Tag: The Simpsons (31-40 of 102)

May 25 2011 04:45 PM ET

The 25 Greatest Animated Series Ever: Cast your vote for the best! My pick: 'Futurama'

by
Tags: , , , TV
futurama

Image Credit: Fox

Today, EW.com brings you our list of the 25 Greatest Animated TV Series Ever. In an effort to keep things democratic, we’re asking you — the devoted TV viewer — to decide which show on that list is the No. 1 cartoon ever ever ever. So far this week, we’ve covered two of the great feuds in Animated TV history: the never-ending Simpsons/Family Guy debate (essentially the Beatles/Elvis of primetime cartoons) and the arguably more interesting Simpsons/South Park dichotomy (which is more like Beatles/Rolling Stones, although maybe Emerson/Thoreau would be more appropriate.) But if I were to cast my vote for my personal favorite animated series ever, it wouldn’t be for any of those titans. Because I’m a Futurama guy, through and through. READ FULL STORY »

May 24 2011 04:20 PM ET

'Family Guy' vs. 'The Simpsons,' Part 2: Is 'South Park' better than both of them?

by
Tags: , , , , TV
cartman

Image Credit: Comedy Central

Tomorrow, EW.com will unveil our list of the 25 greatest animated series ever. We’ll be asking you, beloved readers, to decide which among those choices is the number one TV cartoon ever — a difficult task. To get you in the mood, we asked you to weigh in yesterday on one of the great never-ending conflicts in pop culture: Family Guy or The Simpsons? Some of the responses thoughtfully analyzed the variable nature of comedy: “Family Guy is more uneven,” said Greg Browning, “But when it hits, I belly laugh. Simpsons is consistently chuckle-worthy but I wouldn’t count on it for huge laughs.” Other commenters noted that Simpsons, for all its acclaim, has been in a rather long dry spell; said Glenn, “Simpsons Great Years: 2-7. That’s it, with an occasional good ep since then. Otherwise, completely unwatchable for me.” But there was one rallying cry that swept through the comment boards, starting with Stevie: “This debate is pointless, because South Park is much better than both.”

Chaos! But the Cartman loyalists may have a point. South Park has been on for almost 14 years now, with its 214th episode airing tomorrow night. (That makes the show fifty episodes older than Family Guy.) In a sense, then, South Park is just as much a Grand Old Man of Animation as The Simpsons. And if you ask me, it has also maintained its quality over a significantly longer period than The Simpsons. READ FULL STORY »

May 23 2011 04:45 PM ET

'The Simpsons' or 'Family Guy': Which is greater? Which is more influential?

by
Tags: , , , , , TV
simpsons_family_guy

Image Credit: Family Guy, Simpsons: FOX

On Wednesday, your friends and bitter enemies here at EW.com will unveil our list of the 25 greatest animated series of all time. The list includes classics from the early days of TV animation, sincere kids’ cartoons which taught you important life lessons, surreal kids’ cartoons that your parents didn’t understand, animated satires, animated musical space westerns, animated fantasies, and whatever Aqua Teen Hunger Force is. But here’s the twist: Instead of ranking these shows, we’re going to ask you readers to cast your vote to decide which animated series is the greatest of them all. You’ll be wrestling with some of the great conflicts in animated TV history. Beavis & Butthead or Ren & Stimpy? Aqua Teen Hunger Force or The Venture Brothers? The Flintstones or The Jetsons? (Just kidding on that last one. The Jetsons will never appear on a list of greatest anything, except for Elroy, whose cold dead eyes and slurry hippie voice certainly earn him a place on the list of Greatest Headache You’ve Ever Been Given by a Character on Television.)

Still, no animated feud has ever matched the neverending battle between two apparently-immortal Fox comedies about American families who spend their days deconstructing a broad swath of the history of pop culture. It’s time to revisit the age-old contest, people: Is The Simpsons still better than Family Guy?  READ FULL STORY »

Mar 9 2011 02:07 PM ET

Will 'The Simpsons' still be funny when no one gets the references?

by
Tags: , , , , , Community, Glee, TV

simpsons-shinningImage Credit: FoxWe live in an era of hyper-referential humor. Shows as diverse as Glee, Community, and South Park all regularly feature “theme” episodes that riff on pop culture iconography — look at Glee‘s Christmas episode (in which Sue Sylvester re-enacted How the Grinch Stole Christmas), or Community‘s upcoming Pulp Fiction episode, or the episode of South Park that riffed on TRON (before TRON was briefly cool and then lame again). You can thank The Simpsons for all the nonstop pop culture references — Matt Groening’s iconic animated series turned hyper-referentiality into an art form, regularly packing in throwaway references to high and low culture right from the start.

Even after a decade of diminishing returns, the show’s place in the TV pantheon is secure… or is it? Salon‘s Matt Zoller Seitz has written an intriguing argument that shows built on pop culture nods — what he calls “footnote shows” — simply don’t age well. (He singles out an extended Hollywood Squares joke in an early-’90s Simpsons episode.) Considering how much of TV humor is now constructed on a foundation of referentiality, it’s definitely worth considering: Will we still consider “footnote shows” funny decades from now? READ FULL STORY »

Feb 2 2011 06:34 PM ET

'The Simpsons': Do all of the McBain clips add up to a killer action movie?

by
Tags: , , Television

Are the producers of The Simpsons even sneakier than we thought? Consider the following video evidence, which stitches together all of those ’90s Simpsons clips featuring Rainier Wolfcastle in action as McBain, the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Bruce Willis-spoofing movie action hero. Turns out, they kinda-sorta add up to a short film in which McBain butts heads with his by-the-book boss (“Bye, book,” he declares after literally shooting the captain’s book), avenges the death of his partner (who was just two days away from retiring and sailing away with his wife on their newly christened boat, The Live-4-Ever!) by taking down Senator Mendoza (who’s been moonlighting as the head of an international drug cartel!), and gets the girl (“Right now, I’m thinking of holding another meeting… in bed”). So, was this part of an ancient secret master plan that is only now coming to light? READ FULL STORY »

