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Behind the Scenes of The Simpsons
Tim writes "The Seattle Times is running a short article about the production process behind 'The Simpsons.' Nothing too elaborate, but there are some interesting pieces of information scattered throughout the piece, including a few jokes from a future episode." From the article: "Invitations to the table read are considered among the hottest tickets in Hollywood, and each visitor has an assigned seat. Celebrities, usually with children in tow, are a fixture. It takes about 40 minutes to run through an episode that will run 22 minutes and 30 seconds (plus commercials) when it airs next season. After the session, there is applause and stretching. Groening and most cast members linger to chat, autograph the scripts and pose for snapshots."
...but that's unpossible.
But it would have been better a few years ago when the Simpsons was still relevant and funny.
You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
Television! Teacher, mother, secret lover.
I mean how many billions in advertising has the Simpsons made over the years?
Well whatever works I guess.
I always wondered if the animation was crafted to match the voices or vice versa, at least the article cleared that up.
Outside the trailer, Groening chats with Azaria about the episode they have just read. Groening wonders whether some aspects of the plot are "a little out there." Well, Azaria replies sarcastically, it is Season 4,063.
"From the inside, a genius factory can appear surprisingly bland..."
Bland. Much like the quality of the episodes that are currently being produced. There was a time when this show was indeed amusing, clever, and poignant. It wouldn't be so bad today if their humor wasn't so dated. In fact, I would go as far as to say that The Simpsons has become another Garfield. Yes...I went there. Horribly predictable "comedy." Overused formulas. The usual.
When someone builds up a media empire, they have a responsibility to know when to call it quits. Every single television program, comic, book, musical group, et cetera has a "half-life" depending on its particular "valence." Once that half-life has been reached...well...you guys are reading this on Slashdot ergo I assume you are smart enough to get the science-to-entertainment metaphor I'm weaving here.
Bring back the spirit of the old seasons, although The Simpsons have been in a worse state than today, they still seem to have lost their edge. But maybe it is just the world that has changed. :)
I used to watch each and every episode, I even drove an hour to a friend to se the latest episodes. He had a satellite dish with a decoder for a UK channel that we couldn't get unless you knew someone in England who would buy it and send it to you. We saw the latest episodes there instead of having to wait 2-3 years before our own channels picked it up. So I had quite a dedication to see the show.
Ullman shorts, Christmas show,
Marge's fling, Homer's bro,
Bart in well, Flanders fails,
Whacking snakes, Monorail,
Mr. Plow, Homer in space,
Sideshow Bob steps on rakes,
Lisa's future, Selma's hubby,
Marge not proud, Homer chubby,
Homer worries Bart is gay,
Poochie, U2, NRA,
Hippies, Vegas, and Japan,
Octuplets, and Bart's boy band,
Marge murmurs, Maude croaks,
Lisa Buddhas, Homer tokes,
Maggie blows Burns away,
What else do I have to say?!
You'll never stop the Simpsons,
Have no fears, we've got stories for years like...
Marge becomes a robot,
Maybe Moe gets a cell phone,
Has Bart ever owned a bear or...
How about a crazy wedding?
Where something happens, and do-do do-do-do
Sorry for the clip show!
Have no fears, we've got stories for years!
... they're not worth the download anymore.
Yes, Simpsons was the cornerstore of comedy one time. Not only did it have a comic sense and timing, but also it had the gumption to take the joke on American masses, whilst selling itself to them. It had a great sense of poking fun at the racial discriminations that exist in the american society, yet had the charm brought by breaking the very same prejudices.
However, the last couple of seasons have been a mere caricature of the show, as well as the characters. Like someone else said on here, its now formulaic - no longer the greatest show in 20th century
http://efil.blogspot.com/
Why are some technologies always 5 years away, why is any band's "early stuff" always the best, and why are the best simpsons/seinfeld/whatever episodes always a few seasons back I wonder. (?)
Unless you can completely reinvent yourself every few years, like Doctor Who.
I was once told this by a filmaker. He said that it went to Mexico in other cases. I just think it's amazing that they can get the movements down so that it's smooth. I remember when the Simpsons first came on the "Tracy Ullman" show. They were poorly deawn and had jerky movements, and I didn't think they were funny. Now, I think they're funny and quite relevent.
The show with Bart eating from the vending machines and getting really fat touched on a lot of issues these days. One of them is local school boards putting junk food vending machines (Coke) in their schools to help pay the bills and adding to the childhood obesity problem.
