'Simpsons' Celebrate 15 Years of Laughs

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/...1|,00.html

 

Fifteen Years of 'Simpsons' Freshness

 

By Jacqueline Cutler

 

No one expected 15 years ago that the phrases "Don't have a cow, man" and "Ay, carumba" would become part of the vernacular.

Or that "D-oh" would become an entry in the venerable Oxford Dictionary.

 

Or that the amusing 30-second shorts on "The Tracey Ullman Show" would go on to win 20 Emmy Awards.

 

Certainly, no one predicted that on Sunday, Nov. 9, FOX would launch its 15th season of "The Simpsons," making it the longest running sitcom in prime time and the longest-running animated series ever.

 

"Because of the incredibly fluky way 'The Simpsons' got on television, it can't be readily replicated," says Harry Shearer, who gives voice to evil billionaire Montgomery Burns, fawning assistant Smithers and vacuous anchorman Kent Brockman. "We were the product of a fledgling network desperate to be seen as being in business with major show business figures. They gave [executive producer] James Brooks a very sweet deal that included no network interference. Unless you have a fledgling network desperate to be in business, you don't get that."

 

That creative freedom has resulted in consistently funny scripts -- no mean feat considering the number of humorless sitcoms. Each script goes through about eight drafts, according to Al Jean, the show runner and producer who has been with "The Simpsons" from the beginning.

 

"In the early '90s, George Bush Sr. said America should be more like the Waltons than the Simpsons," Jean says. "Some conservatives thought Bart too disobedient. Now, we're considered part of the establishment. A lot of the people who were 15 years old when we started are now 30."

 

While the rest of the world ages, the Simpsons remain the same. The series revolves around the Simpson clan, led by dad Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta), who has the IQ of a salami and the appetite of a shark. He works for a nuclear power plant where he regularly causes toxic disasters. Though some critics label the family dysfunctional, Homer and his homemaker wife, Marge (Julie Kavner), manage to function and love each other as they rear their children. Bart (Nancy Cartwright) is a fourth-grader whose potential could be measured in prison sentences, but he has a good soul - when he isn't selling it. Lisa (Yeardley Smith), the smart, feminist, saxophone-playing vegan, is on a perpetually doomed crusade to save her family, usually from its own idiocy. Baby sister Maggie sucks on a pacifier.

 

Over the years, the show has proven it has no sacred cows. Creator Matt Groening uses the same irreverent approach evident in his "Life Is Hell" cartoon strip that runs in more than 250 newspapers.

 

Despite animation's infinite visual possibilities, "The Simpsons" relies on razor-sharp writing. It comes as no surprise that late-night host Conan O'Brien wrote for the show for two years. "It hurts my feelings that they are still funny," O'Brien says. "They should have lost their way after I left. Don't they know? Damn them."

 

Rather than lose its way, the subversive comedy continues to do what it does best: work on a number of levels. Children enjoy it, particularly for Bart's pranks, but they don't get all the cultural, political and sexual jokes. In last week's Halloween episode, "Treehouse of Horror XIV," for example, the opening segment was "Reaper Madness," a takeoff on the 1936 anti-marijuana film "Reefer Madness." While adults may chuckle at that reference, the children instead will laugh at Homer killing Death.

 

Still, some parents give the Sunday night comedy a wide berth, fearful that Bart's underachieving ways will have a greater influence over their children than Lisa's overachieving. And parents who limit children's viewing are more prone to allow them to watch an educational show than this.

 

Indeed Cartwright limits her children's TV viewing. "No sugar and no TV during the school week," she says, sounding more like the single mom of two she is than the spike-haired rascal she voices. For years, her children watched "The Simpsons" on tape so they could be in bed early on Sunday, but now that they are 12 and 14, they watch together.

 

A single episode -- which goes through various production stages in California and Korea -- takes up to a year to go from idea to broadcast. So when Cartwright settles in to watch Sundays, she sees it for the first time from start to finish.

 

"It's pretty cool," she says. "I can pretty much watch and be a fan."

 

Among the show's many fans are celebrities who vie to be on it the way stars did a generation ago with "Batman." The eclectic roster of guest stars includes Aerosmith, Buzz Aldrin, Tony Bennett, blink-182, Johnny Cash, Bob Denver, Kirk Douglas, Bob Hope, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Ian McKellen, NSYNC, Luke Perry, Wolfgang Puck, Tito Puente, the Ramones, Pete Sampras, John Updike and Adam West.

 

This season brings more guest stars, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair and J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books.

 

The official season opener, "My Mother the Carjacker," featuring Glenn Close as Homer's jailbird mom, was unavailable at press time. However, a screening of the Nov. 16 episode, "The President Wore Pearls," supports Jean's assertion that Season 15 of "The Simpsons" is "one of the best." The musical episode pays homage to "Evita" with a story line in which Lisa becomes a student body president in the style of the Argentine icon.

 

Despite the fact that most shows reach their expiration dates long before episode No. 313, which is where "The Simpsons" is now, there is no end in sight. "The cast contract expires at the end of the year," Jean says. "They are renegotiating for three years. I wouldn't be surprised if it went another five."

 

"I am willing to do it forever," Cartwright says. Shearer was more pragmatic. "Indefinitely is a pretty long time," he says. "As long as the audience wants more, we'll do more."

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Another 5? Eh...I'm just worried that they'll end up proving to be sub-par over the down stretch

[Mole 0]

They aren't as good as they used to be, but I am still entertained everyweek, so that is good enough for me.

[BorneAgain 0]

I believe tonights episode guest stars Michael Moore, who supports Lisa's run for president. Let the the bitching commense.

[BorneAgain 0]

whoops, double post

[The Czech Republic 0]

I hope next year is the last year.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I was hoping that 2000 was the last year.

