The likes of Joe Millionaire and American Idol are no laughing matter for Homer Simpson and, more specifically, scribes like Canadian Tim Long. The executive producer and senior writer of The Simpsons says comedy writers are an endangered species in today’s TV landscape. “I’m incredibly lucky to be here. I’m going to ride the wheels until they fall off,” says the 34-year-old Brandon, Man., native, who collaborated with former Calgarian Joel Cohen on the episode that saw the Simpsons visit Canada. “Reality-TV is a permanent fixture because it’s cheap to produce. But people here have flipped out. A lot of writers came here during the great comedy boom of the ’90s when Seinfeld really hit. But all those jobs have sort of dried up.” Read More >>>
Author: Adam
Simpsons Evolves As Industry
D’oh!? Perhaps it really should be ‘Dough!’ With original shows in production, several reruns a day in syndication and thousands of items that now feature the faces and voices of its unforgettable characters, The Simpsons is an industry unto itself. New Simpsons episodes do just fine in the ratings — often in the top 25 for the week — though they rarely break the top 10. But that doesn’t really matter: What the show delivers consistently is a spectacular audience mix of kids and adults, often topping its time slot among viewers 18-34. One of Fox’s key strategies has always been to program to that younger audience, which remains a coveted prize among advertisers, but The Simpsons delivers it in addition to younger children and teens. Read More >>>
Simpsons Back From The Pit
Opinion: “Three years ago, I argued The Simpsons had lost its soul and devolved into an uneven, slapsticky mess that needed to be put to a respectable death. At that point, it seemed that the show’s creators were hopelessly on a track to TV hell, allowing the show to drift toward ever-coarser humor and a lowbrow view of the world that bore little resemblance to the subtle work of earlier years. I won’t say they’ve fully cured themselves. Jerkass Homer, as old-time fans called him, can still dominate the screen. But the show has finally evolved into a modern incarnation that retains its heart without feeling tired or bouncing from gag to gag like Homer tumbling down the side of Springfield Gorge.” Read More >>>
Eric Idle To Reprise Role
Famous for his Monty Python roles, Eric Idle appeared on The Simpsons early this year as a British documentary film maker in the episode ‘Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky.’ His role was so well-received by fans and creators alike, that they’ve asked him back! Idle writes in his online journal: “My pals on the The Simpsons are after me again to reprise my role as a British documentary film maker. (Quite a stretch eh?) They say they’ll record my voice anywhere we have a day off. I have two very good friends on The Simpsons – Dave Mirkin, who is a very funny, dry, guitar-playing writer, director and producer and Harry Shearer, the grouch’s grouch whom I have always adored as he can make me look quite pleasant by comparison.” We look forward to his appearance, expected in Season 15 or 16.
Scully/Thacker’s New Project
Icon Productions and Universal have placed a put comedy pilot at ABC, to be executive produced by Mel Gibson, producing partner Bruce Davey, and series creators Julie Thacker and Mike Scully. The half-hour comedy series is about a blue-collar single father who is raising five boys on his own, who range in age from 13-17. Former Simpsons writer Thacker and writer/producer Scully will serve as executive producers and writers/show runners. “There are no better comedy writers than Mike and Julie and we have been looking for a project to do together for some time.” said Bruce Davey. “Mike and I decided to do a comedy about five boys because we have five girls and, trust me, there’s nothing funny about that,” said Thacker. With Scully adding, “Julie’s a very lucky woman to be working with the sexiest man alive, and Mel Gibson.” Read More >>>
Lord Love A Lefty
Ma Bo, from the Chinese city of Dalian, has opened the country’s first shop for left-handed people. “I just want to help the lefties with these special daily-use products, so they can lead an easier and more convenient life,” Ma said. He also operates a Web site for the same purpose – with the slogan “Left is Best.” It “promotes understanding about problems concerning the left-handed.” Ma’s shop features myriad accessories for left-handers, from scissors to can openers. It’s no small affair in a society where people who use their left hands are often scorned. “I’m delighted to see that business people are beginning to show an interest in left-handed products,” said Zhang Heng, a Beijing left-hander. Ma’s only apparent problem? He’s right-handed.
