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coolshades said in April 3rd, 2006 at 4:08 pm

Hmmm…I’ve only seen a few episodes of The Simpsons..had no clue there was even a movie coming out. What took so long? LOL

…and why is it that Bart never grows up? Seriously…that’s always bugged me…

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toast said in April 4th, 2006 at 1:02 pm

Only a few episodes of the Simpsons?! You should really watch more. You are missing out on one of the most influential pop culture icons of the past twenty years!

Start watching now! I expect you to have watched a few episodes by Friday and commented on them here on this blog.

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Joel said in April 4th, 2006 at 1:02 pm

July 2007? I don’t know if I can wait that long–and then be disappointed…

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coolshades said in April 4th, 2006 at 2:15 pm

LOL OK toast…I’ll attempt to watch three episodes of The Simpsons between now and Friday night…

But I’m at the mercy of my local television stations ya’ know…so you have to take that into consideration… :P

July 2007 will be here before ya’ know it, Joel….time flies…

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CK said in April 4th, 2006 at 5:01 pm

Good Lord Cool….there’s like 20 episodes of the Simpsons on tv every day in North America…

…you could easily have three episodes watched before you go to bed tonight…

Joel…I agree.

Btw, in case anyone is wondering. Mariabella is from Brazil, and is learning to speak English, so if some of her commments don’t quite make sense it’s just a language barrier thing. Don’t be offended by her. Be offended by me. :-)

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coolshades said in April 4th, 2006 at 5:39 pm

Dude…I just checked my local listings…it’s only on once a day…at 5 PM….

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J said in April 5th, 2006 at 2:49 am

5 years too late for me to be more than mildly interested. Homer’s cute and all…but the Simpsons stopped capturing my attention (viva le era de “Family Guy” et “L’Office”!) a while ago; maybe it’s just not “edgy” enough anymore…or just too le tired.
They’ve been talking about doing this forever.

PS!
I most certainly do not mean this as some snotty elitist comment because I most certainly have no right to be considering some of the amazing writing that has come out of the Simpsons in the past…I just honestly feel that this is something they should have done years ago while the show was still in it’s prime. :/

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coolshades said in April 7th, 2006 at 2:12 pm

Alright Toast….here I am…as promised…

Let me preface this by saying that my parents never let me watch The Simpsons when I was a kid, because they said it didn’t promote good family values. And they also didn’t like that the father-figure was portrayed as a dunce. So I kept those criticisms in mind as I watched the show…

It does seem that Bart is constantly making fun of his father…and he seems to get away with it. It’s almost as if they have more of a friend relationship than a father/son relationship…

Marge certainly seems to wear the pants in the family. Heck, the two women are the only ones with their heads screwed on straight. And that makes perfect sense, really… :P

But seriously…Marge does give the kids good advice. And she gives her husband good advice, for that matter. It’s as if he’s the third child in the family. He doesn’t set all that great of an example of his son…and Marge is always having to tell him how to behave. lol

Bart and Lisa have a typical brother/sister relationship, I think. They have their little spats…but when it comes down to it, they really do care about each other. Bart’s just kind of at that age where he thinks sisters have cooties. LOL

And poor Lisa….she’s so much smarter than her brother AND her father. And she seems to be the only one with talent in the school band. She’s truly surrounded by idiots.

I watched one episode about the kids fighting a “war” against bullies, and at the end Bart made some disclaimer saying “no war is a good war” and that “there are no winners in a war.” That was dumb, I thought. but this is coming from a conservative. LOL

I could say more specific stuff about the individual episodes…but this is already way too long….

Overall, I didn’t think it was as bad as my parents made it out to be. It does have *some* good family values…but only because Marge has a good head on her shoulders. I have to agree with my parents’ concern about Homer, though. If my kids were to watch this show, I’d tell them to not listen to anything Homer says. LOL The one good thing I *can* say about him is that he does spend time with his kids. He played video games with Bart a lot. A lot of parents wouldn’t do that with their kids….

