't calmed them down. Also, Fox expected to have our show under its thumb and was quite surprised when I adamantly insisted that we put this show together exactly as we do The Simpsons, with complete autonomy. So that's why you haven't heard anything positive about Futurama from Fox during the past year."
So, where TNT failed to compromise and save Crusade, the FOX network acquiesed to the creator and now has had a successful show in Futurama.
I'm amazed Futurama has lasted as long as it has considering that it's not only in the 7 pm Sunday death slot, but that it's preempted continuously during the football season. Add to that the fact that this past season didn't start with regular new episodes until January, and you've got a recipe for lost viewers.
Greg the bunny is funny.
And the recent episodes of the X-Files are deeply conspiracy-laden, heart-wrenching and mind-busting masterpieces.
Personal preferences aside - Fox has had a history of poor choices where the schedule and programming of their stations is concerned.
On another subject, quoth the interview:
But Groening is also pragmatic about the show's shelf-life. "Because animation is such an intensely painstaking process, it wears people out, and audiences are always looking for surprises. When any character is as stupid as Homer Simpson, it's hard to keep surprising the audience."
Groening has a remarkably mature and insightful view of his own mortality and the limits of a particular genre. While the Simpsons make an excelent foil for poking fun at any cultural situation, economic event, or global personality (and as such, has a much much longer life expectancy than, say, Garfield (no offense to Garfield), who has said just about all there is to say on the subjects of laziness, gluttony, and hatred of dumb-but-cute), at some point, almost certainly, the majority of people watching the show will say "Ho hum, Homer's dumb, headlines, Bart whines, Lisa's smart - who gives a fart? Pass the booze - I'd rather snooze." (Or something, perhaps in slightly less doggerel.) We can only hope that Groening recognizes this point and brings us to a stunning (and satisfying) conclusion before the show becomes bogged down with the dead weight of unfunny seasons.
This flies in the face of science.
The Simpsons has wider appeal than Futurama. Futurama is definitely tuned more towards the scifi/geek/even Slashdot audience. That might be part of why Fox is messing with it.
;)
The humor in Futurama definitely has better bite than the Simpsons. If you don't believe me, watch an episode that has a lot of Bender in it. Some of Bender's robotic anatomy is well.. uh.. more functional than ours.
"Derp de derp."
Wow is right. Someone on /. wreckless enough
to spell Futurama as Futerama, yet
caring enough to remember to accent the 'e' in Pokémon?
What kind of God would create a world where such things happen?
..was also canceled cause Fox put them on in a bad timeslot and didnt promote them. And im not alone when i say that it was/is the best show EVER.
Family Guy is awesome. Like a less politically correct Simpsons. Personally, I think it was even funnier than the Simpsons. It pissed me off that they canceled it. When they give a show a bad timeslot and no promotion, why the hell to they expect it to do well? The Family Guy could have been another Simpsons.
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
"I do feel sorry for the people who think the Simpsons are "clever". I wonder if they've ever read anything by Evan Dorkin [houseoffun.com] or Dan Clowes [fantagraphics.com]."
Okay... so the Simpsons really isn't funny. I guess all my laughter was an allergic reaction to really bad TV?
I think it's funny how people use their individualism to try to rise above other people. They never seem to realize that the tip of their nose ends up higher than their forehead when they do that.
I have no regrets. Both the Simpsons and Futurama are quite amusing to watch, and their style of humor has yet to be replicated by anybody. Hmm... isn't that the definition of clever?
"Derp de derp."
Futerama would be good if it had better characters, better animation, better plots, better jokes, better acting, and better flow.
Compared to what?
The animation on Futurama is on-par, if not slightly better than the Simpsons (which is one of the best animated cartoons out there). If you don't like it, I'm guessing it is for purely asthetic reasons. Personally, I don't like how panning and rotation look, since computers give them a smoothness that just seems jarringly out of place to me - but then again, that's just me. The choice of colors is different as well. Where The Simpsons has a more cartoony look - the colors are brighter and have more contrast, Futurama tends to stray away from bright and primary colors, going for a paler and more blended palette.
