As many of you might or might now be aware, the FXX Network (Two Xs, not One) is currently airing a Simpsons Marathon.
A marathon of the entirety of the Simpsons. All of it.
From this:
To this:
In a row.
Here's the schedule:
Season 1: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., August 21
Season 2: 4:30 p.m. August 21 to 3:30 a.m. August 22
Season 3: 3:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. August 22
Season 4: 3:30 p.m. August 22 to 2:30 a.m. August 23
Season 5: 2:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. August 23
Season 6: 1:30 p.m. August 23 to 2 a.m. August 24
Season 7: 2 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. August 24
Season 8: 2:30 p.m. August 24 to 3 a.m. August 25
Season 9: 3 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. August 25
Season 10: 3:30 p.m. August 25 to 3 a.m. August 26
Season 11: 3 a.m. to 2 p.m. August 26
Season 12: 2 p.m. August 26 to 12:30 a.m. August 27
Season 13: 12:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. August 27
Season 14: 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. August 27
Season 15: 10:30 p.m. August 27 to 9:30 a.m. August 28
Season 16: 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. August 28
Season 17: 8 p.m. August 28 to 7 a.m. August 29
Season 18: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. August 29
The Simpsons Movie: 6 to 8 p.m. August 29
Season 19: 8 p.m. August 29 to 6 a.m. August 30
Season 20: 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. August 30
Season 21: 4:30 p.m. August 30 to 4 a.m. August 31
Season 22: 4 a.m. to 3 p.m. August 31
Season 23: 3 p.m. August 31 to 2 a.m. September 1
Season 24: 2 a.m. to 1 p.m. September 1
Season 25: 1 p.m. September 1 to 12 midnight September 2
What's that, you say? You've never heard of the Simpsons?
Well you're lying, but okay.
The Simpsons are the brainchild of reclusive genius and potential super-villain Matt Groening. While the Simpsons themselves were featured on the Tracy Ullman show in a number of shorts, the series proper debuted on Fox in 1989 and features the misadventures of a group of selfish, yellow-skinned, human-like beasts who never grow old and never learn their lessons. It is the longest running scripted television program in history. It is the longest running cartoon by a wide margin, if you ran every episode of the show in order it would take (looks up) 12 days to go through them all. They're starting Season 26 in a month or so.
Characters of note:
Homer, patriarch of the Simpsons, and all-around lovable idiot. Think of him like a big dog. Voiced by Dan Castalanetta
Marge, the ultimate Mom, renowned for putting up with all the madness and for her hair. Voiced by Julie Kavner
Bart, the lovable rascal. When I was a kid he was my favorite character. Now that I'm grown I find I lean more toward Homer. Voiced by Nancy Cartwright
Lisa, the smart one, also plays the saxophone, has also known far more tragedy than the others. Voiced by Yeardley Smith
Maggie, the baby, has been a baby for 25 years, and has no official voice though there was a guest bit by Elizabeth Taylor
Abraham Simpson, Homer's father, also voiced by Dan Castalanetta, may be totally and completely nuts.
Krusty the Clown and Sideshow Bob. Krusty is a television clown who runs some kind of interview/cartoon/variety/comedy/drama/scripted/sketch/improv/live show thing that seems to be on twenty-four hours a day. Sideshow Bob was his sidekick early on but then became a homicidal maniac.
Nedward Flanders Jr. Homer's neighbor, and kind of uppity.
Charles Montgomery Burns and Waylon Smithers. Mr. Burns is Homer's boss, he owns the nuclear plant and is of indeterminate age. He is modeled after Charles Foster Kane of Citizen Kane fame. Waylon Smithers is his assistant and wants to make sweet crazy love to those crisp aging bones.
Other characters of importance:
It is generally agreed that the show in its 25th season may not be the same bastion of quality that it once was. In this thread we will discuss the marathon as it happens and try and figure out why exactly The Show seems to have degraded over time.
Posts
wonder if they're playing the real versions of the eps not the shitty syndicated ones
Remember when they were on Thursday nights? Feels like ages ago.
I actually have caught most of the seasons and a lot of stuff after the movie has been legitimately great. Talking about "where the Simpsons went wrong" is like discussing your favorite SNL cast. Some people like the Will Ferrel, Horatio Sanz, Cheri OTeri, Molly Shannon years, while some people like the original cast with Adam Sandler and Chris Farley. It's just what you do.
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The biggest cause of decline for the Simpsons IMO was ironically Family Guy. They started aping a lot of it, and lost tons of the subtlety that made the show amazing.
Dead to me.
Come Overwatch with meeeee
To the random executive who got all uppity about allowing people to upload short Simpson bits online, you almost ruined the voice of a generation!!
I have 549 Rock Band Drum and 305 Pro Drum FC's
REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS REFS
It follows an SNL like ebb and flow of quality.
