Fuck Japan

[Ke11iente]

Semi-related anyway:

The last one of these ended up going for about $500, so if you've got one tucked away somewhere you might want to part with it. Or you might not, depending on which is more important to you: cash or geek prestige.

Simpsons C.C. Lemon Lunch Box



And although I can't understand why people tend to be impassioned when discussing anything Simpsons-related, I can't say I'm surprised by it. 80% of my guy friends watch it like gospel and can quote chapter and verse (episode and line) better than a southern baptist in a bible factory.

[Greji]

And although I can't understand why people tend to be impassioned when discussing anything Simpsons-related, I can't say I'm surprised by it. 80% of my guy friends watch it like gospel and can quote chapter and verse (episode and line) better than a southern baptist in a bible factory.

We must not be friends, or at least in the lower 20%! I have watched the Simpsons (under duress) a couple of times and have never found anything in it at all. Guess I'm too backwoods to understand pure artistic presentations.

[Mulboyne]

I certainly wasn't trying to chase ttjereth out of town and I didn't think he was trying to stir things up for the hell of it. I just found it amusing that he would think non-American native English speakers would find the Simpsons "considerably less interesting" because of the preponderance of "cultural in-jokes". As Ichigo said straight off the bat, much of the rest of the world has been devouring American popular culture for decades now so there really aren't too many of those. I think Family Guy has many more obscure references and is not as popular in Britain, at least. However, there is a sense, as the South Park creators have often said, that Family Guy is almost exclusively about these references and not much else so that may be a factor as well.

US TV broadcasters tend not to trust their audience to "get" foreign programming and prefer to localize overseas content through remakes. Aside from the cultural issues, there is also a practical point at stake here when it comes to sitcoms. British comedies are usually created by only one or two writers and a typical series will often run to no more than six or seven episodes. US sitcoms play a major role in the schedule and a hit will often have as many as 24 episodes a season produced by a large team of writers. There may be many US fans of "Fawlty Towers" but there were only two series ever made for a total of twelve episodes: that kind of output could never form the backbone of a US network schedule.

There's an interesting example right now with "The Office" - sorry ttjereth, I know you said this isn't your bag. It was a big hit in Britain and picked up awards in the US, It also ran to only two series of 6 episodes plus one special. After that, the writers, Gervais and Merchant, said that they had gone as far as they could with idea and wanted to end on a high note. The US remake started with six episodes largely based on the original. The second season, once the network felt there might be something there, eventually had 22 episodes and the third season consisted of 23 episodes. There is no way that Gervais and Merchant could have come up with that number. It requires the teams and resources that US companies are prepared to throw at a product. It leads many people to believe that the British sitcom model is a cottage industry by comparison.

Flip that around and it's clear why US programming is an easy option for overseas networks. There's just so much of it. If a UK network finds that a US programme works well then they'll have a large chunk of their schedule marked out with none of the development costs.

[CrankyBastard]

Hey, maybe that's why we didn't see 'The Drifters' on Fox.

[amdg]

The Simpsons movie website (at http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html)

has a make your own Simpsons avatar flash.

[Charles]

The Simpsons movie website (at http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/)...

I changed the URL so you can see the multilingual entry page. Note that all languages are active.. except Japanese.

[ttjereth]

[quote="amdg"]
OK, maybe we do miss out on some of the extremely small fraction of references that are made to TV commercials.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Maybe fuck you. ]

I think it's a matter of p.o.v. too. You say "small fraction of references", but there are tons and tons of them in most episodes.

I didn't have anything specific in mind (I try to avoid memorizing Simpsons episodes if I can ) but for example the:

"+ "Brawny" (brand of paper towel)
- "Burly" towels have similar name and lumberjack logo"

reference mentioned above by Omae Mona, is that a universal brand? Or for cartoons, what about G.I. Joe? Was G.I. Joe shown in the U.K. and Oz? I'd imagine it would have been universally reviled overseas being as the full title was "G.I. Joe, a real American hero" .

