[looktothesky]

Hum... not all Reality Television is that bad. Just the lamer ones are fairly intolerable, like the ones they air on FOX or other crapTV stations.

I mean, The Amazing Race isn't that bad, and that's considered Reality TV.

As for the Simpsons, no comment.

[barend]

I've been watching the Simps' first season lately (vcr tapes with vintage commercials, even an episode of Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Barend)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

huh? what?



also, saw some rescent simpsons recenlty...

it hit a lul, but its getting funnier than it was not that long ago...
and it may not be as impactive as it once was, but it is still better than 99% of the shit out there...

if the simpsons go, you wont have much left...
but retiring with dignity before they suck will be a good idea...

Futurama needs another season or two...

but the critic should have been allowed to continue... and should be released on DVD ASAP!!!! before i kick someone in the face...

[J m HofMarN]

Saturday night live needs to get it. They should send the cast, writers, and producers all out into the frigid middle of the Atlantic and let John Stewart have maybe three seats on a life boat to rescue those among them with any worth as human beings.

Also, cop dramas and silly suspense thrillers need to go away, and I think we're all agreed that every soap opera should follow saturday night live.

[Jordan]

You people have just realized that simpsons sucks?

My God, I stopped enjoying that show about 7 years ago.

Simpsons is good humor of aspiring teens. It's the perfect transistion from gay jokes and people tripping to sarcastic wit. The sarcasim is blatantly obivious at times, so you can't miss it.

Family Guy is for an older audience. The humor is much more mature.

Simpsons have fallen victim to the same thing every other American TV show has fallen too. IT WENT TO LONG! The show is fading away, the good writers have all left, Phil hartmen is dead, are these not signs enough to put springfield to rest?

---

Surivor Season 1, summer of 2000, rocked my world once a week for 1 hour. That show had it all man, no other reality show will ever come close to the greatness of season 1.

This post has been edited by Jordan: 10 March 2005 - 08:39 PM

[Despondent]

That's cool, Heccubus. But please understand I stuck up for it in 1990 when EVERYbody said Bart was such a bad influence. I'm not going to kick it when it's down. I will, however, watch and reply to signs of life.

Chefelf Nightlife on the telly. It could profile the top ten posters (I think I'm gone now) and follow their daily lives until the big surprise get together for the 'Specially produced Lucasfilm production. Jar Jar bewailing the fall of the Simpsons.

Barend: My Parker Lewis reference was a tip of the hat to YOUR suggestion they put it on DVD.


Jordan, with all respect, If you don't watch something you don't know if it's bad*. I guess you're trusting in things you don't see, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

(*Good God! Home Improvement could be a phenomenon!)

[rock_dash]

but the critic should have been allowed to continue... and should be released on DVD ASAP!!!! before i kick someone in the face...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Erm, they did release The Critic on DVD, Barend, I own it.

Oh, but you're in Australia...it was probably only a Region 1 release. I'm so sorry...shall I punch myself in the face?

As for The Simpsons, I feel sad when I watch a new episode. It's like watching your grandma lose her mind to alzheimers...it hurts to watch something you love slip into ruin. Oh well. As far as Futurama, yeah, it would have been nice if they hadn't taken it off the air. But lemme ask this: Who else thinks a full length Futurama movie would be cool? I know they're making (or trying to make) a Simpsons movie, which will probably suck and finish off the series. But I think Futurama is just better suited to being a movie than The Simpsons. And since the series is off the air, they couldn't screw things up for the future, right?

*goes to hurt himself for making Barend's Critic withdrawls worse*

[barend]

Despondent: I don't remember saying that... but it is a good idea, I loved that show!!!

rock dash: right after typing it, i looked it up and found it... i ordered it from amazon.

[Lord Aquaman]

And we all know why so many TV shows run too damn long: the actors involved are trying to squeeze as much money out of the show as possible because they know they'll probably never have it as good on any other job and have to make sure in advance that they've got enough money to hold them over for a while.

