Friday, October 30, 2009

First Look at the 20th Season DVD


Looks that the 20th season of The Simpsons will be in the Blu-ray format. I guess that is good news to all of you with Blu-ray players or PS3s. It will also be available in the DVD format as well by January 12th according to TV Shows on DVD.com. I love the cover!



In other news, Student Life, the Washington University paper, has posted its top five Treehouse of Horror segments. The movie editor, Peggy Olsen, names "Time and Punishment’ from ‘Treehouse of Horror V’" the number 1 Treehouse of Horror segment. It's the episode where Homer gets his hand stuck in the toaster and it becomes a time machine after Homer attempts to fix it. I really like this episode. I have it on my Treehouse of Horror DVD and I have to say that it is definitely one of the best. The fifth top episode is also from V. It's entitled ‘Nightmare Cafeteria.' This is the episode where the teachers begin eating the students. I don't know what my favorite Treehouse of Horror episodes are, but I agree that these two segments are definitely up there. Okay check out choices 2, 3, and 4 here.

The Simpsons, a Nerdy Pleasure for Gervais?

According to the Guardian online website, Ricky Gervais loves the Simpsons as much as I do. LoL. Who knows maybe he loves it more, but you know I doubt it. I say this because he seems to share the same attitude I have about these later seasons of The Simpsons. In the article he says,
"When people nitpick and say, "That wasn't a very good season", I want to go, "No, it wasn't the best season. But it was still the best thing on TV that year". It's wickedly satirical, they take on everything and they nail it so that you can never go there again. It's the only thing I'm a real nerd over. " Guardian.co.uk

I think I wrote something very similar in one of old posts. I officially love Ricky Gervais. The first time I saw him was actually on that episode of The Simpsons called "Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife" not to long ago. Yup, I had no idea who he was until I saw his name at the end of that episode. Later I saw him on the Emmys where he did that really funny bit with Steve Carrell and several times after that. In addition, I just started watching The Office (the American Version). I would love to start blogging about that show....

Maybe I will... The Simpsons and The Office 430....that would be awesome :-)

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Share Your Favorite Simpsons Line


Once again the NY Times arts section is discussing The Simpsons. This time it concerns viewers' favorite lines. At the moment, I can't really think of my favorite, but I do enjoy saying and shouting ,"Why do I always think of the perfect thing to say after I leave...Shut up Becky!" LoL I can't ever forget that line. Oh yeah and the whole, "I managed to pull the chip out without any Brain Damage-amage-amage." My quotes are not really accurate, but you get the idea.

Well there are some awesome ones on the site including:

“Awww, looks just like me. Ya got the stink lines and everything.” (Moe remarking on a drawing a child made of him) — Slim White

“Acchh my retirement grease!” (Groundskeeper Willie) — GK

Check out more of the quotes here and if your a student over 13 contribute some of your favorite quotes here.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Interesting Simpsons Website: Eye On Springfield

photo from Eye on Springfield--->
It seems the common belief is that The Simpsons were only good during maybe the first 10 seasons. Although I agree the quality has decreased over the years, I also accept it and don't like to talk about. I feel if we, as Simpsons fans, criticize it too much we will miss all the good things about the show. It's still good and we should encourage others to tune in. I also accept the show because I like the format and style of the Simpsons and I don't want the Simpsons to turn to different or more crude forms of humor (Family Guy I'm looking at you!).

Well this is the only reason why I hesistated to recommend this site, but hey like I said it seems like the common belief is that after season 9 it began to suck. But I still recommend it because I love the name :-) and I really like the screencaps they posted. Check out Eye on Springfield here!


PS - it doesn't look like they update too often, so check in now and again.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Simpsons Celebrate Their 20th Anniversary in California


Photo from the Associate Press --->

Well, recently in California there was a Birthday bash in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons. It is officially the longest running American Primetime scripted entertainment program. To read more about the festivities and interviews with creators check out the interview here.

New Book About the Simpsons

According to various sources there is a new book about the Simpsons. The book, "The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History" by John Ortved, provides an inside look at the Simpsons over the years.

Here is an excerpt from a recent interview with Ortved in the arts blog at the New York Times:

Q.
You make a number of references in the book to the decline in quality of the show. Have you ever heard of Fox or the folks behind the show pulling the plug at some point soon?
A.
In terms of its spiral, to be fair to the writers, there’s only so much you can do with a set of characters. I mean, 20 years? I don’t know how they do it. But if they’re still trying to break ground, they should have canned it 10 years ago.


