New Simpsons intro
After 429 episodes, The Simpsons finally get a new intro sequence...in HD and Dolby Digital 5.1 no less. (via fimoculous)
Eye On Springfield
Eye On Springfield celebrates Simpsons moments from seasons 1-9, when the show was "still funny". If you're around me for more than a few minutes, it's likely you'll hear "freshen ya drink, govenah?" at some point.
Simpsons spoof Mad Men
Video of the Simpsons Halloween episode opening that spoofs the Mad Men intro.
Just Don't Look
In a special Halloween episode of The Simpsons that aired in October 1995, a freak lightning storm brings all of Springfield's giant advertising statues to life. The advertising monsters begin to destroy the town when Lisa, an advertising executive, and Paul Anka come up with a jingle urging everyone to stop paying attention to the monsters. Here's the chorus:
Just don't look. Just don't look.
Just don't look. Just don't look.
Just don't look. Just don't look.
The townspeople comply and with no one paying attention, the advertising monsters collapse and die, saving the town.
The "just don't look" strategy works for more than advertising...it's effective in any situation where someone or something runs on attention. On the web attention comes in the form of links and pageviews so "just don't look" translates roughly into "just don't link or read". If you don't like who's on the cover of Wired, just don't look. If no one talks about her, she'll go away. Think media gossip sites are ruining the web? Don't read them. Leggy blonde conservative got your knickers in a knot? Just don't look. Commenters ruining the internet? Moderate your comments or close them up. If some Web 2.0 blowhard says something stupid, just don't look. Hate blonde socialites? Just. Don't. Look.
Futurama portrait
Futurama series portrait. Same deal this Simpsons one. (via vitamin briefcase)
The Wire, Simpsons style
A few drawings of characters from The Wire drawn in the style of The Simpsons. Here's a scene from season one; D'Angelo tries to teach chess to Wallace and Bodie:
This might be my new favorite thing on the web. (thx, andy)
This portrait of Homer Simpson painted in
This portrait of Homer Simpson painted in the style of Rembrandt is strangely mesmerizing. Can't look away from those giant eyes.
Wow, The Simpsons did a parody of
Wow, The Simpsons did a parody of Noah Kalina's Everyday video. Noah, you just graduated summa cum laude from Pop Culture University.
Update: But apparently the background music was used without permission.
A few months back a producer from the Simpsons contacted Carly about using her song 'everyday' for an upcoming episode in which they were going to parody my video. She was negotiating a rate for the song, until they never got back to her. No fee was agreed on, no contracts signed.
Maybe they decided since it was parody they didn't need permission? I don't find that likely since what little I know about Hollywood/TV is that they're really concerned about clearing rights. (thx, slava)
Update: The song rights mixup was an accidental oversight and is currently being corrected.
Dozens of stills from The Simpsons that
Dozens of stills from The Simpsons that make references to famous scenes in movies.
Photos of a 7-11 set up as
Photos of a 7-11 set up as a Kwik-E-Mart to promote the Simpsons Movie. (thx, jon)
Embiggen, a perfectly cromulent word
Embiggen, the fauxcabulary word created for an episode of The Simpsons, has found its way into string theory. Here's the usage from a recently published paper on Gauge/gravity duality and meta-stable dynamical supersymmetry breaking:
Here's the original quote from The Simpsons episode, Lisa the Iconoclast:
A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.
The uses are probably not related, but you never know.
Video comparing sequences from Family Guy that
Video comparing sequences from Family Guy that mirror earlier sequences from The Simpsons. (via cyn-c)
Music video for Rock Me Amadeus by
Music video for Rock Me Amadeus by Falco. Not to be confused with the Dr. Zaius song from The Simpsons.
Trailer for The Simpsons Movie. At this
Trailer for The Simpsons Movie. At this point, is there any reason to believe that this is going to be any good? (via fimonculosusis (sp?))
Alphabetical lists of jobs that Homer Simpson
Alphabetical lists of jobs that Homer Simpson has held. (via cyn-c)
A pair of preview clips from the
A pair of preview clips from the forthcoming Simpsons movie. (via waxy)
Update: The clips have been removed from YouTube by Fox's request. (thx, bob & jon)
Powers of Ten
Some sweet soul has put Powers of Ten online. If you've never seen it, I can't recommend it enough:
Powers of Ten is a short film by Charles and Ray Eames, whose work you may have previously sat in. The film starts on a picnic blanket in Chicago and zooms out 10x every 10 seconds until the entire universe (more or less) is visible. And then they zoom all the way back down into the nucleus of an atom. A timeless classic. (via youngna)
Update: How in the hell did I miss this Powers of Ten Simpsons couch gag? (thx, ray and jeff)
Videos of Itchy and Scratchy cartoons from
Videos of Itchy and Scratchy cartoons from the Simpsons. Get 'em before Fox's lawyers see them.
Update: If you'd like to automatically grab all the videos, here's a curl command that'll do it. (thx, matt)
The language of the Simpsons (beyond embiggens
The language of the Simpsons (beyond embiggens and cromulent). "You pressed YOU, meaning me. This is incorrect. You should have pressed ME, meaning you."
The intro to The Simpsons, performed with
The intro to The Simpsons, performed with real people. YouTube is almost endlessly diverting.
Fun with threaded comments...the denizens of
Fun with threaded comments...the denizens of Kuro5hin recite the lyrics of the monorail song (from The Simpsons) as a series of threaded comments.
Wikipedia has a list of made-up words
Wikipedia has a list of made-up words and expressions from The Simpsons. "Cromulent" is my favorite and should find it's way into actual use. "Car hole" is great as well. (via bb)
Patrick Pittman makes a good case for
Patrick Pittman makes a good case for Homicide: Life on the Streets being the best TV show ever. I loved Homicide and am convinced it would have found a great audience in this age of TiVo and quick-to-DVD (it was a difficult show to catch on Friday nights). Re: best TV ever, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and M*A*S*H have to be near the top of the list...what are your favorites?
Nancy Cartwright says The Simpsons movie is now in production
Nancy Cartwright says The Simpsons movie is now in production. Will one of the entertainment industry's biggest pieces of vaporware actually get shipped?
According to this article, The Simpsons have
According to this article, The Simpsons have some new writing blood and the episodes are getting better. I'm skeptical because the show has been marginal for years now...maybe I'll have to give it another try.