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A Simpsons Marathon is on right now, Let's discuss the show's downfall.

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Posts

  • Pi-r8Pi-r8 Registered User regular
    edited September 2014
    That was actually pretty clever of Homer to think of that.

    Pi-r8 on
  • HybridHybrid South AustraliaRegistered User regular
    I'm fond of the bit (I think temptation of Homer?) where Lisa catches him singing and he claims to be in a local play (it's not much but it's a start) and his brain gives him a sarcastic clap and a bravo

  • zllehszllehs Hiding in a box, waiting to strike.Registered User regular
    Homers conversations with his brain are the best. Especially when they are both idiots like this :

    At home, Homer announces he is leaving

    Homer: Well, time to go to work.

    Brain: Little do they know I'm ducking out early to take the Duff Brewery tour.

    Homer: Roll in at nine, punch out at five, that's the plan.

    Brain: Heh, heh, heh. They don't suspect a thing.

    [camera pans down to Homer's mouth, but he doesn't say anything]..... Well, off to the plant.

    Homer: Then to the Duff Brewery.

    Brain: Uh, oh. Did I say that or just think it?

    Homer: [panicky] I've got to think of a lie fast!

    Marge: Homer, are you going to the Duff Brewery?

    Homer: Aah! [Runs off]

  • zllehszllehs Hiding in a box, waiting to strike.Registered User regular
    Marge: Oh Maggie, when are you going to talk?

    Lisa : Well, don't push her. Remember, it is better to remain
    silent and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt.

    Brain: What does that mean? Better say something or they'll think you're stupid.

    Homer: Takes one to know one.

    Brain: Swish!

  • RichyRichy Registered User regular
    Gim wrote: »
    Pi-r8 wrote: »
    So i have a random thought about the simpsons.

    Homer goes to Moe's most nights after work, and drinks pretty heavily there. All of his friends do too.

    Are they all just driving home drunk every night?

    I think so, yes. But they never show it. Nor do they ever really show them driving up to Moe's or driving away. The only exception I can think of is in S10 E11's "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" where Homer, Lenny, Carl, and Homer go on a drunken binge after the Isotopes win the pennant, driving around the halls of Springfield Elementary which causes a children's curfew to go into effect. Then there was S04 E11's "Duffless" where Homer's license is suspended and he's sent to AA, but that was after his tour at the Duff Brewery and he was literally pulled over leaving the parking lot. Barney drove away, though...

    They don't really drink to excess at Moe's normally. Well, okay, Barney does.

    There's also the New York episode, which starts off with Moe telling them the cops complained that most drunk-driving accidents are caused by Homer, Lenny, Karl and Barney, to which they laugh and high-five.

    sig.gif
  • LarsLars Registered User regular
    Wasn't Barney sober for like 2-3 seasons or something?

    I don't think I ever saw the episode where he starts drinking again.

  • Captain TragedyCaptain Tragedy Registered User regular
    edited September 2014
    Lars wrote: »
    Wasn't Barney sober for like 2-3 seasons or something?

    I don't think I ever saw the episode where he starts drinking again.

    There was an episode where Lisa got involved with a spelling bee and was spelling things around town, and she passed Barney lying drunk in the street and he asked her to spell "relapse". I think that brief joke was considered the end to his sobriety, and he's been drunk Barney ever since.

    Captain Tragedy on
  • LarsLars Registered User regular
    That's disappointing since an entire episode was dedicated to him becoming sober, and it got focus in a few other episodes.

    I guess a Fox Exec must have yelled at them to reset the character back to default factory settings immediately.

  • r4dr3zr4dr3z Registered User regular
    Barney sobered up for that NASA mission, then fell off the wagon when they went to celebrate with non-alcoholic champagne.

  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    edited September 2014
    I doubt it was Fox but rather just that lazy group of writers at the time who probably didn't even know he was sober at that time.

    I think there was an episode around that time of Lisa and her first kiss/crush with some cowboy kid when the family left Springfield for some reason, but five seconds of Google (which they had at that time!) would have revealed it was Nelson or Dustin Hoffman.

