The Big Picture: The Simpsons Is Still Funny, Part 2

[Jennacide]

I still think one of the bigger upsets against the Simpsons is how comedy has evolved. Futurama set the bar very high for cartoon comedy, as it aimed to be an upper class of comedy, using some lower brow jokes, but mostly aiming for the rafters with some truely nerdy jokes. Then came along other shows that did a better job of parody and satire, like South Park or Venture Bros, though the latter is more parody of cartoon tropes than reality.

 

[uguito-93]

I wasn't even born during the so-called "golden age", instead I got introduced to the simpsons during the 2000's when re-runs where constantly shown. This means that I saw all the preceding seasons out of order, so I never made a distinction between the 2 decades of episodes that where being shown. To me all of those episodes where good.

These days I do think that Simpsons aren't funny anymore. After the horrible movie the series just seemed to go down hill for me and I haven't seen a new episode since 2009.

 

[Palindromemordnilap_v1legacy]

Though I'm a bit behind in keeping up with the newer series, have to say that what I have seen is still way waaaay better than a lot of its peers like South Park anything Seth McFarlane churns out. So it has that.
I dunno, maybe I need to see more American comedy cartoons. Lets see if I can find anywhere that shows that Ugly Americans thing

 

[Melon Hunter]

I feel out of touch with the internet in not understanding why there are so many MLP avatars in this thread, nor why they all seem to be genuine

Maybe I need to reinstall stumble

Because there is a good amount of bronies on this site, and on this site it's nice to fit into a group so we get an avatar to tell people how we feel about it things. Also, not many of the pony avatars are actually original and thought out. Some of them are just a meme easily copied from a site such as ponychan, but avatars like mine or Caramel Frappe are actually original and only we have these avatars. So no, not many of the pony avatars are "genuine". But they definetly are real.

Hey, not all of us have the time or expertise to make such complex GIFs! I know my own avatar is just an animated screencap, but it's not following a meme. I just really like glowy eyes Luna. I love your and Caramel's custom avatars, but that is waaay beyond what most of us could do.

OT: I can't really say the Simpsons was ever a landmark show for me, having had my childhood in the late 90s/early 2000s when it was on the wane. It was always in the background as a funny show, but I've honestly found it surprising how important it was a cultural force back in its early days.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

I feel out of touch with the internet in not understanding why there are so many MLP avatars in this thread, nor why they all seem to be genuine

Maybe I need to reinstall stumble

Because there is a good amount of bronies on this site, and on this site it's nice to fit into a group so we get an avatar to tell people how we feel about it things. Also, not many of the pony avatars are actually original and thought out. Some of them are just a meme easily copied from a site such as ponychan, but avatars like mine or Caramel Frappe are actually original and only we have these avatars. So no, not many of the pony avatars are "genuine". But they definetly are real.

Hey, not all of us have the time or expertise to make such complex GIFs! I know my own avatar is just an animated screencap, but it's not following a meme. I just really like glowy eyes Luna. I love your and Caramel's custom avatars, but that is waaay beyond what most of us could do.

Well personally I love you'r avatar. Also, I didn't really do most of the work on this myself, I just got the idea for it. I asked around the MLP escapist chat for a good site for MLP GIFs, they found me a pretty good site (I think it may of been a blog owned by a member of the group). I then picked the picture of Pinkie Pie flopping about. I then asked TimeLord (Who had done some avatar work for me before) to resize it, change the background to a more psychedelic one and up the speed a bit. It really didn't take much work from me, it just took the kindness of the MLP user group. What I was talking about in my post was the countless Pony Avatars with just some tired old meme that is outdated even in brony culture. But TBH, I really don't care and I reckon I got a bit ranty in that post. So sorry if I offended anybody.

 

[Melon Hunter]

I feel out of touch with the internet in not understanding why there are so many MLP avatars in this thread, nor why they all seem to be genuine

Maybe I need to reinstall stumble

Because there is a good amount of bronies on this site, and on this site it's nice to fit into a group so we get an avatar to tell people how we feel about it things. Also, not many of the pony avatars are actually original and thought out. Some of them are just a meme easily copied from a site such as ponychan, but avatars like mine or Caramel Frappe are actually original and only we have these avatars. So no, not many of the pony avatars are "genuine". But they definetly are real.

Hey, not all of us have the time or expertise to make such complex GIFs! I know my own avatar is just an animated screencap, but it's not following a meme. I just really like glowy eyes Luna. I love your and Caramel's custom avatars, but that is waaay beyond what most of us could do.

Well personally I love you'r avatar. Also, I didn't really do most of the work on this myself, I just got the idea for it. I asked around the MLP escapist chat for a good site for MLP GIFs, they found me a pretty good site (I think it may of been a blog owned by a member of the group). I then picked the picture of Pinkie Pie flopping about. I then asked TimeLord (Who had done some avatar work for me before) to resize it, change the background to a more psychedelic one and up the speed a bit. It really didn't take much work from me, it just took the kindness of the MLP user group. What I was talking about in my post was the countless Pony Avatars with just some tired old meme that is outdated even in brony culture. But TBH, I really don't care and I reckon I got a bit ranty in that post. So sorry if I offended anybody.