 

I won't make the "Where did those 10 years of laughs come from?" comment.

 

[Guest FrigidSoul]

The laughs ended after season 9 ended

[DARRYLXWF 0]

What 2 years did Conan O'Brian write for the Simpsons?

[WrestlingDeacon 0]

Conan was on the series from 1991-1993. I know that the Monorail episode was his baby and the point at which the Simpsons really broke into the formula they used for most of their run and got more away from being a more realistic family based sitcom.

[Mole 0]

The laughs ended after season 9 ended

So you're saying you don't laugh at all anymore when you watch the show?

[treble 0]

I thought tonight's episode was pretty good, actually. Better than last week's, by far.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I watched a lil bit of the eps. tonight. I laughed once. It was at Chief Wighams "Feel free to say something any time Lou, these topics are gold"

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

It should be noted that it was a big laugh, about 15-20 seconds long.

[treble 0]

The captions at the end were funny;

 

"ON THE ADVICE OF OUR LAWYERS, WE SWEAR WE HAVE NEVER HEARD OF A MUSICAL BASED ON THE LIFE OF EVA PERON."

[Mole 0]

I thought tonight's episode was pretty good, actually. Better than last week's, by far.

Hmm, I liked last weeks episode better.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I thought the South Park parody was rather weak. Was it supposed to be?? Like, them out-worsening South Parks parody of the Simpsons?

 

RRR: Thinking South Park did a better job with Butters trying to take over the world by blocking the sun...

[Guest FrigidSoul]

The laughs ended after season 9 ended

So you're saying you don't laugh at all anymore when you watch the show?

To be honest I can't recall an episode after season 9 to make me laugh. Maybe a couple have gotten a "heh" outta me but no real laughs.

 

Basically IMO Matt Ghroening is just dragging a bloody rotting carcass of a franchise

[Mole 0]

The laughs ended after season 9 ended

So you're saying you don't laugh at all anymore when you watch the show?

To be honest I can't recall an episode after season 9 to make me laugh. Maybe a couple have gotten a "heh" outta me but no real laughs.

 

Basically IMO Matt Ghroening is just dragging a bloody rotting carcass of a franchise

Are you not even entertained then?

[Slayer 0]

Basically IMO Matt Ghroening is just dragging a bloody rotting carcass of a franchise

Back around '96-'97 (IIRC, someone else may have more accurate info) Matt Groening essentially abandoned the Simpsons to whoever currently heads the cartoon so he could go work on other projects (Futurama, the Hell comics, etc.)

[nl5xsk1 0]

I'll say the same thing that I say everytime there's a thread getting populated by people saying how much the Simpsons now, and how it's been bad for __X__ number of years ... quit watching the fucking show then. It's still one of (if not the best) shows on TV, and still consistently funny. Is it as great as it once was? No, but it set the bar so high it'd be impossible to maintain that pace forever. If you don't find it funny, don't watch it. There's still a ton of us that find it funnier than just about any show on TV, so it's got to be doing something right.

[Guest wrestlingbs]

There was a long period in that 15 years where it just wasn'r funny (oh, and I did stop watching) but the new episodes are kinda funny.

 

RRR, you're right. The Simpsons attacking South Park was like WCW bashing WWF in 2000. It made them look actually worse.

[Mole 0]

When did they do that again?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Bart and Milhouse were watching South Park, and a robot farted or something... and they started to dance around talking about how much they loved violence.

 

It was really piss-poor and it was sad to see the simpsons sink so low.

[JasonX 0]

When did they do that again?

They reran an episode from last season where the show opens with a South Park parody. In it, OJ Simpson shows up out of a crippled robot's fart and starts killing everyone in sight, including Calista Flockhart and Steve Guttenberg. He then vows to "find the real killer" while holding up the decapitated head of Cartman to the camera....

 

After watching this, Bart and Milhouse start doing a rather silly dance while singing "Cartoon Violence" at the top of their lungs....

[JasonX 0]

Back around '96-'97 (IIRC, someone else may have more accurate info) Matt Groening essentially abandoned the Simpsons to whoever currently heads the cartoon so he could go work on other projects (Futurama, the Hell comics, etc.)

Actually it was with the 97-98 season that Groening essentially abandoned the show into the hands of Mike Scully in order to work on Futurama. Season 9 (which ran from 97-98 is the point that the show started sucking and blowing and has inspired amongst many Simpsons fans the "Mike Scully ruined the Simpsons" theory as to why the show has sucked in recent years do to the correlations of Scully's assension to running the show and the sudden and utter drop in quality in the show...

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I agree with a post above, if you don't like it don't watch it. I personally want them to continue to make new episodes as I think they are great.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

... I... uh... wow. I'm glad I didn't watch The Simpsons, then. I can't wait to see what Matt and Trey will do in response, though.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

They reran an episode from last season where the show opens with a South Park parody. In it, OJ Simpson shows up out of a crippled robot's fart and starts killing everyone in sight, including Calista Flockhart and Steve Guttenberg. He then vows to "find the real killer" while holding up the decapitated head of Cartman to the camera....

Well, to be fair, that does sound like an episode of South Park.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

South Park is what the Simpsons try to be, but really shouldn't try to be... South Park satirizes Pop Culture and the neurosis associated with it, while the Simpsons was more of a spin on the Nuclear Family. Each had their own morals attatched - the Simpsons usually went for the more broad "Love God, Love Family" lesson, while South Park was "Priests are dirty, Everyone is a hypocrite". The Simpsons have grown more cynical in their age and don't do it nearly as well or as smartly as South Park. At least, I don't think they do. But then again, I still look at Springfield in Yellow, while they've changed it to White. I believe Lisa never should have became a vegetarian, Homer shouldn't have been a homophobe, and hullapalooza should have just been Peter Frampton... *sigh*