The Simpsons goes HD!

[Abaddon]

Starting this Sunday. Here's a first look:
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/02/sundays_simpsons_goes_hd_updat.php

 

[souvlaki]

Big thumbs down to the new opening sequence. Absolutely no reason to change it. And why in the hell are they replacing Mr. Burns and Smithers with Lenny and Carl in the Power Plant scene? I like Lenny and Carl well enough, but I've grown increasingly more annoyed with the showrunners on the Simpsons using Mr. Burns less and less each season, and the new opening sequence is almost like their way of acknowledging they don't give a crap about the character anymore. Same goes for Barney as well. It's like they got bored with the best characters on the show, and replaced them with less interesting characters.

 

[BatMatt]

I think the new opening credit sequence is the final nail in the "this show is ten years past its prime" coffin. This show was so good at one point that watching it now seems like a tragedy.

 

[black_dust]

Why after almost 20 years have they changed the titles? no point, now it just looks tacky

for the simpsons

 

[Milu]

To quote Bart, "Meh."

 

[Lord Valumart]

well...those titles look horrible....it just looks so cheap...like it's a poor internet cartoon...

 

[BatMatt]

I'm in upstate New York, so I get a Canadian station. The Canadian station is currently airing the episodes from when the show was at its best, and mynetwork is airing newer ones. Good god you wouldn't think it was the same show. I miss the amazing satire the show once possessed as well as the fantastic pop culture references

 

[R_3]

To me the opening title seemed close enough to the original with some changes. I initially thought they made it completely different. I'll watch the old re-run Simpsons episodes whenever I come upon them. They've become classics to me. Just like shows like Fresh Prince and Home Improvement; if I happen to see them I'll watch the whole thing. However, I don't watch new episodes that air on Sundays...at all. I'll try to remember to tune in this Sunday though.

 

[Kud-Dukan]

Looks fine to me. It's needed to be changed anyways. It's not like you can't go watch the old intro anyways...there are reruns on a hundred times a day if you get the right channels. Maybe I'll actually tune in tonight.

 

[Superfreak]

why would anyone do the simpsons in HD, it's among the most simplified of cartoon (visually)?

 

[BatMatt]

why would anyone do the simpsons in HD, it's among the most simplified of cartoon (visually)?

well I have the Simpsons Movie on Blu-Ray and it looks fantastic in HD so I'm sure it will tonight as well

 

[Casius--J]

I found the intro quite funny actually, are they changing it for all the episodes or just for the first run of HD. Because they did change the intro for the first episode after the movie came out!

 

[Spider-Man Luvr28]

^ Me too. I laughed at a few parts.

 

[BlueLightning]

I watched yesterday on youtube. It was actually like a growed up version of the intro. I liked it, it was funny and used more characters than the original one. Like a good new twist. But I don´t watch the new Simpsons episodes, if I catch one chapter one day surely I´ll watch it.

The thing is that I enjoy more watching the Simpsons in my language, and since they changed the voice actors, it doesn´t feel the same anymore.

 

[BeserkerHilf]

it's just weird seeing the simpsons in 16:9.

 

[Shifty]

it's just weird seeing the simpsons in 16:9.

It doesn't make them funnier. The best part of the new intro were the references to episodes from long ago (Mr.Sparkle detergent, Tomacco juice)

It was another one of those lazy "What if?" episodes....
American Dad was much better.

 

[souvlaki]

Looks fine to me. It's needed to be changed anyways. It's not like you can't go watch the old intro anyways...there are reruns on a hundred times a day if you get the right channels. Maybe I'll actually tune in tonight.

No, it really didn't. When you have the same intro for 18 seasons it becomes as much a part of the show as the characters themselves. And it was fine the way it was. If they wanted to take the original intro, and redo the colors for HD, fine, but changing the actual intro is unnecessary and yet another sign that the people working on the Simpsons are more interested in gimmicks than improving the show. What's frustrating is that the movie proved there is still some life left in these characters if they are written correctly, but it seems to me whoever they have writing the show now know less about the characters and what makes them work then the fans. They need to either get rid of the new writers and bring back the crew from seasons 4 through 8, or put the show out of it's misery. It's depressing to me as a huge fan of the show that pretty soon there will be more bad seasons of the show than good (and that's if I include seasons 1, 2 and 11 which were pretty much hit and miss).

