Icons Unearthed: The Simpsons

dublinman1990

This is a six part documentary series about the creation of The Simpsons by Fox in the U.S.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ibWDzeVAI

Director: Brian Volk-Weiss

Starring: Cooper Barnes, Bill Oakley, Todd McFarlane, Doug Benson, Jon Vitti, Rob Kenneally, Ken Estin, Garth Ancier

Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson are household names around the world thanks to the longest-running scripted primetime television series of all time - The Simpsons. Icons Unearthed: The Simpsons highlights who and what has kept this beloved series rolling for so long, unpacking backstage stories and the continual comedy gold that has made this series the ultimate animation juggernaut.

https://www.amazon.com/Icons-Unearthed-The-Simpsons-Blu-ray/dp/B0D294B3JL?tag=bluray-032-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

The U.S. Blu-ray release has 11 hours of bonus features which includes extensive interviews with the writers and producers of the show.

The U.S. Blu-ray release will be out on July 2nd 2024.

However; there is no Blu-ray release of this documentary for the UK/Irish market yet.

AMKC

How this show is still going? I really do not know. It would have been great if Bart, Lisa and Maggai as we as Homer and Marge aged but no they seem to be forever stuck at the age they were when the show started which is fu-cked up. I take it they never have birthdays.

This show the Simpsons should have ended 20 years ago. Its is no longer funny and has run out of ideas. Honestly is there anyone here who has seen every single episode of it? I doubt it.

z80CPU

Last show should have been made 20 years ago at the latest. It had the character OJ Simpson before his notoriety and Michael Jackson. And the episode about American gun culture. Butchered completely from its original attitude. BBC produced a Simpsons documentary many years ago, but because it wanted to be understood by a younger audience the end result was a bit meh.

squonk

I too can’t understand how it’s still going. My only gues is nostalgia watching. I grew up in rural Ireland in the 80s without Sky. I remember Do The Bartmzn being released and shown on shows like The Den but I’d never seen a single episode of tge show. The Dublin cousins had cable link so holidays up there allowed me to finally see the show. Then I went to college in Dublin and the new Simpsons episode every Sunday evening on Sky became a bit of a staple with me and my friends. The show was good then back in the mid 90s.

Now I watch because “it’s a show I watch” and reminds me a little of those earlier days sometimes. It’s barely watchable anymore though and I wonder why I’m still doing it!

Quantum Erasure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058352000/icons-unearthed-the-simpsons

highlights who and what has kept this beloved series rolling for so long

and brings them to justice?

con747

Jesus, if ye'z don't like it or want to watch it feck off and watch some other sh1te.

Strumms

wonder why Matt Groenig doesn’t say ‘enough’… he is reportedly worth about 550 million dollars…. So he’s not doing it to get any advancement on his quality of life or the advancement of the same of family and close friends…

Lead voice actors have had their worth listed at 50-65 million dollars… .just checked out Nancy Cartwright….That’s her reported ballpark

squonk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159211#Comment_122159211

It’s his most successful show. It goes on in the background and makes him money. He can focus on other things. Same with the actors. It’s guaranteed income in an industry where guaranteed income isn’t usually a thing for actors. Probably all looking to ride it out til retirement or as long as the studio buys it.

Editing to also say that Groening likely has a production staff relying on the work and, while he might have checked out, he likely feels a commitment to these people. Fox keeps buying so those jobs are safe. It’s a big thing to pull the plug in that case.

In addition, the show might be crap now but it’s Groenungs crap. He still has a say. If he stops, who’s to say Fox won’t and retool and continue under licence if they don’t own the show with new show runners.

In the end it’s just easier to keep phoning it in if there’s a demand.

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122148465#Comment_122148465

I agree it's no longer funny or relevant but to knock it on the characters not aging seems peculiar. It's an animation and they are set characters. Mickey Mouse didn't age, nor Popeye, Tweety Bird, Winnie the Pooh, Scooby Doo….

Kingslayer

The simpsons may be forced to finish soon, the actor who plays Marge is having trouble with her voice. Listen to an old episode and a new one and the difference is obvious. If she quits I could never see them replacing her, she is too iconic at this stage.

Quantum Erasure

Homer sounds nothing like he used to either, they'll hire soundalikes, they'll use AI, whatever, it's gone on so long there's no stopping it

whisky_galore

Voice actors retiring, leaving or dying doesn't matter. Even the animation style looks nothing like it was. It's a money making machine and it'll go on until such time as it no longer makes money.

Floating timelines, characters frozen in time is normal. Can't be many long running cartoon series where characters actually age. I think Doonesbury was one of the few cartoon strips where characters aged.

PommieBast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122156181#Comment_122156181

I lost interest in TV while at uni in the early-2000s so my memory of the Simpsons is seasons 5-10. Would need to watch a lot of poorly rated episodes to get up to speed with the canon so these days only watch the occasional Treehouse of Horror..

Hangdogroad

As someone who watched the early series from when Sky started showing it I'm amazed that its still going. For me it noticeably dropped in quality at some point in the late 90s and its never been the same.

Buddy Bubs

I remember having a discussion in college about how bad the Simpsons had become in the last few years, and I left college in 2005.

That said, first 9 seasons or so are absolute gems and I regularly watch them on Disney plus. So does my wife, it's a nostalgic throwback to growing up.

PommieBast

Sky One used to mix in a lot of old episodes with the occasional new one so unsure which season I watched upto. A good few months behind US syndication I suspect.

There was several major changes to the writing/acting staff between seasons 10-13. Maybe David Cohen's continued success with Futurama helped avoid Simpsons getting canned.