Watching Simpsons

Universal Studios Hollywood Debuts their new Simpsons themed ride on May 17. As it may well have been mentioned earlier, the new rollercoaster replaces a well-like “Back to the Future” attraction. Basically, the new attraction could have completely erased “Back to the Future,” but the new ride will have a few acknowledgements of its predecessor. Basically, Doc Brown, voiced by Christopher Lloyd, will make his Springfield debut. Brown was Marty McFly’s crazy scientist friend who invented the time traveling De Lorean car. Brown will also appear with an aptly placed Professor Frink (Hank Azaria). The De Lorean also will be incorporated as part of the new attraction as well. In the end, the ride itself cost Universal Studios roughly 40 million dollars. Also, it’s a simulator, not the more traditional Coney Island styled roller coaster.

There are many things to love about Bender, but irreverence is probably the best. But then again, it’s interesting to step back about, and compare Futurama with it’s sister program, The Simpsons. One cannot remotely compare any of the main characters from one show with the other. There’s only one Zoidberg, Fry, Leela, Hermes, Bender or Professor, just like there’s only one Homer, Bart, Marge, Lisa and Maggie. Good writing and show development is certainly key, but one can also make the case that it’s the voice actor’s personality that also plays a dominating, shaping role.

With that in mind, the BBC has a quick interview with Joe DiMaggio, the man responsible for Bender’s distinctive voice, as well as other characters. He deflects most hard news questions about the forthcoming movies and their plots, but he does offer a few teasers, like this:

Yes but I’m not allowed to say the other plots. But Bender does get a little pirate-y. And there are various things that are gross. I don’t know if anyone remembers the episode with the Slurm Queen when she sucks her own tail? It’s along them lines. My father got disgusted by that. So there’s really gross stuff and it’s really funny.

He also goes on to talk about leaving rude answer machine messages “as” Bender, as well what his favorite Bender-ism might be.

Bender, Futurama, Cartoons, Comedy, Animation

Since I’ve been on a Futurama watching binge as of late, I’ve spent most of my internet time poking around, looking for any indication on whether there’s going to be any new individual episodes. (My secret wish, of course, it that Comedy Central will do more than air the straight to DVD features and will order new individual shows). So, I tried various keywords with Google and didn’t find anything really encouraging. Also, I took a cue off of an earlier post and clicked my way over to imdb.com to see if anything could unearthed there. The answer, of course, is no – perhaps I should just be glad that there are three more movies forthcoming?

At any rate, a lot of times looking for one thing leads to something completely different. Imdb.com, for Matt Groening, lists a good number of his Treehouse of Horror alias. You know, the “Nicknames” everybody in the credits get? This is what they had for Groening:

Matt Groening (Writer, The Simpsons Movie (2007))
aka “Mad Groening”
aka “Matt ”Mildly Frightening” Groening”
aka “Matt ”Scary Nickname” Groening”
birth name “Matthew Abram Groening”
aka “Matt ‘Merchandising’ Groening”
aka “Wotsa Matta U. Groening”
aka “Bat Groening”
aka “Malevolent Matt Groening”
aka “Mummified Matt Groening”
aka “Matt ‘El Monstro’ Groening”
aka “Mad Matt Groening”

And it’s the same for Sam Simon:

Sam Simon (I) (Writer, “The Drew Carey Show” (1995))
aka “Slithering Sam Simon”
aka “Sortirious Sam Simon”
aka “Scarifying Sam Simon”
aka “‘Supervisin’ Sam’ Simon”
aka “Sam ‘Sayonara’ Simon”
aka “Somewhat Shocking Sam Simon”
aka “Sort of Frightening Sam Simon”

James L. Brooks has a smaller number of AKA listings:

James L. Brooks (Producer, The Simpsons Movie (2007))
aka “James Hell Brooks”
aka “James ‘Bemused but Bloodthirsty’ Brooks

”

But then Hank Azaria has his included too:

Hank Azaria (Actor, The Simpsons Movie (2007))
aka “Hellacious Hank Azaria”
aka “Boo! Boo! Scare Ya Hank Azaria”
aka “Hack Azaria”
aka “Scare Ya’ Hank Azaria”
aka “The Shaws-Hank Azaria”
birth name “Henry Albert Azaria”
aka “Angst Azaria”

So, I’m guessing that the rest of the cast, as well as the production crew, likely have their aliases included on imdb.com. Maybe later I’ll dig up the rest.

