Tag: miscellaneous

Children once baffled by how electricity works have revealed their source of understanding – The Simpsons. The satirical cartoon, based on the archetypal dysfunctional family, has unexpectedly achieved what teachers and parents have long failed to do. It was the hapless Homer Simpson, father of Bart, working at Springfield power station who inadvertently helped to explain how electricity was generated. Research carried out by the Science Museum suggested 10 and 11-year-olds responded better to the cartoon than traditional explanations of electricity. The study also found kids were confused by some energy terminology, thinking fossil fuels were connected to dinosaurs and nuclear power related to weapons of mass destruction. Read More >>>

The Onion, an online satirical parody newspaper, has published a story about a Simpsons fan committing suicide, complete with a notice riddled with Simpsons references.

TV shows such as The Simpsons and Star Trek could be the best way of teaching science to children, Scottish researchers have claimed. Examples from comedy and drama shows are being used in classrooms to demonstrate how issues such as recycling, solar power and DNA tests relate to real life. Researchers at the Institute for Science Education in Scotland say children learn more effectively when they see the practical application of paternity tests and fingerprinting on Eastenders and The Bill. Project leader Dr Fiona Scott said: “The Simpsons has been used quite a lot. I think the people that write it are quite scientifically minded and understand quite a few of the issues. One episode describes an environmental problem when Homer falls out with the rubbish collection people and the waste piles up in their home. There is a lot more science on television than you realise. Read More >>

For Romeo, you’d better read D’ohmeo. Shakespeare’s best-known lovers have been beaten in the romance stakes – by Homer and Marge Simpson. The cartoon duo, who were born in a TV studio 17 years ago and star in the longest-running sitcom in US history, have been voted the greatest fictional couple of all time. Romeo and Juliet, who were brought to life in a manuscript 409 years ago, came second. This is despite the fact they have been portrayed in countless performances over the centuries and in more than 30 TV and movie adaptations. In third place were Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who made their first appearance together in the 1928 cartoon Plane Crazy. Heathcliff and Cathy from Emily BrontÎ’s Wuthering Heights – immortalised in a dozen movies – were fourth. Read More >>>

Who would have thought that a cartoon family with yellow skin and four fingers could be educational, too? For a handful of Rushworth students The Simpsons show is proving to be far more than a laughing matter. Instead of having her students stuck in the classroom, Rushworth P-12 visual art teacher Anne Maree Klinberg decided her Year 9s should paint a mural – of the world’s most famous cartoon family. “If you choose a topic the kids are familiar with, they will automatically be excited about it,” Ms Klinberg said. “I thought about it a bit and decided on The Simpsons because they are so well known and are flat figures.” This is the second term the students have been working on the project and the mural of the quirky family is all-but complete. As part of the mural project the students were also asked to complete an assignment on the show’s creator Matt Groening.

The Simpsons have hit the cover of TV Guide once again. In the issue on sale tomorrow, our favourite family made it to #6 on their Top 25 Cult Shows Ever list. “Hiding behind the bright colors and big, happy eyes of TV’s most functional dysfunctional family, The Simpsons is the most consistently funny and smart program on TV. Period. The comedy has sold more than 5 million DVDs, inspired more than 5000 products, and Bart has made his weekly chalkboard messages the most deciphered scribbling since the Rosetta stone.” The cover is just one in a set of four.

“The voices behind the animated Simpson extended family learned from Friends that there was strength in numbers, but their negotiations still turned into a true bloodletting because Fox at first assumed that since the characters were animated, the actors behind them were expendable. Even though there wasn?t any yelling and screaming or Ovitz-ian ?You?ll never work in this town again,? the implied threat was always hanging in the air like a guillotine, not just for the actors, but also for their reps. Not only would the plug be pulled on the Fox series, but on a Simpsons appearance scheduled for the 2005 Super Bowl. It was so tense at one point that, when the two sides broke for lunch, they sat at opposite ends of the studio commissary.” Read More >>>

