Acting Writers

Hi folks and welcome to another Simpsons Sunday post. This week it is all about The Simpsons and the writers in the cast. Let’s be honest, the actors bring the characters to life withwhat they say and the voices they bring to a particular character. For example: if Harry Shearer didn’t voice Mr. Burns using Rex Harrison and Ronald Reagan as the influence, would we have Mr. Burns as we know him? Or, what if Hank Azaria hadn’t thought of guys he knew in college? Would we have Comic Book Guy or Snake?

Before the voices are heard, it is the writers who bring the characters to life, by giving the people who voice them, the lines to say. If we didn’t have such writers as: Al Jean, Mike Reiss, George Meyer, Sam Simon, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Conan O’Brien and the prolific John Swartzwelder, we wouldn’t have The Simpsons as we would come to love them today. I know I am missing a lot of names but there are so many past and present writers who have given us great episodes throughout the years.

There are also some in the cast, who have also written an episode or more. Dan Castellaneta and his wife Deb Lacusta have written A few episodes since season 11 such as: Days of Wine and D’oh’ses, Gump Roast, The Ziff Who Came to Dinner, Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore, The Fight Before Christmas, A Midsummer’s Nice Dreams, “The Ten-Per-Cent Solution, Havana Wild Weekend and an episode during Season 30. In the case of Days of Wine and D’oh’ses, it had been kicking around since Season 4, but the episode Duffless was already focussing on Homer kicking the alcoholic habit. In the latter episode, it is Barney who kicks it and becomes addicted to another form of beverage.

Long time voice actor Harry Shearer also wrote an episode for Season 28 called Trust But Clarify, which focusses on Kent Brockman loosing his job, again and getting it back. What I like the most is that Otto actually talks to Bart again and calls him “Bart man” in the episode. Of course, Harry voices both Kent and Otto and I had no problem with the episode.

For Season 30, there is an episode written by Nancy Cartwright called Girls In The Band and if you’ve read her book My Life As A 10-Year-Old Boy, you know that she played trumpet when she was in school. So, will this episode revolve around Lisa and possibly Allison Taylor? Will it rekindle the rivalry which had developed in the episode Lisa’s Rival? Or, will Lisa not be allowed in the band and have to fight to get in? I think it will be interesting and it is said to be really funny.

Will Julie Kavner, Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith contribute their own scripts in the future? I would be interested in what Yeardley would come up with for Lisa and her constant need to be noticed. After all, she is protective of her and I have a very soft spot for Lisa too, as I have said in past posts. After all, we both love music and in Lisa’s case, she is always having her passions crushed by either reality or uncaring people around her. I can relate to that, because I want to be musician and unfortunately things got in the way of my dream and killed it. So, I resorted to doing this and as I have said before, I most certainly owe Yeardley Smith a great deal of gratitude for inspiring me to do this. I may not be getting payed for blogging about a TV show I love but it does give me something to do, while others around me let their lives revolve around where they live and do nothing, to accomplish things in the world around them, bigger than themselves.

Things I Notice

Hi folks. This weeks post is a compilation of 2 posts from the other blog, on things I notice. These things are either references to something or a trend throughout the series. I have also added one more thing I thought should be said.

For example: in the episode A Fish Called Selma, when Troy McClure says “can I play the piano anymore?” The voice answers “yes you can” and troy replies “well I couldn’t before.” Doesn’t that remind you of a bit George Carlin did on his debut album Take Offs and Put Ons, where he makes fun of daytime television? He does a bit on soap operas and the one he does is called Doctor Place. It’s so funny that the patient doesn’t even speak until right near the end of the bit. All he did was make groaning noises until he asked “oh, Doc… Doc… will I ever play the violin?” The doctor says “see no reason why you shouldn’t with proper care.” The patient said “oh that’s great Doc I could never play it before.”

Next, in the first few seasons of The Simpsons we hear birds singing, during the dialog at home with the family. I haven’t heard it in the more recent seasons in the past 5 years or so. Why?

On Songs In The Key of Springfield the ending music to Treehouse Of Horror has a different mix, then what we hear at the end of Treehouse of Horror V. In the episode the guitar is louder in the mix than almost everything else but on the album the mix is much more even.

