Jokes at Conservative/Republican's expense the lamest?

Does anyone agree with this perspective, in the Simpsons. It seems like most comedy shows (like SNL & The Daily Show) can score an effective hit on Conservative/Republican targets. I mean, I'll admit they're funny sometimes, even at my expense. But it seems to me that the Simpson's produce the best gags at Liberal/Democrat expense (example: the longest running gag at the Kennedy family's expense, Mayor Quimby). Attacks on Conservatives just seem to ham-fisted.

Agree or disagree, and if so - why?

russellflowers (here's the "at" symbol) earthlink DOT net

On 5/17/2004 7:24 PM R. Flowers brightened our day with:

Conservatives are inherently evil, liberals are inherently stupid goofy. Stupid goofy is funny, evil isn't.

"Inglo" wrote in message news:bWfqc.68278$[email]...

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Hmmm. A bit of an oversimplification, but you have summed up the two sides quite accurately.

Funny, I was just going to say how completely inaccurate and misguided he was!

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Not sure whether to agree or disagree, but the issue you raised reminds me of an article I'd read by a guy who seemed like a kind of a neo-conservative with a very strong libertarian streak who had writen a book called "Gilligan Unbound." The premise of his take on pop culture was that we had shifted from a structured, bureaucratic worldview as in Star Trek and Gilligan's Island (his examples) where characters are drawn together to solve an officially sanctioned or collective set of problems to a more de-centralized world of the Simpsons in which charaters persue happiness in their own way. He pointed out that life for Simpsons characters centers around private associations and individually chosen activities---family, work, religion, hobbies, ambitions, groups of friends, etc.; and that institutions that interfere with private choices like public school, municipal government, the military, etc. are often the butt of the show's satire. Keep in mind, I'm only responding to the article and haven't read the book.

"ESHAAS" wrote in message news:[email]...

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It sounds like a valid theory, but how could someone fill up a whole book on it? Your brief synopsis seems to have covered it thoroughly.

Like I said, I only read a short piece about it; not the book itself. I had the impression that in the book, he would have analyzed a fairly wide variety of pop culture products, but he seemed to like The Simpsons a lot.

"ESHAAS" wrote in message news:[email]...

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Oh, I see. The book does sound interesting.

Oy! Listen to That Guy's latest shpiel!

Pictures of the time machine?

"mark allen adams, jr." wrote in message news:XoRqc.2478$[email]...

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Heh heh. Thanks, I liked that episode. Ron Howard was great in that.

Oy! Listen to That Guy's latest shpiel!

So was Billy Baldwin. I actually breathed a sigh of relief when he lost out on the Oscar this year, for no reason other than that the Oscar polish joke would still work.

"mark allen adams, jr." wrote in message news:v5arc.9783$[email]...

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LOL! I'm sure he was very relieved about that also.

The book probably has lots of other sitcoms to discuss.

I'm glad that they did this episode. It's finally time that the extreme jingoism exhibited by Americans is called into question. No show on television did what the Simpsons dared to do. Sure the Daily Show and SNL have made occasional jabs at American jingoism, but the Simpsons took it head on. Of course, if any one show were to take on this burden, it's the Simpsons. BRAVO production team!

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brilliant republican jokes - evil dracula republican castle - the fox news broadcast where he refers to the democrat candidate as "comrade" and a fake news ticker goes across the bottom of the screen saying things like 92% of democracts are gay - the republicans saying to ralph nader "haven't you done enoguh for us already?"

JQM

"James Q. Morrissey" wrote in message news:c8fi6s$5fc$[email]...

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Point taken. There have been good ones, but they work best as a short jab, not an episode long.

i would say that the reason the writers of the simpsons write more jokes about democrats and their foibles is because being democrats themselves (i assume) they know, like and respect them better. i am in much more of a position myself to crack wise about the shortcomings of the simpsons than i am of, say, cheers, which i never watch.

JQM

R Flowers,

I'm sorry but I don't agree at all.

I think Simpsons makes far more jokes at Conservatives' expense. I mean, you can tell that the writing staff is pretty darn liberal. The whole premise of last week's episode is that the hysteria over Patriotism has gone too far, and that the Patriot Act and erosion of civil liberties waged by Ashcroft and Bush has really damaged our country. It was a pretty powerful argument the Simpsons made. I myself was quite surprised they went so far. Of course, its not specifically against all Republicans or Conservatives, but against a phenomenon that is symptomatic of this particular Republican administration. Many Republicans disagree with the patriot act, like John McCain.

The jokes the Simpsons takes at Democrats arent nearly as prominent. Mayor Quimby is making fun of the Kennedy family, not all Democrats. And the jokes about Democrats (like the funny old man at Alcatraz who said "Tax and Spend Tax and Spend" was more making fun of Republican impressions of Democrats than of Democrats themselves. Afterall, Bush is spending more than any other president in history.