Hutz is now a ranger

Maybe this commercial is only airing here in Houston ... but there's a new commercial (I forget the product) that stars this ranger, and he sounds just like Lionel Hutz. It's kind of freaky. Anyone else caught this?

"JD44-3ujo9t" <jd44-3ujo9t> wrote in news:[email]:

Lionel Hutz and Troy McLure were voiced by Phil Hartman... who's dead. Been dead ages. Shame really cos he had one of the funniest voices, good actor too. Anyone see houseguest with him as the family Dad and Sinbad as a dodgy dude looking for a place to hide out in the suburbs? Mind you the space captain guy in futurama (can't remember his name, got a little green sidekick called Gif) sounds a lot like Phil Hartman, maybe its that dude.

----- Toadyyy (Wed, 10 Jul 2002 13:21:19 GMT) -----

Yeah, I know. That's why the resemblance was a bit freaky.

Captain ... dang it! What's his name? ... Oh yes: Zapp Branigan (spelling assumed).

JD44-3ujo9t <jd44-3ujo9t> wrote in message news:[email]...

The role was originally written for Phil. I wonder, would the character have been more memorable with him in it?

-Bob

----- R H Menzel (Thu, 11 Jul 2002 22:58:15 GMT) -----

Wow, I didn't know that. What a shame. The voice actor for Zapp DOES sound like Hartman.

Eh. It's Billy West (who also voices Fry, the Professor, Zoidberg, etc.). All of his characters sound the same to me, a la` Tress MacNeille.

-- An XPeeple Production -- "As a child, I always wanted to bite his head off. This is my way of doing that... creatively." -Andy Dick as Marylin Manson "Most critics want to be authors, screenwriters and novelists, [but] they just suck." -Joe Rogan

I agree... he may sound sort of like Phil Hartman, but his voice lacks the required qualities to bring notice to the character. I find him pretty bland. He is pompous and vain, but too self-consciously...

Just like Tress MacNeille, I find that Billy West's voices sound flat and cartoony. As Babs Bunny in Tiny Toons that was fine... but for the Simpsons I have never liked her work much. Part of the problem for me is that her voices may sound different, but they all share a personality... that is to say, not much of one.

I think that West is much the same. They have a lot of "goofy" to them, but nothing to create a character with. Compare this to Dan Castellaneta's Homer, Krusty and Grandpa... all distinct and full characters, each capable of carrying an episode (and they have).

Hartman was the king of smarm... Hutz and MacClure were both oily and disingenuous... but strangely beleivable. Hartman's range of character wasn't really broad, but he had brought unearthly high quality to them.

<Eh. It's Billy West (who also voices Fry, the Professor, Zoidberg, etc.). All of his characters sound the same to me, a la` Tress MacNeille.>

I don't know. There is a distinguishing difference between Fry, Farnsworth, and Brannigan. If you're analytical enough, they do sound the same, but with Tress, they sound the same w/o analyzing.

On Fri, 12 Jul 2002, an infinite number of monkeys, masquerading as Marquesas16 typed this -

What about the human cop?

Been

dodgy

Phil Hartman originally asked Matt Groening if he could have a character to voice on Futurama, so he created "Zapp Brannigan". Unfortunately, he died while the show was still in its early production stages. The voice of Zapp is Billy West, who even does the voices of Fry and Professor Farnsworth. He's also the red M on the M&M's commercials.

In my opinion, Billy West gave Phil Hartman's new character justice, given the circumstances.

fishisms wrote in message news:BLsX8.92789$[email]...

actor

dude.

to

I agree with that assessment. Although I've enjoyed Billy West for years, I guess I just always think of poor Phil whenever I see Zapp.

-Bob

----- fishisms (Fri, 12 Jul 2002 04:17:37 GMT) -----

Hear, hear!