I'll continue my series of odd little video posts with this clip from a Simpsons episode I had never seen before stumbling upon it on Hulu. The appearance of "Marvin Cobain" is what really sells it for me.
Did you see the whole episode that this came from? It's actually the only Simpsons episode that I've seen in full since 2002 (literally), but it got some blog play at the time so I watched it. It's totally bizarre-- as much of a mindtrip as Back to the Future, which it references. Basically, since Homer is perpetually 38, and this came out in like 2006, it meant that back in 1990 he was 22 and in college. Even though in other episodes from the early seasons, they were in high school in the seventies, and in later episodes, they were already parents in the early nineties (I think one of the flashback episodes from the peak era references Crystal Pepsi).
I get that the whole point is that they're timeless and that there is no continuity-- Bart is perpetually in fourth grade, etc, even as the years pass. But this took things too far-- almost a slap in the face to the generation that grew up with the show. What's weird is, who even watches the Simpsons now? Does it have new, young fans? It's kind of weird that it still chugs along but it's in a total cultural vaccuum. It's almost like Paul Harvey's The Rest of Story (which Drischord is familiar with)-- beloved by a particular generation, but totally unknown to anyone younger, even as he continues to make new ones (until Paul Harvey's death last year). I feel like the Simpsons' audience is just a greatly diminished sampling of its original audience. I can't imagine why a kid would start watching it now. But I could be wrong.
You remember the Paul Harvey joke from an early season of the Simpsons? Grandpa is listening to the radio, and Paul Harvey says "And that little boy who nobody liked grew up to be......Roy Cohn."
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Did you see the whole episode that this came from? It's actually the only Simpsons episode that I've seen in full since 2002 (literally), but it got some blog play at the time so I watched it. It's totally bizarre-- as much of a mindtrip as Back to the Future, which it references. Basically, since Homer is perpetually 38, and this came out in like 2006, it meant that back in 1990 he was 22 and in college. Even though in other episodes from the early seasons, they were in high school in the seventies, and in later episodes, they were already parents in the early nineties (I think one of the flashback episodes from the peak era references Crystal Pepsi).
I get that the whole point is that they're timeless and that there is no continuity-- Bart is perpetually in fourth grade, etc, even as the years pass. But this took things too far-- almost a slap in the face to the generation that grew up with the show. What's weird is, who even watches the Simpsons now? Does it have new, young fans? It's kind of weird that it still chugs along but it's in a total cultural vaccuum. It's almost like Paul Harvey's The Rest of Story (which Drischord is familiar with)-- beloved by a particular generation, but totally unknown to anyone younger, even as he continues to make new ones (until Paul Harvey's death last year). I feel like the Simpsons' audience is just a greatly diminished sampling of its original audience. I can't imagine why a kid would start watching it now. But I could be wrong.
You remember the Paul Harvey joke from an early season of the Simpsons? Grandpa is listening to the radio, and Paul Harvey says "And that little boy who nobody liked grew up to be......Roy Cohn."
i used to be a big Paul Harvey fan.
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