“Couldn’t you get a more fuel-efficient Satan”?
Show referencing to it’s own badness is not funny, it’s just sad. It’s like they’re saying “Ha HA! You may think it’s bad, but our sarcastic reference to it actually means it’s GOOD! Don’t ask us why.”
And yes, Simpsons has jumped the shark. The jump started at that Funzo episode with Gary Coleman (possibly even earlier), reached it’s zenith at horrible horrible Saddlesore Galactica, and was well back in the water at the N’Sync episode, at which point I stopped watching. It wasn’t even that the N’Sync was in it. It was the music video. In itself, the music video was pretty funny, and I remember thinking “This would be good, IF they didn’t resolve to explaining the “Yvan eht nioj” joke, and IF they didn’t build the rest of the episode around it.”
Then they explained the joke and built the rest of the episode around it.
And about five minutes after that, mostly spent crying inside my brain, I just stopped watching the episode (first time I’ve ever done that with Simpsons) and stopped watching the show. Occassional visits back have just confirmed it - Simpsons isn’t the same anymore. Some say it’s gone better, and I DLed and watched the Medical Marijuana episode and it was OK, but it’s still going to take me something more to get back on the train.
I liked Elvis Costello waggling his eyebrow, trying to convince the guys to pick up the bass. As well as “I hope you won’t judge the entire Brian Setzer Orchestra by my example.” And for some reason Tom Petty’s missing toe made me laugh.
I largely prefer guest stars when they aren’t playing themselves, because it all becomes stunt casting. But I thought this episode avoided that, for the most part.
Boy, I truly thought that was one of the finest episodes ever. The bit with Mick saying, “I’d love to, but I’ve got all this paperwork.” was hilarious.
I giggled the whole way through.
Me too.
I liked the Keith Richards jokes too-- can’t go wrong there.
I really liked last night’s episode, especially the live action studio footage during the credits.
Does anyone have the lyrics to that ridiculous song about the endless possibilities for upcoming episodes. You know, “…Marge becomes a robot…” etc.
And all that gratuitous smoking! YooHoo! (I don’t smoke, never have, can’t figure out why I just typed that. Oh well.)
I liked that other episode with Homer as King Of All Crows. Strangely erotic, huh? Cartoon crows in bed… mmm… crows… (slobbering drool)
[Comicbook Guy voice] Excuse me but your attempt to bash the joke is clearly quite laughable and is hardly worth a response. However, since I have a few minutes before the entire fist season of SrtarLost gets posted I will respond.[/Comicbook Guy Voice]
One of the things that made The Simpson’s a popular and unique show was its ability to self reference and include sly refernces to popular culture. Much of its humour comes from these refernces done in throw away lines or scenes. For example the Planet of the Apes references and music cues which are only truly funny
if you know the Movie.
This openeing is a swipe at the poor reception of the last season and at the same time a needer needer neener to those who go out of their way to complain about the show saying (since the 2nd season) the show isn’t good anymore. It says all of that with a simple image of homer jumping a shark. Damned clever and funny because if you have no reference it is just a guy jumping a shark.
Ummm you know the joke was part of the plot not the plot from the joke right?
So what would be the point of doing a Join the Navy video if the intention was not as a recruiting method. Would you just let the joke hang and then where do you go?
Besides L.T. Smash transforming to Lt. Smash was a pretty funny scene. And the Super Liminal recruiting method was a howl.
Yes, and how does taking a swipe at people who think Simpsons has gone bad excuse the actual badness? Perhaps if people had a poor reception there was a reason to it, you know?
And while complaining that the show hasn’t been good since the 2nd season would be silly, it’s no sillier than the people who still cling to belief that Simpsons haven’t and never never never will go stale, not even if Groening just took Rocket Power episodes, colored everyone’s skin yellow and dubbed Bart’s voice all over it.
Well, I believe it would have worked best as a throwaway. And what after that, I don’t know. But what it did was just silly.
I’ve become resigned to the fact that Fox is simply unwilling to let The Simpsons go, and that as long as there are hardcore fains with rose-colored glasses, they really don’t have any reason to end it.
It always mystifies me the lengths to which the really big fans of ANYTHING will justify even the most horrific screwups, the most unthinkable decisions, the absolute worst blunders (n.b. everyone who thinks that it was a good thing that King was excised from King of Fighters '02). The kind of rationalizations I read for Lisa The Babysitter made me downright nauseous.
As for last night’s ep (don’t watch regularly anymore; caught it by chance)…typical fare, but not bad. Homer defying his honorary roadie role and paying the inevitable price was pretty funny.
IMHO:
The Simpsons “jumped” on that episode that revolved entirely around Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin. Suddenly, episodes were being written for celebrities, rather than incorporating them into the otherwise zany world of Springfield. (Another example: the Mel Gibson episode.)
Last night’s episode was somewhat funny, but fit precisely into those lines. I’d hoped they’d learn by now.
eep! Someone dissed The Party Posse!