It doesn’t sound all that exciting: another college student writing about Homer’s odyssey – until you realize this trip ends not with Penelope in Ithaca, but with Apu at the Kwik-E-Mart. Credit Steven Keslowitz, a Brooklyn College sophomore who turned his Sunday night obsession with The Simpsons into a scholarly study of the Springfield scene, ruminating on subjects from Bart’s bad boy persona to Marge’s towering ‘do. In The Simpsons and Society, Keslowitz fixes a serious eye on America’s favourite dysfunctional cartoon crew, looking for deeper meaning in the antics of Krusty, Chief Wiggum and the rest of the townsfolk. He actually finds some, too. “I’ve been watching the show for years,” said Keslowitz, a Simpsons geek who never misses an episode of the Emmy-award winning show. “In college, I realized the show had academic issues that merited serious attention.” Read More >>>

Somewhere in Springfield, state unknown, Bart Simpson is in detention, filling a chalkboard with the words “I will not write a fake letter to Dear Abby.” Well, it probably wasn’t Bart’s handiwork, but he’d no doubt approve of the prank that forced Dear Abby’s editors to pull next Monday’s advice column, which included a letter that mirrored an episode of The Simpsons. “It did sound too similar not to be a hoax,” said Kathie Kerr, a spokeswoman for Kansas City-based Universal Press Syndicate. The column is titled “Wife meets perfect match after husband strikes out.” In the letter, the writer describes herself as a 34-year-old mother of three who has been married for 10 years to a man who is “greedy, selfish, inconsiderate and rude.” The writer says her husband, Gene, gave her a bowling ball for her birthday — complete with the holes drilled to fit his fingers and embossed with his name. Read More >>>

“The answers to life’s problems aren’t at the bottom of a bottle. They’re on TV!” The more I thought about this, the more I realized that we can learn a lot from two characters from Springfield who, surprisingly enough, most college students relate to pretty well: Mr. Burns and Homer Simpson. Now I know what you’re thinking. All the Wharton kids are Mr. Burns, all the frat boys are Homer, and the rest of you are confused by the analogy I just drew. But let me explain. In the book, The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! Of Homer, we find an in-depth character analysis of both the greedy capitalist and the loud-mouthed father. Surprisingly, many of us have characteristics that are quite Burnsian. Not so “excellent” one would think. The idea is that Mr. Burns can never be happy because for him, “everything only takes on meaning in light of something else [and] it would seem as if nothing would have any meaning.” Read More >>>

Homer boxing, Bart and his skateboard, Marge’s gambling, Lisa the goalie, Maggie bowling a perfect game, and even Santa’s Little Helper at the dog track — “The Simpsons” regularly packs more memorable sports moments into its episodes than some MLB teams do in a season. Trimming the 14-plus seasons worth of moments down to a Top 100 was a painstaking process that involved viewing dozens of episodes, along with more time on the Internet reading about a cartoon than any grown man has the right to spend. The parameters were broad, and to keep from using only a few episodes for all 100 moments (because “Homer at the Bat” has at least 25 “moments”), all elements from a sports-themed episode were included in one entry. The only other rule was, if it’s shown on ESPN, it counts as a sport. Today, moments 100-75 have been revealed. ESPNs Page 3 will count down 25 more moments each day until the No. 1 choice is revealled on Friday. Read More >>>

The new top executive of Fox television has announced the struggling network is moving to a year-round programming cycle, marking a break from the traditional September-to-May TV season. “When May is over, our new season will begin in June,” Fox Entertainment’s Gail Berman said during a presentation to critics. “We are not seasonal programmers. We are 12-month-a-year programmers.” The move is driven by Fox’s own coverage of major league baseball in the fall, a fact of life that has made it hard for the network to stick with a conventional timetable for season premieres. Starting this year, Fox will roll out scripted new shows including The O.C. as early as June. What does this mean for our beloved Simpsons? Before you jump to any conclusions, Berman said veteran Fox comedies and dramas such as The Simpsons, 24, and That 70s Show will probably continue to make their returns after baseball in late autumn. But it does give us hope for the future. Read More >>>