    TexiKen on
  • OptyOpty Registered User regular
    Barney will appear in his sober form when needed, like when he showed up in his helicopter to save Lisa's journalist friend from the volcano eruption.

  • King RiptorKing Riptor Registered User regular
    Al Jean specifically mentions he wanted to make Barney a drunk again in a commentary but fans reacted poorly.

    Gee maybe because alcoholism isnt funny ?

    I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    edited September 2014
    Lars wrote: »
    Wasn't Barney sober for like 2-3 seasons or something?

    I don't think I ever saw the episode where he starts drinking again.

    There was an episode where Lisa got involved with a spelling bee and was spelling things around town, and she passed Barney lying drunk in the street and he asked her to spell "relapse". I think that brief joke was considered the end to his sobriety, and he's been drunk Barney ever since.

    The relapse first happened during the episode with Skinner's wedding with Krabapple.

    I blame Matt Groening for undoing both Barney's sobriety and that wedding, as he's been quoted before as saying he never wants the characters to evolve (he also guest starred in that episode, which strengthens my theory).

    I couldn't begin to tell you how disappointed I was by that episode. I'm surprised Apu's wife and kids haven't been written out yet.

    Professor Snugglesworth on
  • TaramoorTaramoor Storyteller Registered User regular
    Al Jean specifically mentions he wanted to make Barney a drunk again in a commentary but fans reacted poorly.

    Gee maybe because alcoholism isnt funny ?

    When a character gets dumped on for thirteen or fourteen seasons and then they finally claw their way back and get a win nobody likes to see it taken from them.

  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

  • King RiptorKing Riptor Registered User regular
    Lars wrote: »
    Wasn't Barney sober for like 2-3 seasons or something?

    I don't think I ever saw the episode where he starts drinking again.

    There was an episode where Lisa got involved with a spelling bee and was spelling things around town, and she passed Barney lying drunk in the street and he asked her to spell "relapse". I think that brief joke was considered the end to his sobriety, and he's been drunk Barney ever since.

    The relapse first happened during the episode with Skinner's wedding with Krabapple.

    I blame Matt Groening for undoing both Barney's sobriety and that wedding, as he's been quoted before as saying he never wants the characters to evolve (he also guest starred in that episode, which strengthens my theory).

    I couldn't begin to tell you how disappointed I was by that episode. I'm surprised Apu's wife and kids haven't been written out yet.

    Groening needs to quit pretending hes a writer too. He did that shit with futrama until the very end and only pissed people off

    I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
  • Professor SnugglesworthProfessor Snugglesworth Registered User regular
    It's like he's cut from the same cloth as the execs who write out Spider-Man and Superman's marriages on account that their characters must remain eligible young bachelors for eternity.

  • zllehszllehs Hiding in a box, waiting to strike.Registered User regular
  • Dark_SideDark_Side Registered User regular
    edited September 2014
    I blame Matt Groening for undoing both Barney's sobriety and that wedding, as he's been quoted before as saying he never wants the characters to evolve (he also guest starred in that episode, which strengthens my theory)

    It's fair to point out that that kind of thinking was pretty much boilerplate sitcom theory in the 90's. The live action sitcoms did the same thing, excepting the series that ran many seasons and the kids physically aged. And I think Groening's idea works when a show is still fresh; you get to do a lot of crazy shit when the reset button always gets hit as the credits roll, but over 20 years...the cracks in that philosophy become very apparent.

    Dark_Side on
  • RichyRichy Registered User regular
    Funny, at lunch today some folks were talking about the Simpsons, and how good the Québec translation was. It was translated here, and they had tons of local cultural jokes and references.

    One of my favourites, I forget what episode it was in, but some TV announcer was interviewing Krusty, and mentioned there was a movie being made about him coming out soon. Krusty said "my character will be played by Marc Labrêche". That's the Québec voice actor and local celebrity who was dubbing Krusty's voice.

    sig.gif
  • King RiptorKing Riptor Registered User regular
    It's like he's cut from the same cloth as the execs who write out Spider-Man and Superman's marriages on account that their characters must remain eligible young bachelors for eternity.

