The King's Muted Jester

Rating: Null/10 (26 August 2007)

I don't do TeeVee, so my encounters with these are either through reader recommendations, the usual case, or when something has a movie theater incarnation. I wasn't aware of the great controversy about the genuineness of "The Simpsons" versus "South Park." I do know that when I watched that South Park movie and several of the episodes, I was impressed, I often laughed and I wasn't ashamed of why. It was the sort of humor that is clever and that allows you to share in its cleverness.
This isn't clever in the big. In fact, it follows a Disney-inspired template: an unworthy man is redeemed, a boy reunites with his father. And this in the safest of Disney messages: give a hoot, and the government is evil. Noticeably absent is any business about media companies with huge budgets being evil. There used to be a bunch of this, I think: clowns and cartoons, dumping on TeeVee cartoons and cynical, manufactured humor.
There used to be winks at the audience, a sort of: "this is a bit going after a stupid, trailer park laugh, and the funny thing about it will be the fact that we are doing it with both of us knowing it." Somewhere along the way, the show became a brand and when that happens you do everything you can to support the brand. Things like taking over convenience stores for advertising purposes. Would the early incarnation of this start with Bart writing "don't illegally download?" Would "South Park?"
This isn't "The Simpsons" any more; its "The Flintstones." It has become trailerpark without the wink.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.