Jan 19 2011 03:00 PM ET

Glenn Beck on 'Today': Controversial commentator compares himself to Jon Stewart, 'The Simpsons'

by
Tags: , , , , , , Books, Television, TV

Fox superstar Glenn Beck appeared on the Today Show this morning to promote his new self-help book, The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life, co-written with Dr. Keith Ablow. Host Meredith Vieira asked about Beck’s amazing transformation from suicidal sad-sack to transcendent success story, but she clearly wanted to apply the book’s lessons to the current political climate. After Beck cited compassion and truth as elements of what this country needs, Vieira pounced, reciting Beck’s own harsh rhetoric about the president and other leading Democratic politicians, and asked if Beck regretted his comments in light of the events in Tucson. “Any thing I said in jokes, no. Ask Jon Stewart [the same question]. Ask The Simpsons,” Beck said. “Comedy is comedy.” Watch the clip after the jump: READ FULL STORY »

Dec 21 2010 10:00 AM ET

The Best TV Character Deaths of 2010

by
Tags: , , , , , , , , , Lost, Mad Men

2010-deathsImage Credit: Michael Courtney/FoxOn TV, death is a good thing. Death shakes up the status quo. Death eliminates annoying characters, and it sends off beloved characters with an emotionally-explosive bang. The threat of main-character death has hovered over some of the greatest TV shows of the last ten years. Some shows, like 24, practically made a game out of their gleeful employment of the Death Twist, an out-of-nowhere elimination of an apparently central character. (Be honest: you had a couple bets going on who would die in the Lost finale, right?) Killing off a main character can be just a cheap gimmick, but when it’s done well, it can be incredibly moving. It can even revitalize a show. (See: Grey’s Anatomy, post-bloodbath.)

For our round-up of the best character expirations on TV this year, we focused exclusively on characters that were, if not series regulars, at least important parts of an ensemble — our (perhaps arbitrary) cut-off was that the character must have appeared on at least four episodes before expiring. By nature, this list skews towards drama, but it’s not all dour. On TV at least, death can be pretty funny. As you might expect, this post is SPOILER ALERT central, so if you’re worried, just click down to the comments right now and tell us your favorite deaths from 2010. Otherwise, check out the list after the jump… READ FULL STORY »

Dec 13 2010 03:15 PM ET

'The Simpsons' takes another jab at Fox News

by
Tags: , , , , , , Television, TV

The Simpsons took another jab at the Fox News last night, completing a trifecta of teasing that started a few weeks ago. On Nov. 21, a slogan on a Fox News helicopter on the show read “Not racist, but #1 with racists,” and a week later, the slogan read “Unsuitable for viewers under 75.” This week’s dig was “Merry Christmas from Fox News… But no other holidays.” Oh, snap!

Except, you know, not really, because when The Simpsons wants to go after Fox News, it does. Like it did on the episode from season 14 where Krusty ran for Congress, and a Fox News host said “Welcome to Fox News, your voice for evil.” That has a little more bite! How about “You Kent Always Say What You Want,” which was basically an entire episode about the conflicting politics of the conservative news source and its often provocative network brethren? That was a bit more aggressive, too. In fact, The Simpsons has a long legacy of going after its parent company, and it’s hardly the only show to do so: How often does David Letterman make fun of CBS? (Often.) Or Jon Stewart make jokes about Comedy Central? Again, a lot. And it’s great, because that is their job, as comedians and commentators.

If you’re going to bite the hand that feeds you, at least make it worth it and really chomp down. Right, PopWatchers?

Read more:
Lampooning Fox News? ‘Simpsons’ did it!
‘Simpsons’ exclusive: David Mamet to guest

Dec 6 2010 02:00 PM ET

'The Simpsons': Martha Stewart's Six Easy Steps to Make Your Home Feel Like a Childless Gay Couple's

by
Tags: , , , , , Television, TV

simpsons-martha-stewartI’ve been struggling to figure out how to make people totally impressed with me during the holidays, and the OTHER special guest on The Simpsons, Martha Stewart, offered much more productive advice in this arena than Katy Perry (“Wear latex”). After the jump, Six Easy Steps to Make Your Home Feel Like a Childless Gay Couple’s. Finally! Some answers! READ FULL STORY »

Nov 22 2010 03:50 PM ET

Lampooning Fox News? 'Simpsons' did it!

by
Tags: , , , Television, TV

The Simpsons might air on Fox, but that doesn’t mean the network’s satellite news channel, Fox News, is immune to parody. After spoofing another big dog during its couch gag — Avatar – Simpsons took a stab at the channel that brings us Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly last night: The episode began with an image of a Fox News helicopter adorned with the slogan, “Not racist, but No. 1 with racists.” (So I suppose the news channel’s viewers aren’t immune either.) And the animated series lampooned the network’s real slogan when the helicopter began to crash — yelled the pilot, “Gah! We’re unbalanced! It’s not fair!”

Of course, since The Simpsons is an equal opportunity offender, the show poked fun at another network as well. As media titans gathered in the crown of the Statue of Liberty to plan their next “phony crisis,” Jeff Zucker’s ideas were immediately turned down: “NBC, you are here to listen and not speak.” READ FULL STORY »

Advertisement

TV Recaps

Powered by WordPress.com VIP
Who should win 'The Voice'?