@wolfwoof:
I will now drop the best suggestion you'll hear all day you all Axe the Simpsons and bring back the old Dilbert cartoon
UPN's dead though . If UPN was the only network willing to air a Dilbert animated series that should show you how desparate they were to get it on TV, Moesha, Star Trek Voyager, Girlfriends…Dilbert?
I rather have The Critic to come back.
I rather have The Critic to come back.
Problem is, it seems to me alot of the big targets aren't around anymore. For example, big dumb, universally popular action movies staring bankable, type-cast action movie stars, just aren't a thing anymore, at least not to the degree of actualy being notable.
Hell the only Bay movie I've been unfortunate to see is The Island, which is awful, serves to support a regressive political message in a rather sickening way, and even I think bashing on Bay would be old hat by now.
….Unless he catapults himself back into the epicentre of contempt and ridicule by completely and utterly fucking up the TMNT movie, which is possible.
Anyway, I sense the discussion has sort of drifted off somewhat :P
I thought "A totally fun thing Bart will never do again" (Or something like that) was a pretty good episode.
I rather have The Critic to come back.
Critic is better remembered fondly as that short lived 20 episode show that had almost all good episodes, that never got a fair chance.
If it came back we'd end up hating it too… specially considering how long its been since that team was together.
Even the web-shorts weren't very good, and those were like 10 years ago.
@No:
….Unless he catapults himself back into the epicentre of contempt and ridicule by completely and utterly fucking up the TMNT movie, which is possible.
It's not.
He's not directing it, he's just the producer.
@No:
Problem is, it seems to me alot of the big targets aren't around anymore. For example, big dumb, universally popular action movies staring bankable, type-cast action movie stars, just aren't a thing anymore, at least not to the degree of actualy being notable.
Hell the only Bay movie I've been unfortunate to see is The Island, which is awful, serves to support a regressive political message in a rather sickening way, and even I think bashing on Bay would be old hat by now.
….Unless he catapults himself back into the epicentre of contempt and ridicule by completely and utterly fucking up the TMNT movie, which is possible.
Anyway, I sense the discussion has sort of drifted off somewhat :P
I liked that one as well, though bits of it for me were kinda depressing - well mainly the bit with Old bart reminiscing
@The:
Someone brings up a minor issue; Homer breaks down in tears instantly and runs out of the room. I remember the last one happening a lot.
I literally saw this yesterday in a Season XIX episode where Homer cries over spilt milk.
It was not funny.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/26/simpsons-and-bob-newhart-actress-marcia-wallace-dies
R.I.P Mrs. Krabappel . . . . .
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/10/26/simpsons-and-bob-newhart-actress-marcia-wallace-dies
R.I.P Mrs. Krabappel . . . . .
Well….....Fuck.
So many mixed emotions here, but, first and foremost, thank you so much for the years of entertainment Mrs. Wallace. Rest in peace.
Also, this reminds me of a thought I had a few weeks ago; what if one of the major voice actors were to die after all this time? Now, apparently, in this case, they're going to retire Krabappel, but what if it was one of the main six? (Castellaneta, Kavner, Cartwright, Smith, Azaria, and Shearer)
Honestly, I think this may just be one more reason I want the show to end. And I do wonder what affect her death will have on it.
Also, this reminds me of a thought I had a few weeks ago; what if one of the major voice actors were to die after all this time? Now, apparently, in this case, they're going to retire Krabappel, but what if it was one of the main six? (Castellaneta, Kavner, Cartwright, Smith, Azaria, and Shearer)
Honestly, I think this may just be one more reason I want the show to end. And I do wonder what affect her death will have on it.
Pretty much the same thoughts I had when I heard. Reminds me of the comment that we wish the Simpsons were over so that we could probably remember it and pay tribute to it.
Always strange when this happens with people who acted characters you grew up with. RIP Mrs Wallace.
Homer: Wait a minute, Bart's teacher is named mrs. Krabappel? This whole time I have been calling here Mrs. Krandle. Oh, why didn't anyone tell me I was wrong.
Rest in peace, Mrs. K
That's terrible news. Condolences to all those concerned :(
On the subject of retiring Mrs K, it's gonna seem odd to me seeing she was there from the very begining plus now you'll have Ned lose another woman in wis life. I think their "when voice actor dies abandon their character" policy might not be the wisest thing to do 20 plus years into the series. It was one thing to get rid of Troy McLure, but this'll change the dynamic of every single school and classroom scene that will relate to Bart, and I don't know how the staff will handle this given their seeming phobia of changes to the status quo (aside from a cast member's death).
