Watching Simpsons

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