Season 23 Information Thread

[horatio huffnagel]

I have to agree with the last few opinions here. That train plot does not seem that interesting. At all. That Price interview was great and all of those plots seem amazing to me, including At Long Last Leave, but this one just seems pretty boring. Does the closing of I&S land correspond with the roger myers jr. plot we read about. If that is the case and the homer, bart, lovejoy, cbg, train thing is a sub-plot of that episode; I'm okay with that. It's still boring, but it'll be short and not the focus of the episode. I really hope that is the case.

[Cartoonnetwork]

Except for the fact that it focuses on a pretty odd hobby I fail to see what's so terrible about it. It doesn't sound extremely surreal or weird and it makes place for some secondary characters, which is usually good.

[Reverend Lovejoy]

Except for the fact that it focuses on a pretty odd hobby I fail to see what's so terrible about it. It doesn't sound extremely surreal or weird and it makes place for some secondary characters, which is usually good.

Okay, I'll bite; it IS a decent role for Lovejoy, even if the situation itself is somewhat bizarre. We are talking about the guy who turned down his wife for his trains (although it really does seem to me like certain characters are being fitted into places, rather than having places made for them). I don't even really mind model railroading being mentioned; they've focused on hobbies before, after all. That plot is just odd, to say the least.

[That Don Guy]

However, there is only so much you can do with the not aging part; you have to take into consideration the writing, the appeal, the plots, the intelligence of the audience. You can have the characters remain the same but it isn't going to do any good is the material isn't. I'm surprised he failed to mention the Peanuts since all of those animated characters not aging descends from them but eh, I'll let it slide. He should keep in mind that the voice actors can suffer the same things as the end of the paragraph though, just because it's animated does not mean it can't inherit the same problems.

Characters not aging in comic strips predates Peanuts by decades. Did The Katzenjammer Kids - or The Yellow Kid, for that matter - ever age? Did Swee'pea (from Popeye)?

Not aging has two advantages.
One, you can stop the show and then pick up where you left off years later (The Jetsons managed this - not very well, mind you, but they managed it).
Two, it prevents what causes most shows with kids in them from crashing and burning - what happens when the cute kids are no longer cute? Did anybody really want to watch a teenage Gary Coleman in the final season of Diff'rent Strokes? The real secret to The Simpsons' success: Bart is still 10 years old - and he's going to stay that way.

The Simspons Comics manage to illustrate that better then the episodes; which rehash plots/situations, doesn't take any major steps or risks and feels the need to be complacent 100% of the time. I mean you shouldn't be embracing your " famous sitcom" image, you should be making fun of it/trashing it.

This works both ways - I have seen people "demand" that the comics be considered part of the canon (and their defense is, "Matt Groening's signature is on the comics!").

So why is it that all of these episodes are filled with guest starts then? Not only that, but obvious guest starts. If you don't want to do guest stars for the sake of having guest stars then don't do guest stars. All these guest stars do is show how low the show has gotten.

By "guest stars for the sake of guest stars," I think he meant that there don't do episodes tailored around guest stars, the way Glee does. There still must be quite a few celebrities who want to be (or have children who demand that they be) on the show.

Maybe it's best to self-censor. I mean it could lead to the people to think harder to make that unique joke rather then joking off. Who cares if it leads to a very little getting pitched, maybe that very little is quality material.

Also, it might just cut down on the number of reused plots. Technically, both the main and subplots of the upcoming "Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart" have been used already (in "Jazzy and the Pussycats" and "Husbands and Knives").

Wow; it's in HD! It's cleaner! The coloring is bright and vibrant!

HD doesn't make the coloring more bright and vibrant - especially in most Simpsons episodes where there's little variance in adjacent colors. As for Disney trying to bring back hand-drawn animation, one look at the box office of The Princess and the Frog pretty much sank that ship.

Unless it's audience leaves en-masse and the production gets too expensive but I'm guessing the people working on The Simpsons will just work for free and pay any production costs out of their pocket if it happens; this show is the only thing they got.

The audience isn't going anywhere - well, not en masse, anyway. In my opinion, the only thing that would bring the show to a dead stop is if one of the stars died or otherwise could not perform - and even then, if it was Julie or Yeardley, they do so few voices that they would probably be replaced (and even if the new voice wasn't a direct match, would that many people care?).

