The Simpsons SEASON 25 - "Using a hot dog as a straw"

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > The Simpsons SEASON 25 - "Using a hot dog as a straw"

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

EL BROMANCE posted:

I hadn't heard about the Apatow script, that actually has me interested. Don't suppose they found any Conan ones in the same box? God, if they made classic era written scripts just once a season I'd have a reason to be excited about The Simpsons again.

Don't get too excited about the Apatow script. Once the regular writers got ahold of it I'm sure it will bear no resemblance to what was originally written.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2013 04:52

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 04:04

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Quite likely. There is a SSB episode this season, and they did say the actor playing the character has won an Emmy for playing that character. I don't know if the normal cast is typically nominated for a specific character.

Krabapple could be another option. If the show keeps going they can just keep killing off Ned's wives as a running gag.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2013 16:22

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

CharlieFoxtrot posted:

I suppose I also hold out hope that eventually some fresh blood comes in and shakes things up while still honoring the original spirit of the show.

This kills me because we've seen this is actually possible. Matt Sellman has had lead executive producer duties on a couple of episodes for the past couple of seasons and they're generally a lot more lively than the rest of the season. He's still working with the usual writing staff so those episodes haven't quite been a return to form, but after 13 years of increasingly mediocre content it's high time Al Jean stepped down.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2013 20:14

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Oh good, they're going to commercial before the credits. That 4 act structure they had going on for the last few years wasn't doing them any favors.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2013 01:28

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Mister Kingdom posted:

That's probably the last time you'll see the cast of the Cleveland Show.

I'm sure we'll hear the hilarious story of Cleveland's divorce this year on Family Guy.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2013 01:37

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Vertical Lime posted:

Mrs. Krabappel is dead.

http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/marcia-wallace-star-of-the-bob-newhart-show-and-voice-of-mrs-krabappel-dies-at-71-1200764197/

There's your death.

Oh poo poo. I was expecting to read a spoiler for the upcoming character death that had been teased, not that the actual actress had died

# ¿ Oct 26, 2013 16:42

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

I don't think the death in the next episode is even the one that was being teased. When that news initially broke a few months back they said they were still working on the script, but next week is a season 24 holdover so it's probably been in the can for awhile.

Here's a longer description of the next episode. No spoilers on who dies, but based on this synopsis it doesn't sound like it will be anyone of consequence.

When a beloved Springfielder dies, four residents recall life events that they would like to do over. Among them: Homer bemoans selling a tech stock to purchase a bowling ball, and Marge fears that she's the reason Bart is such a rebellious child. Others wishing for a do-over are Mr. Burns, who recalls a long-ago romance with a lovely Parisienne, and newsman Kent Brockman who regrets not leaving the local station to take a job with cable news. Rachel Maddow guest stars.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2013 15:49

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Mister E posted:

With the 4 act format I've felt just an A and B story setup can leave the B story to end too abruptly so yeah I'm kind of wondering how this one is going to go as it seems like a lot of threads.

I had assumed this would be one of those anthology episodes where each plot is self-contained. If they're switching back and forth between four stories this is probably going to be a mess.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2013 00:10

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Variety posted:

The term of the deal is said to be about 10 years. A hard end date was important to both sides in the pact, because of the show�s incredible longevity on the Fox network. Twentieth TV has been handicapped in maximizing the value of the show in syndication because of open-ended syndie agreements struck with local TV stations more than 20 years ago, which meant that the distrib was not going to make the same mistake twice.

So now I wonder how they finally got around this. I've read previous reports that said the old local syndication deals prevented them from pursuing cable or VOD until the series ends, which with the recent renewal is still nowhere in sight.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2013 18:30

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Drinking that snake wine and going to White Castle afterwards really opened my eyes.

Oh. how often have I said those very words.

# ¿ Jan 13, 2014 02:25

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Mister Kingdom posted:

Brick Like Me

Homer awakens to find his family and everyone in Springfield are made of Legos, and finds he must discover how he got in the Lego world and how he can get back home before he is left in a world of bricks for all of eternity.

That one is supposed to be next week. All of the listings I've seen show this week's episode as What to Expect When Bart's Expecting:

"Art-class-hating Bart creates a voodoo doll of his art teacher, and when she becomes pregnant from the spell cast on her, the student becomes a hero to Springfield couples trying to conceive. Unfortunately, this spurs kidnappers to snatch Bart in an effort to conceive a thoroughbred racehorse."