The characters, plots, flow, and jokes in Futurama are very different than in The Simpsons. This has everything to do with the universe it is set in being based solely in Science Fiction rather than the mostly realistic universe that The Simpsons has built up over the years. Although most of the "rules" of both the shows are similar, you can easily get away with things in one that you couldn't in the other. Different sets of rules need different characters. Bender wouldn't fit in with The Simpsons just as much as Lisa wouldn't fit in with Futurama.
That being said, I prefer The Simpsons in its prime (although the Homer/Hulk episode this week was pretty good) to Futurama at its best. Why? Futurama's structure is so open that nearly anything can be done plot-wise. The Simpsons was based somewhat in reality, which gave the writing team a bit of focus. When absolutely anything can happen, it isn't as special when it does.
That online petitions don't work.
This came out of a report from an anime convention last week. The studio reps said that they would pay attention to petitions for new series, but not online petitions. I suspect that Fox would pay even less attention.
I don't think there's been a single example of an online petition having an effect. Please provide examples if I'm mistaken.
www.lucernesys.comHorizon: Calendar-based personal finance
"Church of Star Trek: The Sci-Fi Religion that doesn't take all your money!"
Thanks for the reminder of why I keep watching Futurama. It's a cartoon for adults who actually keep track of what's going on in the world beyond what's reported on the lamestream news.
(I probably shouldn't have said that - it's such a small demographic as to assure Futurama gets canned :)
I comfort myself by thinking that for every "in-joke" I spot on Futurama, there are probably a dozen that I miss.
I wont even notice. Usually I am busy when the new shows get aired. I watch the Simpsons 3 or 4 times a week but it is all syndication.
That's part of what makes it so awesome. Each time I watch an episode again it cracks me up as much as the first time. Plus I notice little things I missed the first time around.
I figure all the new episodes I've missed give me a buffer of at least a few years. And you know that the Simpsons are going to be on for a very long time on some channel.
Sort of like that 8 minutes of light we get after the sun goes out one day.
.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
I have no inside knowledge of FOX or other broadcasting companies, but if they function the same way that other companies that I have worked at do, then I know exactly why you see the really fantsatic shows being canned in thier prime: new blood. Every time managment changes or restructures, there is some subconcious need from the newbies to change things around, if for no other reason than to justify thier existance. The usual route is to attack what was successful before, tear it down, and bring out the solid gold shnazzy New Thing(tm) that will wow everyone. Maybe it works one time out of a hundred, but that doesn't stop people from trying to be the lucky golden boy.
This is just a guess, but I'll put a tenner down that the reason why Futurama never really got the support that it should have, and why it's being dropped now, is becuase maybe a week after the pilot, the heads of that department in FOX got restructured and the pastic wrap came off a whole new lineup of fresh-faced marketing and programming execs. They couldn't drop the Simpsons (it just has TOO MUCH momentum), so they decided to carve up everything else they could touch and fill the void with the neeto ideas they had during thier training in the frat house.
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
Yahoo News carries an interview with Groening. My favorite quote it "Although what happens generally if we win the Emmy for best animation show is that that gives us another couple of years to run it into the ground," he said.
There was a Dilbert cartoon on UPN that really wasn't bad. Unfortunately, being UPN and being on at an unusual time (well for me anyway...) made me miss alot of it. So I really didn't notice that it had disappeared. One night, I was inspired to check Kazaa for Dilbert and grabbed a few eps. That show was actually pretty good!
... well damn, if Fox had bought Dilbert from UPN, that would have worked out really well:
I think what killed that show was not so much time slot, but rather FOX has a virtual monopoly on prime-time animated shows. Sunday nights are when I watch like a string of cartoons. And
7:00 PM: King of the Hill
7:30 PM: Family Guy
8:00 PM: Simpsons
8:30 PM: Futurama
9:00 PM: Dilbert
9:30 PM: X-Files
Tell me that wouldn't have been a cool night lineup.
"Derp de derp."
Once they lost Connan, they started steadily going downhill.
