OK, the show's really famous for contriving a way to return to the status quo. Well, maybe not, but it does contrive outrageous ways. Example, when they killed off the addition to I&S by simply saying he was from another planet. But if you ask me, the most outrageous "reset button" I've heard of isn't on Simpsons, but rather Rugrats. This show had an ep where one major character's dad won $10m... but by the end of the ep, you probably wouldn't be able to tell that he won $10m since he invested it in an ear washing device. Might remind you a bit of Groundsman Willie's summer, where he allegedly made quite some money off software writing, but then bet it on the races. Granted, I haven't watched a lot of Simpsons lately, so this is the most outrageous "reset button" I could think of. Maybe there are some on Simpsons that are simply more outrageous.
Most outrageous "reset button" ever
On 7 Jul 2002 03:46:57 -0700, [email] (ungvichian) wrote:
Um, I think you missed the joke there.
[email] (AndrewR) wrote in message news:...
Oh, I got the joke there alright. I'm just saying that it was outrageous... yet it was funny *because* it was outrageous. In other words, your typical comedy on the Simpsons.
The worst was from "Principal and the Pauper", when they decided to act like Principal Skinner was the real Seymour Skinner, and never mention again that he is an imposter. Really weak.
ah yeah... that was pretty bad. I also didn't like the time Ned Flanders revealed himself to be 60 years old, despite the fact that flashbacks suggested he was a lot younger. But of course, they never hit the 'reset button' on this... I guess he really is 60, because they never mentioned his age again.
"SJB" wrote in message news:[email]...
like
that
----- SJB (Sun, 07 Jul 2002 15:59:48 GMT) -----
Horrible! Judge Snyder's ruling was just ludicrous. As if the REAL Skinner wouldn't come back for any number of reasons (e.g. to get his personal belongings).
you guys are taking this too seriously :)
"DAJO-2E0DDECBA1" <dajo-2e0ddecba1> wrote in message news:[email]...
----- the rock (Sun, 07 Jul 2002 21:05:57 GMT) -----
It seems that's what we do around here.
"SJB" wrote in message news:[email]...
like
that
Moe's face in "Pygmoelian"
The most outrageous? When Homer and Ned become friends after the football game, and then everyone acknowledges that next week, the status quo will return.
As for I&S, when you think about it, it is outrageous. But that's not the Simpsons' reset but Roger Myers' Jr.'s reset.
Yeah, except that is a joke about how things always return to the status quo the next week in sitcoms. It's not an outrageous "reset button," it's making fun of them.
Kevin
I sort of enjoyed this extremely self-conscious "reset". After 13 years it must be awfully hard to come up with ideas, and the writers have never had trouble admitting when their stories were far fetched.
To much self-reference becomes very lazy faux-post-modern drivel... but little touches are nice. The Latest Gun in the West was on at 8pm tonight here, and Homer and Marge's conversation about Homer not having an adventure this week was great. Not much of a fan of that episode, but Homer's disappointment over the absence of his own zany plot made me smile.
The real Seymour Skinner episode, though, I agree, was poorly conceived. The fun that Behind the Laughter pokes at it, though, is enjoyable.
----- fishy (Mon, 08 Jul 2002 03:49:23 GMT) -----
It's not really a "reset button" per se, but I was a bit annoyed that something as huge as the Murderhorn (the mountain Homer climbed) appears for one episode, then is never heard of again. If the writers had added it, and it STAYED, I wouldn't gripe about it. But Homer-tachi (i.e., "and company") really should have left Springfield and travelled to a mountain range instead of making a series of three mountains suddenly appear and disappear, just like that!
I agree with you completely. But we see the scenary change all the time on the show, some are just more subtle than others. In one episode you might see the Power Plant behind the Simpsons' house, and in another, it will be Springfield Elementary. The big house that George Bush moved into right across the street... where is that now?
"fishisms" wrote in message news:2OnW8.68319$[email]...
Gerald Ford lives there now.
on
might
be
Yeah but have they shown the house since then?
No, I don't think so, but I don't think that anyone has paid any attention to Gerald Ford in a long time. Even Chevy Chase has forgotten him. I think that the media has a deal to never discuss him.
If, say, they had moved Jimmy Carter in across the street, then I think that we would see him all the time...
On Mon, 08 Jul 2002 23:42:52 -0400, fishy wrote:
The mansion has appeared a few times, but not consistently. In "Screaming Yellow Honkers", it's an open field.
----- Alan Hamilton (Tue, 09 Jul 2002 06:10:53 GMT) -----
It's things like this that illustrate what I feel is the show's main weakness: continuity. Sure, major things are kept (e.g. Apu and Manjula's marriage, Maude's death), but they screw around with a lot of stuff, like those things that were mentioned before. I've learned to just look at the show as if it's a pure sketch comedy.
Tell me, exactly HOW are those octuplets toddlers while Maggie's still a young baby? And where'd the freakin' Murderhorn go? It can be maddening.
Here's what I always assumed happened: Gerald Ford eventually moved away and the real estate company couldn't sell the house, so they tore it down. That's why it's now a field.
Austin
----- ALewis525 (Wed, 10 Jul 2002 02:00:55 GMT) -----
Hey, what the heck! Sounds good t' me!