Yes, we all love "Mr. Plow"! Oh, you've got the song memorized, do you? SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE!
I still enjoy the Simpsons, but certainly not as much as I used to. I think they need a good dust-up and kick in the pants as I see hints of their former greatness and suspect they can still get the magic back. Couple things that bother me are their continued reliance on celebrities. That's not what they are about to me and if they never had a guest celebrity on another show, I'd be more than ok with it. Also, no more shows about Marge/Homer doesn't love me anymore. I don't know what sort of pressures they face from above or maybe they are tired. Maybe they need a rest and should take off a year and come back fresh.
"You people are fickle!"
-Mayor Quimby
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
"You people are fickle!"
-Mayor Quimby
You people are the same ones who killed Futurama and SeaLab.
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
Fox's website has more info and a photo of the Marge Simpson Soundstage where the voices are recorded. Next time you are watching, picture the actors sitting, often alone, in this room recording their lines.
Are fans ever invited? You know, the folks that made many of these people rich?
Behind the scenes... of a show that was funny 6 years ago.
...to see how American cartoons are made!
Seems I am far from alone in believing that the Simpsons has seen better days. Maybe it's time Fox thought about wrapping up the franchise and putting it to bed.
A few years ago a friend introduced me to Family Guy and with it a vast amount of new comedy which the Simpsons has not been able to rival. Seems though that Family Guy and Simpsons do have a bitter rivalry going on. Shame that Family Guy was taken off the air for three years. Really this should have been done to the Simpsons to give the network and writers time to reflect on the direction they are heading in and how to breath some new life in to the series.
Here's hoping that we get to see Futurama again soon; Another series, in my humble opinion, that has surpassed The Simpsons in the last few years until, it too, was cancelled.
THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS - CC Licensed Sci-Fi Novel
For the last year or two I'd been noticing the decline in quality of The Simpsons. Then I watched "The Italian Bob". The episode was completely unfunny, I didn't laugh once. And in the middle, they had the nerve to rip on Family Guy and American Dad for "plagiarism".
Well, Family Guy and American Dad may not be the most original scenarios around, but you know what? Those shows are funny. The Simpsons no longer is. So either get better, or quit whining.
(Or preferably, kill The Simpsons and bring back Futurama.)
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Recent Simpson's episodes are still better than 99% of the crap on TV and this is one of the very few shows I make an effort to watch.
Whoa! The first three seasons were all about serious issues. Bart steals a video game, Bart becomes gifted, Bart defends his sister, Homer gets caught on spy camera with a dancer, bad babysitter happends to be wanted, Bart isn't doing well in school and needs Martin's help.
These episodes, while indeed showing off where the Simpsons came from, and indeed were fun to watch, lacked a certain hilarity that the Simpsons acheived later in the game where they just got funny. They were trying to teach lessons and whatnot at the beginning and make everyone feel good in the end.
Bring along seasons 4-6 or so, where the shows are still about Bart (as the show was) with the occasional Homer and/or Lisa episode. As this range went on, and even going into seasons 7 and 8, they became more about Homer. These were some of the funniest in its prime. Who shot Mr Burns, Lisa the Vegitarian, Homer goes to College, Cat Burgler, Homer as a marriage therapist, etc. They were really exploring what Homer could add to the show rather than just being around.
Bring in seasons 7,8-11 and they're hit and miss. Many fun and exciting episodes, but you can tell that they're reaching maximums of some of the possibilities. They've realized their fans want 'out there' actions and find Homer's stupidity funny. SOmetimes they'll hit it right on and other times they'll go so far to the extreme that it's boring as anything.
Seasons 12,13 are very hit and miss. An episode here and there that's funny (Trillogy of Error anyone? Where they split Bart, Homer, and Lisa's day was hilarious). In these seasons they've realized people aren't tuning in as much. They promoted such bands as REM (season13), The Who (season12), NSync (season12) and guest stars like Pierce Brosman, Judge Judy, Reese Witherspoon. Group in 'Britney Spears' from season 11 (which was awful) and you add to that. They've realized people aren't finding it funny, so they need some media hype to get people watching. of course, their inclusion sucks.
We all remember probably one of the simpsons' 'worst episodes ever' where they went to Toronto in February 2002 for season 13 chasing Wolfcastle's daughter (Reese Witherspoon). They actually wanted the mayor of Toronto to declare 'simpsons day' and got angry at the policy to not declare special days for corporate events. We all remember the 60-90 seconds actually spent in Toronto, of which they played really poor jokes that both Canadian's and Americans alike didn't find funny. I should have gone out that night.
