Jokes We Don't Get

[Charmy]

Originally posted by Robbie Whisman
Lets look at the similarities:
Fat father
Stay at home mom
Older brother
Younger sister
Smart baby
Grandparent there alot
TV watching family
Mean boss

Hmmm, it could possibly be. Never thought of it.

With the exception of watching tv, those are pretty much all tv conventions. It's not really much to base such an accusation on.

[Leopold]

In "The Springfield Files", Homer tries a new kind of beer, called 'Red Tick'. He comments on the taste, and we can see dogs swimming in the Red Tick beer at the brewery. Is there anything else to the joke than that you don't normally have dogs swimming in the beer at breweries?

[brazilian812]

the joke is that Red Tick beer gets its taste from actual ticks. and since many ticks live on dogs, they have 'em swimming with the beer to give it its flavor. so the joke is that u dont have dogs making the flavor of beers

[Miss Springfield]

Whatever you say Dondelinger...

Thats MR Dondelinger??

huh?

[Andy]

Joke there is that 'dondelinger' is basically a nonsense word synonymous with 'moron' or 'idiot.' Or maybe 'penis.' (Not sure, but it could be.) Just Mr. Dondelinger trying to correct others to use his last name as a name and not as an insult.

[Clarence]

What the fuck was up with that prunes joke in the new episode? It wasn't funny and was way too long and made no sence...???!

[necrulez]

Originally posted by Clarence
What the fuck was up with that prunes joke in the new episode? It wasn't funny and was way too long and made no sence...???!

yeh...i was wondering the same thing, though i still found it pretty funny...

anyone?

[brazilian812]

the California Prunes is a parody of teh late 80's, ealry 90's California Raisens, which were these clay-mation raisens that had their own band and did music videos and such. they were, from what i remember, extremly popular, with stuffed animals and action figures of them

I think that the Prune bit is one of the best paordies the Simpsons have done yet.

[kane]

Two jokes I don't get:

In "Guess Who's Coming To Criticise Dinner" the guy who makes the huge eclair sais "Now that's one-ah spicey meatball-ah" in the usually mocked Italian accent. Is this a joke or what? the whole part of him making that eclair seems empty after making the eclair. Was it just a usual Italian thing or what?

DAMN I CAN'T REMEMBER MY SECOND ONE :angry:
they're all from episodes I watched tonight. I think it's from "A streetcar named Marge" but I forget the scene etc. I just picture Homer (can't remember who else) outside in the dark I think and something (or nothing) is said but then a man walking his dog (in a slightly different drawing style) goes past and it seemed quite weird

Sorry I can't explain it fully

[whisman]

In "The Front", when Ren and Stimpy are nomiated for the award, the screen shows something like "Clip Not Finished". What does this mean? I dont really like Ren and Stimpy that much.

Edit: Woah, I just noticed- post #1000

[Crotis Jivefunk]

Originally posted by Robbie Whisman
In "The Front", when Ren and Stimpy are nomiated for the award, the screen shows something like "Clip Not Finished". What does this mean? I dont really like Ren and Stimpy that much.

Edit: Woah, I just noticed- post #1000

Congratulations, here's a peanut butter cookie. Anyways, the joke is that they didn't complete the episode clip. It was most likely in pencil form when it was nominated.

[whisman]

Thanks for the tidbit and the cookie. Peanut butter is my favorite, how did you know?

[Moose of Doom!]

Originally posted by The Yes Guy
DAMN I CAN'T REMEMBER MY SECOND ONE :angry:
they're all from episodes I watched tonight. I think it's from "A streetcar named Marge" but I forget the scene etc. I just picture Homer (can't remember who else) outside in the dark I think and something (or nothing) is said but then a man walking his dog (in a slightly different drawing style) goes past and it seemed quite weird

The man is a cariciture of Alfred Hitchcock. The scene before that, with the room full of babies sucking pacifiers and Homer's spooked reaction, is a reference to Hitchcock's The Birds (specifically the last scene). What makes it even funnier is that Hitchcock always had a little cameo in his movies and in The Birds he was seen walking his dogs outside a pet shop.

[Andy]

Originally posted by Strong Sad
Congratulations, here's a peanut butter cookie. Anyways, the joke is that they didn't complete the episode clip. It was most likely in pencil form when it was nominated.

...because back in 1992/3, the folks at Spumco were notorious for turning out R&S verrrrrry slowwwwly, agitating the rabid fans. This was one of the catalysts that led to Nickelodeon taking over the show and firing John K.

[whisman]

What channel was Ren and Stimpy on before Nickelodeon then?