I agree with you except I would replace "steadily" with "rapidly". It was painful enough to watch one of my favorite shows go from brilliant to awful but I finally decided to switch the TV off on the episode where I&S Corp decides to change The Itchy & Scratchy Show (was that the Poochy the Dog episode?). Near the end, Lisa tells the animators that there isn't anything "wrong" with Itchy & Scratchy, the reason their ratings are down is because people have gotten used to such great programming or some such nonesense. She goes on to say that the fans should be thankful that Itchy & Scratchy has been great for so many years. That speech was obviously directed towards fans of the Simpsons who were posting negative comments about the shows on the Internet. Rather than listening to the feedback from their most loyal fans, the people running The Simpsons decided to have Lisa berate the viewers! I thought that was too offensive and decided that there was no longer any hope that The Simpsons would realize they were making a mistake with their new direction.
So I gave up hope that the Simpsons would return to greatness a long time ago...
GMD
watch this
Funny you should mention this. A LOT of otherwise knowledgable people I know completely missed it too - on the recent "clipshow" (Homer Gump or some such title), watch towards the end credits where they start making jokes about future Simpsons episodes.
They quickly show a picture of Homer waterskiing - and he happens to be taking a jump, right overtop a shark.
I think milk came out of my nose when I saw that.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Help support the Krusty for Kongress Kampaign!
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For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
FOX Broadcasting has a nasty habit of cancelling good shows and keeping bad shows. One such show was the Critic, from where it lept from FOX to ABC. Due to that leap, the show only lasted two seasons (One on FOX, one on ABC).
Now FOX is treading on both Family Guy and Futurama...
Tis a shame...
Are you sure your nick shouldn't be "Comic Book Guy"?
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Aren't you cool.
There are people who are familiar with Dan Clowes
and still like the Simpsons, you know.
But we're probably not as cool as you.
Ben "You have your mind on computers, it seems."
If FOX takes Futurama away from us or (as recently) simply decides to pre-empt or randomly move it then do yourself and your sense of humor a favor and stay up later (usually about 11:15) to watch Sealab 2021 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block.
It's Sci-Fi (Robots, Time Travel, Black Debbie), it's got great characters (Stormy, Hesh, Chubby Cox), and some of the best comedy writing and voice talent (Erik Estrada!) on tv EVER.
^nA! Creatures in my Head
Seems to me that the Simpsons has reached the point of being a minor religion...
As folks will quote scripture, so folks will quote the Simpsons.
It's on Sunday, and plans are made around it. Those that watch think those that don't are wierd.
You can also attend throughout the week, but the sermons seem a bit canned and dated.
The characters consistently show reality through a fun-house mirror and have representation from most ethnic groups/stereotypes.
Why not? I'm sure someone somewhere hates the Simpsons with passion enough to start a small war, and that's all the qualification I need.
-JPJ
Feh.
The devil you know is frequently better than the devil you don't.
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
ridicule. See Synonyms at caricature.
The genre of literature comprising such works.
Something so bad as to be equivalent to intentional mockery; a travesty: The trial was a parody of justice.
Music. The practice of reworking an already established composition, especially the incorporation into the Mass of material borrowed from other works, such as motets or
madrigals.
"Derp de derp."
That is a really strange complaint comming from TV executives.
My favourite sitcom "News Radio" was always in trouble and was cancelled because the characters were too mean to each other.
And now my favourite animation show (yes i think the current futurama shows are a bit better than the current simpsons shows) is getting cancelled because the characters are too mean.
Thats really bizarre. First of all the characters werent really mean in either one of those show (ok maybe except bender but even he was showed goodness of heart in the godfellas episode).
Second of all it makes you wonder do TV stations consider it their duty to build up the morals of their audience trough tv shows? And if so why is that coming from FOX that brought us numerous car chase shows, police reality shows, accident and disasters where people die shows, one (or two was it?) numerous women begging to be married to some millionare schnuck shows, and lets not forget the trivia show where the host is famous for insulting the contestants.