Q.
What did you think of the movies?
A.
It was 90 minutes of throwaway jokes. It was about as good as a very good episode in the later seasons, but I don’t think it worked. Its kind of shocking to me that that group of writers couldn’t come up with something better...(
Lisa Tozzi).

Based on his opinions I think it will be really interesting to see what kind of book he has written. I would also like to see the opinions of others that he has involved in the book.

Check out the rest of the NY Times blog interview with Mr. Ortved here.

Find another review of the book at NPR.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

"Treehouse of Horrors XX" Recap

Photo from FOX broadcasting ------>
iO Cable Description: Lisa sets out for revenge against Miss Hoover; zombies overrun Springfield; after falling threw a trap door at Moes's, Homer becoming half man, half-brewing apparatus.

Well this was a good Halloween episode. I don't think the entire episode tops past halloween specials, but I really enjoyed one of the stories. You'll find out later, but I'll start with the beginning sequence.

Well since it's Halloween, a mummy, Frankenstein (or the monster to those of you who have read the Shelley's novel), a werewolf and Dracula go out because it is the one night that they fit in. However, the bullies (dressed in a black Spidey suit and Heath Ledger's joker) convince them that their costumes are of the Turner classic movie era. So, the do a quick change. For example, Frankenstein wears a Sponge Bob suit, the Mummy dresses as a Pirate of the Caribbean, Dracula is Iron Man and the Werewolf is my FAVORITE...Harry Potter! Yay!

So they arrive at Homer (Zorro) and Marge's (cat) Halloween party. Things get naughty as Frankenstein hooks up with Nelson's mom and the Mummy shares a beer with Edna. Then their monster girlfriends show up and begin to fight with their monster husbands. Homer tells them "It's not cheating when wearing a costume." As any monster lady would, they tear off his head and throw it in the punch bowl. His eyes are in the form of two X's which is a part of the Treehouse of Horror XX title.

After a celebrity shoutout for the Simpson's 20th anniversary, they start with the first episode entitled, "Dial M for Murder...or # for the main menu." Well the episode starts with Ms. Hoover picking a student for something special, I don't remember what, Lisa expects to be picked. However, surprisingly Ms. Hoover picks a never before seen Asian student named Hubert Wong. Lisa is furious and complains to the point to where she is sent to detention. Lisa tells her problem to Bart and he decides that they should do a "criss-cross." This involves Lisa pranking Ms. Krabappel and Bart pranking Ms. Hoover. They would never be suspected because they lack motive. Unless you can count doing something nice for your sibling.

So, Lisa goes to Edna's house, ensures that Bart has an alibi (mooning people at a baseball game), and she rings Edna's doorbell then runs away. Lisa tells Bart about her ding dong ditch, but Bart shows Lisa Ms. Hoover's head. Lisa is in shock because she didn't know that Bart's idea of a ding dong ditch involved killing a ding dong and dumping the body in a ditch. So, Bart encourages her to kill Krabappel because of their criss-cross deal..."criss-cross, criss-cross." So, Lisa quickly has the chance to kill Krabbapel with paper cutter, but she doesn't.

Bart confronts Lisa in the girl's bathroom. When Lisa asks him why he is there, he responds he wanted to check up on her and find out how girls pee. Definitley a laugh out loud moment there. Upon finding out that Lisa failed, he tells her that if she doesn't kill Edna, Willy will because he also was involved in a criss cross deal with Bart involving principal Skinner's head. Lisa realizes that Bart is officially a psychotic killer and decides she has no choice, but to kill him. A chase ensues and the drawings get really abstract and strange almost like a picasso work. Finally, Lisa meets Bart on a school yard spinning thing, but decides not to kill him. So she throws the knife away, but it ends up fatally hitting Bart in the head anyway. Edna is pleased. Overall, it was a really good story with a lot of laughs. My favorite of the night. I give it a B+.

The next two stories weren't as great.

The second one involved Krusty's Burger squared. It is a burger that contains the meat of a cow that was fed the meat of other cows. After taking a bite Kent Brockman is transformed into a zombie that eats people or as it is called in the episode, a muncher. When he bites Krusty, Krusty becomes a muncher. 28 days after this event, we find the Simpsons locked up in their home as the munchers rule the street, including a muncher Ralph who eats himself. Bart who is sick of eating healthy food in his home decides to sneak out to Krusty Burger for a hamburger that he sees on the table. When he returns his family assumes he is muncher so Homer attempts to hit him with a book. Lisa stops him insisiting that is the last book in world, but quickly changes her mind when finds out it's entitled Arsenio.