On “Weird Al” Yankovic’s parity of the classic John Mellencamp song Jack and Diane entitled Homer and Marge, I notice that the pick the guitarist is using on the song is a softer one, while on John Mellencamp’s studio version a harder pick seems to be the one that is being used on the acoustic guitar. I can tell by the clicks as the strings are being strummed! How do I know this? I am a guitarist and use a harder pick to play.

In the earlier seasons, Nelson Muntz’s voice was much higher and less raspy then it is now. I wonder why?

Have you noticed that the majority of the new students at Springfield Elementary school have only appeared in one episode for the most part? For example: Samantha stanky and Allison Taylor have only appeared in one episode with speaking parts, along with Francine in the episode Bye-Bye Nerdy. The same can be said for the replacement or substitute teachers, who come into the students and our lives as well. Think of of Mr. Bergstrom and the affect he had on Lisa for the episode Lisa’s Substitute. Need I say more?

In the episode New Kids On The Blecch the vocals for: Bart, Nelson, Milhouse and Wralph’s boy band are autotuned or pitch corrected. I wonder who are the singers involved with providing the vocals.

In the episode It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Marge Otto talks about meeting Becky at Woodstalk 99 and the song Show Me What You Got by Limp Bizkit is playing. This makes me wonder if ever Slipknot will guest star, even during a Treehouse Of Horror episode.

I notice that sometimes the theme song is edited or cut up, to accommodate the couch gag. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I miss hearing the theme in its entirety intact. Maybe even hearing the Brodway version, complete with the elephants and clown music at the end.

Further on the topic of the theme song, there are other variations on the song, based on other TV shows. For example, the version I mentioned earlier based on Addams Family to end off Treehouse Of Horror V. There are other variations on the theme based on other shows and the most recent one I can think of is on Game Of Thrones, which was heard during the Season 29 premier Theh Serfsons. I figured that out because both things are in the same key of C but The Simpsons is in the major key and Game Of Thrones is in the minor key. Also, Game Of Thrones is in a different time signature and has a slower, and darker sound. There are many variations over the years, both during the series and outside the series. For example: power metal band Powerglove did their own version on their album Saturday Morning Apocalypse and as someone who loves heavy metal music and The Simpsons, I enjoy it.

Valentines Day, Simpsons Style

Hi folks and welcome to another Simpsons Sunday post. This weeks post is all about Valentines Day on The Simpsons, which falls on Wednesday this year. My favourite and best episode on this day is I Love Lisa from Season 4. It’s the one where Wralph Wiggum doesn’t get a valentines card from any of his class mates and Lisa feels sorry for him, so she gives him a card. This causes him to say “you choo choo choose me”? This quote has also ended up as an alert tone for iPhones and other iOS devices!

Then Wralph thinks Lisa loves him but she just likes him as a friend and she gets annoyed because of his quirks and because, he tries to see her any chance he gets. After all, his father Chief Wiggum tells him to be persistent and he certainly is. During the Krusty The Clown 29th Anniversary Special Wralph declares his love for Lisa and she loudly tells him no and that she only gave him the card because nobody else would.

This got me to thinking about another story involving Wralph and Alison Taylor, that I found in the Fan Fiction archives in 2015. Allison Taylor??? She’s the girl who was at one time Lisa Simpson’s rival and the two became the best of friends, at least at the end of the episode.This story I am talking about see’s Ralph and Allison becoming a couple and just like in the previously mentioned episode, they go to the Krusty The Clown 30th Anniversary Special together. Wralph Wiggum declares his love for Alison Taylor and she reciprocates. The story goes on to flash forward to their high school and college days and eventual marriage. Oh, the story is called For The Love Of A Special Someone. https://m.fanfiction.net/s/9429137/1/For-the-Love-of-a-Special-Someone

It would be nice if Wralph actually had someone who loved him and cared for him. I know he is rather an odd character but even he should have someone in his life. Maybe Alison Taylor may actually become the love of his life in an episode one day.

On the birthday front, Matt Groening turns another year older on Thursday. He is the man who started The Simpsons in the first place and all because he didn’t want to give up any rights to his Life In Hell comic book series. He also created Futurama and his most recent animated series called Disinchantment, which will at this point last for two seasons and 20 episodes in total.