I appreciate being modded up but I'm at the cap and just made some other posts that will very likely get modded down. So this doesn't do me a lot of good in my quest for 50 points for 50 days.
If youd've waited until after the others got modded down this would have really come in handy.
.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Yes, it's probably true that online petitions aren't worth the server space their stored on which is why Futurama fans might want to consider writing a good old USPS letter. Rumor has it that big-wig studio execs are greatly swayed by your willingness to waste paper, time, and tax dollars. Here's their addresses at the Fox network:
Ms. Gail Berman
President
Building 100 Room 4450
10201 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
United States of America
Mr. Sandy Grushow
Chairman
Building 100 Room 5110
10201 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
United States of America
I don't want to give you a script but you might want to focus on Futurama's poor and frequently changing time slot and it's abundance of critical praise.
Telling a studio exec to bite any part of your anatomy (shiny or otherwise) is generally a bad idea.
I've been wondering what they are going to do with the war on terror and a lot of other post 911 stuff.
I thought that all the episodes this season were made before 911, but they had "Bin Laden in a blender" last Sunday, so what's the deal? Was that spliced in later?
On one hand, there is a lot of way to spin humor on some of this stuff, but on the other hand it's hard to do it without addressing "important social issues" or having a "very special episode", which was what used to signal the end of a sitcom before everyone started to say "jumping the shark".
Let's see:
They fly someplace. Lisa gets wanded and taken into a special room. Bart's slingshot gets ignored. Homer beeps in the detector, but nobody wants to touch him. Marge is asked to stick her hair in the X-ray machine, and it comes all the way out the other side. Maggie has a gun in her diaper, but nobody notices. This stuff practicly writes itself.
Or how about... Bart decides to become a Moslem. Do all the Lisa Budist stuff--Bart style. Hurl pork chops out the window, etc. End Moslem conversion when Bart finds out he has to get circumcised.
Then again... maybe having the Simpsons come to an end without ever riffing on that stuff would be better. It would fix the Simpsons permanently as part of the "pre-911" world, allowing us to watch it in sindicated re-runs knowing that stuff would never intrude, save for that one little reference to Bin Laden.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Remember what Roswell did? Bottles of tabasco sauce sent to the producers or something? Mailbomb them with lots of alcohol (Bender likes to drink) and maybe they'll notice and not cancel Futurama. They'll definitely notice it more than some stupid online petition.
[o]_O
The one that that I find most upsetting about the whole Futurama/Simpsons rivalry is that Simpsons seems to be treated as FOX's little darling and Futurama is the bastard child they want to pretend they never had.
Case in point? The Simpsons Archive (snpp.com) perhaps the single greatest authoritative Simpsons information source. Mostly culled I'm sure from countless USENET postings but the information contained there is priceless to the average Simpsons fan. Someone at work will utter a butchered version of some famous quote and in seconds we will have the exact wording, the episode it came from and (with a little step 2 magic) soon be watching the hilarious moment.
But is there such a resource for Futurama? Well there was...The Futurama Cronicles (frcr.com). Had much of the same kind of information, with upcoming episode dirt and all sorts of little factoids. I can't read the alien language, but those guys had it pretty much deciphered. I always wonder what the little clips during the intro came from and they always seemed to know.
But what was it, two years ago? the site got the Cease & Desist kiss of death. How can a site like snpp.com flourish and frcr.com disappear when both are basically cataloging and organizing USENET content? And what happened to the other Futurama sites like FuturamaOutlet and so on?
Honestly, it's like FOX is trying to deny Futurama even exists. The FOX website for the show is a flash-laden piece of crap that hasn't been updated since the show premiered (same with the Family Guy show site).
Bleah. Matt Groening must has some change in his pocket. He knows about the massive following his shows have on the Internet (he has been asked about ANiVCD and the whole VCD scene at every convention he's ever attended). In this post dot-com world, I think his projects would be the only ones that have a chance at working over the Internet. Produce the show straight to video and offer streaming downloads over the Internet. Hell, I see channel after channel on IRC doing exactly that.