When they find out that Bart is not a muncher they consult Dr. Hibbert about what to do. Hibbert informs them that Bart is immune to the infection while fighting off several munchers. Soon, munchers start breaking into the Simpsons' home. Apu helps them to escape and even sacrifices his life for them to escape (or at least it seemed that way to the Simpsons). They eventually find a dead Mr. Burns on the ground. Homer teases him and he bites Homer and turns him into a Muncher. Eventually the make it to a safe zone. When they find out that Bart is immune to the disease, a person suggests that they eat Bart. Marge asks, "what people eat the flesh and blood of their savior?" To which Reverend Lovejoy awkwardly pulls at his collar. Instead they decide to allow Bart to bathe in their food and they remain healthy and immune to the muncher disease.

Overall, this episode had a few moments, but it felt like it went by too fast and I didn't enjoy the story too much. I give it a C+.

The last story was called, "There's No Business Like Moe Business." Basically the story involved, Homer accidentally falling in a trap door in Moe's and getting impailed on the liquor machine. His blood and guts cause the beer to be extra tasty. It even allows Moe to convince Marge that Homer left her because he is gay and that she should be with him instead. In the end, Marge's tears bring Homer back to life and is able to meet Marge although he is still impaled with the beer machine.

The good thing about this episode is the creativity with which it is setup. It is based on the play Sweeney Todd, so there is a lot singing, an audience, makeup artists who make Homer look like he is dying, curtains, and other cool things. Other than that it wasn't really funny and I didn't understand much of the references. I give it a C-.

I hope you enjoyed the episode more than I did.

Friday, October 16, 2009

See Your Own Simpsons Character on the Show!

-->picture of myself Simpsonized

Have you ever wanted to create a Simpsons character and see it on the show? Then here is your chance. According to Yahoo News, the show is having a contest in which you create and Simpsons character and if you win they will appear on a 2010 episode that will also include Coldplay's Chris Martin. In order to enter the contest you must be 18 years old and submit your entry to thesimpsons.com before October 23rd. The winner will be announced in November. The only rules seem to be that your character is a human (no Poochies -_-), the fit the overall coloring of Simpsons characters, and that they be funny. In your entry, you are expected "to describe the character's traits, including his or her name or nickname; age; appearance; occupation and catch phrases" (Yahoo News, Oct.14, 2009). Good luck creating your Simpsons character!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

20th Anniversary of the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror

--> Photo from FOX Broadcasting Company

As you might know this Sunday is the annual Treehouse of Horror episode of the Simpsons. But you might not know that is the 20th anniversary of the special show. I got an email from FOX stating that:

"THE SIMPSONS scares up three new bone-chilling tales of the strange, spooky and supernatural. The frightfest begins with an homage to classic Hitchcock films. Then, the scare-ific tricks continue in a parody of the horror film "28 Days Later." In a nod to the Broadway musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," Moe serves the bar flies a delicious microbrew mixed with Homer's blood in the third final frightening fable" (FOX Newsletter, FOX Broadcasting Company Oct. 2009).

Sounds interesting. I have not seen any Hitchcock films or the Sweeney Todd (I'll put that DVD on hold as soon as I post this), so I don't think I'll get all the jokes imbedded within the episode. So, yeah don't expect my review to be stellar.

I enjoyed last years Treehouse of Horror, especially that one with the Grand Pumpkin. I leave you with some of my favorite dialogue in the episode.

Grand Pumpkin: I dont care thats a yellow pumpkin
Nelson: huh you're a racist!
Grand Pumpkin: I dont care at least I admit it...Pumpkin segregation forever!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

"The Great Wife Hope" Recap


iO Cablevision Description: The men of Springfield becom obsessed with mixed martial arts; Marge and her friends decide to stage a protest.

Couch Gag: This is the same couch running away from the Simpsons. They follow its tracks and they finally find it in space and it meteors down to the house.

The episode starts at the Ladies Crazy bowling night. Marge was bowling with oven mittens, Lu-Ann (? or just Mrs. VanHouten) wore a blindfold and the others wore crazy accessories of their own. They then realize there are no men in the alley, only the crazy lady bowling her cats. We then see that the men are not at Moes, in the stadium, or at the police station.

