Last night I was helping one of my fifth-graders study her Social Studies. Whew! The stuff they expect a kid to learn these days! “Beringia,” “Early/Late Arrival Theories.”
Me: An “atlatl” is a spear thrower.
Daughter: My teacher pronounces it “AHT-lah-til.”
Other daughter: My teacher pronounces it “at-LA-til.”
Me: It’s more like “aht-aht” except you swallow the "T"s. But pronounce it like your teacher pronounces it.
I was explaining cultural diffusion when my kid said, “You mean like on The Simpsons when the girl moved to Springfield from California and all the other girls thought she was cool and started talking and acting like her?”
Precisely.
That damned show is so much deeper on so many more subjects than other shows. Most people don’t realize what a prize it is.
There is almost as much content in the background as in the story. My daughter tells me that the cashier’s counter says: “NRA” for a subliminal instant when Maggie goes through it. Haven’t cheaked it with the VCR myself, but it sounds good to me.
It’s good to hear a parent recognize the quality of “The Simpsons” as opposed to just complain about the language used on the show. Years ago, the Peabody award winning television critic, John Carman, wrote that "The Simpsons are the only blip on the brainscan of modern television."
I think his statement remains true even today. The level of literary reference and call backs to other cinema and television programming is outstanding. As to the show’s routine exposure of the soft white underbelly of middle American culture, allow me to say, “Bwaahahahahah”.
No, its supposed to say “NRA4EVR”, but it doesn’t. This was said in one of the episodes. Sort of a flashback, best of the Simpsons, behind the scenes type things. Most of it was bunk. They may have done it for the first few seasons, but not anymore.
i am continually surprised on the references that are over the heads of the average schmoe on the Simpsons. Just the other night I saw the episode where they took the bargain vacation and ended up going to Japan.
On the airplane Marge says “Come on Homie, you’ll love Japan, you liked Rashomon!”
And homer replies, “That’s not how I remember it”
My wife and i laughed out loud, but others in the room just stared at us like “why was that funny”
The NRA thing is a little joke. In one of the clip shows, Troy McClure does a series of “Simpsons Trivia” bits and that’s the answer for “What does the cash register flash when Maggie goes over the scanner?”
We’ve had a number of great family talks inspired by Simpsons episodes. We’ve discussed homosexuality (and homophobia), nuclear power, immigration (one of my favorite moments: when Apu starts going into the many root causes of the Civil War during his citizenship test, the examiner stops him and tells him, “Just say ‘slavery.’”), sex education…there’s no end to the educational potential of the Simpsons! But we watch it because it’s funny, and that’s all that really matters.
I actually did check the cash register thing with my VCR a couple of times. It does not say NRA4EVER (what Troy McClure ‘said’ it says). It just has some kind of episode code number or something. About 4-5 alphanumerics.
Hey nice sig BurnMeUp. Got to appreciate anyone who quoth “The Reverend”. I completely missed the rashomon reference until you pointed it out. That’s one of the great things about the simpson’s. You can watch an episopde 3 or 4 times to catch all the stuff you missed the first time.
We watch the Simpsons with our kids all the time (in fact, we have them taped and watch them instead of other T.V. a lot). Over the years, Simpsons episodes have sparked family discussions about homosexuality, xenophobia, gifted education, stereotypes, alcoholism…it’s a cornucopia of educational opportunities, I tell ya!
It’s a great show to watch over and over again. I’ve found that (especially in the earlier years’ episodes) I’ll often catch a little detail or throw-away joke I missed the first couple of times. They used to write gags for a 10-second aside that some shows would find adequate for a 30-minute episode (and I hope they start doing it again).
I am sometimes intelligent, but they still make jokes that are over my head at times that inspire me to find out exactly what the reference was.
Their greatest contribution to my personality make-up so far has been Kraftwerk.
I had never heard of Kraftwerk until the German guy on the Hellfish episode said “Ja, mach schnell mann…I am late for der Kraftwerk Konzert…”
Laughed my ass off even though I didn’t get it.
Later I found a Kraftwerk album at a flea market and bought it because I rememebered it mentioned on the Simpsons.
I fell in love with it instantly.
Yeah, we checked it once too. Just random numbers.
The Simpsons was listed in Entertainment Weekly’s Top 100 Entertainers of the Century. I do believe it was in the Top 10. Many people are starting to realize that this really is one of the smartest shows ever on TV.
This is the average amount of money it costs to raise a one year old child for(I’m not sure here actually) a month. (or maybe a week, or perhaps a year, I really don’t remember this. In any case, it’s not just some random number.)
Something that I’ve found amusing is the episode that was the spoof of “Behind the music.” It said that the Simpsons were from Kentucky, something that had never been revealed before.
I wouldn’t know, I don’t even have a VCR. I just watch it waaaay too much. (They do give you enough time to read it, well, one number each time you see the introduction.)
It was the estimated cost to raise a child for one month, based on a study done in… uh, 1985, I think. They revealed this a few episodes after the Troy Mclure 127th episode extravaganza! (that is the right ep number, right?) which was aired to celebrate beating the Flintstones as the longest running primetime sitcom.
The Simpsons are NOT from Kentucky!!! That was just a joke! IIRC, they recorded a version of that line for all 50 states, and they alternate the track whenever it’s rebroadcast.
Virtual Springfield is alright, it’s basically pointless, just walking around exploring Springfield. Now, if you decide to delve into the game itself, it’s okay. The game is collecting character cards. “I’m uh singin in the shower just uh washin my butt!”