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winna
Avatar Czar
DOOP Ubersecretary
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This isn't a new trend though. For over a decade the Simpsons has been padding their episodes with cameos from various celebrities, and although they can do a poor job with it, there are also times where the episodes are elevated by the guest appearance.
They don't bother me so much, because it's new material regardless, and I don't expect them to be able to pull 40 years of genuine material out of a whole in the wall.
This is definitely Simpsons territory though, and the suggestion that they might be copying off of another's shows formula is preposterous. As South Park suggested, and it's very true, the Simpsons did it, and it's major influence into the fact that mainstream animation has become more prevalent, especially at the adult level, since the 1990s.
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JoshTheater
Space Pope
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« Reply #698 on: 12-20-2011 22:20 »
« Last Edit on: 12-20-2011 22:45 »
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Time for some Wikipedia action...celebrities who have played themselves on The Simpsons: Season 2 Tony Bennett Larry King Ringo Starr Neil Patrick Harris Season 3 Magic Johnson Aerosmith Sting Wade Boggs Jose Canseco Roger Clemens Ken Griffey Jr. Don Mattingly Steve Sax Mike Scioscia Ozzie Smith Darryl Strawberry Season 4 Joe Frazier Bob Hope Tom Jones Linda Rondstadt Adam West Leonard Nimoy Joyce Brothers Brooke Shields Barry White David Crosby Johnny Carson Hugh Hefner Bette Midler Luke Perry Red Hot Chili Peppers Elizabeth Taylor Barry White Season 5 David Crosby George Harrison The Ramones James Brown Ernest Borgnine Gerry Cooney Robert Goulet Conan O'Brien James Woods Buzz Aldrin James Taylor Season 6 Dr. Demento Larry King Dennis Franz Dick Cavett Johnny Unitas Mel Brooks Steve Allen Tito Puente Season 7 Tito Puente Mickey Rooney Linda McCartney Paul McCartney Paul Anka Tom Kite Bob Newhart Suzanne Somers Cypress Hill Peter Frampton The Smashing Pumpkins Sonic Youth Season 8 Michael Buffer Leonard Nimoy Bret Hart Tim Conway Season 9 Fyvush Finkel Roy Firestone Joe Namath Stephen Jay Gould Alex Trebek Bruce Baum Janeane Garofalo Bobcat Goldthwait Jay Leno Steven Wright Bob Denver Paul McGuinness Susie Smith U2 Season 10 Kathie Lee Gifford Ed McMahon Regis Philbin Jerry Springer Alec Baldwin Kim Basinger Brian Grazer Ron Howard Mark Hamill The Moody Blues Cyndi Lauper Troy Aikman Rosey Grier John Madden Dan Marino Rupert Murdoch Dolly Parton Pat Summerall Ed Begley Jr. Elton John Jasper Johns Jack LaLanne Stephen Hawking That's just through season 10. I suppose I did exaggerate when I said almost every other episode ( ), but still, they did it quite a lot more than you probably remember. And the reason you don't remember many of them is because most of them were such bit parts...a simple "Hey look it's that person!" appearance. Adam West's appearance is probably the best example of that. I agree that they do it a bit more often now, and I didn't mean to say that they don't...but they definitely did it a fair amount back then as well.
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cyber_turnip
Urban Legend
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Time for some Wikipedia action...celebrities who have played themselves on The Simpsons:
Season 2 Tony Bennett Larry King Ringo Starr Neil Patrick Harris Season 3 Magic Johnson Aerosmith Sting Wade Boggs Jose Canseco Roger Clemens Ken Griffey Jr. Don Mattingly Steve Sax Mike Scioscia Ozzie Smith Darryl Strawberry Season 4 Joe Frazier Bob Hope Tom Jones Linda Rondstadt Adam West Leonard Nimoy Joyce Brothers Brooke Shields Barry White David Crosby Johnny Carson Hugh Hefner Bette Midler Luke Perry Red Hot Chili Peppers Elizabeth Taylor Barry White Season 5 David Crosby George Harrison The Ramones James Brown Ernest Borgnine Gerry Cooney Robert Goulet Conan O'Brien James Woods Buzz Aldrin James Taylor Season 6 Dr. Demento Larry King Dennis Franz Dick Cavett Johnny Unitas Mel Brooks Steve Allen Tito Puente Season 7 Tito Puente Mickey Rooney Linda McCartney Paul McCartney Paul Anka Tom Kite Bob Newhart Suzanne Somers Cypress Hill Peter Frampton The Smashing Pumpkins Sonic Youth Season 8 Michael Buffer Leonard Nimoy Bret Hart Tim Conway Season 9 Fyvush Finkel Roy Firestone Joe Namath Stephen Jay Gould Alex Trebek Bruce Baum Janeane Garofalo Bobcat Goldthwait Jay Leno Steven Wright Bob Denver Paul McGuinness Susie Smith U2 Season 10 Kathie Lee Gifford Ed McMahon Regis Philbin Jerry Springer Alec Baldwin Kim Basinger Brian Grazer Ron Howard Mark Hamill The Moody Blues Cyndi Lauper Troy Aikman Rosey Grier John Madden Dan Marino Rupert Murdoch Dolly Parton Pat Summerall Ed Begley Jr. Elton John Jasper Johns Jack LaLanne Stephen Hawking That's just through season 10. I suppose I did exaggerate when I said almost every other episode (), but still, they did it quite a lot more than you probably remember. And the reason you don't remember many of them is because most of them were such bit parts...a simple "Hey look it's that person!" appearance. Adam West's appearance is probably the best example of that.