[Crotis Jivefunk]

Originally posted by Robbie Whisman
Thanks for the tidbit and the cookie. Peanut butter is my favorite, how did you know?

They're my favorite, I was being generous. Anyways, Ren and Stimpy aired on MTV uncut while new episodes were being produced in the early 1990's.

[Roger Myers III]

Dinosaurs
Well, yes, I suppose you can say that those are each "tv conventions", "stock characters" for the "standard sitcom family". And there are all sorts of varying degrees of "ripping off" material. But there's some more to it than just

Red Tick
Its a bit vague - "Red Tick" is the brand. If its also the "flavor", then the dogs would be the source for the ticks, or the means to deliver them into the vat. On the other hand, "Red Tick" may just be the name on the label. All we know for sure is that the source of the mystery flavor is at least partially derived from the dogs themselves, because the vat's Taster decides that "it needs more dog."

Dondelinger
"Dondelinger" isn't a joke or reference - its a real last name. [Its derived from the latin for "fierce tongue," which seems appropriate, but I'm not claiming the Harvard eggheads named him for that reason.] The schoolboys call him just "Dondelinger", which is very overly-familiar - in fact its rude for a child to call an adult by his or her last name only, and extremely disrespectful for a kid to do to his teacher or pricipal. (Even if its 'okay' for kids to do it today, it was not done in 1974, to an adult man.) The principal then curtly corrects their sass by insisting on the "Mr."

Prunes
Actually, the "California Raisins" were pretty much gone by 1990, with the demise of their Saturday morning (2-D) cartoon series. They began life in 1987, created and animated by claymation master Will Vinton on hire by the grape & raisin trade association to boost consumer awareness & sales, which they really did. They acted, spoke, sang & danced in the manner of Motown soul/R&B vocal groups, and their first ad & trademark song was "I Heard It Through The Grapevine." Of course, given a little notoriety, a rash of spin-off products such as T-shirts, small rubber figurines, and other tchochkes were produced - one of the first Advertising logos to prove that they could make much more money from licensing than from the business that ordered it! The raisins also began to do ads for other foods, like takeout pizza & fried chicken, which probably could be called "oversaturation", but before they disappeared, they, of course, appeared as the stars of CBS's "A Claymation Christmas Celebration," on 12/21/87. Oh, and the obvious connection - dried grapes - raisins; dried plums - prunes.

Eclair
The joke is in the reference: "That's-a spicy meatball" was a slogan for Alka-Seltzer in the 60s & 70s, referring back to its popular ad of a guy eating, and that night, regretting, a very spicy meatball made by his old-world Italian relative (Aunt? Grandma?), accompanied by visuals alluding to his exploding stomach.

Hitchcock
Moose nailed it

Ren & Stimpy
I thought that Nick had 'fired' John K in late '91, and that the joke was that it wasn't known when the next batch would be completed, or who would truly produce them (since their true creator wouldn't be). But I'm not the biggest Kric fan - when was the firing, the next batch done, and by whom?
[BTW - MTV & Nickelodeon were and are both owned by Viacom corporation - so it was the same owner, whoring the popular characters to raise the ratings on their less-popular channel.]

[joe]

"Milhouse likes Vasoline on toast..."



?

I don't get the joke, even though it makes me laugh everytime.

[Tibor]

I think it's just a kind of random "Milhouse is really weird" thing. I believe it's Lisa's response to Bart when he suggests a better boyfriend than Nelson for Lisa. It may or may not be a Flaming Lips reference.

[Hannibal or Rex]

Originally posted by Roger Myers III

Ren & Stimpy
I thought that Nick had 'fired' John K in late '91, and that the joke was that it wasn't known when the next batch would be completed, or who would truly produce them (since their true creator wouldn't be). But I'm not the biggest Kric fan - when was the firing, the next batch done, and by whom?

The last strike of three for John K was the episode "Dog Show" at the end of 1992. Then he was fired and Games Productions took over production. Their first several episodes aired were a lot of Spumco material taken and chopped up and edited and whatnot. "Monkey See Monkey Don't" was the first episode with Billy West doing both Ren and Stimpy's voices. The first episode using completely Games Animation was "To Salve or not to Salve" in late 1993. A bigshot with Games was Bob Camp, who was a writer for Spumco's staff and a close friend of John K's. His defection to Games, thusly stabbing his friends in the back, should be frowned upon.

[Miss Springfield]

Whats flaming lips (vaseline on toast Milhouse) LMAO @ popular clay-mation raisins....

