Tag: The Simpsons (81-90 of 102)

Jul 24 2007 03:06 PM ET

Spider-Pig!

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Pig_lFor many of you out there in PopWatch land, the impending Simpsons movie is a summer dream come true. You’re easy to spot: Standing in line in front of me at 7-11, choking down your weight in Slurpees and pink-frosted donuts; prefacing every noun with "Mmm…"; wearing those threadbare "Eat My Shorts" jams your mom bought you in junior high; or, if your initials are EW Senior Writer Alynda Wheat, squealing like a child when you see the Krusty the Clown doll I won on the Santa Monica Pier last night, then snatching it out of my hands and hugging it so tightly I’m pretty sure any chance of Krusty being a re-animated Chucky-type doll was squeezed right out. It’s okay. We all have obsessions. (And yeah, Alynda got to keep Krusty.)

But for the casual Simpsons fan (or the one that never did start watching it again once X-Files went off the air), it takes a little more than creative marketing to impress, to excite. But I’ve finally found a product to make me squeal with delight:

SPIDER-PIG T-SHIRTS, PEOPLE.

Even if that wasn’t a reference to the trailer ("Spider-Pig. Spider-Pig. Does whatever Spider-Pig does"), I think I’d still love it.* And I eagerly await the Spider-Pig spin-off franchise, because I think that logo would look simply outstanding in embossed pewter on a black background, don’t you? Quick: Let’s whip up a film treatment in the comments. We’ll be rich!

*NOTE: What does it say about me that two out of my three favorite Simpsons references revolve around swine? ("Uh, Mr. Simpson? I don’t think he likes that." "Oh, yes he does. He’s so cute. Curly, straight! Curly, straight!")

Jul 23 2007 03:40 PM ET

'Simpsons': Will this be the Best. Episode. Ever?

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Cbguy_lFox announced yesterday that the Oct. 7 edition of The Simpsons will be (well, they didn’t put it this way, but I will) a pure comic-geek bliss-out: The plot is all about our beloved Comic Book Guy (pictured), who gets some competition in Springfield from a new store, "Coolsville Comics & Toys," run by "hipster" Milo, voiced by Jack Black. What’s even more hipster about this news is that the episode will feature cartoon versions of guest stars Art Spiegelman (Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of Maus), Eightball creator Dan Clowes, and probably the most revered living comics writer, at least among the superhero set: Watchmen creator Alan Moore. No word on whether the voluble, prolific, control-freak Moore will insist on writing his own lines and thereby expand the episode to a special two-hour Simpsons…

Jul 18 2007 12:15 AM ET

Harry Potter and the Pop Cultural References

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Attention, Potterphiles: EW needs your help. We’re looking for examples of Harry Potter’s influence on pop culture. That is, we’re seeking references to the boy wizard and his world that have cropped up outside the Potter books and films themselves. Example: the time on Friends that Ross wished he had an invisibility cloak like Harry’s, or the allusion in Love Actually, where British prime minister Hugh Grant includes Harry Potter on a list of things that have made England great (also on his list: Shakespeare, the Beatles, and David Beckham’s legs).

Spoofs count, too, like Daniel Radcliffe’s self-parodying guest spot on Extras or J.K. Rowling’s incisive cameo on The Simpsons, as well as the more extensive Potter parody from one of The Simpsons‘ Halloween specials. What other citations can you think of? As a reward for your suggestions, you get to watch the clip below of the famous Saturday Night Live Hogwarts sketch, featuring a certain unlikely SNL-er as Harry and Lindsay Lohan as a distractingly voluptuous Hermione. Oh, and we’ll also award 50 points to Gryffindor.

Jul 6 2007 02:00 AM ET

Snakes, rats, and Springfieldians

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Quimby_lPolitics and pop culture continue to intersect in strange and often hilarious ways. For instance, we should have known that the outcry over President Bush’s commutation of what he called Scooter Libby’s "excessive"  sentence for perjury, obstruction of justice, and making false statements would not be over until we’d heard from Richard Hatch. The original Survivor winner, currently serving a 51-month sentence for tax evasion, e-mailed the Boston Globe to say, "What a country! Excessive sentence! Where’s my pardon/commutation?" As it turns out, Rich, President Bush did consider the merits of your case, but after reading a long legal brief including much mention of "snakes" and "rats," he decided to let your sentence stand. Sorry, dude, the executive branch tribe has spoken.

Also in the Globe: the news that Sen. Ted Kennedy doesn’t hold a grudge against The Simpsons for satirizing him for the past 18 years as Springfield’s sleazy Mayor Joe Quimby (pictured). He’s even lent his vocal support to Springfield, Mass.’s bid to become the official Springfield that will host the premiere of The Simpsons Movie later this month. You can watch the Senator deliver his Quimby-esque pronunciation of the word "chow-dah" in the city’s five-minute promotional video (as well as the video entries of 13 other Springfields) in the official contest page at USA Today‘s website. Vote early and often, as they used to say.

