THE SIMPSONS – "Do The Bartman"

haha i had never heard that Michael Jackson wrote this!? are you winding us up, Tom?

we didn’t watch the Simpsons because it controversially competed with The Cosby Show in the fabled 8pm Thursday slot, and my family were trueblood Cosbyists (plus my dad said he “didn’t watch cartoons”)

But even if we hadn’t been, there was the sense at first that there was something cheap and nasty about it – it was on Fox, which had been making a name for itself with shows that were cheaper and nastier than the competition. The hugely popular Fox show “Married With Children” was the Simpsons’ direct antecedent: the resemblance Homer and Bart bore to that show’s loutish, pathetic father and snotty son felt entirely natural and a continuation of that show’s (and by extension, Fox’s) project to be the anti-Cosby by portraying openly fractious families that much of the time didn’t treat each other all that well. The first running gag the Simpsons ever had was Homer literally strangling Bart til Bart’s eyes bugged out – you still see The Strangle invoked now but it’s like a vestigial relic of those days, before Homer had become so docile, when the Simpsons were rubbing everyone the wrong way

One of the few points of overlap between the UK and Australian number ones this year (a week at the top a month later for us). We were able to gorge on The Simpsons on terrestrial TV throughout the 1990s. But I’m not sure I’d ever heard this before… not much to it, is there.

It does not seem to be in dispute that The Simpsons is the greatest cartoon TV series ever made, and few series of any kind have set out so deliberately to be “great.” It is generally agreed that it puts all other cartoon TV series, and by implication most other TV series, to shame (else why the Malcolm In The Middles and Arrested Developments, cartoon series in all bar flesh?) – but was its purpose to make everyone else ashamed?

For at least the first five or six years of its existence, The Simpsons was easy to admire and hard to love. Its writing and execution were, beyond question, great and near-faultless – yet doesn’t true greatness lie in the necessary belief in the existence of faults? The writers’ and artists’ intricate, intimate sketching of the characters and their meticulously ruthless examination of how politics, education, circumstance and circumspect media can all conspire to derail a family and the community in which it exists were so perfectly realised, every subtext minutely highlighted, commentary in the background comprehensive and ceaseless, its politics so on the mark, the whole so perfect that I sometimes yearned to kick it all to pieces. The Simpsons is “great” – but it’s the kind of purposely omniscient and rather bullying greatness which denies any debate and defies any argument, and this has been solidified by its now two decades of archival history; such a deliberate monument, and so proud of its own monumental status that after a while it becomes suffocating and the viewer (this one, anyway) is compelled to wish for the simpler (though no less profound) pleasures of Fred and Barney.

Even its politics are far from seamless. The Simpsons is so apparently complete a world that it’s easy to overlook that it’s predominantly a man’s (or overgrown boy’s) world; Homer’s stupid acceptance plays against (or with) Bart’s knowing recklessness so fervently that one doesn’t necessarily notice Marge being largely confined to a wearily loving shrug of her blue-rinsed shoulders, or the other major female characters expressing themselves largely through a saxophone or a baby’s rattle. There is also the suspicion that it is only The Simpsons‘ cartoon status which allows anti-capitalist storylines and beliefs to be aired on a Murdoch-owned channel, the sort of words which would crucify, or at least blacklist, a real-life speaker. The fact that Murdoch can cameo on the show with such ease should make us doubly suspicious; as with the medieval court jesters, or with Tony Benn, so loved and idolised since he ceased to be an active political threat, it seems that the show is given free licence to say the otherwise unsayable – and does the unsayable get neutralised as a result?

“Do The Bartman” hardly exists as a record; a jaunty, pre-teen Prince-type hop through what is essentially a glorified ad, and not a particularly funny one either; references to putting mothballs in the beef stew recall ancient relics like Terry Scott’s “My Brother,” and the record sounded dated before it had even ended. Its success was ostensibly rather unexpected, since in early 1991 The Simpsons was still only airing on satellite TV in Britain – but the record was secretly co-written, co-produced and co-sung by Michael Jackson; as with “We Are The World,” it whetted the fans’ appetite for his next record proper. But where was the series’ cutting humour, where was the mischief, the genuine rebellion? Or did the producers’ politics stop at the cheap Korean labour they use to do most of the animation?

This, frankly, is not much cop. They’d have been better off releasing some of the stuff that Michael Jackson sang when he guested on the show itself (as “the big white guy who thinks he’s the little black guy”). This just never really goes anywhere, as noted above, is not funny and just meanders to a close without realling grabbing me.

