A column about the Simpsons

http://home.earthlink.net/~mjjoerndt/columns/042103.html

A friend of mine wrote about the current state of the Simpsons. I think it's well written (and the final comment on the bottom right is what I've been saying all along).

Enjoy.

Yes.

evan

"ZForce" wrote in message news:gJnMa.63671$[email]...

Whatever......

What's the matter, truth hurt too much?

evan

"Park Luck" wrote in message news:[email]...

A couple of clinker episodes do not doom the whole series.

The Simpsons is still light-years ahead of most other comedies on the tube.

It's not just a couple of clinkers, it's an entire trend that's been going on for years.

That's a completely different argument that has nothing to do with what the article was about.

evan

"Park Luck" wrote in message news:[email]...

on

tube.

the

again I say....

whatever....

;-)

"I do what I want!"

Without getting into a whole thing here... -there may be more wacky plots and one-liners, less character-driven and emotional episodes, and more rummaging around in the past than before, but it's still better than no new Simpsons at all; it hasn't actually gotten _bad_, and we'll notice if it does; -consider a show like Seinfeld, which was really originally about nothing. It shifted a little bit around the 4th season to a more plot-driven style, with subplots merging and connecting within and among episodes, and yes, even got a little silly/farfetched sometimes - but there is no episode of Seinfeld that I don't like, and only a few aspects of recent Simpsons episodes I don't care for (or even not recent - 8F07's conclusion seemed a bit contrived, with Homer's episode-long struggle to become a good father - I haven't heard about Bart's "hero," Ronnie Beck, in the last 11 1/2 years - so certain complaints don't need to apply to late seasons only), so at worst the decade episodes can be considered a shift in general style, without stigmatising the older ones. -the writers and producers do have it tough; a great many family/town/school/plant themes have already been done before, so it's not as easy to come up with engrossing original plotlines (and complex ones, at that - if we got a plot as straightforward as 7G06 in season 15, how would we take it? I'm not sure myself), and the political/social/whatever atmospheres have changed too (in terms of what there is to reference/satirize), but they're doing their best. If your friend stopped watching after what seems to be season 11 (barring the DABF15 mention, which, by the way, only rehashed 2F05 in the first act, for 6 minutes at most), he should tune in before getting critical, since (this is just me) seasons 13 and 14 have been doing quite well for these days and the age of the show. (And Matt may not be around as much as he used to, but for example Al Jean and John Swartzwelder are still around, and a number of rookie writers have turned out some great work) -still, it was a well-written article - everyone is entitled to his opinion, I'm just using the freshly (or not-so-freshly) opened floor to see how my views are reflected here...there may be cruder and slightly stupider stuff with early season grab bag elements, but if it ended at this stage we'd be missing some pretty good entertainment.

ZForce wrote:

"Matt Garvey" wrote in message news:[email]...

2F05

But they are the exact same...I mean, Lisa vs. Bart in hockey is the exact same as Lisa goes to college and Bart gets put in a bubble...

"Duff Man" wrote in message news:[email]...

getting

How exactly are they the same, other than the plot device of Lisa needing to pass gym, which is entirely irrelevant to the main plot and themes of both episodes?

Sheesh. Armchair critics.......

"Adrunk" wrote in message news:be2c6f$60o$[email]...

rehashed

exact

to

Don't have sarcasm in your neck of the woods, huh?

"Duff Man" wrote in message news:[email]...

needing

both

*slaps forehead*

In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "Re: A column about the Simpsons" thread, Matt Garvey wrote:

This reminds me of a question I have: Now that "Futurama" is essentially no more, is Matt Groening more involved with "Simpsons" production? I've been attributing the improvement I've been seeing in the show to Al Jean's return, but it occurs to me that Groening might have a hand in it, as well. Fox stopped production of "Futurama" at about the same time work the 13th season started, no?

"ZForce" wrote in message news:gJnMa.63671$[email]...

First of all, the dude needs a late pass. Seriously. The Simpsons first started to obviously decline in about 1997. Since then, we've had the 10-12 period which could only be described as sickening, and the 13-14 period which has done a great job in beginning to restore the show to being somewhat enjoyable (particularly in terms of characterisation, plot and humor). Where was this guy when the show was actually bad?

Second of all, his criticisms are nothing new. We've heard them in a million different forms previously, and his own particular rewording of them is fairly glib and unintelligent.

It's interesting that of the episodes he mentions, only one is actually from the last two years, and one was made almost five years ago. And the only criticisms he can come up with for Little Girl In The Big Ten are a completely moronic gripe about recycling of very minor plot devices, and some nitpicking about a light-hearted side gag. Where's the analysis, slick?

"Its political commentary left you with plenty of ideas to consider, but no exact idea of where the writers stood in the political spectrum." - oh yeah. completely. I mean, Sideshow Bob Roberts just had no anti-Republican bias at all in it, did it?

"Though once a cartoon that poked fun at reality, The Simpsons is now just an outlandish cartoon with no basis in reality." - Season 14 was no more out of touch with reality than season 5 was.....

"Adrunk" wrote in message news:be2cov$2h1$[email]...

I've

yeah, and

"......bring back the likes of Conan O'Brien....."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, another "one of the most annoying nut posts on the internet" (Matt Groening)

Yeah, it would be great if Conan came back, then he could write subtle insightful well-plotted satires with good characterisation and intelligent humor............uh, like Homer Goes To College. Yeah. Right.