Bring in Season 14+ where I've seen one or two watchable episodes, and the remainder I will sit and stare forward blankly when I do catch it.
I no longer rush home to watch it. I no longer plan my weekend around looking forward to it. I no longer Tivo every episode. I just don't care. I watch older ones on Comedy from time to time, but the new ones I rarely even catch. They've essentially lost touch with their viewer base or are well past the prime of the show. The episodes become extreme and unbelievable and are purposely going for a laugh, rather than 'seemingly' accidentally stumbling on it.
-M
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
"Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."
For XMAS this year, the fiance gave me Simpsons season 7. Halfway through it, I realized that *THIS* was the season (IMO) that marked the end of the greatest television show in history. I will still watch season 3-6 now and again, and quite a few later episodes are real gems. But nothing past season 7 is getting my $40. Sorry. I bought my tshirt, I ate my butterfingers, but I draw the line with season 8. However, I would gladly pay $160 for another season of Futurama.
Math is math. Regular expression is regular expression. The tools are there. The future is now.
The Simpsons are the most relevant thing on TV. I have to control the desire to firebomb Fox when they replace the Simpsons with some useless sporting event or even worse some starwars movie. The only things that should disrupt a Simpsons episode is a currently occuring natural disaster in the immediate viewing area, or perhaps the actuall declaration of war by congress. Anything less than that is not an excuse for interupting the normal Sunday night ritual of watching the Simpsons.
Things that are not more important than the Simpsons:
1. Presidential address.
2. Military action this is not accompanied by a declaration of war. (The Gulfwar, Gulfwar II, Vietnam, etc. fall into this category. US entry into WW II would not.)
3. Terrorist Attacks (I can wait 30 minutes to hear about that!)
4. The SuperBowl.
5. The olympics...
6. Birdflu outbreak.
7. Alien Invation
These things can wait until the Simpsons are over....
Think Deeply.
All they're doing is parodying (ripping off) what other people have done (ie. lifting scenes and lines from successful movies), and putting their own negative spin on it. What's so great about that? And for this, they get millions of dollars.
is George Meyer. Here is an interview that shows how his sense of humor was what made the Simpsons really, really funny for those seasons. After he left, it was mere mortals who were writing the show.
Worst slashdot post ever.
Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.
I'm saying nothing new or particularly insightful here.... but for those who aren't already devoted Simpsons fans...
The simpsons used to be the most brilliant show on TV. Not just best cartoon, best show period. Many would be of the opinion that the last GREAT season of the simpsons was either seasons 6 or 7, and season 8 was still pretty good. But then from seasons 9-11 things went wrong.... horribly wrong. Homer turned into a complete idiot, the plots had no ties to reality, entire characters were re-defined from what we know and love. There has been a slight improvement in the past few years... but not anything to make the Simpsons must-see-TV.
If all you know of the Simpsons is the last few years- Do your self a favor and rent seasons 2-7.... you won't be dissapointed.
Blender And Linux Fan
Bart steals a video game
That was Season 7, BTW.
While they are more miss than hit these days, come on, you have to admit the "Future Drama" episode was brilliant.
Stupid flounders...
My god, please tell me you looked that up. Please.
The episodes become extreme and unbelievable and are purposely going for a laugh, rather than 'seemingly' accidentally stumbling on it.
I think you've just described, in one single sentence, what actually sets "good commedy" apart from standard ordinary comedy.
I wish more stuff was like you described. I need more futurama.
Heh ... just watched it on the Season 7 DVD. Wouldn't have known otherwise.
What is key here is that the Simpsons is 14-15 seasons old. Stuff you found funny 14-15 years ago may not be that same as now. The Sipmsons may not have lost touch with it's audience, it's original audience has moved on and a new audience has taken it's place. In this fast paced media driven world for something funny to last 15 years is an achievement well beyond most wonders of the modern age (The PSP will probably die off in a year). There are shows that have run for several decades (East Enders etc) which to some may be absolutely crap in its umptienth decade, but it still has an audience, it still makes money and it will continue to play until people stop watching or the money stops rolling in. If you feel that the newer series are bad then all you do is buy the earlier ones on DVD and don't bother with the rest. Remember no-one forces you to watch TV.
This reminds of the two Shrek movies. The first one was highly original and funny. The second one relies more on paradies of obsolete TV shows and movies and wasnt as funny. I could predict its ending. However the computer graphics improved greatly and made me, a grphics person, drool.