"it can still be pretty good, I'm just going to give the thread an overly harsh title because people need to know how amazing seasons 2-10 are! "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E64OI0FTnwU
tried to find the real clip, but could only find a camera phone version.
You're no fun.
Of course, my favorite SNL sketch of all time can't even be posted here because it involves Richard Pryor and Chevy Chase using language that is no longer allowed on television.
Anyway, on to the Simpsons. If you haven't yet, the DVD sets of each season have some of the best commentaries ever and are definitely worth watching. Unlike a lot of shows, every single episode has commentary.
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Yes!
I don't know how many grainy recordings of tv sets (in other languages) have I gone through looking for specific quotes.
Can't remember the article but someone floated the idea of how Simpsons World should handle this and it was perfect.
One of my all time favs is when Smithers comes into Moe's looking for a Barney Guarding Job. Barney says "look forward to working with ya!" They talk over the clock striking 12, the camera pans across to Moe turning to Barney's empty stool. "Oh. My. God..." and you hear the delivery guy outside say "oh no. It's you. AAAA" and then the sound of Barney destroying the truck is heard. So dumb. I love it so much.
Also the time Barney is found asleep in the Simpson's kitchen, he rolls over and says "you wanna bad night? Try sleeping on one of these" and produces a conch shell.
I wouldn't say the tenth is the last good season either - you get good stuff all the way up to 13 IMO. 14 onwards is interspersed with good episodes but they get a lot rarer as the show goes on.
I saw a new episode starring Lady Gaga the other week, and it was fucking awful. Just cringeworthy. Every line she spoke was a reference to one of her songs, I guess? Euch.
De-fault De-fault De-fault.
But really - the Simpsons is the cultural touchstone that I watched from when it originally aired up until my mid-20's. I don't think I've watched a single episode since around the time of the Simpsons Movie, and I can definitely say the quality wasn't up to the standards of the early episodes - becoming more self-referential and only reminding you how great the earlier episodes were. Homer became more of a parody and lost some of the depth and nuance that made him so great under the superficial Archie Bunker exterior.
Still, I've probably spent more time watching The Simpsons than any other show, ever. It will always have a place in my heart, and really is the cultural touchstone of my generation.
"Never, Marge. Never. I can't live the button-down life like you. I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles. Sure, I might offend a few of the bluenoses with my cocky stride and musky odors - oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called "City Fathers" who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about "What's to be done with this Homer Simpson?" "
You Turd Ferguson
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
The same can be said for Futurama. Of course I could just listen to John DiMaggio read the phone book and I'd be satisfied.
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The last episode of Season Six and the first episode of Season Seven.
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My favorite episodes are probably the stuff during seasons 7 and 8 when Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein were show runners.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
and of course the Conan episodes
Season 6 finale, season 7 premiere.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Not season 4? That has Kamp Krusty, Streetcar Named Marge, Mr. Plow, Itchy and Scratchy The Movie, Marge vs. the Monorail, I Love Lisa, Duffless, Last Exit to Springfield, Whacking Day, et al
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
hmm thought those were season 5
Twitch Channel
5 is Cape Feare, Barbershop Quartet, Home Goes to College, Bart's Inner Child, Last Temptation of Homer, $pringfield, Homer the Vigilante, Homer and Apu, Deep Space Homer, Homer Loves Flanders, Bart Gets an Elephant, The Boy Who Knew Too Much, Secrets for a Successful Marriage, et al
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Though personally, I think the show got vastly better around Season 20 or 21. That's a good time to tune in if you want to see for yourself if modern Simpsons is any good.
I personally think the show is okay up to about midway through season 12.
Mind you, I said "okay", not "great" or even "good". Besides "Behind the Laughter" is the season finale of season eleven.
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5 was pretty much gold start to finish
I would like to remind everyone that the odds of there ever being another show where you can say "It got good again around season 20" are virtually zero.
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And if the other characters are all actual size then the Simpsons children become progressively larger giants.
I think 4 through 7 was gold start to finish
8 dropped off a bit with episodes like Burns, Baby Burns, Lisa's Date with Density and Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious but also has some great episodes like You Only Move Twice, The Mysterious Voyage of Homer, Mountain of Madness, Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment, and Homer's Enemy.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
"Behind the Laughter" is fantastic and well worth catching. Easily the best of that season.
...though if you have a problem with the episode depicting the show as a show and the characters as actual actors, you'll probably hate it.
Season 7 is probably my favorite overall. It contains my all-time favorite episode (Summer of 4 ft. 2, the episode where Lisa tries to become cool over the summer, like y'knooooow whateverrrrrr) as well as a bunch of other classics (Radioactive Man, Bart Sells His Soul, Homer's mother, 138th episode spectacular, Bart makes a fake driver's license, 22 short films, Apu loses his job, Homerpalooza)
Not streaming, but there will be an app to end all apps. Seriously, click the link and be amazed.
You'll have to be a subscriber to FXX though.
And for that, I'll keep coming back.