The Simpsons, Matt Groening, Sam Simon, Hank Azaria, James L. Brooks

There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of hard news, recently, regarding The Simpsons. Any time one uses a fish related story for a blog, one gets that feeling. At any rate, somebody has put together another list of favorites. Over on myfoxcolorado.com, the staff writers put together a “Top-8” list of what they consider to be the best episodes of the show’s lengthy run. The resulting article, however, starts with the following disclaimer:

There is not one definitive list of the top episodes of the Simpsons. It would be impossible for fans and aficionados of the hit FOX television to agree on such a list.

Of the episodes chosen, one can’t argue. All of them were equally memorable and hilarious. There’s the time that Homer went into to space, but a green rod gets all the fame and glory from it. There’s also the one where Homer and Flanders actually become friends, with little hostility on Homer’s part. There are others too, but as for ranking, I agree more with the opening two sentences of the article. No list, I think, will ever win over every fan of the show.

The Simpsons, Television, Comedy, Sitcoms, Animation, Cartoons, Fox Television

You really can sort of measure the pop culture success of something by how much of it makes it into everyday speech. Shakespeare, for example, has given the English language a number of expressions that are still used today. So has The Simpsons. To be clear, however, I’m not necessarily equating the Bard with Groening’s creations. Beyond expressions and sayings, there’s also the ease for which people can use something, like The Simpsons, as a metaphor or explanation for something else. We’ve kind of seen it with The Taurus, recently. Now, however, it seems a Simpsons episode has made explaining Salmon issues a bit easier:

If you’re a Simpsons fan, you may remember an episode in which Lisa inadvertently releases an invasive lizard in the town that eats pigeons.

Everyone is happy, and when someone points out that they’ll soon have a problem with lizards instead of birds, someone dismisses it by saying they’ll release monkeys to eat the lizards and then cold will kill the monkeys. See, there’s no real problem!

It’s meant to be a ridiculous jab at peoples’ short-sightedness, but some days it seems like reality TV. Western states have now taken steps to protect their valuable wild salmon stocks by killing sea lions.

The rest of the article goes into greater detail. Normally, however, in terms of writing, these sort of pop-cultural references usually don’t work. For example, not everybody may be familiar with Robot Chicken, so using it as an explanatory tool may not be too effective. Plus, there’s the ever present problem of dating. In this regard, using an obscure 1980’s comedy could possibly be lost on people. At any rate, since it’s The Simpsons, it largely works, due to the success of the show and most people’s grasp on the characters.

The Simpsons, Nature, Conservation

As noted previously, the next DVD will be hitting stores in a matter of months. However, the wait shouldn’t be be very long for the other installments. Over on G4TV.com, there are tentative dates of releases for the other discs. There are prospective titles, too. Basically, they checked Katey Sagal’s entry on imdb.com and found the information that way. Here is the pertinent information from the g4tv post:

# Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) (V) (post-production) (voice) …. Leela
# Futurama: Bender’s Game (2008) (V) (post-production) (voice) …. Leela
# Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008) (V) (voice) …. Leela
# Futurama: Bender’s Big Score (2007) (V) (voice) …. Turanga Leela

Let’s hope that “Into the wild Green Yonder” isn’t the end of the franchise, though.

Futurama, DVDs, Cartoons, Animation

For new fans of the show, it may be a little bit confusing. Supposedly, there are five seasons of Futurama, and yet, there are only four season sets available on DVD. The answer is simple, and no, it doesn’t mean that there’s a fifth DVD set, and that these episodes are languishing digitally some where. According to gotfuturama.com, those episodes are already available on the already released DVDs. There’s one Season 5 episode included in Season 3, and 15 more on Season 4. Gotfuturama.com also has detailed episode descriptions.

For fans of Futurama, there was a little bit of a wilderness; the show was cancelled, rerun for years, and sold as DVD season sets. Then, Bender’s Big Score was made and released, along with the promise of three more straight to DVD features. While Bender’s Big Score was a satisfying return, it’s not really the same as, say, 22 new episodes. In fact, the feature could be construed, collectively, as four episodes (airing soon on Comedy Central). So, basically, it’s now another long wait before in new Futurama content becomes available. Well, according to some reports floating around on the internet, that wait may only be a couple of months. Animation Magazine is currently reporting a June 24th release date.

The next DVD is entitled “The Beast With a Billion Backs.” For those who’ve already seen “Bender’s Big Score,” they would know that the story ends with the fabric of space and time ripping open. Basically, because of illicit time travel, Bender has copied himself hundreds of times, and that drives the universe to split at the seams. The new feature will pick up there. In H.P. Lovecraft fashion, an other-dimensional beings cross the breach. Of course, the resulting planet-sized creature is not as scary. It has develops strange romantic inclinations. (Zap Branigan lust on a colossal scale?) At any rate, as long as it’s as good as “Bender’s Big Score,” fans will likely be satisfied. However, it might not completely sate the thirst for more Futurama, as it will be an equally long time before the third and the fourth features to be released.

