Watching Simpsons

If one is expecting, someday, for Matt Groening and producers to resolve the Fry and Leela love drama, don’t get your hopes up when it comes to the new Futurama DVD, “The Beast With A Billion Backs.”

The feature length episode treats a number of story arcs with the same theme: love. In the previous straight to DVD release, Bender’s Big Score, the issue of Fry and Leela came off with the standard science fiction time travel complexity. Basically, Leela falls for an older, balder man named Lars. But, as it turns out, Lars was just an older, more mature version of Phillip – the complexity of constant time travel caused for there to be a number of “clones,” each of which were “doomed” in the name of the Universe righting itself.

“The Best With A Billion Backs” basically starts where the previous DVD left off – there’s a tear and the space time continuum, but it abandons it for awhile. Phillip is in a relationship with a new woman, but the new gal pal actually lives with a bunch of other guys that she considers her “boyfriend.” In the end, Fry is crushed, and he decides to end it all by exploring the tear in space. On the other side, he finds an alternate universe, populated by a planet sized being with tentacles. Here’s where it gets a little goofy and convoluted. The being is romantically interested in humanity. And after a couple of “dates” with every member of humanity, the human race is likewise interested. Sound nefarious? Imagine of Lovecraft’s elder gods were actually hen-pecked nerds that used words like “honey-poo.” The rest can be left up for a viewer to decide and/or watch. Lets just that Bender gets jealous from the lack of attention people give him and tries to wreck the relationship.

On the whole: it’s funny, and it’s a new Futurama disc. Realistically speaking, it’s not as good as “Bender’s Big Score” or the episodes that were written towards the end of Futurama’s run. On a more positive note, one doesn’t have to wait a whole year for the third feature to be released.

Futurama, Leela, Fry, Matt Groening

One of the never ending debates, these days, is usually The Family Guy versus The Simpsons. The shows are very similar, and the creative staffs have certainly been competitive, even to the point where the animation of both shows have included both verbal and visual smack downs, Sometimes, the debate online can be ripe – but one thing can be said for Seth McFarlane and his creation: derivative or not, it does bare McFarlane’s unique stamp. For that, The Family Guy has been a rousing success since it was brought back from cancellation – although McFarlane’s other creation, American Dad, hasn’t had close to the level of success.

What’s interesting, however, is that McFarlane has parlayed his current achievements into a new project. McFarlane is going online with a series of animated shorts, and this is all meant as internet-exclusive material under the name Seth McFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. There are about 50 clips to be distributed to a variety of sites. (It should be noted that, if successful, there probably will be DVDs later).

So what does this have to do with Groening or The Simpsons? In the above linked Wall Street Journal article, there’s further proof that whatever the competition between the two shows, Groening holds nothing personal against McFarlane and actually respects the guy. The following comes from The Wall Street Journal:

Cartoonist Matt Groening, creator of “The Simpsons,” says, “He’s laid the groundwork with this smash hit show and now, with new media opening up and Seth’s specific kind of rapid-fire visual humor, how to exploit it just depends on how ambitious he wants to be.”

At any rate, one does kind of wish that Groening would follow McFarlane online with his own set of clips. Can one imagine a fresh slate of Life In Hell, as internet cartoons? Or fresh Futurama content? Or something completely new? If Groening did, however, I kind of hope it wouldn’t be Simpsons material. There’s enough of that already, and the internet could be a great place for experimentation. At any arate, even if I do like Groening’s material better than McFarlane’s, I still hope the guy succeeds with “Cavalcade.”

Matt Groening, The Simpsons, Internet, Web Cartoons, The Family Guy, Seth McFarlane

As has been pointed out on this blog many of times, The Simpsons is two decades old, especially if one factors in the original shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show. The show is hitting another huge milestone. The Simpsons, as a Fox show, is entering into it’s twentieth season. Basically, somebody born during the first season is in adulthood, now. Still, one wonders what Groening and the other producers have in store.

According to IGN.com, there are a few huge guest spots on the horizon. Jodie Foster is set to make her Springfield debut. Foster’s turn is going to be a huge one – she’s set to be the voice of Maggie. Only Elizabeth Taylor has voiced the toddler, and Foster’s prospective episode will return to the Springfield of the future, where Lisa, Bart, and Maggie have all grown into adulthood. In one similar type of episode, Maggie was shown, but she never got a word in edgewise, as it became a running gag.

Anne Hathaway is also scheduled to make an appearance. Again, according to IGN.com, Hathaway will join a long list of actresses who’ve voiced Bart’s romantic interests. The list is rather long when you realize that boys, at Bart’s age, typically think girls are filled with cooties. The potential episode will have Bart trying to behave himself, so that he can win Hathaway’s character’s affections. Naturally, something will happen to screw that up, but there’s always potential.

Hopefully, there will be other surprises in store. There will be, likely. After 19 seasons so far, Groening and company have mostly succeeded. The show still wouldn’t be going if they hadn’t.

The Simpsons, Maggie Simpson, Anne Hathaway, Jodie Foster