Shock horror, I’m not much of a Michael Jackson fan – indeed, as Punctum describes The Simpsons, so I personally find Jacko, easy to admire, hard to love. I’ve always liked Prince more.

We were having a conversation about The Simpsons a few weeks ago on the I’m A Believer thread. Presumably we can return to that now. There is a blinding quote on that thread from Grandpa Simpson that (I think) Swanstep put up.

Also Punctum is being perhaps a bit harsh on Marge’s character and definitely harsh on Lisa’s.

Yes, a second division Michael Jackson single. And not very funny.

Years later I bought the Simpsons Sing The Blues album from a charity shop for a quid and found out that there wasn’t much funny on that either.

If nothing else it was an accurate indication of how crap most of Michael Jackson’s output during the decades ahead was gonna be…

Cumbrian #7 – indeed we were, touching on the fact that, as you pointed out Homer has been a teenager in several different eras, and the odd position of commenting on contemporary society when your characters don’t age a day in twenty years. Where shall we take this?

I was somewhat resistant to The Simpsons, being all part of the evil Murdoch empire (in fact I thought Bart was referring to someone called “Boomer” until I realised it was Homer) – then eventually I actually saw it and realised how outstanding it was: in particular the way it flits from one plot idea to another and seems to have used enough comic ideas for half a British series by the time you reach the ad break.

By the way, can’t believe people are comparing this unfavorably to the Happy Birthday Lisa song, surely one of the most mawkish and pointless moments of the shows first eight seasons.

Happy Birthday Mr Burns, on the other hand…

I hadn’t realised until looking up SNPP just now how early this was in the Simpsons run, and by extension even earlier through Sky’s first showings. Midway through season 2, in fact, pre-Bush Snr’s Waltons comparison, pre-Homer quotables – pre-Michael Jackson starring episode itself, in fact. Commissioning an album of purely original material, even with Jackson as supposed ghostwriter, must still have been something of a shot in the dark.

“I love legitimate theatre”

The Songs In The Key Of Springfield disc is absolutely brilliant, as is The Simpsons Go Simpsonic. I heartily recommend them to any Simpsons fan.

I can’t remember hearing this before now – and I doubt whether I will remember it after today.
I’d seen the Simpsons on a visit to the USA in 1988, when they were a (regular) short segment on the Tracey Ullman show. When they began to gain attention in the media in the following years I found it hard to imagine how something so slight could have such an impact let alone imagine that they’d go on to become the cultural monolith of today.
1991 also saw the debut of ‘Ren and Stimpy’ and ‘Rugrats’ – both of which aimed their humour at both child and adult.
My favourite Simpson song is ‘See my vest’ performed by Monty Burns

I remember Matt Groening saying something about Bart starting out as the hero and the baton passing more and more to Homer (presumably as he, the writers and audience got older and more like Homer!) (and everyone realised what an annoying little bell-end Bart was). This being before Homer became an annoying prick too, somewhere around season 9 or so when all the good writers left to do King of the Hill and South Park.

Re #5 Surely Marge is like a lot of women of her generation: could do much better, hasn’t ever been given the notion she could, ends up playing mother to her idiot man-child husband.

Ah yes, agreed, the long wait to see The Simpsons was frustrating. I finally got to see an episode in France in 1991. Then, when visiting the US for the first time in 92, turned on the motel TV to watch the show… only to find, you guessed, they were playing the very same episode.

The oldest Simpsons site had the story of Jackson’s writing this throwaway back in ’98, so I think we can probably accept that it is true: http://www.simpsonsfolder.com/scrapbook/articles/michaelwrote.html

The best Simpsons merchandise was the bootleg Black Bart stuff, and my favorite Simpsons songs are from Streetcar! This only went to 24 in US, and Deep Deep Trouble went to 69. #1 because the show wasn’t on, or simply that novelty song thing again?

This is the only vinyl single I’ve ever found smashed and discarded in a gutter. A conceptual review?

Re 34: Life In Hell – not as far as I know, at least pre-Simpsons. At least, I first read it when my sister* bought one of the books back having done a year’s post-grad at UMinn in the late ’80s, along with the worst haircut she ever had. First saw The SImpsons itself on an overnight ferry in summer of ’90, I reckon.

*Who hates animation, and therefore probably thinks of Groening as the ‘Life In Hell writer’ to this day.