Futurama, Bender’s Big Score, Matt Groening, David X. Cohen

In the corporate world, copyright infringement may lead to more than just a lawsuit. Sometimes, terrible things come with lawsuits, and bad publicity could be one of them. Still, even when company or corporation tries to step gingerly, the results may not end up being what they originally intended. Such is the case with Washington Mutual, or, as they been known to be called, WaMu. The bank and financial company has sought a catchy marketing slogan, and as a result, they ended up with “Whoo Hoo!” Yes, that’s “Whoo” with an “h,” not “woo.” The H makes no sense, since the word looks more like “Who,” making it sound like “hoo hoo.” Why has WaMu resorted to this strangeness?

The Simpsons. In the show’s long run, many things have become iconic, whether it’s Bart Simpson saying “Cowabunga” or “Eat My Shorts.” There’s always Nelson’s “Ha Ha!” accompanied by a pointed, mocking finger. Flanders sticks “diddly” on nearly every thing he says, and Mr. Burns has his evil expression of, “Excellent!” So, how did Simpsons-speak affect WaMu?” Homer has been known to raise both arms and exclaim, “Woo Hoo!” And, according to WaMu, any appearance of copyright infringement is a cause to proceed carefully. After all, business execs cringe at thought of any sort of brand confusion.

The irony, however, is that Matt Groening hasn’t pursued a copyright on “Woo Hoo.” Monica Guzman points out, in her Seattle Post Intelligencer Big Blog, is that other people hold trademarks on “Woo Hoo” variations.

Four live trademarks exist for variations on “Woo hoo” that I’ve found, though none belong to “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, as one blogger thought it might. The Iowa Lottery Commission has one. Mattel, Inc. has a another. New Digital Media has a third.

Most times, one might think companies, like Burger King, would profit from associating with the Simpsons. However, this is just another case, like that of the Taurus, where it’s shows existence in corporate consciousness that’s causing the problem, not the show itself.

The Simpsons, Homer, Homer Simpson, Woo Hoo, WaMu, Washington Mutual, Marketing

This is certainly alarming:

More things that have me thinking. A repeat of Family Guy outperformed an original episode of The Simpsons. The Simpsons is still strong in the demo, but that’s not the first time this has happened.

Nielson ratings can be fleeting, and there’s likely a ton of reasons to factor, but any time a rerun beats an original, it does give one pause — especially when The Family Guy is not nearly as a good as The Simpsons.

The news on whether there’s going to be a Simpsons Movie sequel or not is kind of murky at points. Many months ago, Al Jean stated that there was no plans for a sequel. But, then again, in the midst of the writer’s strike, evidence ofsome talk surfaced. Basically, the strike was blamed for development talks not going forward. Now, it seems that there are discussions afoot.

Hank Azaria has gone public, in hopes of influencing how those talks go. In short, he wishes to have a bigger role this time around. Azaria typically does the voices of a lot of minor characters, and with the family solely in the spotlight, and the rest of Springfield stuck in a bubble, Audiences got see little of Moe, Apu, and others. Besides a wish for more screen time, Azaria has another idea, and it’s a good one. He thinks the next Simpsons movie should be a Treehouse of Horror adaptation.

I think that would be an excellent idea. The last time, some fans liked the movie, but had some reservations about it. It seemed a touch too long with a few dull moments. Basically, with an expanded running time, the script sought to go a little deeper into character than what the usual TV episode would allow. A Treehouse of Horror movie would be different in that regard.

If it was done in the way the usual Halloween show goes, then the movie would likely be an anthology of shorter bits. So, this would possibly cut out the need for in depth character development. As for Azaria, this possibly would allow for him, and all the characters that come with him, to be a little bit more visible than last time.

Pop culture always makes for good metaphor, partly because, through the act of comparison, it can make one’s point easier to digest. For example, one can take the intricate and somewhat complicated aspects of computers and blogging, and, through a Simpsons metaphor, make the information a little more accessible to some. The key, however, is that a person needs to be fluent in the pop culture being used. So, if one were to compare the state of animation to Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken, it’s not going to work for most people, because a small group of people watch that show. (No offense meant to fans of Robot Chicken, by the way). Most people have some idea who the Simpsons are, due to their longevity on television.

So, lately, there’s been another metaphorical use of Springfield. This time, it comes from the world of sports writing. Basically, Michael Zuidema of The Grand Rapids Press has been pondering the current situation with the Detroit Tigers. To do so, he has employed a series of comparisons between baseball players and Simpsons Characters. Here are a few examples:

Curtis Granderson — Bart Simpson

Don’t have a cow, man. (Full disclosure: I once owned a Bart Simpson T-shirt that contained that phrase. I wish I could find it and wear it ironically like the people who wear fake-vintage shirts from Urban Outfitters. Wait, I have some of those, too. Man, I’m such a poseur.) Doesn’t Granderson remind you have a certain talented smart-mouth with loads of potential? Now let’s just hope Granderson isn’t an underachiever and proud of it.