[Leopold]

Originally posted by brooke2003
Whats flaming lips (vaseline on toast Milhouse)

The Flaming Lips are a band. One of their songs, She Don't Use Jelly, has these lyrics;

I know a girl who thinks of ghosts
She'll make ya breakfast
She'll make ya toast
She don't use butter
She don't use cheese
She don't use jelly
Or any of these
She uses vaseline

[joe]

While I admit that I may be totally wrong, I have a feeling it is no reference to the Flaming Lips...

[jesle]

Originally posted by Roger Myers III


Eclair
The joke is in the reference: "That's-a spicy meatball" was a slogan for Alka-Seltzer in the 60s & 70s, referring back to its popular ad of a guy eating, and that night, regretting, a very spicy meatball made by his old-world Italian relative (Aunt? Grandma?), accompanied by visuals alluding to his exploding stomach.

I hate to doubt you, Roger Myers III, as you are always the expert on everything...but I think your explanation may be off. The actual reference is from, like you said, the Alka-Seltzer commercials. But the context of the quote is that the commercial is a PARODY of commercials. The character who says the infamous catch-phrase is a large Italian man who is constantly being given a plate full of spaghetti and meatballs. Each time his wife gives him the plate, he takes a bite of the meatball and says "That's-a spicy meatball!" However, the joke of the entire commercial is that the character continually messes up his lines or something goes wrong with the background (i.e. the oven door opens accidently) so that the take is messed up and they have to shoot it again. Finally, the joke is that this actor has consumed so many meatballs after doing a number of takes that he has indigestion. Thus, he needs to take some Alka-Seltzer.

The funny thing about the entire commercial is that people forgot that it was for Alka-Seltzer and, as the catch-phrase grew in popularity, people assumed it was for spaghetti sauce! I believe sales for tomato sauces even went up...which is really ironic. Anyway, I just wanted to clarify where the phrase came from. Otherwise, you are always right on the money, RMIII.

[Roger Myers III]

Hannibal or Rex: Thanks for all the R&S info!!

Jesle: I can't believe I forgot the big "twist" in the premise of the commercial - thanks for pointing it out. We also forgot to mention the absurdity of the Frenchman remarking to himself about his eclair in an Italian accent.

And a couple of friends who are big Flaming Lips fans have pointed out to me that the phrase "Vaseline on toast" actually dates back to at least the 60s, as a cute way of calling someone bland and flavorless.

[whisman]

Question: In C.E.D'oh (the episode where Homer takes over the plant) Marge goes on making up words like "bibble" as in:

"Who gives a bibble"

She does this during dinner and I still have no idea why she is doing that. What is the deal with that scene?

[Crotis Jivefunk]

It's just a polite way of saying who gives a shit. It's gibberish, like bananaramading or give peace a chance.

[Andy]

Originally posted by Robbie Whisman
She does this during dinner and I still have no idea why she is doing that. What is the deal with that scene?

I guess the writers let Marge ramble because they needed to fill time. I thought it was a rather dumb scene, and Marge was acting way too loopy, like she does infrequently in the later seasons.

[Roger Myers III]

2 elements.

The nonsense words are simply Marge's 'substitutions' for curse words & swearing, which she does either out of her characteristic politeness (a la when Flanders 'curses'), or because the children are right there listening (a la Homer's euphemisms after the 'swear jar' was installed b/c he cursed around Rod & Todd - "Fiddle-dee-dee, that will require a tetanus shot!"). Subbing in cutesy nonsense words in either of those situations is quite commonly done by polite adults. (Except the "Gabba gabba hey" phrase she uses, which is a previously-used signature lyric of "The Ramones".)

Marge is basically reciting a "positive self-affirmation", sort of like the psychobabble that she and Homer practiced under Brad Goodman, (or SNL's "Stuart Smalley" skits), with a touch of the advice about 'the importance of smiling' that she got - and rejected - from her own mother in "Moaning Lisa". Marge goes through practically the same routine twice, very mechanically and unconvincingly, showing that her opinion is not genuine, but sort of a 'routine' she's going through to force herself to stay calm and not stress react emotionally, and to put on 'a brave face' for the children. The act is very weird and unconvincing - and a crack in the facade shows through on her second run-through, when she lets slip that Homer's alcoholism is a serious problem with roots in family dysfunction, but says it in the same sing-songy lackadaisical manner.


BTW, Whisman - which "What's the signifcance of Homer's Gleason quote?" answer was the one you were looking for?

[whisman]

On My Mother the Car Jacker, Homer exits his bedroom by saying "and awayyy we go", and I wondered what that was supposed to be. Hilarious though.

In Homers Barbershop Quartet, what does Paul Harveys story on the radio mean? He talks about someone I have no clue about.