# 36 Just off the top of my head there’s a bit of female rapping on the bunnied covers ep to come in 92.

# 15 Like Ian I saw the show as irreversibly tainted by association with Murdoch and only caught up with it when it preceded TOTP 2 in the early part of the last decade. Even then, while mustering the odd chuckle I remained quite resistant partly through being late to the party but also for the reasons Punctum nails well above. I think as with Private Eye you can only be subversive and successful for a short period then you’re assimilated into the mainstream. I’m sure a lot of The Simpsons politics goes over the heads of its UK audience anyway (not people here of course).

The record is just rubbish. I’d sooner hear her getting eviscerated in Alien to be honest.

@ #37. Nancy Cartwright voices Bart, but it’s *Veronica* Cartwright who’s the-most-freaked-out-woman-ever in Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (and was a kid in The Birds (1963)). They’re not related AFAIK. Veronica was, however, sister to Angela Cartwright (Penny Robinson on Lost in Space).

There was an hour-long interview with Matt Groening shown on BBC 2 just the once (in 2000 the year of the Simpsons 10th anniversary).
Very interesting on the origins of the show. The kernel of the idea was as a corrective of Leave it to Beaver type sitcoms where family life all seemed a bit too cosy. He also admitted that Ronald Searles
St. Trinians cartoons were one of his major influences as well as Frank Zappa and Rocky and Bullwinkle (which he claimed was the funniest cartoon series and it’s rapid speed convinced him the Simpsons should have a similar ratio of jokes per minute).
He also pointed out features of how the show worked – the yellow characters being a sort of hook so that when viewers were flicking channels the Simpsons would stand out. It’s also one of the few cartoon with realistic sound effects – when Homer skateboards of a cliff it actually sounds like a large man tumbling painfully of a cliff and even as poor Homer lies in a heap waiting for the ambulance he doesn’t have little birds/stars appearing around his head.
Groening admitted towards the end that Futurama was just meant as something extra to occupy him so he didn’t become Simpsoned-out although he also mentioned plans for another series that would lampoon rock music. Something that would out-Spinal Tap Spinal Tap maybe, but we don’t appear to have seen it yet.

-There was a follow-up to Do The Bartman called Deep Deep Trouble which again featured Bart on lead and had some sort of storyline.
Bart having a wild party in the manner of Oliver Hardy in Helpmates and being caught by Homer/Marge et al.

Best Simpsons pop moment: Homer returns from the Grammies and says to Marge: “Mark my words, you haven’t heard the last of Dexy’s Midnight Runners!”

“There’ll be no accusations/just friendly crustaceans under the seaaaaa!” That’s your finest Simpsons music moment right there.

As for this, these days I only associate it with the ‘wacky’ suggestion made by ‘listeners’ (sure) for Radio1’s all-day request show on Bank Holidays…

I’m not sure it’s possible to say “Marge Simpson is…” anything. They’d need to give her a consistent personality first (she’s a frustrated artist, bored with her life / oh no, wait, in this episode she’s a conditioned-housewife archetype who can’t imagine any life beyond her own / she’s a feminist / oh no wait, it’ll suit the plot for this one better if she encourages Lisa to live up to every stereotype without thought / etc). I know that to some extent they chop’n’change all of the characters for comedy effect/convenience, but nobody else gets it anywhere near as badly as poor Marge does.

I second the vote for “See My Vest”, meanwhile. I’ve loved most of the in-episode songs, though, apart from (of course) “Happy Birthday Lisa”.

I haven’t been able to comment on the 90s entries as often as I’d hoped, but I can’t let this one go by as, pace señor punctum, I find it so so SO easy to love The Simpsons. It is one of the Good Things, you know? There are some works of art that just stand apart: Hamlet, Scott Walker’s Tilt, Rivette’s Céline Et Julie Vont En Bateau, Ellison’s Invisible Man… and for at least 10 seasons, The Simpsons. For those ten (possibly more, who’s counting) seasons, it’s unfuckwithable, literally sublime. Even post-shark-jump it’s better than most comedy shows. Also, Lisa is the most important character! She’s not just the girl with the saxophone, she’s the necessary conscience of the show. It’s Lisa who tells us – at prime time, on Fox – that we probably shouldn’t watch Fox because they own chemical weapons plants in Syria.

I guess now is the time to talk about Homer Simpson Music. Some characters are so well-drawn that their taste in pop almost becomes a genre in itself. So, there is Patrick Bateman Music and Alan Partridge Music and, I reckon, Homer Simpson Music*. Certain strains of US bubblegum and AOR are forever linked in my mind with our Homer.

*the downside of this is when people decide to use these as a way to diss an act. “This sucks because this fictional character would probably like it” is even weaker as a criticism than eg “this sucks because students would probably like it” or whatevs