Every time somebody quotes "The Simpsons" -- like in the comments to this post -- I'm always terribly impressed. How smart and funny the writing is! I think, once again, I should watch that show. But the fact is, for the longest time, I haven't been able to. I just can't stand to see it or hear it.
What is it I hate so much about the look and the sound? I recognize the brilliance of the voice actors. But I don't want to hear them anymore. They just irritate me. And the look of the animation... What is it? Too much yellow?
I could just read the scripts, I suppose.
Anyone else feel the same way?
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Ann,
I've never seen a single episode and also feel like I should but can't. It's just something about cartoons. Except for "The Incredibles" I've yet to love one. That includes "Toy Story" etc... And I find it hard to imagine watching "The Incredibles" again.
I have the whole Disney collection of DVD. Most aren't opened. I feel like I should own them but don't care to watch them.
It might be because no matter how smart they seem frivolous -- like watching E!.
Ann,
I used to love the Simpsons but they finally got on my nerves, too. I haven't watched in years. Most of what I know is from the first 4 seasons or so.
I agree the art isn't nearly as good as "classic" cartoons like the old Bugs Bunny - but I found the satire as witty and cutting as anything Groucho or Bugs ever did. I guess I just got tired of constant satire.
If you want to read the episodes, though, I can recommend The Simpsons Archive.
SippicanCottage: I read all the "Life in Hell" collections back in the 80s. And I don't expect animation to be beautiful. I've enjoyed many of the "crude" style TV cartoons, from Hanna-Barbera stuff in the 60s to early Simpsons, South Park, Beavis & Butt Head. And for ugliness, nothing surpassed the great "Ren & Stimpy." I've watched all those things. Have watched a lot of the theater-released collections of shorts that go for the ugly look.
So it's not any of that.
It's more, perhaps, the sameness of all the episodes. I've just seen too many and maxed out.
I rarely watch the Simpsons. I find it shallow and obvious. It's not the animation style that bothers me. It's just the way details are plonked into the middle of things.
There's an episode that I think is about how Bart and Lisa go to s summer camp that turns out to be a hellhole. Bart leads a rebellion, and during it you see in the background a pig's head on a stake. Oh, look. A "Lord of the Flies" reference. Ho hum.
Dave: You want to know who was president when I was born? Truman.
Pastor Jeff: My original post links to the archive. I wish Television Without Pity did recaps, but I can see why they don't. They need something that they can play off of.
Ann,
Sorry, I should have at least scrolled over the link.
Does it have to do with the characters and plot lines? My wife and I loved E.R., then got tired of it for a few years when we didn't care about the characters and the plots seemed ridiculous. Now we have gotten back into watching it.
If you really don't like the characters, then no matter how witty and insightful they are, you aren't going to want to hear them (I have that problem with Oscar Wilde).
Sippican: "Some folks can't get past the look of the thing. Ann sounds like one." I loved the show at first, but after all these years, I'm tired of looking at the same things. Especially Homer's pants.
Pastor Jeff: I think part of it is hearing it in the background while other people watched and finding the distinctive voices annoying. Especially Marge. Part of it is that I don't feel "love" for the characters. I think some people actually feel love for, maybe, Marge and one or two of the others.
As to what cartoons I was "brought up on." I wasn't taken out to the movies that much. I watched TV. I loved Popeye, which was pretty well animated, but I spent a horrible amount of time watching things like "Top Cat" and "Huckleberry Hound." As drawing, that stuff was very cheap -- spinning legs on a stationary body with a repeating background. And I even watched a lot of "Clutch Cargo" -- a stationary drawing with actual human lips (like that thing Conan O'Brien does). I'm used to crude, believe me.
Jim C.: Yeah, getting the literary references. The writers went to college. I actually kind of like things like that, but I can see how it can be criticized -- just not actually funny.
What a relief. I'm not the only one. I hate the show, but wont admit it. It's not fun to hate culty things. You have to defend yourself too much.
I'm still a big fan after all this time; I even own some of the DVD's. Some of the current episodes may not have the fresh energy that the ones from ten years ago did, but I still find myself laughing out loud a lot.
How about a tangent--what does the Althouse readership (or at least commentership) think of Family Guy? (I think it's one of the funniest shows on TV at the moment.)
Ann,
You have to watch each episode about 4-5 times to fully grasp all of the humor that is contained within the 30 minutes. I am serious.
And, no, I have not grown weary of the Simpsons.
Former student,
Justin Hein
http://citizendain.blogspot.com
I know a few people, like Ann, who were never able to watch the Simpsons in the first place. But a number of once-loyal fans like myself have left the show in the past couple of years for various reasons . . . it stood out for the longest time because, for a cartoon, it juggled an enormous amount of secondary characters (Moe, Apu, Groundskeeper Willie, etc) who kept the show fresh and interesting. Comparing it to Seinfeld, the Simpsons had 50 or so characters who performed the same role as Newman or George's dad. However, after 15 seasons or so, even the minor supporting characters feel tired and stale. The show's best episodes were terrific, but its at least six years past its prime.
Terrence: Not sure why people keep thinking I didn't used to watch the show. I did.
Hi, Justin. Thanks for writing. Not sure how I'm going to watch it three times when it's irritating me... I'm pretty good at getting the humor though, I just don't want to have to look at the pictures and hear the sounds anymore.
Really, the show has just been on too long. It was really great when it first came out. I was even interested in the style of the animation, which, for all it's crudeness, had nice details, like the ears of corn on the kitchen curtains. The bright color was refreshing. The use of cartoon characters instead of actors opened up exciting new possibilities.
Just ... enough, already.
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