The Simpsons on Strike

he probably just did Sideshow Bob for a packet of Oreos and a sample of scalp polish

good to see The Simpsons in such fine company...okay i'm done now.

Grammer got ~1.6 million per episode. Ray Romano gets more, inexplicably.

The amount that Simpsons has made for Fox and for Jim Brooks compared to what the actors received--actually, it doesn't compare. Good for them. Hold out for more dough!

Although they refused to pony up a few extra dollars for the woman who played Ned's wife (she couldn't afford to travel to the studio and they wouldn't pay for her to do it remotely). Which is why they just killed her character off.

Anyway, I hope the show gets cancelled. Or they just get different voices (which would be fantastic).

Maybe that's what they're trying to do. Fox certainly wouldn't give up on this still-profitable franchise, but it would seem the writers gave up a few years ago. Maybe the voice-actors are trying to euthanize the show.

Wait, what is?

but, theoretically, it takes months and months of practice and training.

or an hour to model at a runway show

but, theoretically, it takes months and months of, uh, practicing wearing clothes and walking at the same time.

Scooby Doo has not been in continuous production since 1969.

I'm reminded of the scene where Krusty blows into the studio where Lisa's about to voice Lisa Lionheart, and rams through all the lines his new doll's going to say in about 12 seconds.

I am also reminded, if they cancel the show because of this, of Homer yelling, "Oh, so I don't get to play a cartoon dog, eh? Well, you can cram it with walnuts, ugly!"

thanks for making me burst out laughing in the computer lab. Forgot that line.

I tell you what Im sick of - people bitching about it "jumping the shark" or being "shit writing" or whatever. I still enjoy some of the new shows, GET OVER IT WHINERS.

Hey if people dont like the Simpsons now, fair play to y'all. I just dont understand people vehemence in banging on about how bad it is now, it has almost become fashionable to say you DONT like it anymore. This negates the years of bloody brilliance this show's done, IMNSHO. But, this argument's been done to death I realise, so I'll leave it at that. I think they are criminally underpaid when you think how much Fox would be making off the show, and not to open a can of worms but I'd hate to think how little the actual grunt animators in Korea are (not) being paid...

But what about the fact that it feels like every 5 episodes there's a sleb guest who happens to be detrimental to the episode?

The whole "hey look REM are playing in the garage" etc thing is silly yes.

But of the new season Ive seen there hasnt actually been that much of the lazy get-out-of-jail sleb tricksterism.

The Eva Peron episode was really funny. The robo wars one wasnt too bad. OK the homer mauled by bear one was lame because it kinda didnt go anywhere. I am having trouble thinking of other examples aregh.

That doesn't count. There were only 17 or so episodes made (IIRC), and they've been rerun over and over since then.

longest running show in US history = Meet the Press, which started in 1947.

1946, actually.

Who the fuck cares how long it takes the actors to do their voice work for each episode? Their voice characterizations are a huge part of what makes the show funny (when it is), and there have been more than a few episodes that were funny IN SPITE OF the writing simply because the voice actors MADE THEM funny. Dan Castenalla (or however you spell the name of the guy who does Homer's voice) actually was the INVENTOR of the term "D'oh!" -- which has gone on to become a proftitable catch phrase for the show. The scripts originally just said "Homer makes a disgusted noise" or something and Castenella (sp?) was the one who came up with "D'oh!" -- not the writers, not Matt Groening or James Brooks or any of the other people making the big bucks off the show.

All of the voice actors are, clearly, trained professionals (many of whom can and do sing as well as coming up with distinctive character voices). And there aren't many people who can do what they do as well as they do it in a recording studio, in a short amount of time, and add as much value to an animated series as they do (ever watch currently-made Saturday morning cartoons? the ones after Mel Blanc died? the voices are SO LAME!)

I think the principal voice actors deserve as much or more than the cast of FRIENDS.

As for the Korean animators ... I don't think the show uses them anymore. At a certain point the show went from hand-drawn animation (using overseas animators) to entirely computer-generated animation (done, I assume, by Americans, though I may be wrong).

Not entirely accurate:

http://www.execulink.com/~joelb/scooby/doobydoo.htm

WHHHAAAATTTT?!

LEAVE THE VANCOUVER POSSE ALONE (shhh X-Men: Evolution, I still love you)

(Did anyone know there's a HUGE overlap between the voice actors for X-M:E and the English dub of Inuyasha?)

down w/the simpsons hating! bad new episodes do not negate a brilliant body of work. i too love adult swim but when it's given us so many years of amazing hilarity as the simpsons then you could compare. until then: BLASEMPHY!

However, that's a huge amount of money. And I don't really think that the justification "actors on Friends get paid more" makes much sense. I can't make sense of that kind of income.