I see. Maybe I'll try and come up with something if that's the process then. I've behaved in my classic way when changing my avatar. This was supposed to just be for Halloween, but I like it too much too go back to my former avatar. And don't worry, you didn't offend me!

 

[PunkRex]

MLP FiM vs Adventure Time... for gawd sake Bob don't open that box I got stuff to do tonight!

 

[triggrhappy94]

I have to go and watch all the older episodes now, because I think I've only seen one out of Bob's five.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

I don't care what anyone says, Adventure Time, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and Regular Show all have a special place in my heart, along with some outliers like Phineas and Ferb and The Amazing World of Gumball. I just love them for how awesomely absurd and weird they are, it's a style I haven't seen in a long time. All of these have quality animation, quality writing, and quality everything else pretty much. They really are much better than they have any business being. The way I see it, I think there's been a revival to the cartoon genre thanks to these shows as they all bring me back to the days where I'd get up for Saturday morning cartoons. I think you'd be able to do an episode on that whole concept of the Saturday cartoon dieing off until this started, but then again this is probably nostalgia talking.

^QFT

I've been documented [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.209746-Cartoons-of-the-90s] as saying that the 90's were truly the last great cartoon era, and I'm VERY happy to report that Adventure Time, Gumball, MLP: FiM, etc. are a brilliant sign that cartoonists are finally taking back their profession.

Back in the dark ages (read early 2001) it seemed almost as if marketing took over cartoons rather than their creators and their imaginations.... Actually, I think I'm going to write a followup piece to my "Cartoons of the 90's" post.

Side Note: Gumball has probably the most imaginative art style of them all right now.
Composing live action with cartoons? Brilliant!

 

[Hazy992]

I think the main problem I have with the Simpsons nowadays is that writers seem to have forgotten the difference between parody and referencing. Most of the pop culture jokes today are nothing really more than ''IPHONES AND XBOX AND FACEBOOK AND JUSTIN BIEBER!!! THOSE THINGS EXIST!!!'' and the celebrity cameos are pointless 9 times out of 10 and feel crowbarred in.

The characters have also become distinctly unlikeable; Homer for example has gone from a short-sighted but ultimately loveable oaf to someone bordering on sociopathic. The only change in direction for a character I like is Mr Burns. I think changing him from evil to being more eccentric was a good choice for him.

 

[Alphamarigi]

I saw the first episode of FiM I don't get it. The visuals were nauseating the plot wasn't there and Spike was severely lacking in the spike department.

 

[Aisaku]

Bob, you've hit the nail on the head on why I prefer Futurama over the Simpsons. I can actually relate to it.

Plus it bothers me that no matter what the show is about, all the existing cast bend over backwards to fit it. They're going whale hunting? Why of course Apu and Moe would be perfect crewmates! ¬ ¬

 

[badpun]

He pretty much hit it on the head, simpsons haven't changed just the world and our perception of them has.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

So apparently one brief mention of FiM means that the feedback is going to be more about that than the actual episode. Alright then.

I stopped keeping up with The Simpsons somewhere around the 11th or 12th season. Yeah, I was getting older, but I sincerely feel that the show's humor got worse. The mid-to-late 90's episodes still hold up wonderfully, but somewhere along the way the humor just wasn;t anywhere near that same level.

HOWEVER: I checked out a few episodes from the previous season, and those were honestly quite good. Seriously guys, give them a shot.

 

[Redd the Sock]

I'm not sure I entirely buy the logic in that. It might explain why it may be having trouble findiong new viewership in people not routinely exposed to the Bradeys, Huxtables, Tanners, Seevers, ect, but not why those of us that still can get the parody think it fell off somewhere.

I still contend the problem is overexposure, and not just in that after 400 episodes, it's hard to stay fresh. Watching the Christmas episode this year I did a double take as the photos they used to progress to the future showed lisa had brought home girls as significate others. That was a story I wouldn't mind seeing, and not for obvious reasons. It just feels like we've done everything and then some with Bart and Lisa as children and it has long passed the time to move on to their teen years. Ample parody fodder there in sit-coms and dramas. Sadly, they've been stuck in their ages, characters and jokes, and the rest of the cast has largely been the same. Yeah, we sober up Barney for a few years and hook up Skinner and Krabapple for a few, but little sticks, Mod Flanders' death being the only one I can think of. Comedy needs to stay fresh, and the Simpsons' is up there with OJ jokes.

 

[Berithil]

Eh, I watched a little bit of adventure time. It was little weird in its complete randomness. In my opinion it lacked the charm and cheerfulness (and the awesome Greek myth and fairy tale references) of MLP, which are a couple of the reasons I enjoy it so much. But, you know, to each is own.

As for the Simpsons, I don't follow it enough to know when the crappy episodes aired or look into it too much. From my point of view, some episodes are good, some are bad. /shrug

 

[praetor_alpha]

Bob, you could have done it, but you are disappoint:

THE SIMPSONS ARE WEIRD!!!