I know most of the classics like Hanna Barbera, Warner Brothers, Tom and Jerry and what not are shown all over the world, but I was thinking specifically stuff that was created in the late 80's early 90's which has too big of a place in the memories of other American's of my generation (including some of the Simpson's writers).

I'd rather not dig through lists of Simpson's references to find specific examples, but I think possibly part of the misunderstanding here in the first place is that if there is a reference someone isn't getting, they're not going to notice that they missed it anyway, so I was kind of asking if you people got references that they probably wouldn't even be aware of if they didn't get them in the first place, but like I said, I don't always express myself well in writing, especially since I usually only visit here after working/before sleeping .

[ttjereth]

Please don't count me in as hating America. Maybe some people do, but I certainly don't - quite the opposite in fact.

I'm born and raised in the U.S. and there's a lot to hate about it, but I've found that's true for pretty much everywhere in the world

[ttjereth]

I certainly wasn't trying to chase ttjereth out of town and I didn't think he was trying to stir things up for the hell of it.

Nice to know I wasn't being run out of town I've actually been on here for 2 years or something, I just tend to read more than I post, since generally I've found that any message on any topic posted on any internet message board always seems to translate as "fuck you asshole, let's have a flame war" to an unfortunately large proportion of the regular posters

I just found it amusing that he would think non-American native English speakers would find the Simpsons "considerably less interesting" because of the preponderance of "cultural in-jokes". As Ichigo said straight off the bat, much of the rest of the world has been devouring American popular culture for decades now so there really aren't too many of those. I think Family Guy has many more obscure references and is not as popular in Britain, at least. However, there is a sense, as the South Park creators have often said, that Family Guy is almost exclusively about these references and not much else so that may be a factor as well.

I mentioned, I am aware of the pervasiveness of American pop-culture. I'm not all that sheltered, I've lived here (Japan) for the better part of the last 10 years, and I've lived in Germany, and try to visit other countries whenever I have the opportunity to make a significantly long visit, although admittedly I don't tend to watch too much TV while I'm there

I probably could have phrased things better, or been a bit more specific in my original post, but overall I probably just overestimated the importance of the "in-jokes" to the enjoyment of the show. Different people often find different aspects of the same thing interesting/amusing. The Kipling reference earlier in the thread for example, I would bet went unnoticed by the vast the majority of American viewers (at least those of us with a public school education ]
US TV broadcasters tend not to trust their audience to "get" foreign programming and prefer to localize overseas content through remakes. Aside from the cultural issues, there is also a practical point at stake here when it comes to sitcoms. British comedies are usually created by only one or two writers and a typical series will often run to no more than six or seven episodes. US sitcoms play a major role in the schedule and a hit will often have as many as 24 episodes a season produced by a large team of writers. There may be many US fans of "Fawlty Towers" but there were only two series ever made for a total of twelve episodes: that kind of output could never form the backbone of a US network schedule.

There's an interesting example right now with "The Office" - sorry ttjereth, I know you said this isn't your bag. It was a big hit in Britain and picked up awards in the US, It also ran to only two series of 6 episodes plus one special. After that, the writers, Gervais and Merchant, said that they had gone as far as they could with idea and wanted to end on a high note. The US remake started with six episodes largely based on the original. The second season, once the network felt there might be something there, eventually had 22 episodes and the third season consisted of 23 episodes. There is no way that Gervais and Merchant could have come up with that number. It requires the teams and resources that US companies are prepared to throw at a product. It leads many people to believe that the British sitcom model is a cottage industry by comparison.
[/quote]

Just because I don't like The Office doesn't mean someone else mentioning it/talking about it (or anything else I don't like) bothers me, so no worries

I think the difference in U.S. and British television (specifically speaking about comedy, since that is what I have the most experience with from British television) is interesting, and I rather like the fact that the British writers often tend to value quality over quantity.