Jun 29 2007 08:46 PM ET

Springfield's town folk are revealed

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Betty_lThis is Betty. Betty works at the carnival, just down the hill from the nuclear power plant. She is the illegitimate love child of Krusty and Marge. But shh, don’t tell Homer.

Are you bored? Really bored? Yeah, well okay then, check out The Simpsons Movie website.
You can give birth to your own Simpsons character that could turn out ALMOST as wonderfully Springfield as my Betty.

May 28 2007 10:00 AM ET

Which town of Springfield is the most dysfunctional?

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Homer_lOh, it’s ON. 20th Century Fox has announced a competition among all the Springfields in the U.S. (Did you know there are more than 30?). The burg that can prove it’s most like the fictional Springfield will host the Simpsons Movie premiere on July 26, one day before its official release.

So far, Springfield, Ill. has made the most convincing case to me: There’s a donut factory there, and we  know that Homer really likes donuts. Fine, it also happens to be my home state. But still. Donuts.

This whole thing is pretty weird — Fox shipped out huge boxes of materials including yellow paint, a guidebook  on how to draw Simpsons characters, a can of Buzz Cola, and items with "Kwik-E-Mart" emblazoned on them. Locals are supposed to submit a three- to five-minute video showcasing their municipality’s comic level of dysfunction. It’s a fun idea, but seems like a lot of work! Look at these people in Springfield, Mass. That one guy on the left doesn’t seem so into it. He’s like "Why do I have to deal with this box?"

You tell us: Which Springfield should win, assuming more than one of them actually completes a video?

May 21 2007 11:10 PM ET

Snap Judgment: Ludacris' 'Simpsons' cameo

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So the much-heralded 400th episode of The Simpsons aired last night, and the critical consensus seems to be that it was just fine, if inevitably an ever-so-slight letdown. But forget all that; the part of the show I was most looking forward to was Ludacris’ promised cameo as, er, a rapping toothpaste tube in a dental-hygiene video. (Dude’s last name, after all, is Bridges.) One of the rap game’s most consistently funny punchline artists plus the best cartoon of all time — how could it go wrong?

I ended up missing the episode last night — sorry, but I was just too busy biting my nails in anticipation of our latest brilliantly grim update on that other Sunday-night TV family. Thankfully, Luda’s part of the show has already turned up on good ol’ YouTube, albeit in a heinously grainy clip which appears to have been shot by one of those furtive in-theater cameramen who supply downtown NYC’s curbside bootleg vendors. So how was it? (Watch it below, then read PopWatch’s evaluation after the jump.)

READ FULL STORY »

Mar 27 2007 04:21 PM ET

The Evolution of Homer Simpson

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You’d think Homer Simpson would be a walking (well, slouching) refutation of Darwin, but actually, he’s a prime example of the miracle of evolution. At least, he is according to the opening-credit sequence of this past Sunday’s episode of The Simpsons, which featured what may be the longest couch gag in the series’ 18-year history. (Like, four billion years long.) Thanks to New Jersey Star-Ledger TV critic Alan Sepinwall for pointing out the YouTube link.

Mar 7 2007 11:00 AM ET

Former 'Simpsons' guru Sam Simon still makes an 'ex-cellent' living

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Mrburns_lGood morning, PopWatchers! Wanna brigten your Wednesday? Check out this 60 Minutes profile of Sam Simon, the co-creator of The Simpsons, who has turned his multi-million-dollar fortune into something highly unusual: A haven for dogs. Dude’s a dog nut! And the things he does — rescuing strays, training pups to look after deaf folks, taking pooches to visit lonely seniors — will melt your heart. They sure as heck make old Morley Safer all goofy-woofy. Awwww.

Still, two things really stood out to me as I was watching this story when it aired on Sunday night:

1. Simon gleefully admits that, thanks to residuals and licensing fees, he earns more than $10 million annually from a show that he hasn’t even worked on since 1993. Whoa! Now, I’m not one to tell people how to spend their money. And everybody loves dogs and The Simpsons. But, I mean, really, when you become a gazillionaire from what one person in the report calls, "a half-hour show of people, you know, with yellow faces," don’t you have to pay some sort of karmic restitution? Like, go save a small, destitute country or two? Or, I dunno, cure sneezing? Just a thought.

2. Thanks to a favorable divorce settlement, Simon’s ex-wife also makes a mint off of The Simpsons. Hollywood. Typical. But who is this lucky lady? Why, she’s the famously buxom, squeaky, poker-playing, Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Tilly. WHOA!

As I said, GOOD MORNING! Your thoughts, dear friends?

Jan 9 2007 11:00 AM ET

What if the Simpsons were Japanese comic-book characters?

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Check out this manga-influenced drawing of all the main characters on The Simpsons, "Simpsonzu." It’s a great reinterpretation of a bunch of characters we’ve had in our lives for over a decade. (And is it me, or is Marge a real cutie in this sketch?) The artist, *spacecoyote, has also done one for Futurama. Nothing more than that — just a little art to brighten your morning. (Thanks, TV Tattle.)

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