    Its baffling for superman whos had the same girlfriend for almost a century. Its embedded in our cultural knowledge.

    For a show like Futurama that had hard continuity its inappropriate and on a show like the Simpsons where the majority of these changes were positive and could have lead to new stories it makes things stale.


    I have a podcast now. It's about video games and anime!Find it here.
  • OptyOpty Registered User regular
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

    Didn't they just add her like last season or the season before? Either way that whole thing is terrible and I'd gladly have them revert it. Literally dropping a perfect girlfriend/wife into his lap was garbage.

  • glithertglithert Registered User regular

    milhouse wrote:
    Remember when he ate my goldfish, and then you lied to me and said I never had any goldfish. But why did I have the bowl, Bart? Why did I have the bowl?

  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    Opty wrote: »
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

    Didn't they just add her like last season or the season before? Either way that whole thing is terrible and I'd gladly have them revert it. Literally dropping a perfect girlfriend/wife into his lap was garbage.

    ...or maybe watching a deeply cynical character struggle with happiness is funny? I liked that episode. Vastly better than Comic Book Guy hooking up with Skinner's mom.

    Switch: 3947-4890-9293
  • RichyRichy Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    Opty wrote: »
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

    Didn't they just add her like last season or the season before? Either way that whole thing is terrible and I'd gladly have them revert it. Literally dropping a perfect girlfriend/wife into his lap was garbage.

    ...or maybe watching a deeply cynical character struggle with happiness is funny? I liked that episode. Vastly better than Comic Book Guy hooking up with Skinner's mom.

    That's not setting a high bar. I've had kicks in the balls that were vastly more enjoyable than watching Comic Book Guy hooking up with Skinner's mom.

    sig.gif
  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    Opty wrote: »
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

    Didn't they just add her like last season or the season before? Either way that whole thing is terrible and I'd gladly have them revert it. Literally dropping a perfect girlfriend/wife into his lap was garbage.

    It wasn't helped by how the whole episode came off at best as awkwardly forced and cringe-inducing. "Here's a zany girlfriend for zany Comic Book Guy! Surprise!"

  • quovadis13quovadis13 Registered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Opty wrote: »
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

    Didn't they just add her like last season or the season before? Either way that whole thing is terrible and I'd gladly have them revert it. Literally dropping a perfect girlfriend/wife into his lap was garbage.

    It wasn't helped by how the whole episode came off at best as awkwardly forced and cringe-inducing. "Here's a zany girlfriend for zany Comic Book Guy! Surprise!"

    Why does it always have to be zany?

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    quovadis13 wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Opty wrote: »
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

    Didn't they just add her like last season or the season before? Either way that whole thing is terrible and I'd gladly have them revert it. Literally dropping a perfect girlfriend/wife into his lap was garbage.

    It wasn't helped by how the whole episode came off at best as awkwardly forced and cringe-inducing. "Here's a zany girlfriend for zany Comic Book Guy! Surprise!"

    Why does it always have to be zany?

    ...I actually think they wouldn't have made her Japanese if she wasn't supposed to be comparably "zany" to CBG.

    But maybe I'm being overly cynical.

  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    quovadis13 wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Opty wrote: »
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

    Didn't they just add her like last season or the season before? Either way that whole thing is terrible and I'd gladly have them revert it. Literally dropping a perfect girlfriend/wife into his lap was garbage.

    It wasn't helped by how the whole episode came off at best as awkwardly forced and cringe-inducing. "Here's a zany girlfriend for zany Comic Book Guy! Surprise!"

    Why does it always have to be zany?

    ...I actually think they wouldn't have made her Japanese if she wasn't supposed to be comparably "zany" to CBG.

    But maybe I'm being overly cynical.

    Rewatch Homer Goes To College stat

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    quovadis13 wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Opty wrote: »
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

    Didn't they just add her like last season or the season before? Either way that whole thing is terrible and I'd gladly have them revert it. Literally dropping a perfect girlfriend/wife into his lap was garbage.

