This:
I noticed on Snpp that the capsules always mention driveway scenes which seem to differ as far as the sounds Homer makes, etc. ala the couch scenes. I don't think I've seen any thing other than "D'oh" and "Ahhhh!". Is this a Canadian syndication thing or sumfin? Do the gags vary too little for me to notice?
Maybe I'm slow, eh...
Me.
"Darryl Andrews" wrote in message news:VryT7.77728$[email]...
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Early in the show's history, this portion of the introduction did vary from week to week. In the first season, many parts of the introduction varied from week to week. A couple of times, we get to see Bart steal a the bus stop sign while riding home from school on his skateboard. And does anyone remember the frontal view of Lisa on her bike, books and all?
The driveway segment varied in the first season. At least once, Homer screams all the way into the garage. Other times he does not scream. The producers also played around with the sound effects--like Bart's skateboard landing on Homer's car, which sometimes makes a noise and sometimes does not. "Bart the General" has no title sequence at all.
I believe the producers decided that there just wasn't that much to do with the driveway in terms of creativity. Why waste time on that when you can devote more to the episode proper? (For an answer to that, see the lastest seasons, where a full 1:30 is squandered every week.)
What I miss most about the first season introduction was the saxophone highlight, played when Lisa rides her bike past Homer in the driveway. The practice of giving characters musical themes has long fallen out of use in most programming, and I really enjoyed how the saxophone rounded her character when its melody was played during her appearance in the title. (The fact that she still has a saxophone solo earlier in the sequence--something which is still around to this day--is not quite the same, because this is on screen music played by Lisa herself, rather than a soundtrack musical representation of a character.)
Lisa the Buddhist...ay ay ay. This is a sad day for intellectuals, atheists, and agnostics worldwide, and indeed anyone who could take pride in the fact that a quasi-prominent TV character did not base her morality on religious values. It spoke volumes on the open-mindedness of an everyday American citizen to step outside the box and embrace rational, realist, idealist values without skewing herself to the biases that darken so many of the rest of us.
~Josh
Joshua P. Fredman, esquire wrote:
<<SNIP>>
Wow, that came out of left field. Lisa has always had a spiritual side. Remember when she and Homer get into it over stolen cable? She was terrified that her father would be going to hell because of the 8th commandment.
I don't think that intellectuals can't have religious views. I consider myself pretty smart, and have a great relationship with my God. I may not be a "Charlie Church" as Homer puts it, but beliefs are an important part of me. Spirituality is an important part of any great society.
Just because I have religious beliefs does not mean I don't think out of the box (man I hate that cliche) or that I don't have rational, realistic views when it comes to the world. My faith, the Baha'i faith, teaches that science is not contradictory to God, rather falls in line with his Plan for us and the world around us. Evolution is one of those matters that is real, but did not happen by chance.
One should learn to accept others' religious views rather than to put them off as "dreaming" or "unrealistic". The truth is none of us knows for a fact how we got here. It's all just theories. Lisa has found a faith she can believe in, and frankly, I'm happy. It shows that you don't have to believe in what the world wants you to. You can believe in whatever you want to.
I completely agree with you. Despite the fact that I'm an atheist, I know many intelligent people who are religious. It's simple why: the more you know, the more you don't know. Copernicus, Galileo, and many other geniuses were very religious. No one can explain many of the grand questions in this universe, for example why was everything put here in the first place? and why did the universe suddenly begin expanding? The presence of God is at least a theory for why things are as they are; there are no competing theories as to who put everything here and why. Also, religion is a very effective way of comforting people in hard times such as death. I was recently at a Christian funeral and was very impressed by the way the Church settled everyone by saying that the person was now with God, and he is in a "better place." It's depressing to think that one rots in the ground after his death. I, however, do not plan on practicing any religion. I won't go into the bad parts of them (for example the wars).
Joshua P. Fredman, esquire wrote:
Except that most forms of Buddhism aren't religion....