@No:
That's terrible news. Condolences to all those concerned :(
On the subject of retiring Mrs K, it's gonna seem odd to me seeing she was there from the very begining plus now you'll have Ned lose another woman in wis life. I think their "when voice actor dies abandon their character" policy might not be the wisest thing to do 20 plus years into the series. It was one thing to get rid of Troy McLure, but this'll change the dynamic of every single school and classroom scene that will relate to Bart, and I don't know how the staff will handle this given their seeming phobia of changes to the status quo (aside from a cast member's death).
The Simpsons greatly misses Troy Maclure and Lionel Hutz, they may not have been 'major' characters but dammit they were funny and awesome, and now they gotta resort to random weirdo's playing lawyers and whatever person for sum tv advert or video they be watching on the show. 'Hi I'm Troy Maclure you may remember me from such movies as the President's Neck is Missing and Dial M for Murderessness' Pure Gold.
I only woke up like an hour ago and i come online and go to yahoo frontpage and i see this news….what a sucky way to start the day. She was a great voice actor and there were many great episodes and moments between Bart and Edna and with Skinner as well - sadly enough 1 of those great episodes will be on over here in the UK later today at lunch time 'The PTA Disbands' - that was a wonderful episode.
I hope they'll do a fitting tribute to her in a future episode, and the impact it'll have on other characters i.e Bart & Skinner....
:cwy:
The Simpsons greatly misses Troy Maclure and Lionel Hutz, they may not have been 'major' characters but dammit they were funny and awesome, and now they gotta resort to random weirdo's playing lawyers and whatever person for sum tv advert or video they be watching on the show. 'Hi I'm Troy Maclure you may remember me from such movies as the President's Neck is Missing and Dial M for Murderessness' Pure Gold.
Oh man. How could I forget about Phil Hartman?
Yes, it's true this isn't the first time The Simpsons have lost an invaluable and irreplaceable supporting cast member. And, coincidentally, I think it was about that time the show really started to wane.
R.I.P., Mrs. Krabappel :sad:
Man, I agree, I wish they would have ended the show a long time ago. Isnt Harry Shearer also in his 70ies? (Sidenote, not really interesting to anyone, but Homers german voice actor, who voiced him from the start, is in his 80ies already:sad:If he were to die, that obviously wouldnt affect the actual show much, but his Homer voice has become really iconic in Germany and would be near damn irreplaceable, I think) And man she was Barts teacher, her not being a part of the school scenes will be so weird. Will they just introduce a new class teacher? Marcia Wallace was amazingly funny and irreplaceable!
(Sidenote, not really interesting to anyone, but Homers german voice actor, who voiced him from the start, is in his 80ies already:sad:If he were to die, that obviously wouldn`t affect the actual show much, but his Homer voice has become really iconic in Germany and would be near damn irreplaceable, I think)
I feel ya. Homer's Italian dubber died last year.
Man, I agree, I wish they would have ended the show a long time ago. Isn`t Harry Shearer also in his 70ies?
He'll be 70 in December. But yeah, wow, I had no idea he was that old.
Also, Kavner's the second oldest at 63, and Azaria and Smith are the youngest at 49 (Smith is younger by about 2 months)
Shearer is the oldest major cast member but most of his characters have been getting steadily smaller roles in episodes for years. Apparently that's because of his attitude about working on the show which isn't surprising since he's been pretty vocal about a decline in the show's quality. Ned is probably the one we see and hear from most.
This thing I thought of was that a few weeks ago they had said they were planning on killing a character off from the show, I wondered if they knew she was not doing well. However I checked and this was not what they planned. Wonder if they'll change whatever they were planning before because of this.
Judging by what they said at the time (the implication was that it was a semi-regular character whose voice actor won an Emmy for an episode featuring them), I'm guessing it was probably either Moe or Comic Book Guy.
Far as changing those plans, hard to say since the episode was probably well into development even before she got really sick. At this point, their only real options would be either not airing it or pulling a Duke from GI Joe: The Movie.
Well, unless they just up and killed them in a way that could be cut out without being noticed.
With the ephasis on Grandpa episodes I've seen in the newer seasons, I always thought they were planning on offing him sooner or later. Just this strange vibe, really.
But yeah. Sad news for Marcia Wallace. The news really hit me, especially considering I've had a long conversation about new Simpsons episodes and notable writers that tend to make good ones recently.
I can't imagine them ever killing Moe. Maybe Chief Wiggum. There's a few award winning actors that have done a sh*t ton of voices so it's hard to tell.
