“I’m glad I’m not crying, because I would hate for you think that what I’m about to say is based on emotion. But you, sir, are a baboon!” – Lisa Simpson
“Me?” – Homer Simpson
“Yes, you! Baboon! Baboon! Baboon! Baboon!” – Lisa Simpson
“I don’t think you realize what you’re saying.” – Homer Simpson
“Baboon!” – Lisa Simpson
First off, sorry for the lack of Compare & Contrast this week. I’m still in the thick of it at work and didn’t have time. (Things will – he typed hopefully – ease off starting next week.) In regular news, we’ve got some great links this week, including outstanding fan art (there’s a whole exhibition of the stuff!), a brand new Simpsons blog, some excellent usage, and an on-point article about one of those perfect little subtleties in “Lisa’s Substitute” (which, coincidentally enough, aired for the first time twenty four years ago tomorrow).
Enjoy.
The Timing of a Door Slam on The Simpsons – Smooth Charlie’s Link of the Week is this fantastic observation about the end of “Lisa’s Substitute”. It’s one of those things you don’t notice because it’s so flawlessly done. Well worth a click.
Simpsons-inspired art exhibition opens in Liverpool – With lots and lots of pics! The Marge mirror and the Thrillhouse thing are outstanding.
The Simpsons’ top 30 movie references – Great list (although it bafflingly leaves out The Shining) at Den of Geek. Two unsurprising things deserve note: 1) none of the entries are from Zombie Simpsons and 2) they don’t mention that at all because nobody wants the hassle.
Ted Cruz loves ‘The Simpsons,’ but he botched his favorite quote – He was close enough for moderate usage.
A Trap Music-Style Remix of Homer Simpson’s ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Meltdown – Pretty good.
10 Simpsons Characters As Real Humans – A decent collection of comparisons that have mostly been done before.
Cocktail Recipe: The Marge Simpson – I’d probably go with gin over vodka, but that’s just me.
MR. BURNS: A POST-ELECTRIC PLAY to Run 5/13-6/7 at Portland Playhouse – And the play goes to Portland.
The Character Files: Rafael – He’ll always be the Sarcastic Guy to me.
The Character Files: Very Tall Man – I do find him comic while driving his automobile, but I probably wouldn’t say that to his face.
Catch-23 No. 27 ‘Big Other’ Part 8 – Heh.
Instagram Crush: @madnails – Great set of Simpsons nail art.
5 ‘Simpsons’ Characters You Didn’t Know Were Voiced By Hank Azaria – Uproxx must do good pageviews on their endless array of Simpsons posts. I’m certainly in favor of them keeping it up.
‘Simpsons’ Photos To Describe Losing Your Virginity – What about that Stock Footage Festival the kids went to?
Moving Away from Evergreen Terrace – For anyone wondering why the DVDs got canned, this, from a longtime fan, should explain things:
When the season 17 set was released last December, I held off on buying it because it didn’t feel worth the week-of-release sale price. We have to have it someday because Sideshow Bob is on the cover, but perhaps we can wait for Black Friday pricing. No hurry. We haven’t even cracked open the season 16 set.
Habit buying ain’t gonna pay the freight.
Top 5: Television Cartoon Dogs – Santa’s Little Helper comes in at #3, though I can’t really argue with Scooby at #1.
The Classic Simpsons Battle Royale! – Another site is going through the episodes, tournament style.
Round 1, Battle 1 – Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy VS I Married Marge – That’s a tough one.
Round 1 Battle 2 – Old Money vs Like Father Like Clown – Also a tough one.
Round 1 Battle 3 – (S. 12, Ep.6) The Computer Wore Menace Shoes vs (S. 10, Ep. 23) Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo – Whereas here I can just go with Season 10.
Crack open a virtual Duff with Homer Simpson on his legendary couch – Someone created a virtual Simpson home you can wander about if you happen to be wearing one of those VR headsets.
This episode of Mad Men felt like a spinoff – Excellent reference:
Todd VanDerWerff: Do you guys remember that one episode of The Simpsons “The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase”? Airing in season eight, it purported to show three separate proposed spinoffs from the series, including a cop show, a stupid gimmick sitcom, and a variety show. The terribleness of the ideas was the point — this is what television networks do when left to their own devices, the episode seemed to snark.
Well, I feel roughly similarly about “New Business,” which feels for much of its running time like “The Mad Men Spinoff Showcase.”
All shows must die — even Game of Thrones – Excellent usage:
In The Simpsons episode “Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie” — which, by virtue of being a Simpsons episode about the internal machinations of television, makes it one of our best excoriations about how stupid the internal machinations of television are — Homer is drafted to provide the voice of Poochie, a hip dog brought in to revitalize the flagging cat-and-mouse cartoon show. For his first voice session, he’s understandably nervous: “Is this episode going on the air live?” he asks. “Very few cartoons are broadcast live,” an old hand reassures him. “It’s a terrible strain on the animators’ wrists.”
New trending GIF tagged the simpsons homer simpson… – a deer, a female deer!
New trending GIF tagged simpsons weed homer simpson… – Homer disappearing into marijuana instead of a hedge.
CMW 2015 Preview: First You Get The Sugar – “Foreign Lands” – We’ve got another band named after a Simpsons quote. I do so enjoy these.
“A Star Is Burns” – The Simpsons Season 6 episode review – A little love for one of Season 6’s many gems.
Ten funny gene names – part 2 – I learned something today:
2. Maggie – Fruit flies with a mutated Maggie gene results in arrested development, like Maggie Simpsons from the cartoon series The Simpsons.
Trial and Error – And finally, I get to end with some academic types who agree with us:
For the group survey and interview assignment my group and I have decided to look at how families are represented in television sitcoms and if it has changed over time, with specific reference to The Simpsons (pre 2000) and Modern Family.
No point going beyond that.
