Slog - Comments on A Few Words About The Simpsons

Comment by Ari Spool

Ari Spool — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:53:35 -0800

Actually, Arrested Development is the greatest television show of all time. FACT

Comment by Jonah S

Jonah S — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:55:30 -0800

I say thee nay! I was fairly underwhelmed by the Simpsons movie. The film replicated the series' unfortunate drift into "wacky-situation/plot driven" rather than character driven. The jokes feel forced, and the characters have become parodies of themselves. It's time to end the Simpsons. Impeach Matt Groening!

Comment by s

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:56:28 -0800

Does anyone have an image of downtown Seattle from the movie? I wanted to put it on my wall.

Comment by David Schmader

David Schmader — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:57:16 -0800

Yeah, Arrested Development rules, but it cannot be considered greater than the Simpsons. That's like saying XTC is greater than the Beatles.

Comment by Levislade

Levislade — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:00:56 -0800

Ari, come on! Agreed with DS @4.

And I loved the movie as well; it made me happy.

Comment by Nat

Nat — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:05:58 -0800

I haven't seen the movie yet, but Elizabeth Taylor voiced Maggie's first word in an episode years ago. No one was around to hear it. Unclear why Maggie has never spoken since; she should be entering college by now.

Comment by Ari Spool

Ari Spool — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:07:21 -0800

NO WAY. Arrested Development will come out on top. I'm really excited to be able to say "I Told You So!" in like 15 years after the Simpsons ends. The pile of crap produced by that show will change it's legacy, I swear to God. It's been unwatchable since I was a sophmore in high school.

Comment by Ari Spool

Ari Spool — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:08:32 -0800

You can't say a show is the best show of all time unless every episode is gold. . .Every episode of Arrested Development is 23 minutes of sheer brilliance.

Comment by MyDogBen

MyDogBen — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:08:35 -0800

That was Maggie's second spoken word. Elizabeth Taylor voiced Maggie's first word. The movie is funny from start to finish, and the whole audience sang "Spiderpig" with Homer. It's already an audience participation film - in its first week. See it, already.

Comment by Brian Connolly

Brian Connolly — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:11:12 -0800

In regards to Seattle being featured in the film: that had to be the most hilarious part of the film for me. Not because they made any Seattle-centric jokes (they didn't) or because it was anything more than a footnote in the film (it wasn't).

Mostly because of the reaction it got in the theater and how it related to the scene that opens the film where Green Day is playing a rock concert in Springfield. When Billy Joe shouts out Springfield's name, some no-name hick (maybe it was Cletus) gives a hoot and a holler and generally appears to be a retarded yokel.

And when the film itself name-drops Seattle, it was as if the seats were all populated by Cletus The Slack-Jawed Yokel's family. And at that point I was sort of embarrassed to be there.

Comment by Michael

Michael — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:15:52 -0800

I just realized that in the movie, Marge says that Maggie is going to say her first word because to Marge and family, it IS Maggie's first word. Here I thought it was a blunder, but no, it was intentional.

Maggie's first word was "daddah", but as mentioned by #6, no one was around to hear it.

Comment by Nat

Nat — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:17:15 -0800

Ari @ 7 -- either you've kept watching The Simpsons since high school, in which case it's clearly not unwatchable, or you haven't seen any episodes in a few years, in which case you're in no position to judge.

AD was great, but it went way downhill in the Charlize Theron period. And judging a show by the ratio of perfect to imperfect episodes leads one to the inescapable conclusion that "Andy Barker, PI" is the best show of all time, which clearly proves too much.

Comment by Levislade

Levislade — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:23:12 -0800

Also, I'm starting to think Freaks & Geeks might have been better than Arrested Development, but it's not fair to compare either with the Simpsons, as they didn't have time to turn into crap. Which the Simpsons has not done, despite all the time in the world, I might add.

Comment by jz

jz — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:29:03 -0800

@10--holy shit thats brilliant. layers upon layers!

Comment by Sam

Sam — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:29:24 -0800

I like the later "'wacky-situation/plot driven' rather than character driven" episodes much better. They are funnier. In the last few years, I feel like the show has begun to make too many current pop-culture references, which date the show a bit, but I would still much rather watch an episode from the 18th season than any of the episodes from the earlier seasons that were more Bart-centric.
Granted, I do see where some of the complaints about the newer (i.e., last TEN YEARS) episodes come from, but I feel like the movie had enough earnest bits to satisfy those critics.

Which is better, The Simpsons or Arrested Development, or anything else? The fact is that television is a limited medium with many constraints (COMMERCIALS! CENSORSHIP! REPEATS!) . Which television show has been able to do the most within these constraints, push the boundaries of what is shown on television, and still reach a wide, large audience, without pandering, and still producing a quality product?

South Park

J/K

The Simpsons!

The other thing is, while it is great to rent a DVD of Arrested Development and sit and watch the whole season, no one watched it because if you were sitting at home and happened to come across one random episode in the middle of the season, it didn't make any damn sense.

Comment by jz

jz — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:31:19 -0800

also, the second-best TV show of all time was certainly twin peaks.

arrested development is somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Comment by David Schmader

David Schmader — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:33:31 -0800

Nat @ 12: I am stunned by your words. The Charlize Theron Arrested Development plot line is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on television.

Comment by Levislade

Levislade — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:33:59 -0800

JZ, get out of my brain!

Comment by supergp

supergp — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:39:05 -0800

Firefly > Simpsons > Twin Peaks > Arrested Development.

Comment by angela garbes

angela garbes — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:16:24 -0800

excellent use of bold, jza.

and ^twin peaks^ is, in fact, the greatest tv show of all time. second is freaks & geeks.

Comment by glendaleted

glendaleted — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:17:51 -0800

The reason for all the SOUTH PARK comparisons?

Very simple: when Messers Parker and Stone had the chance to make their movie, they didn't play it safe. They took chances, and indeed made their movie "Bigger, Longer, and Uncut". The end result? A brilliant movie that works as a a) satire, b) parody, and c) an awesome musical.

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE played it too safe. It's a mediocre extended episode of a now mediocre show that only hits the heights of the past a) during Halloween and b) when it does "theme" shows playing around with history, literature, etc.

Safe = dull. This movie was nothing more than a shameless grab for my money. And for my $10.75, I want more. A lot more.

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:21:12 -0800

The Simpsons are at best second rate.

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