Ok….is that good enough for you? :P

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toast said in April 10th, 2006 at 9:00 am

Coolshades, I am glad that you actually watched these episodes. But there are two things you need to do when watchinig this show

1) Understand the family politics. What you have stated in your last comment was just the surface of the characters. Sure, Homer is a doofus, but time and time again has he sacrificed his hopes and dreams to keep his family together. Sure, Bart is a brat, but usually by the end of the episode he acknowledges that what he was doing was wrong and usually tries to make ammends. Yes, Marge is the strongest figure in the fammily, but even she has had problems with drinking, gambling and affairs. But dispite all of this, the Simpsons promotes family. They always always always work things out and remain together.

2) Understand the satire. This show is out to make people aware of different politial and social issues through exageration and satire. You should be able to relate to every episode because they deal with everyday issues. There is nothing in this show that couldn’t happen to you or me any day now. They usually just blow it way out of proportion to show us how incredibly dence the public is when dealing with these situations. The five Simpsons are suppose to represent the American (and Canadian) population and I think they do a good job.

Keep watching, Coolshades. This show is good for you.

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coolshades said in April 10th, 2006 at 10:27 am

Well you’re right that I only got to see the surface of the characters….because I only watched it a few times. I’m sure that if I watched it more often I’d be able to learn more of the nuances of each character and all of their positive and negative attributes…

I do think the characters are good representations of the US population (can’t really speak on the Canadian population, though. At least not yet. :P). And I also agree that the show portrays events that can occur in everyday life…and that’s a good thing. I suppose that one of the reasons for the show’s success is that a lot of people can relate to the Simpson family…

I really think it’s interesting how you say the show promotes family…but if I were to say that to my mother, she’d laugh in my face and ask me how I could honestly believe that. The thing is, though….you’ve seen the show tons of times….and my mom hasn’t. So perhaps she just didn’t really give it a chance.

I shall keep watching…. :)

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toast said in April 10th, 2006 at 4:16 pm

On the surface it may seem like the show is only about stupid Homer and bratty Bart, but that is because it’s the only thing shown in the commercials. After all, the networks know that no one would watch a show where everone gets along! That’s not good television!

I bet the only exposure your mom has had to the Simpsons is the commercials and the newspaper articles that she read in 1989 when the show first aired.

You should try and get her to watch the show too.

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coolshades said in April 10th, 2006 at 5:10 pm

Well I don’t think she’s actually seen any episodes of it. May have been from word of mouth…people from our church, or conservative family-oriented media. haha

I’ll see if I can get her to watch an episode…

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J said in April 12th, 2006 at 2:22 am

For it’s time I think The Simpson’s ushered in a new era of cartoons generated for a more mature audience.
I find their earliest seasons (of course) underdeveloped and my family had a similar policy regarding the show’s “lack” of “family” values.
I caught most of my exposure to the show during my high school years. It seemed oddly appropriate as most the jokes and references were not so lost on me and I was able to process the show on a better level.
I agree with Toast, the show has an uncanny knack for revealing what has become a standard for North American/Western society/culture.

Coolshades, if able to watch more of the show and learn more about the little quirks of each character I would highly reccommend taking a look at The Simpsons and Philosophy as a companion. It might even be worthwhile to check The Gospel According to The Simpsons for further insight as to just how brilliant this show is as social commentary.

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J said in April 12th, 2006 at 2:25 am

PEE-ESS:
**While I no longer find the show entertaining as far as humor is concerned I have not seen enough of the latter seasons to confirm whether or not it manages to stay relevant socially.

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coolshades said in April 12th, 2006 at 11:49 am

Whoa…there’s a Philosophy book about the Simpsons? That’s nuts. LOL

My degree is in Philosophy, though…so I may just have to check it out…. :P

Toast….I tried unsuccessfully to get my mom to watch the show. She actually did watch it when it first came out…because my sister and I wanted to watch it. And she obviously disapproved of it. lol And now she says she doesn’t want to waste her time on foolishness…and that it’s not her kind of humor.

Excuses, excuses… :P

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toast said in April 18th, 2006 at 1:42 pm

Well, at least you tried.

It’s time for a new thread. Someone post something!

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coolshades said in April 18th, 2006 at 1:46 pm

No kidding! It’s been over two weeks! Sheesh, y’all…

Post about how your last gig went or something…or when your first music video is gonna be out…. :P

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