Placido Polanco — Ned Flanders

Sigh, life would be so much better if Polanco would grow that iconic mustache. Because he already resembles the type of nice guy who goes out of his way to help everyone else before himself and never gets enough credit for it. Plus, Placido Polanco vaguely sounds like Hiddly-Doodly.

Gary Sheffield — Krusty the Clown

An aging star, who occasionally is accused of being cranky and appears to desperately need a hug. Plus, he’s allegedly been linked to the type of illegal substances that have Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in hot water.

Of course, the comparisons are not complete or total. Still, Zuidema has chosen to isolate key character traits as his focus. Krusty, the joke goes, is a has-been, even though, in Springfield, he’s still widely popular. In writing about Sheffield, Zuidema is choosing to ignore that in favor of aging, crankiness, and substance abuse. Basically, Flanders is helpful, but in comparing him to Polanco, the evangelical Christianity is left out, among a few other things. Still, that’s fine. Metaphors work when they’re relatively close. Most readers fill in the rest of the meaning for themselves, anyway.

Detroit Tigers, Baseball, The Simpsons

This Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News item is slightly amusing. As it turns out, certain members of the nuclear power industry have actively thought about how The Simpsons affect the perceptions people may have regarding nuclear power. According to Tom Kmiecik, of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant:

“When the Simpsons first started, people were concerned the nuclear industry would be portrayed badly. As an industry, we all sort of decided that the power plants being upset with the Simpsons would be like a rock quarry being upset with the Flintstones,” Kmiecik said.

Of course, becoming alarmed or concerned over The Simpsons may be a futile effort. Everybody from automakers, whole countries, and the Fox News Network has been the butt of a joke and a subject for satire. But, then again, the nuclear power hasn’t gotten the same attention as some of the other usual targets. Nuclear power is an engrained part of the show, as it’s part of Springfield’s identity as a town, as well as the character of Mr. Burns too.

Still, at least Tom Kmiecik is showing a good sense of humor about it all. After all, what choice would they ultimately have? Raising a stink about it, being combative, and other such attitudes would like doing more damage to the nuclear industry. So, it’s for the best that they just take their lumps in stride without creating too much of a fuss. One gets the feeling that taking on The Simpsons would likely be a public relations disaster.

Springfield, Nuclear Power, Mr. Burns, The Simpsons

Lately, it seems that Hillary Clinton has been have a rough go of things. She started out her primary campaign positioned as the presumptive “front runner.” She had a lot of money, as well as the media’s presumption of inevitability. Then, along the way, something happened. Barack Obama started gaining steam, and then, basically, Hillary started losing electoral contests, 11 in a row as of this writing. Clinton and her campaign, partly out of desperation, began throwing everything they could at Obama, including charges of “stealing” a phrase or two from Mass. Governor Deval Patrick.

Here’s where it gets a little silly, as well is the needed Simpsons angle. According to Christopher Orr, one of Clinton’s advisors make have bumbling into coming remarkably close to sounding like the drooling aliens from the Treehouse of Horror episodes:

Now, normally I wouldn’t bring this up. But given that the Clinton campaign has made clear its horror of anything that remotely smacks of plagiarism, I feel obligated to point out that the slogan “Forward, Not Back” was stolen from another political campaign. I refer, of course, to the extraterrestrial Kang’s 1996 presidential run on “The Simpsons”:

We must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.

The Simpsons, Hillary Clinton, Elections, Primary, Kang, Kodos, Politics

Lifeisajoke.com has a good list of Homer quotes.

# “I’m going to the backseat of my car with the woman I love, and I won’t be back for TEN MINUTES.”
# “Bart, with $10,000, we’d be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like…love!”
# “Unfortunately, son, we Simpsons sometimes have to bend the rules a little in order to hold our own.”
# “Dear Lord: The gods have been good to me. For the first time in my life, everything is absolutely perfect just the way it is. So here’s the deal:

# You freeze everything the way it is, and I won’t ask for anything more. If that is OK, please give me absolutely no sign. OK, deal. In gratitude, I present you this offering of cookies and milk. If you want me to eat them for you, give me no sign. Thy will be done.” “The strong must protect the sweet”
# “Ah, sweet pity. Where would my love life have been without it?”
# “Son, a woman is like a beer. They smell good, they look good, you’d step over your own mother just to get one! But you can’t stop at one. You wanna drink another woman!”