criterionforum.org

flyonthewall2983 wrote:And I can see how that show will become watered-down due to Seth's new multi-million contract with Fox, and the Burger King deal, etc, etc.

How does that differ from The Simpsons cast multimillion dollar salaries and endless product tie-ins?

Because Family Guy carried on for a long time as being controversial and edgy, whereas The Simpsons carried on being entertaining.

Betty White & the pledge drive kill me every time. And Mark McGwire socking a few dingers.

But nothing is more prophetic than the blackboard joke at the opening of "Faith Off": "I WILL STOP PHONING IT IN."

Highway 61 wrote:

domino harvey wrote:The episode is notoriously disliked by fans, he definitely picked it for a reason.

What's the controversy? I've never seen it.

Kid Rock is the least of that episode's problems. I haven't brought myself to watch it again in many, many years, but if I recall, there were some very poor jokes relating to spring break and people who live in trailer parks. However, I wouldn't go so far as to call it the worst episode ever, as I'm sure they've managed to worst it in recent seasons.

For my money, the greatest guest appearance has to go to The Moody Blues.

Graeme Edge: Cold-hearted Homer, ditching his wife while ancient Ned runs for his life
Justin Hayward: Chips of red, blue and white, but we decide which...
John Lodge: Can the poems, it's ass-whooping time!
Ray Thomas: (pulls a knife out of his flute) I want fatty!

That was such a misguided and awful episode. So out of character for Flanders.

However, the "white wine spritzer... spritzer... itzer" business was pretty funny.

I'm wondering if the Schwarzwelder commentary will simply be a twenty-minute loop of him saying "I'm sorry."

Here's a Q! There's a piece of music playing during the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon from the Episode "I Love Lisa," Season 4, disc 3. It sounds terribly familiar, and I remember hearing it sung (I think by women) going "doo doo doo." I think it's a classical piece, and I'm even going to so far as to say it reminds me of Black Narcissus (but that may be way off). Any classical music lovers out there to help me out?

It's been a long time since I've seen that episode, but I'm guessing right away that it's the theme from Un Homme et Une Femme

The cartoon is underscored with Borodin's "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" (from The Polovtsian Dances in the opera Prince Igor), better known as "Stranger in Paradise" from Kismet. You can see and hear both versions in the first four minutes of this YouTube clip.

Thanks guys. Matt, how'd you know what it was? Big fan of Borodin? I couldn't find anything in the credits or on IMDB.

I've never seen Kismet, but the clip of the opera performance is pretty much the exact version I have in my head. Now it's gonna bug me - where have I heard this? According to IMDB's soundtrack search page, the only movie/show that uses that music is, ironically, a Season 18 episode of The Simpsons (that I'm pretty sure I haven't seen). When I search for film soundtracks containing Polovetsian Dances, Prince Igor, or Borodin, I come across a few things that I have never seen (like My Summer of Love, apparently). I guess it's possible that it's famous enough that I just "knew" it, or heard it on public radio...

Perhaps it was used in a trailer, or another youtube video. I can't disregard the possibility of Powell and Pressburger, though. I did recently watch 49th Parallel, but I'm having trouble considering what part of that or any P+P this could be from.

Svevan wrote:Thanks guys. Matt, how'd you know what it was? Big fan of Borodin? I couldn't find anything in the credits or on IMDB.

I knew it was "Stranger in Paradise" from Kismet (once heard, it never really goes out of your head), and I knew that the songs from Kismet were based on Borodin's music. I just followed the thread from there.

It's possible you've heard a version of "Stranger in Paradise" in every hotel lobby or elevator you've ever been in. It's a popular song, interpreted by many singers from Jerry Vale to Sarah Brightman and every pop orchestra from Mantovani to André Rieu.

Here's an article that Louis Theroux wrote in admiration of The Simpsons way back when. Man, this guy just continues to get more and more affable since Domino recommended his work to me.

"New Kids On The Blecch" is a lot more funnier, after reading this article, and seeing that video play before Bangkok Dangerous, especially considering that me and my dad might have been the two youngest people there.

Though no online retailer is selling it, apparently Target will have a regular box edition of the eleventh season in addition to the Krusy box option. Definitely worth a rare non-online buying excursion if true

I want to see if the Krusty box is simply an embossed version of the regular box style. If that's the case, I won't bother. If it's one of those damn plastic heads, then I'll return the one I pre-ordered online to Target in exchange for one of the Target exclusive boxes.

Exclusives are kind of awful.

domino harvey wrote:By popular demand, the regular box will be available everywhere

Well, despite my pre-order that already shipped of the Krusty head one, this sounds like a must. Even though the cover art is weak compared to the last few boxes, it'll be nice to stay uniform (I also went out and got the limited 6th season standard box around when the movie came out... they look so much nicer on the shelf without that damn Homer head or the cheap replacement they were mailing out)

Worst. Packaging. Ever.

I went to Circuit City looking for the regular box, and sure enough, since it's Circuit City, they didn't have it. Went down the road to Best Buy and they had a lot of both the Krusty head and the standard box. It looks like (but I couldn't tell without opening one, obviously) the Krusty head is just a panel of Krusty's head [hopefully] loosely adhered to the front of the same box as the standard packaging. However, the problem is that the Krusty head sticks out absurdly far (the mouth is especially obscene) so if the front 3D head panel doesn't come off, you're stuck with something that will look horribly ugly and take up a lot of space on the shelf.

So I bought the standard box, which is both shinier and thinner than the boxes have been for the last few seasons. For some reason about 19 out of the 20 regular boxes they had at my Best Buy were badly dinged up, not sure if this will be a national issue.

The interior packaging is initially prettier than the past seasons - but good lord - CARDBOARD SLEEVES. Not only cardboard sleeves, but ones that are unbearably tight. Good for keeping them secure during shipping, but bad for your cuticles. They take a lot of effort to slide out, as there's an entire rectanguar panel overtop of the discs, they don't stick out at all. And they're so tight in there that it's hard to even tell which disc is behind what panel.

Ugh, FOX. Why mess with a winning formula? Luckily this terrible packaging is timed perfectly with the beginning of terrible episodes.

mfunk9786 wrote:Ugh, FOX. Why mess with a winning formula? Luckily this terrible packaging is timed perfectly with the beginning of terrible episodes.

I guess the quality of the packaging falls in line with the quality of the episodes it houses.

They should have at least taken the three or four good episodes from this season, put them on one shiny gold disc, and given that one a hub.

What the fuck is with Fox lately, do they not understand that consumers hate sleeves/non-standard hubs?

The limited head is affixed to the standard packaging with a few strands of that pliable gummy adhesion and comes off easily or stays put just as well. The accordion-style layout of the set is quite nice to look at, though the snugness of it all is fitting in retrospect to where the future of home viewing is going these days (devaluation & all). As I'm not a fan of the previous noggin-style packaging, I'm planning on mounting Krusty's death mask to my bathroom wall, or else inside the confessional booth for my upcoming reality show, Nobody Gives a Shit About Packaging Anymore (and Neither Should You), airing on the Ovation network in 2010. If you're still alive by then, be sure to check it out!

So can I just remove the head and have a normal set (sans cover art)? If so, I'll just keep mine (I was keeping it in plastic to return to amazon).