Watching Simpsons

Due to the vagaries in international law, sometimes interesting conflicts come up. For example, for years the world had two separate Budweisers. There was the American brand, and one that existed in the former Czechoslovakia (which is now the Czech Republic). Of course, the Czech beer was the better Budweiser, and the people at Anheuser-Busch knew it. After all, Pilsner styled beer was created in Czech republic, in a town called Pilzen. Anheuser-Busch spent years trying to buy out the company. When exported, the beer went under the name Bud-var. Of course, Anheuser-Busch beers in general are usually not of great quality, especially if you compare them to microbrews in places like Denver.

So what does this possibly have to do with The Simpsons, you ask? The vagaries of international law have lead a real Duff Beer. Minerva Brewing, in Mexico, has tried to create such a brand. By doing so, it taps into the global phenomenon that is The Simpsons media empire. Whether on TV, DVD, or in Comic books, Homer drinks a lot of Duff Beer. Sure, one might say that in a work of satire, Duff is really a stand in for all American beer, but in Springfield, it is the dominant brand. As for Minerva, they have planned the usual varieties, like “Lite” – but none of the actual special names used in the Simpsons episodes. The only similarity, really, with the Groening “Duff Beer” is in name only. However, according to some news sources, Minerva has had conversations about paying a royalty and marketing Duff Beer in the United States. However, the Brewery has conceded that is too far out of their scope – the Mexican marketplace being a tough place on it’s own. This sort of publicity stunt is not new, however. More recently, long after their crack at Duff Beer, Minerva tried naming a beer after an infamous narco trafficker.

Beer, Bud-var, Budweiser, Duff Beer, The Simpsons, Moe’s Tavern, Homer Simpson, Barney

There’s a couple of reasons why The Simpsons has likely survived all these years on television. Compelling, memorable characters is probably first and foremost – Bart, Lisa, Marge, Maggie, and Homer are now iconic figures in American pop-culture. Also, one can make a case that’s it’s even has some cultural clout in other countries too. After all, the characters have been tapped to sell French cars after all. Or, even a bit of creep into the art scene. Still, even with interesting characters, the show would be nothing without good writing.

Some may argue that the show is in a decline, but that’s beside the point. Compared to a lot of what’s on TV, The Simpsons remain relevant, partly because the writing keeps the show current every season or so. Still, it’s sometimes interesting to see where some of the Show’s writers go, after their stint comes to an end. Take Larry Doyle, for instance.

Doyle wrote seven episodes between 1999 and 2001. He’s also racked up credits writing a Looney Tunes movie as well as the hit MTV cartoon Beavis and Butthead. According to IMDb.com, he takes credit for “Simpsons Bible Stories,” “Worst Episode Ever,” and a few others. Recently, Doyle has come into new acclaim and accolades. The Baltimore Sun reports that his book, I Love You, Beth Cooper recently nominated for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Prior winners include: Jon Stewart, the staff at The Onion, David Sedaris, and a many others. This year, Doyle’s competition consists of Patricia Marx and Simon Rich. The eventual winner will receive a commemorative crystal, as well as a check for $5000. More importantly, however, it places the winner in the pantheon of humorists of the written word. After all, as a writer, James Thurber was no slouch.

The Simpsons, James Thurber, Thurber Prize, Humor, Awards, Writing

For some, The Simpsons has been dying a slow death by becoming a mere shadow of what it once was. For others, myself included, that’s a load of bull. I tend to think that some people – my parents included – go through a Simpsons “phase” they watch the show for a couple of seasons, and then for whatever reason, they just stop watching. Somehow, the show has either stopped appealing to them, or they’ve outgrown it. On the other hand, faithful viewers see the same rich characters week in and week out in new social situations. The characters, after all, make the show, but then again, as with a lot of satire, the level of relevance also depends on what’s happening in society. I think that’s what’s kept the show around for so long – it continually adapts it’s satire.

I write this because one wonders – for a show that’s been around for nearly twenty years, will it ever come to an end? The answer to that came recently at Comic-Con, where Matt Groening and Al Jean made an appearance and addresses the state of Springfield. Alynda Wheat, of the Pop Watch Blog, writes:

Groening fans were also given two nuggets of info: First, the team has “no intention” of wrapping up The Simpsons anytime soon — certainly not as long as “the ratings keep up,” added Jean, “and they have.” Also, Groening was asked if he’d ever considered turning his newspaper comic strip Life in Hell into an animated series. Not really, he said, before launching into a castigation of the San Diego Reader, which no longer carries the strip, noting that he needles the paper every time he comes to Comic-Con.