Well I think you're off on some of the particulars (the move from Bart-centric to Homer-centric happened much earlier than you suggest, about season 4). The show peaked somewhere in season 5-6, was still quite good through season 8 or 9, and then just goes through a downward spiral. Other than that I think your analysis is spot on.
The Simpsons used to be wonderful and clever satire/social commentary, unequalled on TV. It was sometimes subtle but it was always there; a lot of the jokes and gags were directly drawn from the inherent absurdities of what they were covering.
But just for contrast - look at some of the early political satire episodes. Some particularly brilliant ones that I can recall offhand was when Sideshow Bob runs for mayor, the Halloween episode covering the 96 election ("Don't blame me, I voted for Kudos"), and the anti-immigration episode (on the season DVD), when illegal immigrants are scapegoated as the cause for new taxes after the town demands "bear control".
Now contrast that against, say, how they covered gay marriage, where basically they said "This episode is about gay marriage", trotted out a bunch of gay jokes, and had a superficial lesson where Marge comes to grips with having a gay sister. No depth, no subtlety, no hidden wisdom. Contrast it against the episode of South Park dealing with the same issue and there's absolutely no comparison.
Now it seems that all The Simpsons can muster is "Obvious jokes about something in the news", "The Simpsons go to (London, Toronto, Rio Dijianaro) where we can use cultural stereotypes for gags", "Celebrity of the week", "Clip episode" and "Haven't I seen this before?". They're not even original, let alone clever and satirical. I don't know if it's just writer fatigue, something behind the scenes that changed, or what - but The Simpsons today just isn't The Simpsons of yesteryear.
Again, contrast it to South Park... it hasn't been running for quite as long (9 or 10 years), but they still manage to keep the show relevant and switch it up enough (adding, dropping, or changing characters) to keep it fresh. South Park can be hit or miss, but I honestly can't say I've seen a drop in quality between seasons 2-3 and the newest episodes. Is there any reason the Simspons couldn't have figured out how to do the same?
The problem is actually fairly simple and you got that one right there. There was a writers change mid-way. In the beginning *hehe* the writers were _mostly_ Irish and Jewish. It included such names as Conan O'Brien (one of the more famous- his most notable episode is of course the Monorail episode) for a few seasons around #4-5. There was a certain dry satirical sense of humour.
Around season 10 or so, the show was a sure hit, and the voice actors started getting more money and perks. The writers got nothing. So the writers asked for more, considering (lets face it), they were the lifeblood of the show. The response was to go jump in a lake, and they jumped ship.
The attitude was not to get them back, but to find new writers because, (or so they thought) any grade-A idiot can write for a cartoon show. You see a huge jump around season 11 and onward and another around season 13 where they swapped in some new 'talent'. The result? Dumb episodes like going to South America, Homer being placed on 'Frame-Up' in the electric chair, etc. There were A FEW good ones in there, and yes they are bound to happen, but just a different sense of humour.
Let this be a lesson- writers are important. People do notice when you change them.
-M
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!
It really fits all age groups. It's nice satirical humour that has something for everyone. It offers TONS of political and pop-culture episodes. The references to the 60's aren't making fun of them, but there so that the 40-somethings get a laugh as well. The political references are all there. The pop-culture references (think as obvious as ringo-starr and as simple as Wolfcastle's character being 'Arnold').
There is something for everyone. It had lasting appeal. I _still_ find the old episodes great to watch, and so do younger kids. I'm partially fearing what they'll do with the 'full length feature film' that they're promising a year or two after the show ends, because since they know everyone will see it anyway, I see them doing a half-@$$ed job.
A great line that you can tell to ANY age group and find funny... This being from a later episode, but nonetheless, this is what they've lost:
"What kind of milage does it get?"
"One highway, zero city"
-OR- of course the whole 'canyonaro' episode
Great one-liners! You have people who quote the Simpsons constantly, but do you ever have people quoting modern episodes. Lines like 'take out your safety pencils and a circle of paper', 'marge, do you have any elbow macarroni and glue on sparkles' and so on can be used in day to day life. Maybe not in the same context, but I bet you could find a place to use lines like this within the next week if you had them on the mind. Same thing with the 'one highway, zero city' when talking about some big SUV.
Now try doing that with the new stuff they have.
PS: Anyone get the feeling they were winding down mid-way anyway?
Lines in season 12 like:
Or in season 8 (i cut/pasted these from SNPP)
when you see the word 'Linux', drink!