Obviously, I was little dissapointed when I watched the last episodes of Monty Python, Red Dwarf, Jeeves and Wooster, etc., but if the people creating the shows felt there wasn't much more they could do with it, I'm glad they decided to end it. Otherwise you end up with the predictable garbage that most U.S. sitcoms tend to be after a season or two (although British comedy isn't immune either, Mr. Bean stopped being funny after about 3 episodes ).

That's one thing that is pretty remarkable about the Simpsons, that it has managed to go so long and not become just absolutely terrible (debatable obviously). The last few seasons haven't been as funny as the older stuff IMNSHO, but I think the movie looks good.

BONUS: Somewhat appropriate to the conversation Simpson's image

[amdg]

And now the summary of this thread, which will show you why I was pissed of right from the get go - I could see this happening.


Question: Do people outside the US get the references?

Answer: Yes, we do get the fuckin' references. (I'm politely not going to ask you whether you get the more obscure literary references).

Reply: Well, I can totally see why you wouldn't get them. In fact I think not getting them might be a good thing.

Reply: But we do get them. we said.

Reply: Thanks for answering, I'm really not trying to start any shit, but I'm only accepting 'no' for an answer. Thanks!



Choice comments...

....I mean things like cartoons...

Well, not cartoons, I mean brands. Each episode has tons of references to brands.

Perhaps I could have expressed myself better.


Congratulations! You're a weasel.

[ttjereth]

And now the summary of this thread, which will show you why I was pissed of right from the get go - I could see this happening.


Question: Do people outside the US get the references?

Answer: Yes, we do get the fuckin' references. (I'm politely not going to ask you whether you get the more obscure literary references).

Reply: Well, I can totally see why you wouldn't get them. In fact I think not getting them might be a good thing.

Reply: But we do get them. we said.

Reply: Thanks for answering, I'm really not trying to start any shit, but I'm only accepting 'no' for an answer. Thanks!



Choice comments...

....I mean things like cartoons...

Well, not cartoons, I mean brands. Each episode has tons of references to brands.

Perhaps I could have expressed myself better.


Congratulations! You're a weasel.

You know, I was trying to be polite, and didn't say I would only accept no as an answer, what I said was that IF (you do know what a conditional statement is right?) one didn't get the references they wouldn't be aware of them anyway and thus my question about such was kind of pointless.

My original question was whether it was as popular in other countries as it was in the U.S. Not "do you get the references". That was the part that everybody focused in on from my original post where I said "I think there's a lot of "cultural in-jokes" in the Simpsons that would make it considerably less interesting to non-Americans even if they spoke native or fluent English?"

And for the record I never said just cartoons, the first post I mentioned cartoon references I specifically mentioned G.I. Joe and after that cartoons and commercials are mentioned in the same post:

"Let me clarify pop-culture by explaining I mean things like children's cartoons and television commericials which were on at the time"

So no, I didn't just convieniently switch what I was talking about as you'd like to paint things. I originally started with an extremely broad category, "cultural in-jokes", which ended up being narrowed down somehow when I gave EXAMPLES of such.

You however have been determined to be an asshole from the beginning, and looking over a lot of your posts it seems that's what you generally like to do here is jump into a thread and be immediately insulting for whatever fucked up reason your distorted negative mind finds.

You repeatedly question me, and my motives, demand I explain myself asking for examples, when I explain myself and my examples you still have problems and pepper your replies with snide little remarks ("how about fuck you", "I'm politely not going to ask you whether you get the more obscure literary references") which I again politely ignore, and then it turns out you're a fucking psychic because you where "pissed of right from the get go" because you "could see this happening".

If you're going to summarize and "quote" me then use actual quotes, my original statement again "I think there's a lot of "cultural in-jokes" in the Simpsons that would make it considerably less interesting to non-Americans even if they spoke native or fluent English?" Do I specifically say cartoons? No. I say "cultural in-jokes". I gave cartoons as a single example of such after being questioned. Re-read the thread and compare it with your distorted "summary" above.