That’s a shame about Life In Hell. Wheat, in her blog, also has a few other good nuggets of information. The mostly have to deal with who is slated to do guest spots on the show:

Upcoming guests include Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Joe Mantegna, and Robert Forster — all of them are in the season opener alone. In the second episode, Homer finds guest Denis Leary’s cell phone, and starts dialing. One of the calls goes to Leary’s agent, setting up Leary to star in Everybody Poops: The Movie. For Seth Rogen fans, your wait will be a little longer — his guest spot isn’t slated to air till 2009.

As for Julia-Louis Dreyfus, I hope she’s in character, and her appearance has nothing to do with Seinfeld – that show is so old news by now, and she’s gone on to great things herself. The Denis Leary episode sounds absolutely hilarious. Sounds like a good change of pace for Leary, and an interesting, albeit short, break from Rescue Me.

Matt Groening, The Simpsons, Homer Simpson, Comic-Con, Rescue Me, Denis Leary

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 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 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

While many people love Homer, he can still cause a few rankles. That seems, however, to be the minority view, because Springfield, as well as the Simpsons clan, are proven brands. Whether they’re hawking cheeseburgers or driving around in French cars, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie have been known to be well sought after. The thinking, it seems, is that any show that’s lasted as long as The Simpsons must be loved by a sizable chunk of the population. And, in many respects, the denizens of Springfield have become easy metaphors, partly because for many, those characters are now embedded in the public’s imagination.

Still, some question the use of Homer, like the Jackson Citizen Patriot:

How’s this for a sales pitch? Compare the car you’re selling to an overweight, balding buffoon of a cartoon character.
In a word: D’oh!

Ford Motor Co. officials left heads shaking recently when comparing their Taurus to, of all people, the animated Homer Simpson. These weren’t some assistant vice presidents, either, but some of the top brass.

Their point was to hype the redesigned Taurus sedan that’s in the works. But their praise sounded like it could have come from a Henny Youngman (”Take my wife — please!”) routine.

“The new Taurus that you’re going to see in the next year or so is the one we should have made originally,” CEO Alan Mulally told industry officials, according to the Associated Press.

Ford’s head of global product development, meanwhile, reportedly showed slides of Homer next to the current Taurus. He also offered images of Superman and Mr. Incredible next to drawings of the redesigned car.

Of course, using Homer is not entirely new in the auto industry. The French company Renault and their new Kangoo model have planned to feature the Family driving around Europe. Whether those ads work or not remains to be seen. Still, it’s interesting that Renault is using the family as a way to put their product in a positive light. On the other hand, Ford is trying to do the opposite. Pairing a Ford with Homer is meant as a self deprecating bit of criticism, and, in reality it’s not an ad campaign either. So, in a sense, the creator, Matt Groening, was likely not consulted.

This may or may not pique the interest of Simpsons fans. After all, if the proposed use is funny, nobody will care. It all depends, really, on how the character is used

Taurus, Kangoo, Renault, Homer, Simpsons, Homer Simpons, Ford

Ever since the blockbuster success of the Simpsons Movie and the subsequent DVD, speculation has always been out there regarding a possible sequel. After all, anytime a movie strikes it big in the box office, one can never truly rule out a sequel. It’s too lucrative, for producers, to not imagine. Still, Al Jean has, in the past, ruled out a sequel in the present.

Still, there’s another dynamic at play, and that is the ongoing writer’s strike. Typically, the effect has been most seen on television, but there’s a hidden component. The strike is having an effect movie production. In terms of The Simpsons, it also is gumming up any sort of sequel. Part of the strike, of course, is keeping developmental talks on hold until the main strike issues have been resolved.

Larry Carroll, on MTV’s Movie Blog, has tackled the issue a little. He writes:

Talks on the sequel should begin whenever everyone on both sides of the picket line is satisfied, but since it is a cartoon and all the “Simpsons” talents will still be working on that pesky little TV show, we’re talking several years before a green light gives us an actual movie to watch.

So, basically, there will be no sense of instant gratification in this regard. Animation usually is a much slower creative process. Live action movies, for example, tend to be quicker makes, as there’s no animation, voice acting, voice synch, and so on. Then again, it took more than a decade and a half of the Simpsons on Fox before a silver screen version materialized. Plus, there’s always the idea that good things take time, even years to produce, whereas lackluster garbage can be marshaled out in a matter of days, even hours and minutes. Fans, more than anything, want a good, quality, enjoyable product.