Yes, they tell you this in economics. Can't remember what its called exactly. But its one of the things. Of which there are x.

Doesn't this mean they should start doing it for free after x years?

oh no simpsons please don't go off the air no

TBH at this point even I wouldnt care if it died in the arse. I havent watched a new episode in some years now.

Would be pretty happy if it died. Twelve years ago.

yeah but what about now

or next year

Justice deferred is justice denied.

really? they couldn't afford to pay 5m a season to each main cast member? really? for a show that literally has made billions of dollars and still makes more worldwide and will continue doing so? really?

yeah even though these guys make a sick amount of money already for just talking into a mic it's pretty undeniable that they deserve a good share of the profits

When a show is past its prime, the stars should ask however much they want, as they're the only damn reason anyone's watching.

Man imagine the shitshow if they got 6 soundalikes.

maybe it would give it a new lease of life not soundalikes but a reboot

they should introduce Homer's long-lost brother Aesop and transition the show to his wacky family

Nah, just bring back Unkie Herb Powell and center the show around him. DeVito can phone it in between "Sunny" tapings.

seth macfarlane will do all the new voices

apparently

seth macfarlane will do all the new voices

bingo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-49blyZ3Dw

^also has useful background info for all you fans of the 'Bohage Clan'

Would the end of The Simpsons clear the way for the resurgence of Futurama?

didn't that show already have its resurgence?
it does make me upset that The Big Bang Theory is huge while Futurama never really "made it"

It didnt? Its on its 6th season and doing boomingly afaik?

7th season, rather

For the latter day Simpson haters, do you watch the show anymore? Like hoping that the next episode will be a return to form? or have you just given it up all together and just assume that it is still sucking.

it's on Comedy Central, still kind of a cult show aint it?

Little of both, for me. I havent stopped watching by choice - nu-simpsons in Aus is patchily delivered at the best of times due to our shitty TV scheduling anyway, and for a long time I didnt have a working TV either. That said, every newish ep I have seen, I've been apalled by, and I'm pretty lenient. I dont like the look of the computerised animation these days much either. Which is dumb, cause I love Futurama and its all done in 3d.

i watch it 'cause it's on and it's better than everybody loves raymond

I don't think I've seen a new episode in years. But I don't really watch the reruns like I used to either.

Isn't this latest news just the first shot of brinksmanship from Fox? Can't help but feel deeply cynical about this.

i watch it 'cause it's on and it's better than everybody loves raymond

It comes on right after that, which is so annoying cos theres a half hour gap btwn big bang theory and simpsoys, so I end up turning off the tv and missing simpsons althegther most the time.

bargleb nakafldf typos.

Its also worth noting that the Futurama crew went through this a season ago (or was it 2?), and there were rumours the revival would not happen because all the actors wanted a lot more money. And those guys dont make anywhere near what Castallenata and co do.

For the latter day Simpson haters, do you watch the show anymore? Like hoping that the next episode will be a return to form? or have you just given it up all together and just assume that it is still sucking.

― Jeff, Wednesday, October 5, 2011 8:07 PM (57 minutes ago) Bookmark

I'll watch 5-10 minutes about once every other month. It fucking BLOWS.

even folk who had defended the show up until recently, said the Movie sucked, which i took to be a sign. been crappy since Season 7/8.

See, I thought the movie was mostly solid, whereas the last several seasons have been so tremendously disappointing, with rare exceptions. And I'll defend up through about half of Season 11.

Yes the movie sucked, but I dont think the show got bad til after S12 (some of S13-16 are watchable but a lot less)

Ppl who say it got bad after S8, I dont get. Thats a lonnnng time back, and there's been plenty of hella solid material in S9-12 ("this little wiggy", "viva ned flanders", all the halloween eps...)

The last episode I watched was the one where they went to Brazil. That one really stands out in my mind as the template for shitty late period Simpsons episodes.

I didnt mind that one, the bit where homer's kidnapped was p funny, with him getting stockholm syndrome and costing them a ton of money cos he ate so much.

simpsons go to anywhere = this is gonna be horrible

other than japan

I love the Japan one.

"Oh, I'm sick of doing Japanese stuff! In jail we had to be in this dumb kabuki play about the 47 Ronin, and I wanted to be Oshi, but they made me Ori!"

I still watch the Simpsons. Pretty fuckin terrible but every episode still has like four of five belly laughs that are better than anything on The Drew Carey Memorial Meta-Sitcom Tumblr-Bait Childish Gambino Half Hour or whatever that horseshit show is

^pretty much where I'm at

even something like the grunge episode which is widely and rightly seen as a nadir has the line "it's statements like that that make people think women are stupid" which is probably the best line on the show for like a five-year period around the ep

other than japan

Or Australia. Or when Bart goes to France.

that Australia ep just came on last week, I was surprised how funny it still was. "Bullfrogs!? That's a funny name...I would've called 'em Chazwozzas!"

