“Can I have my shirts back at least?” – Kirk van Houten
“Okay, you heard the lady. Why don’t you take it outside, alright?” – Pyro
Zombie Simpsons got the renewal nod from old dad and new dad yesterday. Both are very proud of their large adult son:
“It’s a sincere pleasure to announce the Season 33 and 34 pick-ups for THE SIMPSONS. We keep hoping that, eventually, they’ll get it right,” said Charlie Collier, CEO, FOX Entertainment. “Profound respect for and congratulations to Matt, Jim, Al, Matt and the many other wonderful partners working really hard to finally elevate ‘The Tracey Ullman Show.’ As they say, ‘practice makes perfect.’”
And:
“Original, brilliant, outrageously funny, prophetic…there aren’t enough positive adjectives to describe this genius comedy which continues to entertain viewers of all ages,” commented Dana Walden, Chairman of Entertainment, Walt Disney Television. “Jim Brooks, Matt Groening and Al Jean lead a team of all-stars who hold such a high bar for themselves and leap over it with each spectacular episode. On behalf of everyone at our studio and the millions of fans of THE SIMPSONS around the world, I want to thank our wonderful partners at FOX for making this a truly great day.”
I enjoy it when the statements issued from the top are so blandly duplicative that you wonder if even the quoted people’s assistants have read them beforehand. Both are structurally identical and conclude with the same offer of praise to their “wonderful partners”; which raises the fascinating question of whether one lowly assistant drafted both statements or if both PR departments have independently reached the same nadir of actual meaning.
There really isn’t much to add here. Variety and UPI both dutifully wrote up the press release (and a few other publications wrote up their write ups) and that’s about it. Which is a shame because there actually is an interesting question here that’s not addressed in this statement: what, if any, differences are there in how much Disney is charging FOX to keep producing the show?
Disney owns both the syndication and merchandise rights to the Simpsons now, all FOX gets is whatever revenue they generate from broadcasting new episodes. That’s a huge change in the calculus of whether or not to continue making it. And, of course, there’s the matter of the actual production staff and budget. Are there cuts (as there so often are after one company digests another)? Nobody’s bothered to ask.
Anyway, it’s two more years of Zombie Simpsons at least. And still no word on what Disney plans to do with the franchise.
charliesweatpants.com
(The crotch really does wear out too fast.)
Dead Homer Society 
Yes, the Simpsons have come a long way since an old drunk made humans out of his rabbit characters to pay off his gambling debts. Who knows what adventures they’ll have between now and the time the show becomes unprofitable?
The problem I see with all this is: nobody watches TV nowadays. The Mouse keeps buying intellectual property in order to shove it in your face exactly where it knows you would expect them to. This isn’t ‘entertainment’ anymore, it’s ‘smartertainment’, where you don’t choose what to watch. You think you do, but you don’t. THEY TELL YOU what to watch, literally. And the more they do tell, they more they do listen to your feedback. Because in the long run, the Mouse still keeps you subscribed to those milking ‘on demand’ outlets.
As per “The Simpsons”, Bart turns 44 this year.
Ah, yes, The Show Formally Referred to as The Simpsons: Becoming the very thing it once mocked. I can’t think of anything else Zombie Simpsons can do to diminish the spirit of The Simpsons.
It’s likely that we’ll never see any more real biting-the-hand humor, as those behind the show are all too buddy-buddy with those at the House of Mouse. Say what you will about Rupert Murdoch, but his presence lent itself to a lot of the show’s bite.
Why do I get a feeling that Disney will drag their feet in finding a voice replacement for Apu, given their track record of sucking up to China? (Correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’ve gathered, India in general has historically been critical of Beijing’s dealings. It wouldn’t entirely surprise me if that at least didn’t play a small part of Apu’s current sidelining.)
The timing is also interesting how they brought on the voice actress for *ugh* Comic Book Guy’s wife as a full-time member of the cast at around the same time. Yes, she’s supposed to be Japanese, but that apparently hasn’t stopped the Mouse from using people of other East Asian ethnicities to cater to Beijing (see: Kelly Marie Tran, apparently). No, I’m not trying to criticize her, but it’s worth asking the intents of those calling the shots.
Hah, compared to what they done to Mike Henry after he ‘willingly’ admitted it was wrong to voice a Black guy while yourself being White (#JewsAreAllRapistsMuchBeConvicted, anyone?), I’m a least bit surprised. The only thing left for Deesnay to acquire rights to would be Dead Homer Society dot com itself, so that Zombie Sweatpants could become Charlie Mouse.
In the old days (or, the good days), the show would mock its corporate overlords with biting satire with a “no gods, no masters” mindset, which considering how sleazy and ass-backwards Fox often was, made things too easy. Now, the show will praise Benevolent Mouse Master as us consumers either imbibe our daily Diz-Nee sponsored rations, or scurry in squalor and make due with what intellectual properties that have yet to be or aren’t good enough to be absorbed into the conglomeration.
The problem with China is that Diz-Nee wants that sweet, sweet yuan and in order to get it, you can’t offend the Chinese government. That means you can’t badmouth the government, question their historical or present atrocities, suggest that everyone deserves equal treatment, and 50,000 other guidelines, or else you’re banned from the country until you write your detention essay 20 times and make a public apology.
India hasn’t been the most sinophobic nation in the world (that distinction goes to Japan), although sharing disputed land with China and the Tibet region has not helped with that relationship.
Disney? Nobody can badmouth China nowadays. One could ‘try’ and end up rejected like Biden with his Obamania-time now outdated policies. But he’s just a white crow. Thirty years from now on, everyone will respect the great superpower that will be Glorious China and the world will all speak Chinese.
Also, fuck Japan. If they don’t want to put up with that, they can keep eating squid like they already do.