Look, you may not like the epsiodes, and that is your perogative as is there to make fun of people who bash them. I’m sure they don’t think they are putting out a less than par episode (With the exceptions of the Clip episodes)
Their ratings are still strong and if people were really as pissed as you are they would do the same as you and tune out and let the ratings fall away. the show gets cancelled and there you go.
The truth is there have been critics of the show throughout its run because humour and “badness” is generally a selective thing. Not everbody is going to like the way the format changes or doesn’t change in some cases.
For example a lot of people liked the focus switching from Bart to a dumbed down Homer, others complained that it was wrong and the quality was slipping. Once again ratings talk, more people were still tuned in than tuned out.
You are intitled to hate the show but just cause you think it stinks doesn’t make it so.
Oh and how can you hate an episode where a soulful Disco Stu admits he hates Disco.
And I have become resigned to the fact that some people talk about how bad the Simpsons have become, yet still seem to know what is happening in each show, and still post to threads about it.
If you dislike it-- that’s fine. That is why they call it taste. Watch one of the fine UPN “comedies” instead. Or PBS. Or Fox News Channel. Or BBC America. Or Discovery. Or the History Channel. Or OLN.
It is like the “Charles in Charge appreciation thread below”- I thought the show was a crime against humanity, and one of the low points of television history, but I knew that, so I avoided the show and the thread about it.
I hardly see any blanket apologists in this thread either. The Simpsons have had plenty of stinkers-- hell, over the amount of years they have been on the air, it is to be expected. Still, the writers ability to come up with good funny stuff makes it worthwhile to many fans. After all we have received years of free entertainment from Matt and Co.
You see, this is why the writers created Comic Book Guy. You should never get nauseous from people expressing their enjoyment of an episode of a TV show.
And unless John Swartzwelder accidentally dropped a container of mustard gas inside a preschool, I can’t really figure out how a Simpsons writer ever committed a “horrific screwup”.
If you don’t like the current episodes, or simply find them to be less masterfully written than earlier eps, then fine. But some of you are sulking around completely affronted as if the show’s writers took turns kneeing you in the groin while Matt Groening stole your wallet and microwaved your chinchilla.
I can’t help but think of the episode in which Kent Brockman talked about how pundits had been waiting for years to see Itchy and Scratchy fall off in quality and their prayers were finally answered.
Last nights episode wasn’t one of the best but it was far from the worst too. Homer’s taxicab confession was perfect, as were the family responses.
I don’t have a problem with celebrity guests myself. The celebrities are always willing to fit into the style of the show, rather than take over (Mick and Keith talking about their home maintenance and Mick’s comment that they need to start buying a cheaper oatmeal for the camp, Lenny Kravitz telling Homer that Kenny Loggins stuffs and Kenny freaking out-priceless). As for the jumping the shark opener, I thought it was brilliant.
I don’t remember the retrospective part, but I do remember that part:
They’ll never stop the Simpsons
Have no fears, we’ll have stories for years
Like, Marge becomes a robot
Or maybe Moe gets a cell phone, or has Bart ever owned a bear?
Or some sort of crazy wedding
Where doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo.
Sorry about the clip show.
Have no fears, we’ll have stories for years.
Over the first line, a couch scene is seen. Over the second, Homer jumps a shark.
Note to Dopers: Don’t try this. It’s very hard to clean up.
I think iThe Simpsons* has done remarkably well over the years in taking shots at everyone and everything. And though some of the plots may be lackluster, the gag lines in those shows are often the funniest thing you’re likely to hear all week.
And it’s a great way to waste 30 minutes. I never worry about missing one or not, because the fox station here shows them all week long. So, if I’m home when it’s on and I’m not too busy, I take out my brain for a little while and let it watch Homer and crew while I take a bath or run some errands or something.
TV doesn’t have to be good, just on. Sometimes The Simpsons is very good, sometimes not.
Ramble, ramble, ramble. Random thought. Ramble, ramble, ramble.
I didn’t see the show in question, but I generally think that the Simpsons has lost a lot of its goodness. There are still some good episodes and parts of episodes, but I don’t think they are very consistent.
Now, as for the Jump the Shark bit I have something to say on the matter. I first heard about Jumping the Shark here on the SDMB and thought it was cool. I think it kind of fun to pinpoint when a show went bad (though of course this is very subjective) and I think that the allusion to the Fonz jumping the shark is witty. However! I have read a William Safire ‘on language’ (or whatever he calls his coolumn) about jumping the shark and I have seen a few references on TV, including an episode of 'That ‘70s Show’ where Fez jumps a shark (in a dream, wearing a leather jacket). This leads me to conclude that this is no longer cutting edge in slang (or whatever you call ‘jump the shark’).
So I think that the Simpsons use of the term is less than sly. Rather they are jumping on the bandwagon of shark references. Oh yes! Now I remember! The shark porn episode of ‘Friends’ was a reference as well (according to an interview I read). If ‘Friends’ did it first, and if they were more oblique about it than the Simpsons then I think that the Simpsons writers have lost some of their former sparkle.
When was the KidzNewz episode on? I was having a discussion about the tapering off of Simpsons episode quality in recent seasons, and then I remembered KidzNewz. What an episode. “I wish they could all be Bart’s people. I TRULY do.”