We soon discover that allll the men are at the UPKCC or the Ultimate Punching, Kicking, and Choking Championships. After watching a fight, Homer urges Bart not to try what he has seen at home, but encouraged him to try to fight in the school yard so they can sue the school, the county, and the state. LoL.

So, of course all the boys are fighting in the school yard the next day. Nelson beats up Milhouse, but Bart manages to get him in a leg lock. When Marge comes to pick up the kids from school, she asks Lisa about Bart and Lisa encourages her to follow the "die, die, die" chant coming from the playground. Marge finds Bart fighting Nelson and immediately breaks them up. She warns him that if only her father knew that he would be in trouble, but then we see Homer cheering him on at the side of the scene.

Marge is upset and vents that "ultimate makes everything worse." Otto counters except frisbee...i have to disagree I had deal with a bloody finger after an intense game of ultimate frisbee in high school. She decides to do something about. So she leads a group of picketing mothers outside the nex UPKCC event. After seeing no quick results she decides to go inside the event...perfect opportunity for the other moms to turn talk crap about Marge and they take full advantage...Mrs. Hibbert questions why Maggie never talks and they assume that she has gone through some type of trauma.

Meanwhile Marge enters the fighting area, the Septagon, and the people worry when they realize that she has natual breasts ("that can't be good"). Marge then asks the owner to get out of the business and donate their profits to charity. The owner, Chett, agrees to shutdown the company if Marge fights him 1-on-1 and wins. Marge surprisingly accepts the challenge.

So, Bart and Homer encourage her not to fight, but Marge decides she will fight. Even Lisa ask Homer, against all the feminist bones in her body, "Can't you control your women?" Marge begins to prepar by rhythmic gymnastics...you know the kind with the ribbon? Yeah, I love it, but it's definitely not great practice for a fight.

Luckily, Marge gets some better training in. Homer asks Carl to hook him up with Drederick Tattum. Carl is upset because Homer assumes that he would know Tattum just because they are both black. Luckily for Homer he met Tattum at a party that for Bleeding Gums Murphy at Dr. Hibberts house (LoL remember when they were all driving to work together). So, Marge trains against Drederick Tattum by working the tattoos on his body, the Chinese guy who almost killed Homer with that poison blowfish, and "wrestles" Mr. Burns. She even gets pointers from the bullies who allow her to use their punching bag (Martin and Skinner are tied up inside). In a last ditch effort to stop the fight, Homer dresses up as Marge. But the only person who believes his imitation is Moe who takes him to his reunion.

After all of these efforts Marge is still set on fighting Chett. Homer urges her not to get, but as soon as the match begins Marge is knocked down by a single punch from Chett. Chett acknowledges that this is the "1st time a hit a woman I didn't love." Umm can someone say abuser, reminds me of the Chris Brown and Rihanna situation. Anyway, Bart enters the Septagon to save his mom, but Chett easily overpowers him and this time says "I'll fight anyone not my own size." So yeah Chett is a bully, too. The mother in Marge is awakened when she sees her child hurt and she quickly pins him.

After the fight Marge takes the opportunity to preach nonviolence, but the audience already left to watch two drunks fight in the parking lot. So yeah no one really learned anything from the ordeal except that Marge is the #1 nag.

The episode ended with Lisa and Bart about to fight in the septagon. After a black screen we see Lisa beat Bart with a single punch. I didn't expect that. Overall, I enjoyed this episode in its originality. It also had some good laughs. What did you think? By the way, Chett was played by Chuck Lidell...who is that?

Until next time readers :)

Friday, October 9, 2009

Marge Simpson Poses for Playboy?


Photo from the NY Post -->

Say it ain't so. Well unfortunately it is. Marge Simpson is posing for Playboy!

I just went on Twitter not too long ago and I saw that the name Marge Simpson as a trending topic. Initially, I was excited. I thought something awesome has happened for Marge to be popular. Then I began to think the worst. Oh no the lady who played Marge's voice must have passed away (I was wrong). I then clicked on the trending topic and saw that most posters were claiming that Marge was going to pose for the November issue of Playboy. So I had to check on google and looks like it's true. You can see from the pic of this post.

The prude in me is saying "what?! why is this happening? Why is this necessary?" Then I thought, "wait who would care to see a Simpsons character naked? We already saw parts of Bart that we never saw in the Simpsons movie and that wasn't too interesting. Just a little shocking. Who would enjoy this?" Finally, I thought a Simpsons character is a trending topic on Twitter and it showed that this is giving the Simpsons A LOT of publicity. Also there may be a crazy story behind it on the Simpsons and I think that everyone will love to see that episode.