The Simpsons, The Simpson Movie, MTV

The Academy has chosen to not nominate The Simpsons Movie in its animated film category. Seinfeld’s Bee movie also got a snub, but comparatively speaking, that’s almost understandable Three others were recognized:

* Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics; Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud, directors)
* Ratatouille (Disney/Pixar Animation; Brad Bird, director)
* Surf’s Up (Sony Pictures Animation; Ash Brannon and Chris Buck, directors)

Of those three, Persepolis seems the more independent. The other two are pretty much family fair. Yet, while I do think the Simpson’s sharply critical satire of the EPA and environmental issues deserved at least an Oscar nod, I can fully understand if Ratatouille wins the category. Story wise, Ratatouille was a very well written movie that used a very strong screen play. Typically, the Academy tends to reward films that are both well made and financially lucrative at the box office.

The Simpsons, The Simpsons Movie, The Academy Awards, The Oscars

Watching awards shows can be a test of one’s patience sometimes. Still, hosting them is nothing but exposure and a good paycheck for comedic talent. Harry Shearer, who is Mr. Burns, Reverend Lovejoy, and many others on the Simpsons, will host the Art Directors Guild Awards on Feb. 16, According to The Hollywood Reporter:

Eight ADG awards for excellence in production design will be handed out in TV, film and commercials categories, along with a lifetime achievement award to production designer Stuart Craig and a cinematic imagery award to Ray Harryhausen. Five legendary production designers will also be inducted into the ADG Hall of Fame that evening.

The Simpsons, Harry Shearer, ADG, Artist Directors Guild, Artist Directors Guild Awards

It seemed, back when The Simpsons Game came out, people enjoyed the satire, but the game play didn’t satify a lot of gaming critics. On the other hand, the satire itself proved funny — so much so that the game itself has been honored recently. The Writers Guild has chosen to recognize excellence in video games. It should be noted, however, that the award goes strictly to the writing, not the over all quality of the game. So, for example, the age old Pong or Pac Man or Donkey Kong might be fun and addictive, but it’s not necessarily a well written game. More info, via Gamasutra:

Representatives of the East and West chapters of the Writer’s Guild of America have announced the winners of their inaugural Videogame Writing Award, giving top honors to games including The Simpsons Game, World in Conflict, and The Witcher.

The Guild says the award honors “outstanding achievement in videogame writing during 2007″ and was created to “encourage storytelling excellence in videogames, improve the status of writers, and foster uniform standards within the gaming industry.”

Writing credits for the game are:

THE SIMPSONS GAME, Lead Writer Matt Selman, Written by Tim Long and Matt Warburton, Dialogue by Jeff Poliquin, Electronic Arts

The Simpsons, The Simpsons Game, The Writers Guild, The Writers Guild Awards

After the last post, it seems I’m running into weird stuff on the internet at the moment. The Daily Intelligencer has an interview with Hank Azaria, as part of an ongoing “21 Questions” featurebut it seems that Azaria, just like anybody else who makes a living in comedy, doesn’t take the interview process seriously — at least with this particular interview:

QUESTION: How often do you prepare your own meals?
AZARIA: I just bite into live, struggling deer.

The Simpsons, Hank Azaria

This just has me scratching my head, wondering what I have missed. I have to admit total ignorance. Yet, on Page 6 of the New York Post, the gossip is that George Takei (Sulu of the original Star Trek) did voice over work for The Simpsons. Takei, the article alleges, creeped out the rest of the Simpsons talent, and as such, won’t be asked back. I’m scratching my head, because unlike Phil Hartman or Kelsey Grammar, I honestly can’t remember Takei being a semi regular guest, or even a guest, period. More than anything, I remember that he’s had some feuds in the past with William Shatner, but that’s Star Trek nonsense, with a cast that was notorious for its squabbling. At any rate, The New York Post cites Hank Azaria:

THE producers of “The Simpsons” stopped using “Star Trek” stalwart George Takei (Sulu) to do voiceovers because he “creeped out the staff” and kept calling one of the interns “sweetie.” So said Hank Azaria, the voice of Moe the bartender, Apu the Kwik-E-Mart owner, Police Chief Wiggum, Professor Frink, Dr. Nick Riviera and Comic Book Guy.

The Simpsons, Hank Azaria, George Takei, Star Trek

BAFTA stands for British Academy of Film and Television Award. It’s the rough equal, in the United Kingdom, to the Oscar Award. There’s also a version for kids 16 and under, The BAFTA Children’s Awards. which resembles the Kids Choice Awards. This year, The Simpsons won a BAFTA for best film by popular vote, but the actual academy honored “Happy Feet.” Care of news.com.au:

The film version of the hit US animated TV series beat off stiff competition from Happy Feet, Spider-Man 3 and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to be voted Film of the Year by the under-16s.

Despite being the fans’ favourite, The Simpson’s Movie wasn’t in the category for Best Feature Film, which was won by animated penguin movie Happy Feet.

The awards took place at London’s Hilton Hotel and were hosted by comedian Keith Chegwin.

The Simpsons, BAFTA, Awards