# ¿ Apr 26, 2014 14:50

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

CharlieFoxtrot posted:

Oh, for the days when jokes about "Homer meeting Ozmodiar" set the boundaries of outlandish propositions and no one was even thinking about something like "Bart impregnates his teacher through voodoo."

It kind of sounds like a rehash of Faith Off from season 11.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2014 20:05

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Why does Homer's coma fantasy include a Bart subplot?

# ¿ May 5, 2014 01:17

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

That was actually pretty good, but the Lego bricks are supposed to be Blocko bricks in the Simpsons universe. I sure hope someone got fired for that blunder.

# ¿ May 5, 2014 01:28

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

Sorry, Homer. Next time try Battle Royale.

# ¿ May 5, 2014 01:30

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

CBJSprague24 posted:

Since this is the place I talk most TV-related stuff, I'm curious as to the Goon consensus as to the point the show started to fade, and when it completely imploded into crap. I've seen articles say it was in the 2002-2004 timeframe when things started to go sideways, but didn't know if that was consistent with what others thought.

I don't think you'll ever find a consensus. The Simpsons Archive contains all sorts of wonderful 90's era Usenet posts complaining about the show declining from season 3 onward. That said, including everything up to season 8 as part of the "classic era" is generally not going to be a controversial opinion. After that, things start to get fuzzy. I would say the show started to slip after that, but the flaws of seasons 9-12 are much different than the flaws in modern episodes.

The first decade of the show had a lot of staff turnover. Show runner duty was handed off every two years and always resulted in a shift in tone that sometimes rubbed people the wrong way. When Mike Scully took over in season 9, he took the show in a cartoonier, slapstick direction. Scully turned The Simpsons into The Homer Simpson Show, shoving most of the other characters into the background. The family dynamic was replaced by whatever wacky situation Homer got himself into for the week, and Homer himself became a much more obnoxious character. Typically Homer's antics would escalate into a ridiculous action sequence by the third act.

Scully stuck it out for four seasons, two more than any previous show runner. He was replaced by Al Jean whose arrival was originally welcomed with a lot of optimism by Simpsons fans. Jean did tone down a lot of the excesses of the Scully era, taking some of the focus off of Homer and cutting down on the action sequences and meta-humor that had characterized the past couple of seasons. As a trade-off he made the show rather safe and bland. Jean's idea of restoring the focus back to the family dynamic resulted in a lot of plots that can be boiled down to one member of the family offending another with a reconciliation in act 3. Any attempts at satire are generally toothless and inoffensive so they don't alienate any members of the audience. The Simpsons became Fox's version of Mickey Mouse, too obsessed with its own status as a cultural institution to remember the creative energy that made it popular in the first place.

Jean has run the show since season 13. His seasons have never been great but at this point he doesn't seem to be trying anymore. Starting around season 20 or 21 the show became been much worse than any that came before. Most episodes today are absolutely lifeless and creatively bankrupt. The writers are so starved for plot ideas that you can rarely relate to the situations the characters find themselves in. Many episodes are so disjointed and lacking in basic story-telling structure that you wonder how anyone involved could ever get a job as a professional writer.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2014 17:43

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

CBJSprague24 posted:

From there, it seemed to be something I didn't enjoy as much before giving up on it altogether with stuff like Simon Cowell's guest appearance which was an obvious "Hey, this plot is kinda like American Idol, and Simon Cowell is ON American Idol! You should watch it!".

That's actually the better of Simon Cowell's two guest appearances. At least there he was technically playing a character connected to a story about sending Maggie to preschool and they fit his schtick within the contect of the story. You don't really have to know who Simon Cowell is to understand it. They did an episode a few years back where Moe becomes a judge on the actual American Idol. Not only was the episode awful, but it immediately became dated because it aired right before the AI judging panel disbanded.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2014 18:25

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 04:04

J-Spot: May 7, 2002

twistedmentat posted:

The Gaga episode and the Halloween episode with the farting spiderman among the lowest of the low.

The Gaga episode actually takes the coveted title of "Worst Episode Ever!" according to viewer rankings. Personally I'd give the nod to 'Moe Goes From Rags to Riches' from the same season.

Jack Gladney posted:

The last one I watched all the way through had jockeys living in a magic tree.

My opinion of the jockey episode has improved over the years. Watch a few random HD season episodes and then go back to that one and marvel at how much more clever and lively it is.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2014 19:00

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > The Simpsons SEASON 25 - "Using a hot dog as a straw"