So he's not interested in leaving FOX. Fine. But for god's sake...don't cast pearls before swine. How many musicians say that given the choice between languishing in a corporate vault and being enjoyed and shared by fans they would much rather give their work to the fans? Why can't Matt be the same way?
- JoeShmoe
.
-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
I seen this statement several times here and other places. I still like the Simpsons and didn't have any idea where the GoodEpisodes/BadEpisodes line was drawn. So I did a little investigating and it seems Conan wrote 4 episodes.
Conan Episodes
So these 4 are the only good ones?
I don't think the current heads at Fox want angry characters or self-referential satire. For some reason television has climbed that hump and has moved back to Spelling-like plain-jane sitcoms.
The mid to late nineties TV landscape was covered with amusing shows that took pot-shots at everything, including themselves and especially the sitcom formula. Mr. Show, Upright Citizens, Simpsons, Family Guy, The Daily Show, etc were groundbreaking shows. They didn't take anything as above-criticism and developed an intelligent edge through insightful comedy.
Now look at the popular comedies on Fox. Bernie Mac, King of the Hill, Malcolm in the Middle, etc. They're more based in the Love Boat tradition of wacky sitcom than in the Simpsons tradition of satire and irony. This is what people want. The Neilsons have spoken and Fox isn't listening to the raves, but only to the complaints about shows being too brainy, mean, or smartassed.
Cable seems to be picking up the slack with shows like the Man Show, Sealab 2021, etc. Hopefully the Simpsons spirit will live on in the minds of writers willing to take a small risk.
I understand your point, but I respectfully disagree about it's humor. I appreciated South Park's take on the War on Terror, but I really think the joy of it came from the episode's focus on showing the US kick Bin Laden's ass.
I don't see the Simpsons being able to lift my spirits that way. Jokes about airport screenings may be funny, but when you put them in the terrorism context, it loses it's humor.
Bin Laden in a blender is a spoof of stuff we've already seen on the net. It's the lighter side of what happened. But to tackle the attacks directly without turning it into a drama... well I'd be very impressed if they pulled it off. As I said, South Park did, but I'm not sure Simpsons is quite up to it.
*would love to see Groenig prove him wrong.*
"Derp de derp."
One of the reasons that the early Simpsons episodes were so funny, and continue to remain funny, is that they were not topical, but universal. There were episodes about Bart and Lisa in school, Homer's troubles with his job, strains in Homer's and Marge's marriage--all standard if not hackneyed sitcom plots, you may say, but stories of general appeal, that are still funny more than a decade later. And that's true of nearly _all_ of the classic comedy that's still funny even fifty years later. Watch I Love Lucy or listen to the Jack Benny program and you're not likely to hear any joke or gag about some 40's or 50's political or social event. Both shows _do_ make use of cameos, and those "date" the show to an extent, especially when the star or bigwig has since become rather obscure (hands up everyone who's heard of Dore Schary or Ronald Colman!) But those classic shows, and classic Simpsons, because they avoid topical humor, have aged remarkably well.
Groening's talk of making an Enron episode reminds me of how low the Simpsons have sunk. Who, five years from now, is going to remember Enron? Hell, who cares _now_ about Enron? But the Simpsons went down that primrose way a long time ago, ever since they started cracking jokes about the Internet, and making episodes featuring George Bush and Bill Clinton (I'm reminded that the Simpsons' funniest political episode, the one where Lisa goes to Washington, makes hardly any specific reference to the politics of the day), and running cameos from every two-bit celebrity or band who had their fifteen minutes, from Mark McGwire to N-Sync.
hyacinthus.
If you like crass puppets, you definitely should check out Meet the Feebles by Peter Jackson (yes, that Peter Jackson). The Feebles are the Muppets on drugs.
cpeterso
Fox has done an excellent job this year bringing 24 to their schedule...that show is fantastic, Keifer Sutherland is awesome, and Dennis Hoppers' addition to the cast in the past few episodes has been outstanding too...to me, this was the best new show on any newtork this season...of course, it sounds like their gonna ruin it next season when, according to articles i've read, the shows switch from 24 episodes each covering one hour of time...to each episode covering 1 24-hour block of time...it just won't be the same..please FOX, try to bring it back in the original format...
also...
Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Undeclared are, in my opinion, two of the funniest new shows this season...yet, Undeclared has been conspicously absent from the spring schedule, and there are rumours that Andy Richter will not be picked up for next season...these two shows are great...and if you haven't checked out Andy Richter consider watching..it's on Tuesday's at 8:30 (although not this tuesday) as a lead in to "24"...it's damn funny...and the office humour in it is great...
i do think Fox's lineup does have some potential over all....these 3 shows i mentioned....plus Simpsons, Malcom in the Middle, King of the Hill and That 70's show give them a nice core group of programming...albeit one that doesn't really appeal to older viewers....but it should appeal to the all important 18-25 year old male demographic...
just my opinion...
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
Scene one: Itchy, Scratchy and Bin Ladin in a barber shop...
"Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
Most people here that have seen Greg the Bunny on Fox were underwhelmed. I was too.
To see what it was before Fox, check out this - it's from the Independant Film Channel, where they introduced and made fun of movies, then slowly built up characters as they went.
There, Greg was a simple sock puppet, and his personality shined with unrehersed enthusiasm at having just having a job. There's great stuff in those clips, like Greg going to a real rave, getting killed by zombies, meeting childhood heroes, etc.
The stuff we see on Fox though, is definetly not the same - though it might grow back into what it was eventually. If I never saw those clips, I would think the exact same as the rest here about the show - but now it seems that much worse because of how much it has lost it's appeal.
Ryan Fenton
If Futurama gets canceled, have Bender get sent back into time and end up in Springfield. Let's face it, Bender is what makes Futurama. Well, then there's Lela. I haven't gotten excited by a cartoon character since Jose and the Pussycats in the 70s...
I'm not sure about the whole deal with Conan completely writing/mostly writing/having minor involvement with certain Simpsons episodes... However, I have noticed lately that episodes in this latest season, the 13th season, and specifically the later half of this season, have not been up to par with previous episodes. At the same time I have also noticed a major change in the credits. The list of executives, producers, etc have been changed around. Whereas Matt Groening used to be the executive producer previously, Al Jean now holds the position (or at least that is what the credits reflect). And I have found these episodes to be only mildly humorous - not funny, hilarious, or anything else. I'm hardly laughing at any of the jokes, am able to predict quite a few of the pokes and jabs that are meant to be jokes, and am even finding myself mildly annoyed at the stupidity and predictability of some of the spoofs and setups. This is not good.
On the other hand, I watch re-runs of the Simpsons regularly (UPN runs re-runs every weekday at 5:00 pm and 5:30 pm eastern currently, and have run 2 re-runs per day at different times in previous years). And these re-runs hardly ever cease to amuse me. I usually end up cracking up and laughing out loud at them, and finding most of the episodes absolutely hilarious. This is despite the fact that I've seen most (prolly all) of them several times over (at least 5 to 10 times each) to the point of being able to memorize portions of them unintentionally.
All of these episodes have classic qualities that seem to be lacking in the most recent episodes. Hopefully the Simpsons will be able to recognize this and change accordingly, or if not - at least go out with a bang and not drag it out like the X-Files or other shows have done. Since Groening seems to want to move on with Futurama, perhaps he can cary some of the classic qualities of the Simpsons there.
OK, I'm enough of a pathetic geek to admit that I've read all of Clowes' stuff and damn near all of Dorkin's, and I disagree. The Conan O'Brien episodes were way better than, say, Hectic Planet or Velvet Glove.
And lighten up a bit - the Simpsons is a different product for a different market than Dork! or Eightball. It's chalk and cheese (and a real comics geek would remember which comic that phrase played prominently in, neener neener). You couldn't convince me that the target demographic for Dork! or Eightball is inherently superior in some way than the Simpsons' demographic. I hang out in a comics shop quite a bit more than is probably healthy, and even though it's a good comics shop with some amazing people around it, the pseudo-hipster cultural elitism shtick is tired. It'd be great if Dork! and Eightball were exposed to a wider audience, but sniffing down your nose at the Simpsons isn't the way to build that audience.