 

[souvlaki]

I'm in upstate New York, so I get a Canadian station. The Canadian station is currently airing the episodes from when the show was at its best, and mynetwork is airing newer ones. Good god you wouldn't think it was the same show. I miss the amazing satire the show once possessed as well as the fantastic pop culture references

In it's prime it was easily the best sitcom on television. For me nothing will ever top seasons 4 through 8. It's still my favorite show of all time, and one of the few sitcoms that is just as funny on repeated viewings (sometimes funnier). Most importantly, what sets them apart from where the show went in it's later years is just how many layers there were to the jokes. There are still references and jokes in the episode that I catch now that I didn't the first twenty or so times I watched it. Now it's all about the slapstick humor, which is never what the show was about. I wont even get into how badly written the characters are now. I mean, Homer was always dumb, but they've taken it to a whole new level in the last ten years. Thank God for dvds. I own seasons 1-11, and I decided after I bought 11 I would stop there. To me the show ended after season 11, and what's on television now is not the same show. It's just bizarre to me that for some kids the newer episodes are the only version of the Simpsons they've ever known.

 

[chaseter]

Pretty meh to the whole thing tonight. Family Guy was better.

 

[BatMatt]

In it's prime it was easily the best sitcom on television. For me nothing will ever top seasons 4 through 8. It's still my favorite show of all time, and one of the few sitcoms that is just as funny on repeated viewings (sometimes funnier). Most importantly, what sets them apart from where the show went in it's later years is just how many layers there were to the jokes. There are still references and jokes in the episode that I catch now that I didn't the first twenty or so times I watched it. Now it's all about the slapstick humor, which is never what the show was about. I wont even get into how badly written the characters are now. I mean, Homer was always dumb, but they've taken it to a whole new level in the last ten years. Thank God for dvds. I own seasons 1-11, and I decided after I bought 11 I would stop there. To me the show ended after season 11, and what's on television now is not the same show. It's just bizarre to me that for some kids the newer episodes are the only version of the Simpsons they've ever known.

exactly, when I saw these episodes when I was younger I didn't get many of the references such as the Itchy and Scratchy episodes directed by guest directors Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino (JFK and Reservoir Dogs)

 

[Spidey-Bat]

I don't like the new intro. I always liked how it was the old, early-90's animation.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Will this show ever end?

 

[souvlaki]

exactly, when I saw these episodes when I was younger I didn't get many of the references such as the Itchy and Scratchy episodes directed by guest directors Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino (JFK and Reservoir Dogs)

Same here. I didn't see the Godfather films, or Citizen Kane until I was older. It's only now that I get all the various in-jokes in the earlier seasons. Some of those pop culture references added a whole new layer to the episodes when I was older. There was also just a lot of stuff I missed the first couple times. I only recently noticed in one of the clip show episodes where Bart and Lisa were discussing clip shows, and how they often re-use footage from older episodes that they used the same models for Bart and Lisa that they used in the first season. Small stuff like that that you don't catch for years, and when you finally notice it it's funnier than anything else in the entire episode. None of the new episodes have those things. All the jokes are fairly straightforward. The Simpsons used to be the smartest sitcom on television, now it's nothing more than, "What trouble is Homer going to get into this week?"

 

[Wyrminarrd]

I actually liked the new intro though I´m assuming it was made just for this episode.

I´m not fond of these flashback episodes and what ifs but this one was better then some of the other ones.

 

[Casius--J]

I actually liked the new intro though I´m assuming it was made just for this episode.

I´m not fond of these flashback episodes and what ifs but this one was better then some of the other ones.

Yeah me neither, I never was a fan of the episodes of homer and marge when they were younger but this one was actually pretty good.