Former mayor of Cincinnati Jerry Springer commenting on Springfield Mayor Quimby? You’re right. What could they have possibly been thinking?
This episode doesn’t support your general point. Which you’d know if you watched it, and since you didn’t I’m wondering what the problem is. They’ve had their share of unnecessary celebrity guest appearances, for sure, but this wasn’t one of them. Casting Anne Hathaway as a knockoff Disney princess makes a lot of sense. And you know, the Simpsons did have Michael Jackson on in the early '90s. If you want to talk about attempts to draw viewers, I don’t think this compares. If you look at the guest stars this season there are very few you could make this argument about. Gary Larson? Mitch Albom? The Smothers Brothers?
I think the Internet message boards used to be a lot funnier 10 years ago… And I’ve sort of stopped reading their new posts.
Best line of the night!
fusoya:
Really, you hated that book fair bit? You couldn’t appreciate a throwaway gag that has Tom Wolfe getting chocolate on his famous white suit, then ripping it off in favor of a clean one, a layer below? Or Stephen King telling Marge that he’s getting away from horror to write a biography of Benjamin Franklin in which his lightning-key opened a gate to HELL!!! (thunderclouds in background, spooky deep voice) and then Marge telling him to let her know when he gets back to writing horror? (and even the more subtle throwaway joke that a best-selling author with millions, even billions of fans, bothered writing himself a note “Get back to Marge, re:horror”) Or Lenny addressing a panel of writers that includes Tom Clancy with a techno-military question - and then saying he wanted Maya Angelou to answer it?
I guess I’m just not cool enough to call for the Simpsons to have been retroactively cancelled after Season 9. Even the worst Simpsons episodes (and the book fair was far from it) have some good laughs somewhere in them.
Too bad it wasn’t Ted Kennedy. Hey, if they can feature the voice of Eartha Kitt, why not?
Speaking of hearing dead people, not mentioning Phil Hartman was an outrage.
Absolutely right. They should definitely have mentioned Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz in the special at least.
I enjoyed the Special quite a bit, I haven’t watched the actual episode yet. I like that the speical focused more on the impact the Simpsons have had versus a behind-the-scenes look, because after 20 years that is what you should focus on.
And yes, the line about the Internet not being as good as it was 10 years ago was great.
At least Springer was a voice in one of the THoH eps. What was Gavin Newsom doing there?
Oh, and I liked the Krusty ep. Hathaway and Kitt were terrific. 
Alright guys, the last new Simpsons episode I’ve seen was the one where Ralph Wiggum runs for President (I wish I was making this up…), but tonight I’ll give this new episode a watch and give you my honest verdict.
Oh, I forgot. Best lines of the episode:
Lenny: No!
Homer: D’oh!
Carl: Nuts!
Burns: Exactly
I haven’t watched an episode of the Simpsons in years, and only watched this one due to a food coma induced by the night’s football festivities. It was a good episode. Much, much better than the stuff they were making during their nadir.
The 20th Anniversary special was also pretty good, but that there wasn’t a single mention of Phil Hartman or the characters he played is really a slap in the face. They even had a clip or two of Homer as the monorail conductor, yet no Lyle Lanley.
Also, another omission: was Ian Maxtone Graham seen anywhere in the special? That’s probably significant, considering the light the fans of the show see him in (i.e. not a very good one).
I agree it’s unfortunate there was no mention of Phil Hartman, but I can understand it since the special was really about the cultural impact of the show, not the behind-the-scenes stuff. (And I think Hartman’s death had a bigger impact on the show than is often discussed.) The main cast didn’t get a whole lot of airtime themselves.
And wasn’t it awkward when he started talking about sex and politics?
The documentary should have spent the full hour with that guy who impersonated Marge & Homer’s voices. He was hilarious. I liked the way he sort of wiggled his fingers when he would do Homer’s lines.
Right; if Harry Shearer was mentioned at all, I missed it.
Okay, I watched it. Gee, Krusty gets pushed off the air for another, more popular kid’s show host? This sounds vaguely familiar…wow, a Mineola reference, now I’ve heard it all! Krusty’s always been one of my favorite characters, and come to think of it, he’s one of the few characters that the Simpsons writers have never been able to ruin. Did I get whiff of Homer getting a better power plant job? That seems vaguely familiar too…not a bad episode, and it sure is pretty watching the show in High-Def. Were Marge and Maggie in this episode AT ALL?
E. Pluribus Wiggum. Worst… episode… EVER!
Except on alternate Tuesdays. Then Bart Mangled Banner is worst.