    It wasn't helped by how the whole episode came off at best as awkwardly forced and cringe-inducing. "Here's a zany girlfriend for zany Comic Book Guy! Surprise!"

    Why does it always have to be zany?

    ...I actually think they wouldn't have made her Japanese if she wasn't supposed to be comparably "zany" to CBG.

    But maybe I'm being overly cynical.

    Rewatch Homer Goes To College stat

    Is it a good episode? Because that makes all the difference in the world.

    it sounds like a good episode.

  • Magic PinkMagic Pink Tur-Boner-Fed Registered User regular
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Magic Pink wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    quovadis13 wrote: »
    Synthesis wrote: »
    Opty wrote: »
    Have they gotten rid of Comic Book Guy's wife yet?

    Just take away all the happiness development. Take it all.

    Didn't they just add her like last season or the season before? Either way that whole thing is terrible and I'd gladly have them revert it. Literally dropping a perfect girlfriend/wife into his lap was garbage.

    It wasn't helped by how the whole episode came off at best as awkwardly forced and cringe-inducing. "Here's a zany girlfriend for zany Comic Book Guy! Surprise!"

    Why does it always have to be zany?

    ...I actually think they wouldn't have made her Japanese if she wasn't supposed to be comparably "zany" to CBG.

    But maybe I'm being overly cynical.

    Rewatch Homer Goes To College stat

    Is it a good episode? Because that makes all the difference in the world.

    it sounds like a good episode.

    It's where the quote quovadis13 is making is from.

  • OptyOpty Registered User regular
    Part of the problem is they went from 0 to 100 with his desire to find a woman: up until then he didn't give a shit about finding friends let alone finding a girlfriend (Agnes was a spontaneous fling, he wasn't on the prowl so to speak). For some reason hipster comic dude being happily married was enough for him to completely change character and start caring about finding a girlfriend (friends? who needs 'em, having a girlfriend solves all loneliness problems) and then have said girlfriend (who is basically the same character as hipster comic wife only Japanese) fall into his lap and them get together in the same episode. There were just thousands of different ways they could have gone about getting him a girlfriend (or how about some friends first, huh?) that didn't involve literally dropping one in his lap and playing out an extremely tired romcom plotline.

  • rockrngerrockrnger Registered User regular
    Opty wrote: »
    Part of the problem is they went from 0 to 100 with his desire to find a woman: up until then he didn't give a shit about finding friends let alone finding a girlfriend (Agnes was a spontaneous fling, he wasn't on the prowl so to speak). For some reason hipster comic dude being happily married was enough for him to completely change character and start caring about finding a girlfriend (friends? who needs 'em, having a girlfriend solves all loneliness problems) and then have said girlfriend (who is basically the same character as hipster comic wife only Japanese) fall into his lap and them get together in the same episode. There were just thousands of different ways they could have gone about getting him a girlfriend (or how about some friends first, huh?) that didn't involve literally dropping one in his lap and playing out an extremely tired romcom plotline.

    He hooked up with a girl at a comic convention in one episode.

    "Comb the gummy bears out of your beard and it's a date."

    "Don't try to change me, baby"

  • glithertglithert Registered User regular
    Milhouse wrote:
    Step over this line and say that! I'll kick your butt... At Nintendo.

  • emnmnmeemnmnme Registered User regular
    glithert wrote: »
    Milhouse wrote:
    Step over this line and say that! I'll kick your butt... At Nintendo.

    tumblr_mo9bm1WobP1r5z6r7o1_1280.jpg

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    That is an... unfortunate shortening

  • LoveIsUnityLoveIsUnity Registered User regular
    46534-Simpsons-McBain-THATS-THE-JOKE-ykEL.jpeg

    steam_sig.png
  • SarcasmoBlasterSarcasmoBlaster Austin, TXRegistered User regular
    WELCOME
    THRILLHO

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    46534-Simpsons-McBain-THATS-THE-JOKE-ykEL.jpeg

    Getting a joke tattoo

    Means the real joke is your life decisions

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