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

A great interview ! I enjoy read it

[The Governor]

The real secret to The Simpsons' success: Bart is still 10 years old - and he's going to stay that way.

He looks like a ten year old, but he (and to a greater extent) Lisa act more like mini-adults than kids. Granted, had the show ended when it was still good instead of Fox trying to cram it down our cultural throats, Mini-adult Bart, and Mini-adult Lisa wouldn't be so prevalent.

Sure the veneer is all youthful smiles, but what lies beneath is rotten.

EDIT: In regards to "3% of the finished script matching the original script", the panicy lady is the script and the line of "help" is the writers:

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

Sure the veneer is all youthful smiles, but what lies beneath is rotten.

You sir just wrote the slogan for Mitt Romney's next anti Obama campaign ad.

[biffwestwood]

Here is a recent interview by Al Jean in which in this interview he says Zooey Deschanel will be guest starring for the second time in an upcoming episode.

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethe...-episodes.html

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Characters not aging in comic strips predates Peanuts by decades. Did The Katzenjammer Kids - or The Yellow Kid, for that matter - ever age? Did Swee'pea (from Popeye)?

I did not know that; I was only using Peanuts because it's the comic strip I remember that doesn't age it's characters. You learn something new every day...

Two, it prevents what causes most shows with kids in them from crashing and burning - what happens when the cute kids are no longer cute? Did anybody really want to watch a teenage Gary Coleman in the final season of Diff'rent Strokes? The real secret to The Simpsons' success: Bart is still 10 years old - and he's going to stay that way.

Le Jake said what I was going to say well...

By "guest stars for the sake of guest stars," I think he meant that there don't do episodes tailored around guest stars, the way Glee does. There still must be quite a few celebrities who want to be (or have children who demand that they be) on the show.

So you mean to tell me that if the character has a different name and a different look then it isn't tailored around guest stars? The Simpsons even somewhat promotes guest star appearances through it's promos from Fox. (Note: The Promos are made by Fox, not by The Simpsons; and even then, they would pimp out the fact they have a guest star faster then it would take for you to write a line for Homer.)

Also, it might just cut down on the number of reused plots. Technically, both the main and subplots of the upcoming "Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart" have been used already (in "Jazzy and the Pussycats" and "Husbands and Knives").

Agreed.

HD doesn't make the coloring more bright and vibrant - especially in most Simpsons episodes where there's little variance in adjacent colors. As for Disney trying to bring back hand-drawn animation, one look at the box office of The Princess and the Frog pretty much sank that ship.

Yes it does. I have watched alot of HD animated Simpsons episodes to realize when the colors are bright and vibrant, just because they're in a different setting and just because they're in a dark environment doesn't mean that the colors aren't bright and vibrant; they're still bright and vibrant no matter what the setting. (I'm aware that HD doesn't make the colors bight and vibrant; it's just an enhanced aspect ratio. I'm talking about how they praise the HD process as making The Simpsons better; they could of used the same methods from Seasons 17-19 (where the colors weren't as bright and vibrant.) and it would still come across as better then the HD crap that's currently on the screen.

The audience isn't going anywhere - well, not en masse, anyway. In my opinion, the only thing that would bring the show to a dead stop is if one of the stars died or otherwise could not perform - and even then, if it was Julie or Yeardley, they do so few voices that they would probably be replaced (and even if the new voice wasn't a direct match, would that many people care?).

The voice actor behind Lunch Lady Doris died and her character was replaced with a voice that was similar but not exactly the same; no one cared much. Additionally, in the future when one of the characters do die, technology will be advanced enough to allow a voice to be replicated as if it came from the person itself. (it may be sci-fi is but an article on rubbercat.net/simpsons (even though it's a joke) did dig deep into a method that Rogert Ebert uses to speak in his own voice that the producers could use to replace a voice actor; that along is signs that a form of technology like that exists and may be further perfected in the near future.)

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

ThankS for the link Biff !

[Dark Homer]

Additionally, in the future when one of the characters do die, technology will be advanced enough to allow a voice to be replicated as if it came from the person itself. (it may be sci-fi is but an article on rubbercat.net/simpsons did dig deep into a method that Rogert Ebert uses to speak in his own voice that the producers could use to replace a voice actor; that along is signs that a form of technology like that exists and may be further perfected in the near future.)

that article was a total joke and no one should put any serious stock in it

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

that article was a total joke and no one should put any serious stock in it

My reaction to every Dead Homers Society post.

