“And here, out of the mists of history, the legendary Esquilax, a horse with the head of a rabbit, and the body of a rabbit. . . . Ooh, it’s galloping away!” – Chief Wiggum
The Easter update for Tapped Out has been live for a little less than two weeks, and the complaints are rolling in. We’ve got three links this week about how the Easter update hasn’t been the greatest, which, having recently re-installed the game, I agree with. I realize they have to keep releasing updates to keep people who’ve maxed out their levels interested, but some of these really should be optional. Of course, that would require EA to not suck . . . so, probably not gonna happen.
In other news, I am very ready for this Lego episode to be in the rear view mirror. They are putting on a full court publicity press and every time they release some new images or someone from Lego says something about the show seemingly everyone with access to the internet links to it. We’ve got two this week, but both are just entertainment industry fluff jobs. In addition to all that, there are some cool t-shirts, a Flanders coin, the story of how Harry Shearer met his wife, and some excellent clip show usage, so it’s not all bad.
Enjoy.
Worst Zine Ever - Some excellent Simpsons tattoo designs with links to more. Funky See Funky Do would be very obscure but very awesome.
Exclusive: Inside The Simpsons’ Very Special LEGO Episode – Today’s News: Our Take - Oh, TV Guide, I’d ask you never to change, but you never do:
Cheekily titled “Brick Like Me” and set almost entirely in a LEGO world, it’s also episode No. 550, a staggering accomplishment for a primetime series. This has left the well-seasoned
wisenheimers on the production team feeling an odd combination of over-the-moon excitement and enough-already boredom.
And let me say a “very special” well done to you cheeky wisenheimers (assuming an algorithm set to 1960s didn’t write that dreck for you).
‘The Simpsons’: See the first image of Lego Homer! - This is an interview with Selman and Brian Kelley, it doesn’t tell you much. I did like this quote from Jean, though:
And how will this episode stack up against The Lego Movie, which has earned more than $250 million at the box office? “I think it’s just as good and it’s free,” quips executive producer Al Jean, who adds: “If anyone out there has an idea for a new material that the Simpsons can be made out of, please write to us. Cardboard? Yarn? Anything is up for grabs.”
Spoiler alert: it will not be as good as The Lego Movie.
Two by Two, Eggs of Blue - The game is fundamentally exploitative . . .:
Honestly this whole event feels unnecessarily complicated. Why can’t decorations just be in the shop and purchased for cash, do we really need to work hard collecting eggs for fences?
. . . so, yes.
The bait-and-switch of Easter - More discontent in the land of the disembodied finger:
I imagine this is the same for many of you playing, and it’s starting to get frustrating. It should not be this hard to win prizes, but it is.
Donuts aren’t going to help you, not unless you spend $100+ or more on eggs.
Easter Glitch – Trick or Treat? - It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes the glitches actually benefit the players. So it’s not all bad.
Next Couch Gag Animated by Michal Socha - I’ve mostly enjoyed the new couch gags, but it really doesn’t speak well of Zombie Simpsons that the only part of the show anyone wants to talk about is the part that they farmed out to someone else.
What The Simpsons teaches us about Rob Ford and other mayoral mysteries - Rob Ford: If You Were Running for Mayor He’d Vote for You.
April Fools 2014: Alex Raphael - No list of TV idiots would be complete without Homer. (Some good YouTube here as well.)
‘Nashville’ to air quirky clip show: 5 more that stand out - Excellent usage at the top of an article about clip shows:
So it’s come to this: A Nashville clip show.
Bonus points for having the Simpsons episode mentioned not be “So It’s Come to This”.
Pop Culture… Coins! - Fan drawn Flanders on a Brazilian coin. Neat.
Owen met Shearer in 1992 while she was resident bar pianist at the Conrad in Chelsea Harbour. “They were trying to make it into a rock’n’roll hotel. I played one of my own songs and heard this incredible applause behind me. I turned around and it was Christopher Guest and Harry with the full facial hair of Derek Smalls. I jumped up and ran over to them. It was truly one of the most surreal, ridiculous moments of my life,” she remembers.
Tee 394 SWW - Simpsons/Star Wars t-shirt.
Photo by trillblazin - And a Rasheed Wallace/Bart shirt (via @treykerby).
Rewinding the Week (4.20.2014) - Even forgiving reviews of last week’s Zombie Simpsons episode didn’t like it:
The episode was titled “Days of Future Future” which made me think that there would be some X-Men references, but sadly there were not. Instead, the whole thing was set in the future with clones of Homer living for an extended period of time and Bart encountering a Eternal Sunshine-like process. Kind of weird, but okay. I think they truly are running out of ideas now.
Best TV Shows of All Time - The show only checks in at #2 here, but it’s entered well:
2. The Simpsons (Seasons 1-9)
Who needs the Kwik E-Mart? - Heh (x2).
The Simpsons Lego Figures - The official one-page brochure.
The Simpsons To Marathon Every Episode, Release New Streetwear [PHOTOS] - This is blatant pageview whoring of the one-page-per-picture variety, but of you want to check out a bunch of new Simpsons clothing you can click through (and click through and click through . . .).
Two Gym Visits… and 2,500 Legos In Between - And finally, I get to end with someone who agrees with us:
One of the big childhood obsessions were Legos. I had tons of them, and at one point, had built an entire town on a folding table in the basement. Then, when I was in high school and college, I became a die-hard, hard-core fan of “The Simpsons.” For a couple years in college, I wrote a weekly “Simpsons”-based newsletter, which grew to have over 5,000 subscribers all over the planet. (For the record, I’m still of a fan of the show, and it will always be one of my favorite shows of all time, although I think the quality of new episodes has really gone downhill.)
Indeed it has.