I agree that they do it a bit more often now, and I didn't mean to say that they don't...but they definitely did it a fair amount back then as well.
To be fair as well, that list gives no context. For example, Neil Patrick Harris had one line in his episode and was only "on TV" in the episode. It's not like his car broke down outside and he had to stay at the Simpsons' house until it could be fixed and then he fell in love with Selma and they got married in spite of him being gay because Selma was just mannish enough to make it work. And almost all of those season 3/season 4 stars come from one, single episode in the season: Homer at the Bat and Krusty Gets Cancelled respectively. It just felt as if guest stars were utilised better on the whole back in the day. Take Michael Jackson for instance, appearing as a big, fat, white man in a mental institution who believes that he's Michael Jackson. That's a stroke of meta-genius. Paul and Linda McCartney appearing on the Kwik-E-Mark roof top because they just so happen to be friends with Apu, despite us never hearing of them before or after, because they're tenuously linked to the plot by vegetarianism on the other hand is considerably weaker... and that was still when the show tried to make it fit for the most part.
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DannyJC13
DOOP Secretary
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That's where Futurama is starting to go wrong. Trying to make jokes based on stuff from our time and what's big in the news at the time the episode is made. The show is set in the future, it shouldn't keep coming back to the past...
Futurama should be able to last as long as the Simpsons without going downhill, if it stays away from the pop culture and the constant references to the past (I mean 2000 onwards, before Fry got frozen makes sense)... There are more than enough crazy stories they can create with the power of the time period and the setting(s).
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cyber_turnip
Urban Legend
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A great video explaining why The Simpsons' humor has changed completely since the golden era: The Simpsons Is Still Funny, Part 2
It seems that the video has been taken down, but my God, if it's anything like the arguments he makes in part 1, it's complete bunk. I can go back and watch seasons 3-9 and they're ever bit as incredibly hilarious and incredibly well-written as they ever were. I've revisited a lot of childhood favourites and this is not the case. I still appreciate shows like 'SpongeBob SquarePants' and 'The Fairly OddParents' but I don't find them as funny or inspired or original or well-written as I used to think that they were. Why is it that my tastes have matured and I can recognise that with every show/film except for 'The Simpsons'. I got into the show right at the start of season 3 due to a selection of episodes from the first three seasons so by all logic, I should hold seasons 1-3 in the highest regard because those episodes hold the most 'nostalgia' for me, surely? And it was after the first few season 13 episodes that I gave up following the show religiously but that wasn't because I 'grew up and went to college'. Hell, I was only 11. I simply recognised that the show wasn't really very good any more and that I didn't enjoy it as much. I also now had 'Futurama' to ease the blow on giving up on a show that was, at the time, such a huge part of my life. That didn't take away from how much I loved the older episodes. (For the record, I have since, this year - for no real reason - watched every single episode of the show from seasons 13-23 - more than anything out of morbid curiosity just in case anybody was wondering why I claimed to have stopped watching the show when I still comment on the newer episodes in this thread).
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JoshTheater
Space Pope
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« Reply #714 on: 12-28-2011 05:50 »
« Last Edit on: 12-28-2011 05:56 »
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A great video explaining why The Simpsons' humor has changed completely since the golden era: The Simpsons Is Still Funny, Part 2
It seems that the video has been taken down, but my God, if it's anything like the arguments he makes in part 1, it's complete bunk.
It's actually nothing like what he says in Part 1, and I actually agree with you about Part 1, which is why I didn't link it. I had a lot of problems with what he said in Part 1. Even though some of what he says holds wate, his overall point is just plain wrong. I think after seeing some of the comments on Part 1, he mellowed out a little bit for Part 2. What he says in Part 2 is actually much more agreeable, well thought-out, researched, and less upfront opinion-wise. Don't listen to Beanoz, even though the video isn't going to make you change your mind (it didn't change mine) he's not really trying to in this one, and rather just gives some nice insight on what made the series so good in the golden era that I hadn't thought of before. A nice watch, even if not a mind-blower. Also, the video is totally still there and my link works. Not really sure what problem you ran into, but you should try again.
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DotheBartman
Liquid Emperor
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That video is interesting, but too monolithic in the way it describes the early seasons. It's true that The Simpsons were in part a parody of and certainly a reaction to other sitcoms...however, it was a lot more than that. It satirized pretty much everything in American society, and was initially meant to be (in some respects) a more "realistic" version of American family life than other sitcoms were doing, rather than just being a straightforward parody. And it had character-driven stories along with the spoofs. More could be said, but suffice to say, trying to boil The Simpsons down to being just a spoof of other sitcoms is just as foolhardy as suggesting that Futurama is strictly a parody of The Jetsons.
That said, I actually do agree with the author that the world around The Simpsons itself has changed, and this has effected its relevance to the modern age. However, generally speaking, this would tend to be a pretty reasonable argument for a show going off the air.
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