The people who do the voices for The Simpsons have virtually no careers outside of that show and will most likely never have another job as steady as doing the voices of Homer, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Marge and all the rest.

The jerks from Friends dragged that show out for 10 years with constant salary raises, making them a prime example of this syndrome.

That 70s Show ran out of steam early in its 6th season but they're dragging it out through 2006 even though two of the shows stars, Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher wouldn't renew their contracts for 2006 (not surprising, since Grace and Kutcher are the only ones getting big time movie offers).

This has been a problem in television for a while. It goes back to M*A*S*H which ran from 1972-1983 (even though it stopped being interesting in year 8) and then some.

This post has been edited by Lord Aquaman: 10 March 2005 - 11:33 PM

[Heccubus]

You don't even know who Harry Shearer is, do you Lord Aquaman?
Also Dan Castellaneta (Homer) has done a ton of work outside of the Simpsons (take a look at his rather impressive resume here), and has published a very successful book. I also believe that one of the voices does a lot of production work outside of the Simpsons, but I'm not sure.

[J m HofMarN]

I cannot express my dislike of friends strongly enough. This is because I cannot currently access a video camera, a turban, camouflage battle fatigues and a Kalashnikov. When I get these items I will make a video to try to do justice for the hatred I have for friends.

[Helena]

I don't understand why some people hate Friends so much. Granted, it was never anything like as witty as Frasier, but the first few seasons did have quite a few genuinely funny episodes. It did go sharply downhill after that, I admit... I hung on until the appalling 'London wedding' episode and then gave up on it altogether.

[Despondent]

I was against it from the start, thanks to the advertising build-up and "sweet spot," thursday evening program placement. Cheers was going off the air (but Frasier was coming in the fall) and NBC was putting this highly touted, untested comedy in their Thursday line-up. More hype than substance from the get-go was my perception.

I didn't loathe it, it just didn't appeal to me.
I watched the final episode. I prefer shows that let me decide when to laugh, compared to the "every line gets a laugh," studio audience formula.

[Chefelf]

As far as the Simpsons: I agree with Despondent. I haven't watched it in years but I don't really care that they're still making it. Why not still make it? They're still doing great in the ratings and making an assload of money. What would cause them to want to stop any of that? Would you stop if you were in their position? It's easy to say that you would.

While I admit it is not as good as its former self, it is still in far better shapes than other shows going into their 15th (or whatever) season. Look at shows like The Young Ones that jumped the shark early in the second season.

[Heccubus]

Admittedly, I find myself chuckling at the odd episode of "Friends" these days. I can't help it, some of the one-liners are pretty funny.

[Chefelf]

Admittedly, I find myself chuckling at the odd episode of "Friends" these days.  I can't help it, some of the one-liners are pretty funny.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Heck, I enjoyed Friends at its peak (seasons 3-4 I think). I'm not ashamed to admit it. I think I may have hated it if I had been 14-15 at that time, but the fact that I was in my twenties I think made me get over the pop culture crappiness, etc.

Hell, I hated Beavis and Butthead when it was originally on the air. I think the thing is that I hated the people in highschool who liked Beavis and Butthead. When highschool was over and I caught reruns I found myself LOVING the show.

It's amazing how much more enjoyable life is after highschool. It's so much easier to enjoy something when you can look at it separately from the group of idiots who are its fans. Let's face it, no matter what you like, the vast majority of its fans probably suck.

I never like Parker Lewis, due to its superficial resemblance to the better yet underrated feature film  Three O'Clock High.  I was amused, however, that it was the inspiration for a short-lived, back-in-time, Dobie-Gillis-inspired tv show based on Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have placed that film on my Netflix Queue on your recommendation. Sounds cool.

I enjoyed Parker Lewis when it was on originally, but I was an idiotic 13-year-old at the time, so we'll see how it holds up. Even at the time I recognized how shamelessly it was based on Ferris Bueler, but that struck me as a strength rather than a flaw at the time.

I was sold in the pilot episode where they all said, "Synchronize watches." Amazing.