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. - Frank Zappa
My bet goes to Barney
I always assumed they were finally gonna off Sideshow Bob
Japan's super long running animes tend to retire out their entire casts all at once barring death of a an actor (Sazae San, Lupin, etc.) and Simpsons could possibly do the same thing if they ever reeeeally felt like they wanted the show to keep running forever… but given the big fuss thrown last time contract negotiations came up (and all the actors took a rate cut) and the similar drama about changing the Futurama cast, I don't think that'd go over without the entire main cast stepping down at once... and given that most of the guys provide dozens of characters thats hard to imagine. The series is less of a much watch institution now and more of a "that show that keeps going somehow".
Other shows deal with cast members leaving all the time, it gives a chance to change the dynamic and freshen things up... (as long as it doesn't happen in say, just the final season and there's actual time to adjust. MASH only got better with their replacement characters.)
Simpsons is mostly difficult because the kids don't age so you can't just send them off to college or something. And Looney Tunes, Muppets, and Mickey Mouse have all had crew changes over the decades... but those largely don't have ongoing shows so its never a sudden prolonged transition, but a gradual one over many other projects.
Then of course there's Southpark, which has dealt with the entire female side of the cast having turnover for various... reasons... a couple of times now, where they mostly got by simply by not having the female characters appear for a while. On the other side, there's what they did to Chef when Isaac Hayes left... (and then died soon after)
For similar reasons, Sideshow Bob wouldn't make much sense he's a once a year guest star, rather than a regular, (and his episodes are actually generally interesting because of it.) Plus, he's always carted off to prison at the end. He's written out in advance (and in fact needs ot be written back in every time) and wouldn't need an episode to deal with it.
@RobbyBevard:
Other shows deal with cast members leaving all the time, it gives a chance to change the dynamic and freshen things up… (as long as it doesn't happen in say, just the final season and there's actual time to adjust. MASH only got better with their replacement characters.)
Simpsons is mostly difficult because the kids don't age so you can't just send them off to college or something.
They actually could do this. Because basically the one character that Bart got any interaction with in school outside of Skinner is now going to be gone. It would be a good excuse to do something different and change up the status quo.
Of course they won't do it but it's nice to dream eh ?
@No:
They actually could do this. Because basically the one character that Bart got any interaction with in school outside of Skinner is now going to be gone. It would be a good excuse to do something different and change up the status quo.
Of course they won't do it but it's nice to dream eh ?
In a sense, wasn't the status quo altered when Maude got killed off? I know the situations is different this time (va death vs….va leaving?), but it's not like removing a significant minor character from play is out of the question.
Then again.....this would be a double whammy for Ned.
In a sense, wasn't the status quo altered when Maude got killed off? I know the situations is different this time (va death vs….va leaving?), but it's not like removing a significant minor character from play is out of the question.
Then again.....this would be a double whammy for Ned.
What I meant was I can't imagine how they'd do the school scenes with Bart anymore seeing as she was his, apparently only, teacher.
Yep, the guy's finally found some kind of happiness not that long ago.
In a sense, wasn't the status quo altered when Maude got killed off? I know the situations is different this time (va death vs….va leaving?), but it's not like removing a significant minor character from play is out of the question.
Then again.....this would be a double whammy for Ned.
Yes, and afterwards they got the most interesting stories Ned had ever had out of it. First trying to move on and date others, and then much later, the weird hijinks with Edna.
They could play him losing two wives completely straight and have him start to question god or something… or have the entire Flanders family move away, taking 4 characters out of the mix and giving Homer a new, different neighbor. Or they could recast and keep her role incredibly minor, only a handful of lines.
Change is good, it allows things to be interesting, and part of the reason the show is so stagnant is nothing ever changes (aside from Apu getting a litter of kids, and even that never got real play after the one episode).
@No:
Yep, the guy's finally found some kind of happiness not that long ago.
At the expense of Skinner never finding his. ;)
@RobbyBevard:
Yes, and afterwards they got the most interesting stories Ned had ever had out of it. First trying to move on and date others, and then much later, the weird hijinks with Edna.
They could play him losing two wives completely straight and have him start to question god or something… or have the entire Flanders family move away, taking 4 characters out of the mix and giving Homer a new, different neighbor. Or they could recast and keep her role incredibly minor, only a handful of lines.
Change is good, it allows things to be interesting, and part of the reason the show is so stagnant is nothing ever changes (aside from Apu getting a litter of kids, and even that never got real play after the one episode).
I agree; I wasn't trying to argue against any sort of change. If nothing else, I am curious to see how the show handles this.
You think they'd make Skinner Bart's teacher now as well or something ? The show's not exactly been great at creating any lasting new characters in the last decade and a half.