According to the NY Post, there won't be any actual nudity, but implied nudity (makes me think of the episode where Homer and Marge were running around naked and stopped in front of yard pieces). Playboy are basically trying to attract younger readers to the magazine. I hope to see the pics, but I'm not buying the magazine.
Update:
The scans of Marge in Playboy are now online. It looks like Homer and Marge took these pics while they were living in Alaska after The Simpsons Movie. All I have to say is so much for "implied nudity." Check out the pics HERE.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

"Bart Gets a Z" Recap


I/O Cable Description: Bart and the rest of his class decided to teach Mrs. Krabappel a lesson when she confiscates their cell phones.

Chalkboard: Chalkboarding is not toture.

Everyone has been annoyed at their teacher, but would you go as far as to replace her coffee with alcohol in order to mellow her out? That is the question of last Sunday's episode of the Simpsons. But I've gotten ahead of myself.

The episode starts with Mrs. Krabappel waking up grading papers like any normal stressed out teacher. She says mantras in the mirrors ("today will be a good day") and drives to work while listening to million year old songs. However, she is faced with something that is relatively new, kids texting on their cell phones in class. She eventually confiscates all the student's cell phones.

The students decide to find a way make Edna a more enjoyable teacher. This leaves the students with the only one choice, to get as much liquor as possible (some get it from their parent's secret stashes while Bart takes the easy route with internet site Ebooze) to put in Edna's coffee. After replacing Edna's coffee with a crazy cocktail creation, she becomes a lot more fun (she wobbles down the hallway and hits on the music teacher). However, her behavior at the Goodbye to Exchange Students Ceremony is unacceptable and Skinner is forced to fire her.

Bart, who feels guilty for getting Edna fired, takes it upon himself to check in on Edna. When he discovers a broke and depressed Edna in her apartment he decides to help her. After drinking hot chocolate with Milhouse in the local coffee house, Bart learns about a book called the Answer. It provides the reader with the Answer to achieving their desires. Bart buys the book and decides to give it to Edna to help cheer her up.

Meanwhile at the school Bart's class has been assigned a young hip, Tufts graduate teacher named Zach. He drinks Blue Bronco (a play on Redbull) and texts the children their homework. His first assignment asks for 20 minutes of twittering. All the kids like him and Homer loves him because he advises him relax and allows him bawl loudly.

Bart, however, still feels guilty and helps Edna to find the Answer. The first step is to write her dream on the Index Card of Fate (owning a muffin shop), breaking down the desire into wishes and then converting them into wishable actions. In the end, Edna gets her muffin shop called Edna's Edibles and Bart gets Flame Vision. Bart decides this is the time to admit that he got the students to put alcohol in Edna's coffee that crazy morning. Edna is furious. She complains that although she achieved her dream, she is a ton of debt and that she moved onto the most muffin shop populated block in town (Muffin Marts, etc). In addition, she tells Bart that she thought he had a spark of decency, but admits she was wrong and tells Bart that he is also bad on the inside.

Bart is hurt and asks his dad if he thinks that he has a kernel of good in him. Homer remarks that a kernel is probably too big LoL. In order to prove that he has decency, Bart decides to tell Skinner that he was responsible for Edna's actions (as opposed to his initial plan that involved Zach's Blue Bronco and even more liquor). Skinner understands, but says that he will reward Bart's honesty in the form of a severe punishment and explains with the unions and stuff it is virtually impossible to fire Zach. But before they even finish conversing they hear Zach singing an "I Hate Children" song in the hall. He admits that he mixed his own Blue Bronco with Vodka. Zach is eventually escorted out by Willie, but he leaves with many awful messages (like school is a waste of time and many other ideas that seem kind of true once you're out in the real world).

Edna is soon reinstated and forces the children to eat stale muffins as revenge.

Overall, I thought it was a good story, not too funny, but still good. It definitely had heart this time and I enjoyed that it addressed contemporary issues like electronics and texting in the classroom.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Seth Rogen Voice Actor and Writer?


Hey, can't wait until Sunday, but until then just wanted to give a mini news update.

Well according to the Associated Press, he also co-wrote the latest episode ("Homer the Whopper"). He is the second person to both act and write in an episode. The first was Ricky Gervais in 2006 (I loved that episode).

Okay head back to my blog for a recap of the next episode.