[Dark Homer]

ok

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

Only 5,8 M persons watch the episode yesterday

[Diversity Pumpkin]

Aww.

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

Only 5,8 M persons watch the episode yesterday

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES GREAT NEWS, HEAR THAT JEAN? NOBODY LOVES YOU MUHAHAHAHAHAHA

[zartok-35]

Here is a recent interview by Al Jean in which in this interview he says Zooey Deschanel will be guest starring for the second time in an upcoming episode.
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethe...-episodes.html

Jean has no plans on stepping away from the series any time soon.

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES GREAT NEWS, HEAR THAT JEAN? NOBODY LOVES YOU MUHAHAHAHAHAHA

I picture of Jean when he reads your post :

[MDB]

has anyone posted this?

--“THE SIMPSONS”—(8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) CC-HDTV 720p-Dolby Digital 5.1



HOMER’S DREAMS ARE INFILTRATED

ON AN ALL-NEW “THE SIMPSONS”

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, ON FOX



Glenn Close (“Damages”) Reprises Her Role of Mona Simpson



Karma gets the best of Homer after he gets his friends in trouble, and as a result, his bedwetting problem worsens. The family goes on a mission to infiltrate his dreams to search for clues in his subconscious to determine the source of his problem. But just as things take a dangerous turn in the dream, a figure from Homer’s past appears, and he is finally reassured that the fond memories of his mother Mona (guest voice Glenn Close) remain alive, giving him just the right amount of reassurance to cure him of his problem in the all-new “How I Wet Your Mother” episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Mar. 11 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (SI-2306) (TV-PG D, L, S, V)

I picture of Jean when he reads your post :

I don't think so... It should be something like this

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

This episode looks great with the Inception parody !

[biffwestwood]

Well, we know that Mona Simpson is really dead since I almost thought her death was faked when it was stated that Glenn Close was guest starring. But Homer already having a bedwetting problem? That's what the plot description suggests since it says "his bedwetting problem worsens". I would expect a revelation like that with Peter Griffin in Family Guy but I guess after that first story in Treehouse of Horror XXII we must expect this. I sure hope we don't get any scenes of Marge forcing Homer to wear diapers due to some writer thinking that would be funny.

[Matty]

Interesting how they're currently basing episodes around long established show staples. Last year we got one about Homer's strangling of Bart, this season we get one about Homer's bedwetting

Here I was hoping for a somewhat interesting flashback episode about Abe's history with Mona, but hey the family travelling trough Homer's dreams fits the Simpsons show more I guess. Maybe the whole episode turns out to be a dream too!

But hey, maybe people will like this episode. They seem to like that lame Eternal Moonshine one.

[MagicalManFromHappyLand]

Do they think of a title first nowadays? Can't help but think that if it weren't for the terrible pun on "met", Homer wouldn't have a bed wetting problem.

[Jesse Pinkman]

south park's inception parody is probably loads better then this one will turn out.

either way, i'm intrigued. i really need to catch up on simpsons (ok, i've missed like two episodes this season, but one of them was the 500th damn it)

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

Watch all 14 episodes back to back Joe, I dare ya, 5 hours in a row watching Season 23!

[Jesse Pinkman]

challenge: not accepted.

i do have some sanity

[Financial Panther]

That episode sounds a lot like Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind and The Blunder Years.

[Cartoonnetwork]

Do they think of a title first nowadays? Can't help but think that if it weren't for the terrible pun on "met", Homer wouldn't have a bed wetting problem.

I totally agree. It doesn't seem so necessary for the plot.

Could be ok, but it feels a little too surreal for a regular episode and more into the THOH territory. Especially if the Inception parody is too close to the real thing. Yeah, I know they had the strange machine in Eternal Moonshine but this is other people getting into Homer's mind.

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

I think the synopsis for Wet is interesting enough that it could be a really entertaining episode, guess we'll see on March 11th, my younger sister's 21st birthday!

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

south park's inception parody is probably loads better then this one will turn out.

I know this is not the subject but what is the name of this South Park episode ?