From: baldwin@csservera.scs.usna.navy.mil (J.D. Baldwin)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.simpsons
Subject: Re: A Streetcar Named Marge
Date: 2 Oct 92 20:32:29 GMT
Organization: Comp. Sci. Dep't., U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
In-reply-to: jojw@uhura.cc.rochester.edu's message of 02 Oct 92 12:51:31 -0400

jojw@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (John J. Wood) writes:
>Strictly Opinion:  With the exceptions of the Maggie subplots, and Homer
>at the candy machine, last night's episode was boringly mundane.  Granted,
>those who enjoy Streetcar would have enjoyed it more, but the third
>segment was too...*cheesy*.  For the second straight week in a row,
>no Burns, Smithers, Itchy & Scratchy, etc., and the plot was unexceptionally
>thin.  A yawner!

I don't agree with your assessment of this particular episode (though
it's not in the pantheon of the greats), but:

>Does anyone think today's Simpsons has lost its edge?  There's such
>a difference between today and the first season.  The characters each
>had something I missed in everyone (except Maggie) last night:  that
>*edge*.  

I have to agree here.  I think back to the first season, and episodes
like the brilliant (and underrated) "Bart the General," which made a
lot of clever movie/TV references and yet were biting satire on their
own, even considered apart from the media references.  They *did* have
more "edge" as you put it.  Look at all the people who considered the
"catapulted rabbit" to be the single finest Simpsons moment (judging
from the recent thread on the subject).  It just doesn't get that good
lately.

The peaks are still just as high--"Itchy and Scratchy and Marge" and
"Flaming Moe's" attest to that--but the general level of the humor was
higher and more trenchant back then.

Also, in the early days there were NO weak spots.  I have a feeling
that filler like "Colonel Homer" and "The Otto Show" would have been
abandoned at the storyboard stage in the first season.  Now, they get
produced.

I used to worry that, with the faddish nature of the popularity that
"The Simpsons" enjoyed, the death blow to the series would come from a
preoccupation with "cute" celebrity guest stars.  As it turns out,
some of those are the very episodes (Aerosmith, Michael Jackson,
Dustin Hoffman) that have become immortal (and some have become junk,
like the ones I mentioned above).  At the same time, I worried that
they would lighten up on the in-jokes and media/cultural references
that gave the show its satirical flavor.  It turns out my fears were
misplaced in both areas.

Take away the cultural references from "Simpsons Roasting On An Open
Fire" or "Bart the General" and you still have a lot of damned funny
stuff.  Take them away from last night's (still highly enjoyable) "A
Streetcar Named Marge" and you have about one minute of film, mostly
scene transitions (though Homer at the candy machine stands out as a
notable exception).

All that said, "The Simpsons" still hasn't lost its "edge" as
tragically as everybody's favorite cat-and-mouse team once did!  A
weak, watered-down, too-clever-by-half Simpsons is still in the top 3%
of comedic material on American TV.  They'll have to lose a lot more
"edge" before I stop going WAY out of my way to watch or tape every
Thursday.
--
 From the catapult of:              |+| "If anyone disagrees with anything I
   _,_  J. D. Baldwin, Comp Sci Dept|+| say, I am quite prepared not only to
 _|70|___:::)=}-  U.S. Naval Academy|+| retract it, but also to deny under
 \      /   baldwin@usna.navy.mil   |+| oath that I ever said it." --T. Lehrer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~