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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."
"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.
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. (?)
Then again, Fox keeps crap on TV (Simpsons of late) and takes off great shows like Family Guy (past) and Arrested Development. Well, the Simpsons have a fanbase that was likely many times larger than Family Guy generated in its first seasons. Even a less-funny, less-relevant Simpsons would outdo a new show that hadn't yet built up its own set of fans. On a numbers basis, I don't think Fox did anything particularly wrong, although it may have been shortsighted. I've been watching both shows since their inception and I truly find Family Guy far more entertaining, but that's not going to stop me from watching Simpsons.