What was this newsgroup like when it just began?
S1.3 OFF++++ HTZ+++ Matt Groening ++++ LIS++ Duffman++ Big Rich Texan-- f++ n+ Is $/$+ 9F10, 5F18, 3F31, 3F04, 2F15, "TOE", 2F16, M1987
Learn the Simpsons Geek Code or else you will die.*
*Not a guarantee.
To quote Gary D. Duzan, the Creator of alt.tv.simpsons:
"There were about 100 messages posted there [alt.tv.simpsons] in the first 24 hours [of it's existance], though most were of the form, `Hey, did you notice that Bart writes something different on the board each week?'"
To quote Raymond Chen:
In the beginning, the world was void and without form. And Gary Duzan said, ``Let there be alt.tv.simpsons.'' And the rest, as they say, is history. So here's some history:
For the first year-or-so, alt.tv.simpson was your usual anarchic alt.* group. Trying to make some sense out of the clutter, I wrote a FAQ and posted it, basing the information in part on private notes I had been taking on alt.tv.simpsons for some time. At around the same time, Nick Sayer took upon himself the duty of posting the weekly ``Chalkboard and Couch Situation'' article.
Brendan Kehoe stepped forward to offer an ftp site for alt.tv.simpsons archival purposes, and ownership of the FAQ was transferred to him in an elaborate ceremony shrouded in mystery. Meanwhile, David Tamkin took over Nick Sayer's weekly articles.
Some time later, I started posting extracts from my private notes, and by some bizarre sequence of events which even I cannot remember, they gradually turned into a regular feature. (During this time, the Movie References List came into being, originally intended to be a summary of the then-active discussion of movie references taking place both on alt.tv.simpsons and in rec.arts.tv.) In their early days, the articles were merely called `episode summaries' (the term lingers if you know where to look), but Brendan accidentally stumbled across the word `capsule', and that's what they've been called ever since.
On 18 November 1990, David Tamkin posted a detailed analysis of the fast pan of Springfield which appeared in the second season title sequence. On 9 January 1991, I posted additional information on same. And I added more information in late May 1991. All three of these articles are encapsulated in question 3.1 of the FAQ.
-.
|T|he biggest controversy during Spring 1991 was the physical layout
`-'of Jym Dyer's articles. Many objected to the way Jym circled the
first letter of each paragraph and indented subsequent lines
increasingly. The resulting flamefest produced much more heat
than light. Jym Dyer did tone down his flamboyant layout,
though.--- In other spring developments: The Abject Admirers of Lisa Simpson
-- was formed, with Brendan Kehoe and David Tamkin as founding members.
- Membership includes Steve VanDevender and me. (Membership
criteria are quite strict. Among other things, your birthday
must be within three months of that of one of the founding
members.) Joe Kincaid's daughter said her first word. It was
``Bart.'' Go figure.In early July 1991, Brendan, Al Wesolowsky, and I held the first-ever (and probably last-ever) alt.tv.simpsons contest, the winner to receive a year's subscription to Simpsons Illustrated. The object was to identify the movie reference in ``Bart Gets Hit by a Car'' in which Burns cradles Bart's head in his lap while calling out, ``Take me! I'm old!'' After a few months, the closest thing to a winner was from Australia, and since Simpsons Illustrated does not permit foreign subscriptions, we decided to declare the contest null and void and award ourselves the prizes.
During the summer of 1991, Chris Baird emerged as our primary Australian correspondent. His articles at first were about Channel Ten's cutting of the episodes to make room for more commercials. (Something we all should pay attention to, since we're going to have to suffer through the same thing when The Simpsons hits syndication.) Chris Baird also began The Writers/Directors List.
On 15 July 1991, David Tamkin spoonerized a title (Dart's Bog Gets an F). Whether he did this on purpose or not we will probably never know. What we do know is that it sparked the Great Anagram Controversy, wherein I posted capsules with the episode titles anagrammed. People whose anagrammatic recognition skills were weak thought I was nuts. (Actually, people who recognized them as anagrams probably still thought I was nuts.) The anagramming stopped when first-run episodes resumed.
In autumn 1991, J. D. Baldwin realized that whe he liked the most about The Simpsons was Itchy and Scratchy, and promptly started the Itchy and Scratchy Episode Guide. Meanwhile, Dave Hall became a major force in freeze frame fanaticism, and Chris Baird undertook the ambitious Floor Plan Project. David Tamkin resigned from his blackboard/couch duties in October 1991. Brian Howard, who had had access to `inside' information, married his source and made her move out of Los Angeles.
Another major development in the third season was the abridgement of the title sequence in the States. The cutting was done by FOX to make room for promoting a new Michael Jackson video. Canadian viewers received uncut versions since they didn't get their episode via FOX.
The biggest topic of late autumn 1991 was whether Apu's character is racist (which quickly veered off-topic to racism in general). Minor topics included griping over sappy endings. Chris Baird became our Ambassador to Simpsons Illustrated, and even got a letter (mentioning alt.tv.simpsons) published in the Australian edition of SI. Every month or so, Chris ships them a disk containing selected articles from alt.tv.simpsons.
[Thanks to Chris Baird for his help in writing this history.]
-- Raymond Chen, January 30th 1992
[email] (Dave Hall) wrote in message news:...
Cool! You're right!
What song did Lisa play on her saxomophone at the end of the "Lisa's Sax" episode?
snip
Did they have the Internet on computers back then?
Don't forget ninteen dickety two. Wasn't there some kind of contest in this ng back then? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Then his articles stopped coming as Australia was smothered in a toad plague.
snip
And then Abman left to go to college.
Aaron Hirshberg
"Aaron Hirshberg" wrote in message news:[email]...
news:...
And now, he's dead.
Anywho, turn over the baby... _now_!
Or sleeping, I dunno.
On 28 Aug 2001, Katijaikat wrote:
I forget.
/ Kristian
+-------------------------------------------------------+ |Kristian Ronge | |[email] [email] | |(civil) (skola) |
|d99, datateknik, KTH (Kungliga Tekniska H�gskolan) | |d99, Computer Science, Royal Institute of Technology | +-------------------------------------------------------+
Jamie wrote:
We wore onions on our belts. Sincerely, Little Girl
which was the style at the time
Internet King wrote in message news:[email]...
On Tue, 28 Aug 2001, Internet King wrote:
Which was the style at the time.
/ Kristian
+-------------------------------------------------------+ |Kristian Ronge | |[email] [email] | |(civil) (skola) |
|d99, datateknik, KTH (Kungliga Tekniska H�gskolan) | |d99, Computer Science, Royal Institute of Technology | +-------------------------------------------------------+