Some of the newer episodes haven't been terrible, but most of them are. I remember in particular the episodes where Patti "comes out", the iPod episode, and another "Simpsons in the future" episode that had Homer living underwater or something, can't remember a single joke I liked from any of those. But they do seem to do meta-humor somewhat well, though I can't help but think they're just trying to ape Family Guy at this point.

http://deadhomersociety.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/bartvs-australia1.png

The joke in the new episode where dude's military training involved fighting the guys from The Warriors and the Penguin from the Batman TV serious, with no real joke, was STRAIGHT Family Guy aping to the point of making me cringe

The last new episode I saw was still a few years back, and it was based on Heavenly Creatures. Lisa and a friend were mutually obsessed with James Blunt and they wrote about an imaginary fantasy land. As their friendship lacked any sexual tension or matricidal tension, it really made no sense why their parents didn't want their friendship to continue. "That girl was...weird," Homer said. I guess Lisa's friend was supposed to be the Melanie Lynskey role because her hair was black? Which made Lisa....still Lisa. It was baffling. I think about it sometimes, how mot funny it was, and what an odd idea it was to lift the PG-rated elements only of Heavenly Creatures.

I basically stopped watching cold turkey after the 300th episode

The joke in the new episode where dude's military training involved fighting the guys from The Warriors and the Penguin from the Batman TV serious, with no real joke, was STRAIGHT Family Guy aping to the point of making me cringe

That's what has made me really uncomfortable with the new Simpsons episodes I have seen, they seem to be doing Family Guy style comedy that seems nasty and out of place on the Simpsons.

the gag where Sideshow Bob steps on the rake over and over again was pretty awesome but I'd hate if they did that every episode

I also wonder about younger ppl <20. Do they like current Simpsons? They prob don't have the nostalgia factor that us 30 to 40 year olds do.

I'm curious about that myself, but the tv landscape was so so different in 1990-1997 (the controversy over Bart being an "underachiever and proud of it" compared to a horse seemingly ejaculating on Stan in American Dad). And for those of us who were Life In Hell fans prior to the Simpsons, it was amazing/improbable that something like that would ever appear on tv.

^^^

the gag where Sideshow Bob steps on the rake over and over again was pretty awesome but I'd hate if they did that every episode

it would probably get a bit boring after a while, but if they did it often enough it would become funny again

then it would be the FG Peter/Chicken gag!

I'm curious about that myself, but the tv landscape was so so different in 1990-1997 (the controversy over Bart being an "underachiever and proud of it" compared to a horse seemingly ejaculating on Stan in American Dad). And for those of us who were Life In Hell fans prior to the Simpsons, it was amazing/improbable that something like that would ever appear on tv.

So OTM it hurts.

it would probably get a bit boring after a while, but if they did it often enough it would become funny again

ehh, don't know if I agree with that. pretty much all the repetitive FG jokes where its supposed to be "so unfunny, it's funny" are atrocious. the Chicken suit guy is a little different because at least they try to ratchet that up every time. yes they show this at the gym a lot.

Otm re unlikely

You can usually tell someone's age by whether they say the best seasons are "1 to 9" or "3 to 8."

25 or 6 to 4 iirc

I'm curious about that myself, but the tv landscape was so so different in 1990-1997 (the controversy over Bart being an "underachiever and proud of it" compared to a horse seemingly ejaculating on Stan in American Dad). And for those of us who were Life In Hell fans prior to the Simpsons, it was amazing/improbable that something like that would ever appear on tv.

South Park is really the ultimate gauge of this. I remember that first episode where Kyle unleashes a stream of bleeped-out obscenities being such a huge deal and generating tons of controversy, as though South Park was going to destroy the entire world. The stuff they do now is way more explicit and uncensored and nobody really bats an eye at it.

25 or 6 to 4 iirc

― You people are supposed to be some kind of music culture intelligentsi (Phil D.), Thursday, October 6, 2011 3:28 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

in HS my boyfriend was OBSESSED with trying to figure out what the hell this meant. Googling now.

oh, that's boring.

It rhymes with "sitting crosslegged on the floor…"

hah! That too.

I also wonder about younger ppl <20. Do they like current Simpsons? They prob don't have the nostalgia factor that us 30 to 40 year olds do.

― Jeff, jueves 6 de octubre de 2011 03:05 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

My teenaged cousins all love it, and dont seem to discriminate between old and new stuff.