So we agree to disagree, you can just not bother replying to me anymore and I will agree to do the same for you after this post.

Congratulations, you're a troll.

[Mulboyne]

[GV]-7820964130534722744[/GV]

I suspect this will be taken down fairly soon.

[emperor]

http://spider-pig.ytmnd.com/
http://spiderpigreal.ytmnd.com/
http://spiderpigchoir.ytmnd.com/

[FG Lurker]

I suspect this will be taken down fairly soon.

Thanks Mulboyne! Enjoyed it.

[canman]

Was it just me or could anybody else get sound on the video?

[ttjereth]

Was it just me or could anybody else get sound on the video?

Didn't watch the entire thing (already seen it) but skipping through it the sound is fine here.

[FG Lurker]

Was it just me or could anybody else get sound on the video?

Everything was fine here. You may need to upgrade your version of Flash Player...?

[Taro Toporific]

http://spider-pig.ytmnd.com/
http://spiderpigreal.ytmnd.com/
http://spiderpigchoir.ytmnd.com/

The Simpsons - Spiderpig Full Version
[YT]r_96a81yIVY[/YT]



Spiderpig Choir
[YT]EZEd3zsQgg4[/YT]


Video response to Spider Pig on YouTube
[YT]5OdUo_JUfzw[/YT]



Spider-Pig the Trailer!!!
[YT]oDNkLM2aK-g[/YT]

"Spiderpig, Spiderpig, does whatever a Spiderpig does, Can he swing - from a web, No he can't, ....

[Charles]

Didn't watch the entire thing (already seen it) but skipping through it the sound is fine here.

I had sound sync problems, the video is 2 or 3 seconds ahead after about 30 minutes in.

[American Oyaji]

I had no problems. Did not watch it though because I don't really care about the Simpsons. I think I've only watched like 5 episodes all the way through.

Saw the one where Marge had breast implants.

[ttjereth]

I had sound sync problems, the video is 2 or 3 seconds ahead after about 30 minutes in.

Low memory or available memory on the machine you watched it on maybe? No sound sync problems here.

[Oradea]

I had sound sync problems, the video is 2 or 3 seconds ahead after about 30 minutes in.

I watched the whole thang, and had no probs whatsoever, thanks Mulboyne

[FG Lurker]

I think Chuck is just plain out of sync.

[Charles]

Low memory or available memory on the machine you watched it on maybe? No sound sync problems here.

I tried the H.264 version, which is described as "iPod/PSP" and ran it on my old, underpowered G4 PowerBook. But I don't usually have problems with that config. I tried it on my big CPU and it wasn't any better. Hmm..

[Iraira]

I watched the whole thang, and had no probs whatsoever, thanks Mulboyne

That was whack. Maggie spoke.

[sillygirl]

Anyway....

Got the movie on dvd if anyone wants to borrow it.

PM me your address, I'll send it over then the borrower can send it to the next person who wants to borrow it.

Can he swing from a web? No he can't, he's a pig...lol!

[Mulboyne]

The Japanese voice cast for "The Simpsons Movie" appear at the Tokyo American Club. From left, Joji Tokoro, who provides the voice for Homer, Akiko Wada (Marge), Atsushi Tamura (Bart) and Becky (Lisa). The movie will be released in Japan in 2008.

This is a more high-profile cast than the Japanese TV/DVD voice actors.

[Iraira]

This is a more high-profile cast than the Japanese TV/DVD voice actors.

Not to nitpick but how does one really translate "Doh!!"?

[ttjereth]

[james]

Not to nitpick but how does one really translate "Doh!!"?

it's probably transliterated as opposed to translated, as certain expressions are in many movies now, such as "fuck" being rendered as "ファック".. so i'm guessing they'd just keep it as "ドーッ!"