Ratings: Treehouse Of Horror
On the first Sunday of the November sweep, FOX finally launched the premieres for most of its popular Sunday night comedies, but it was an event 75 years in the making that helped carry CBS to the win for the night. The beginning of the network’s “CBS at 75” special carried CBS to a 12.2/18 at 8 p.m., enough to win the hour. The “Treehouse of Horror XIV” episode of The Simpsons pulled in an 8.8/13 and a repeat of “Barting Over” scored an 8.4/12 to give FOX second for the hour. ABC was third with “10-8.” Among adults 18-49, though, FOX scored a convincing victory with a 6.0 rating in the key demographic.
For the week, the new Simpsons ranked at #8 with 16.22 million viewers nationwide. The rerun occupied position #15 with 14.35 million. Its competition, “CBS At 75” came in at #6 with 18.19 million.
Professor In Simpsons Cameo
Nobel prize-winning Harvard chemist Dudley R. Herschbach’s skin turned an unusual shade of yellow yesterday, but not to worry: the energetic professor’s affliction was not the result of an introductory chemistry demo gone wrong. Herschbach, a laureate since he took home the chemistry prize in 1986, made a special cameo as himself on “Treehouse of Horror XIV.” This was Herschbach’s first experience as a cartoon, and he was satisfied with his animated, yellowed-self. “I thought it was a great improvement,” he said. In the episode, which aired last night, Herschbach presents Professor Frink with a Nobel Prize in science for reanimating his deceased father. The father runs amok during the ceremony, stealing the brains of several members of the audience and shoving them into his own head. Read More >>>
Never An Issue With The FNC
Last Thursday we reported that the Fox News Corporation threatened to sue The Simpsons over its news crawl joke. Countless media outlets followed, with the story being published on most major news sites and newspapers. Fox News later denied reports that they ever threatened to sue. “We were all scratching our heads and thought it was hysterical,” spokesman Rob Zimmerman said. “It’s not the first time we’ve been spoofed, you know.” It seems they were telling the truth, with The Simpsons creators releasing an apology on the matter. “Matt was being satirical and certainly there was never any issue between the show and Fox News. We regret any confusion.” Since we were one of the first to publish the story, we thought we’d clear that up.
Season 15 Begins Sunday!
Don’t miss the Season 15 premiere, Treehouse Of Horror XIV at 8:00pm Sunday! Spoilers follow: Yes, the latest installment of The Simpsons’ annual Halloween special is arriving a few days too late for the holiday. It allows the show to kick off with a joke from aliens Kang and Kodos at its own expense: “Pathetic humans! They’re showing a Halloween episode in November!” In Frinkenstein, Frink decides to reanimate his frozen-dead father. Daddy Frink ends up disrupting the Nobel Prize ceremony, which shocks award presenter Jennifer Garner. There are reliable laughs to be had in the final segment involving Bart, Milhouse and a watch that can stop time. But the best segment comes first, when Homer takes over as the Grim Reaper. Read More >>>
Animating The Simpsons
As animation producer for The Simpsons, Rick Polizzi began working on the latest “Treehouse of Horror” episode months ago, and his work will pay on Sunday. After each Simpsons script is locked and the show’s brilliant voice cast has recorded the dialog, layout drawings are sent to a team of animators in South Korea, where the characters are brought to life. It’s Polizzi’s job to oversee the two-month-plus, trans-world, animation turnaround. Once an episode is back stateside, segments have to occasionally be tweaked, or dialog re-recorded. “If the show is not as strong as they like, they can rewrite a few things,” Polizzi said. “If the ending isn’t that strong and they want to punch it up, we can.” Because of the minimalist animation style used in The Simpsons, lines can often be changed without re-drawing faces. Read More >>>
Eat My Lab Coat!
“When my youngest daughter became addicted to the Simpsons, I found myself slowly drawn in. For her, the initial attraction was in the yellowness of the characters. For me it was the humorous yet highly sophisticated angle the series offers on science. As far as I am concerned, it is abundantly clear that the people behind the Simpsons are proceeding with a scientific rationale. The Simpson family is a system trapped in a dynamic yet extremely stable equilibrium. In 14 years, virtually nothing has changed irreversibly. In every episode, the writers change just one parameter in order to probe the response of the equilibrium system, but by the end of the episode, the system will have returned to its initial state.” Read More >>>