Seriously when was the last time they introduced a character that wasn't a one off and actually appeared more then once every five years ?
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
At the expense of Skinner never finding his. ;)
They wore that whole plot incredibly thin. They started with it way back when the series was still considered good by most everyone and have spent like what, six, seven, eight years doing nothing with it ?
Speaking of changes, specifically really subtle ones. Anyone noticed how much Selma's adopted daughter grew up?
Oh god I COMPLETELY forgot about Apu's kids growing up (they must not nearly get as much screen time now days THOUGH…Selma's kid I think grew at a significantly exponential rate in comparison to Apu's I believe...maybe).
Yeah I can't think of a SINGLE new character in the past decade that stuck around aside from Selma's daughter (and MAYBE Gil...not sure how recent he showed up).
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Oh god I COMPLETELY forgot about Apu's kids growing up (they must not nearly get as much screen time now days THOUGH…Selma's kid I think grew at a significantly exponential rate in comparison to Apu's I believe...maybe).
Yeah I can't think of a SINGLE new character in the past decade that stuck around aside from Selma's daughter (and MAYBE Gil...not sure how recent he showed up).
I think this may be the reason why Simpsons suck these days.
The staff has not even attempted to write any new characters into the show outside of celebrity one offs which happen so often they kind of lose any kind of charm they might have had, and the one episode stand-ins they introduce for the purpose of the plot and then drop immediately.
So really, with them not adding new characters, and instead writing them out when the original performer dies, is a big reason why the show is as low as it gets, because they've already explored every possible interaction with all non bit-characters and are just repeating themselves over and over again.
The other problem is, in addition to this, they also obviously don't write the episodes as a story, they just have a vague idea they stretch out as much as possible. The Changing of the Guardian, as I've noted a few months back, is the worst offender in this sense since Brake my Wife Please, but it's worse because they could have had some conflict in the episode, even if it'd be centered on characters nobody gives a damn about, but instead chose to spend the whole episode just building up that plotline while wasting most of it on distractions and in the end we have about two minutes of Homer and Marge being concerned about something that didn't even happen.
Of course an infinitely better way to do this episode was to actually have Bart and Lisa stay at the home of some of the side characters, like say Dr. Hibbert, and then have some honest to god interaction and voila, your episode does not suck anymore. Hell Dr. Hibbert apparently has like 5 kids that don't have a name yet, despite the fact that he first appeared in Season 2. If you want to focus on what you already have so much, then why not focus on what you already have but have been ignoring for god knows how many years instead of doing another episode where Marge/Bart/Lisa/HOmer become talented at doing a thing that will never come up again after the end of the episode ?
Also, yes, they actually used to introduce new recurring characters from time to time back then, but now they're waaaay too trendy for that :getlost:
Somebody at The Simpsons studio really has a soft spot for classic Disney animation, because damn, look at this:
Wish they had a soft spot for good writing personally :ninja:
Also that one slideshow where they celebrated all those couch gags with a slideshow was a pain for me to watch because there were so many they literally put each up for like a second so every time I had to blink I missed at least one.
Gee too bad they put more effort into the couch gag than the rest of the episode now days.
Simpsons tribute to Hayao Miyazaki
!!!!!! If that is this Sunday's episode, that is going in the calendar.
Simpsons Legos now this.
Tomorrow is the first day of the 12 days The Simpsons Marathon on FXX, which they going to air every episode of the series, and the movie. I can't wait to see some of the classic episodes again.
So, FX is gonna be showing about 6 or so days of quality programming then.
Nice.
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So, FX is gonna be showing about 6 or so days of quality programming then.
Simpsons has gone back to putting out quality episodes, why wasn't I informed?
I've often wondered about that myself; seems like being supported by people who only want you there so the world can end in fire (with you going to Hell in the process) would be somewhat off-putting
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Simpsons has gone back to putting out quality episodes, why wasn't I informed?
What? No, Simpsons has been bad for years.
I'm saying if they're showing EVERY episode, then the first 10 or so Seasons worth should be good, so I rounded up to about half of the marathon (6 of the 12 days)
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Thought I was hearing things wrong:ninja:.
I've often wondered about that myself; seems like being supported by people who only want you there so the world can end in fire (with you going to Hell in the process) would be somewhat off-putting
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The marathon is pretty good so far. I forgot how different the show was in the first season.
The first season of the Simpsons were….awkward. There were gems here and there as well as a few heartfelt moments, but overall really awkward stuff.
Everyone essentially looked like confused, spaced-out goldfishes as well. It's kinda funny in that regard.
