Ray Romano and the gang are coming back this summer for their fourth(!!!!) round of frozen fun. Before you throw your (ro)manos in the air in disgust, know that The Simpsons' team might make the experience at least somewhat redeemable. As the clip above suggests, Maggie Simpson will be starring in a short film entitled The Longest Daycare that will play before Ice Age 4: Older and Colder. The movie premieres on July 13; I don't think anyone would complain if it just played 3-D version of this famous Simpsons scene:
Here's Matt Groening, spilling the beans on where Springfield actually is located at long last: Springfield was named after Springfield, Oregon. The only reason is that when I was a kid, the TV show “Father Knows Best” took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown. When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, “This will be cool; everyone will [...]
Look, there's no single best episode of The Simpsons. "Marge vs. the Monorail" is an incredible episode, to be sure. One of the very best! But is it really better than "$pringfield"? "Cape Feare"? "Homer the Great"? "Last Exit to Springfield"? Not really, no.
It's an easier argument to make that The Simpsons is the best sitcom ever, or at least is had the highest zenith of any sitcom ever. Diehard Simpsons fans like to point to seasons 3-8 or so as the "golden years," those that are pretty much untouchable by any other show, and "Marge vs. the Monorail" may be the best example of that era, even [...]
It's a big day, guys. We're down to a mere four episodes remaining, from an initial pool of 32, in our Best Sitcom Episode Ever Tournament. Next week, we'll bring it down to two and then the winner, but today is for celebrating these, the four sitcom episodes that you have determined to be the best of all time. Lofty praise, but it's hard to argue against any of these classics. Actually, nevermind — it's probably really easy to argue against any of these. But still, we're looking at four very good episodes here.
In any case, on to the results! Who do you got for the big winner? [...]
Fans of The Simpsons and/or our national pastime will enjoy this study of classic early episode "Homer at the Bat." At last, someone gets to the bottom of Mr. Burns' obsession with Don Mattingly's sideburns!
As the first place network, FOX is different place than NBC and their predictable schedule suggests as much. Tuesday becomes their night of sitcoms, with the only somewhat comedic Glee moving to Thursdays. Raising Hope moves to 8:00, which is perfect for its family focus, and the hotly anticipated The Mindy Project goes right where it should be at 9:30, post New Girl. There isn't much to discuss, as it’s a pretty safe schedule. Check it out below. What do you think? Are these your go-to Tuesday plans?
Columentary (title sadly not pending) is a weekly feature, in which I’ll listen to the commentary track of a sitcom, and divulge, through pretty pictures and less pretty words, the behind-the-scenes secrets the creators, writers, and cast discuss about their show. If you've ever wondered who was boinking who on The Brady Brunch, this is for you.
Show: The Simpsons
Episode: "Life on the Fast Lane" (S01E09)
Original Airdate: March 18, 1990
Episode Plot: After Homer thoughtlessly gives Marge a bowling ball with his name on for her birthday, she goes to the Bowlarama and meets Jacques, a suave bowling instructor. (Stop saying "bowling" so much!) Will she cheat [...]
Oh, baby. I can't decide whether I'd rather play the free Simpsons game for iPhone and iPad, or watch Homer play it. Probably play, since the game features original content from the writers and lets you level up to playing as other family members. Beware, though, that while the app is free, the iTunes list of "Top In-App Purchases" includes "Boatload of 2400 Donuts" for $99.99. This could get expensive fast.
The Best Sitcom Episode Ever Tournament is pitting 32 of the greatest episodes of funny TV shows ever produced against each other in a single-elimination winner-takes-all (well, takes-nothing) competition. Every day, we're putting up episodes for you, our loyal readers, to vote on. Today: Seinfeld vs. The Simpsons.
Seinfeld — "The Contest," November 18, 1992 Forget best sitcom episode ever — I would argue that the funniest moment from any sitcom ever is the above, when Kramer bursts in Jerry's door, slams money down on the counter, and says "I'm out!" It still forces a belly laugh from me, even having seen this episode countless times. And what makes [...]
In honor of the impending 500th episode of The Simpsons, former writer/showrunner (and current Portlandia writer/producer) Bill Oakley just tweeted the "top 10 episodes that were pitched, discussed, written but not aired." It's the best possible thought experiment: imagining just what these episodes would have been like had they been produced around season 7 of the show. I mean, come on, "Bart Gets 144 Jeeps"? "Prince Comes to Springfield" by Conan O'Brien?! Good god. And hey, it's not too late! Maybe one of these can become episode 513 or something.
Robert Lopez, the Tony Award-winning songwriter of Avenue Q and Book of Mormon, has written an original song that will be used in the April 29th episode of The Simpsons. This comes almost nine years to day of the last time The Simpsons featured a completely new song that was not a parody (the last was during season 14's "Dude, Where's My Ranch?), which is pretty crazy, considering how big music was to the earlier seasons of the show. The song will be sung by guest-star Steve Coogan, who will play a cruise ship entertainment director who, "entertains the ship's passengers with a song that causes Bart to [...]
We've had fun over the course of the past month, as we've pit 32 of the very best (or at least our very favorite) sitcom episodes ever produced up against each other in our Best Sitcom Episode Ever Tournament. But now we've come to the final battle, pitting the cool new kid against the old standby. Are you going to go with Community's structure-bending "Remedial Chaos Theory," or will you choose The Simpsons' Coco-penned "Marge vs. the Monorail"? Josh made his case for the former here and I made mine for the latter here, if you're on the fence.
The Best Sitcom Episode Ever Tournament is pitting 32 of the greatest episodes of funny TV shows ever produced against each other in a single-elimination winner-takes-all (well, takes-nothing) competition. Every day, we're putting up episodes for you, our loyal readers, to vote on. Today: The Simpsons vs. Arrested Development.
The Simpsons — “Marge vs. the Monorail,” January 14, 1993 There are many reasons why “Marge vs. the Monorail,” one of three Simpsons episodes solely written by Conan O’Brien, is THE episode of THE greatest sitcom of all-time — including Phil Hartman’s fast-talking monorail man, Lyle Lanley; Leonard Nimoy’s fittingly random guest appearance; “The Monorail Song”; Springfield’s quintessential mob mentality-over-reason [...]
Usually the most famous people in the world do not have a very good sense of humor about themselves, or a capacity for self-effacement. Angelina Jolie and Bob Dylan, for example, look to be joyless chores of boring and seriousness. Fortunately the Beatles, the biggest celebrities who have ever dared to walk amongst us and change the weather with their moods, were perhaps too famous to ever not be completely weirded out by fame, and thus had a pretty witty attitude about the whole thing. What I’m saying is that unlike Jolie or Dylan, John, Paul, George, and Ringo, have been consistently funny and game over the years. (I’m [...]