The Simpsons was brilliant in the past, and occasionally still is. But don't you think the creative talent behind it could probably produce better things if they were freed from what is a pretty tired format?
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
Cool. I pulled that ZIP code out of my posterior, based on nothing more than 2 facts: 1. ZIP codes in the Northeast are lowest, ZIP codes in the Southwest are highest. and 2. My ZIP code is in Virginia and it's 22***. I'm pleased that I actually hit the deep South, and a bordering state no less. If I'd actually hit the right state, that would have been uber cool, and yeah, I coulda looked it up but it was a joke, not my SAT test.
As for your other point, Krusty was oblivious enough to do that at the Apollo theatre (which is where I got the idea) so he might be oblivious enough not to check the work of his kampaign manager either. I guess I could have put the office in Springfield Missouri though. :)
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Announcer: "It's the Krusty Komedy Klassic!"
Krusty: "Hey, hey! It's great to be back at the Apollo Theater, and... [notices the letters behind him] K-K-K? That's not good..."
If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. -- Carl Sagan
but I do feel sorry for the people who think the Simpsons are "clever". I wonder if they've ever read anything by Evan Dorkin [houseoffun.com] or Dan Clowes [fantagraphics.com].
Man, do I feel sorry for the people who think Evan Dorkin and Dan Clowes are "clever." I wonder if they've read anything by Charles Dickens, Raymond Carver, or Vladimir Nabokov.
c-hack.com |
I wonder how Conan feels about all this talk about the show going downhill after he left...
- This isn't the sig you're looking for. Move along, move along..
Alas, I fear not. Guys, seriously, you shouldn't run from an inoculation of culture. Think of it as your intellectual booster shot. You'll be glad you did!
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Wow. Someone who spells 'reckless' incorrectly.
"Information wants to be paid"
It kinda makes me think of how Bob & Tom deal with complaints--if they get a complaint about one song they played, they play it again.
OK what gimp voted the above offtopic?
*sigh*
The last few minutes of 11/26/00 episode of Futurama, "War is the H Word", was cut (in the East) for the certification of the Florida Electoral Votes. Then again, if they had to cut in, the timing couldn't have been better.
** SPOILER ALERT **
Bender had a bomb planted in him when he would say his favorite word, 'ass'. The gang got to him in time, and just as he said 'ass', he screamed the TV screen went blank for a few seconds, and they cut to the Fox News Alert.
Hmmm. Bender says 'ass' and Katherine Harris appears. I liked that doomsday ending best.
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
(sorry, had to do it)
When Seagulls Cry
The Threesome Sisters
Uncle Vanya's Raspberry Beret
Ivanov Would Die 4 U
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In the UK, the biggest cable/satellite/digital channel, Sky 1, runs Futurama side by side with the Simpsons, at between 6 and 8pm weeknights (plus a Saturday repeat). It promotes it heavily, and doesn't screw around with the timeslots.
In other words: they get it, and we get it, and I'll be deeply, deeply saddened to see it go because some jumped up MBA prick in an expensive suit feels it doesn't target a common enough demographic, or that it might offend the Neurotic Mothers of America. Sad, sad day.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
'How about this, "Futurama sucks" Is that better? '
Not really. When somebody says something 'sucks' but does nothing to back that up... well, frankly you sound like somebody who doesn't have a well formed opinion. In other words, ya saw the show once and never really gave it a chance.
Seeing as how this thread is about saving Futurama, I'd say you're just looking to piss people off, a la flamebait.
"Derp de derp."
You sound just like most of the posters from alt.tv.simpsons in the past 5 years, just repeating "It was good a few seasons ago, but this season has just SUCKED" over and over again, every season.
Now allow me to mimic the other posters in a.t.s. by saying, if you think the show sucks now, stop watching it. Why waste your time on something you don't like?