when to end the Simpsons?
DSV75
Well for one thing I think the writers are running out of ideas. That's
usually NOT a good sign for ANY show. I prefer (as most everybody does too)
that a show ends with "dignity" and still popular and well liked by fans than
to let it continue to downfall and "die" like Married with Children did. I
DON'T want to see that happen to the Simpsons.
Dennis
Benjamin Robinson
>I think next season should be the LAST season of the Simpsons.
It will probably not work out that way. The list of Fox's signature shows
is dwindling. "Melrose Place" was retired this season. "Beverly Hills,
90120" will probably join it sometime this year. After this season, Mulder
and Scully won't just be searching for the truth, but for other jobs as
"X-Files" concludes its run. Fox execs will probably throw money at
Groening, et al., to keep "The Simpsons" going until the twelfth season, at
least.
Now the twelfth season, that's where things get interesting. Mike Scully's
contract as executive producer ends then. So do the contracts for the voice
actors. Typically, when a lot of critical contracts end at about the same
time for a long-running series, the series goes away. This is what happened
at "M*A*S*H." The contract thing alone didn't stop "M*A*S*H" and won't kill
"The Simpsons," but it might be seen as a good as point as any to wind down
the show.
It's been a long time since I said this, but it's still true: The producers
will get tired of making the show long before the network gets tired of
airing it. That is, if a decision is made to stop making "The Simpsons," it
will be made by the producers, who want to move on to something else.
--
Benjamin Robinson bj...@freenet.tlh.fl.us
This message may or may not contain sarcastic content; your burden to decide
"A nit is a louse egg. No wonder people pick them!" -- Mercedes engineer
David Brunt
>In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "when to end the Simpsons?" thread, DSV75
wrote:
>
Scully's
>contract as executive producer ends then. So do the contracts for the
voice
>actors. Typically, when a lot of critical contracts end at about the same
>time for a long-running series, the series goes away. This is what
happened
>at "M*A*S*H." The contract thing alone didn't stop "M*A*S*H" and won't
kill
>"The Simpsons," but it might be seen as a good as point as any to wind
down
>the show.
I see your point, but IIRC M*A*S*H finished because Alda and Swit refused
to sign a new contract. Like Danson not wanting to carry on doing Cheers -
the show couldn't go on without the lead actors.
>It's been a long time since I said this, but it's still true: The
producers
>will get tired of making the show long before the network gets tired of
>airing it. That is, if a decision is made to stop making "The Simpsons,"
it
>will be made by the producers, who want to move on to something else.
Unless they want to continue to drag out a show that is well past its peak
(like the late seasons of M*A*S*H and Cheers), then the axe would be better
sooner than later. I suspect that Frasier will be cancelled soon - I'd
give that one more year too........
David
Solon Boomer-Jenks
> In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "when to end the Simpsons?" thread, DSV75 wrote:
>
> >I think next season should be the LAST season of the Simpsons.
>
> It will probably not work out that way. The list of Fox's signature shows
> is dwindling. "Melrose Place" was retired this season. "Beverly Hills,
> 90120" will probably join it sometime this year. After this season, Mulder
> and Scully won't just be searching for the truth, but for other jobs as
> "X-Files" concludes its run. Fox execs will probably throw money at
> Groening, et al., to keep "The Simpsons" going until the twelfth season, at
> least.
>
> Now the twelfth season, that's where things get interesting. Mike Scully's
> contract as executive producer ends then. So do the contracts for the voice
> actors. Typically, when a lot of critical contracts end at about the same
> time for a long-running series, the series goes away.
Or we can hope that the current writing/production staff will leave and the
voice actors will stay. Ever since the eighth season, I've kept hoping that the
show will come back and become what it once was again, but it just isn't
happening. Is this the fault of Mike Scully? Maybe. He said in an interview
that at one time the majority of the writers were Harvard graduates, and he felt
there should be more diversity among them. Maybe he was wrong and the Harvard
graduates should have stayed. Is this the fault of Ian Maxtone-Graham?
Probably not. He didn't hire himself. Whoever hired this guy is at fault here.
Solon
DarthArada
Let's see... Burn, Baby Burns- a mighty hilarious episode, HS vs. C of NY, at
many 'fav. episode of Season 9' lists, Trouble With Trillions, filled with good
jokes, Trash Of Titans, jokes all over the place, Lisa Gets An A- classic
episode filled with many laughs. I think you people should get off his case and
get over being called 'nerds'.
Solon Boomer-Jenks
I didn't say I hated all of his episodes, but him being the senior writer, I'm sure
he has a lot of influence on the writing of every episode, and I have not liked
many this season.
Solon
Gary Wilson
nice episodes. That doesn't mean he is an important asset to the show. Some of
the best jokes in any of "his" episodes easily could have been written by
another member on staff. Subsequently, Graham easily could be responsible for
some of the show's worst moments, and he probably is, since he is the senior
writer.
What it really boils down to is that any episodes with Graham's name on it
somewhere,
he probably contributed to. However, we can never know which scenes or jokes,
or to what degree. I don't think fans hate Graham because of the episodes
with his name listed as writer. After all, most in this group, myself
included,
found "Lisa Gets an 'A'" to be a highlight of season ten. I think most fans
single out
Graham, rightly or wrongly, because he has said that he hadn't seen very many
episodes of OFF prior to becoming part of the staff. Most fans feel a writer,
particularly a "senior writer" (whatever that means) should be familiar with
the show
they're working on and I have to agree.
This part of the infamous interview bothered me more than any of his nerd
comments because, quite frankly, it's true and everyone would be better off if
they lightened up about it. Sure, calling a good portion of your fan base
nerds is not a smart move, but at the same time it doesn't affect the quality
of the man's writing, which I feel we cannot accurately measure at this point.
--
=====================================
Gary M. Wilson (formerly Joey Jo-Jo)
http://members.tripod.com/~garoDaro/main.html
=====================================
DarthArada <darth...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:19990615230355...@ng-fn1.aol.com...