Why was it okay for The Simpsons to have celebrities play

Funny enough this episode got blasted on usenet when it first aired, as did most of season 3 and 4.

Because it was just one episode and not EVERY episode and it was funny

>>90574362
Those cunts had no taste. Fucking faggots the lot of them.

>>90574400
It was pretty much every episode they could afford to do it. That was the gimmick they had - and they had to do it, because that was what the Flintstones had done.

It was the only way they could get on the air. The moment FOX bought the rights, the whole thing was literally sold out. That's how tv works.

>>90574293
Well Mr. Burns had done it
The power plant had won it
With Roger Clemmons, Clucking all the while
Mike Scioscia's tragic illness made us smile
While Wade Boggs lay unconscious on the bar-room tile
We're talking softball
From Maine to San Diego
We're talking softball
Mattingly and Canseco
Ken Griffey's grotesquely swollen jaw
Steve Sax and his run-in with the law
We're talking Homer, Ozzie and the Straw
We're talking softball
From Maine to San Diego
We're talking softball
Mattingly and Canseco
Ken Griffey's grotesquely swollen jaw
Steve Sax and his run-in with the law
We're talking Homer, Ozzie and the Straw

If you had taken all the MLB players out of Homer at the Bat and just replaced them with a bunch ringers voiced by Hank Ariza that Mr. Burns hired to rig the game, the episode would have still worked just as well with only minor alterations.

If you take the celebrity out of the average modern "Guest Star Cameo" episode of the Simpsons, the entire script falls apary.

>>90574293
A typical reply would be that the episode was usually about something other than the celebrity appearances earlier on.

Sometimes that mostly amounted to a bare framing narrative, like here, whereby the guest(s) wouldn't be arbitrarily appearing just to meet the Simpsons. However, the writing was, at the time, agile enough to write in humorous and entertaining scenarios despite that, to make the appearances "incidental" to the rest of the episode as opposed to more obviously being the sole reason for the episode to exist in the first place.

That the softball episode could easily be done without the guest appearances is why they're tolerated, essentially.

>>90575544
Wrong. Part of Groening's deal was that Fox suits had no creative control over the show, which is why they constantly shit on Fox in the show.

>>90577162
This is why they can't touch it even though it has long gone to shit.

>>90574482
People will be saying this about our harshness on the 2008-present episodes in 20 years.

>>90574362
oh shit
thanks for revealing repressed usenet memories...

>>90577162
Actually Sam Simon made this arrangement, but whatever. The point being that Fox has a total hands-off policy on the show barring major format changes. Bill Oakley had said that it's tough leaving the Simpsons writing room and working elsewhere in TV where network interference in the creative process happens all the time.

It's basically the same as what the Looney Toons crew in the 1940s had, which was a promise from Warner of total creative freedom, as long as they stayed in budget, on time, and followed the Hayes Code.

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683KB, 698x527px

>>90574293
from s4s with love

Clemens! Did I make the Team?

>>90574362
Honestly I have some sympathy for their perspective, if you consider that most of them were probably fans from the beginning, ie season 1 (and to a lesser extent season 2) which were totally different from the rest of the show. Season 3 and 4 marked a significant tone shift from satirical family drama to full-blown wacky comedy. Now we have the hindsight to realize that the show was still good, just different. If The Simpsons was airing today, I'd have a feeling that /co/ would be just as negative.

There's a scene I'm thinking of. I can't remember if it's from The Simpsons. I think it's a pirate or captain doing a commercial, some kids ask a question, and instead of answering it he just laughs and the commercial ends.
Was that on here? Futurama?

>>90579324
The first four seasons of the Simpsons had a lot of very low-key, subtle humor. It was pretty indirect and episodes managed to be quite dense and pack a surprisingly large amount of material into 22 minutes. Aside from the main plot, there were a lot of things going on in the background.

Dave Mirkin's version of the show was more in-your-face, more zany, and more direct. The episodes had a lot more sociopolitical commentary than Seasons 1-4 and more emphasis on side characters and Springfield as a whole than just the Simpsons. While still very good on their own merits, it's easy to understand why episodes like Homer Goes To College and Homer The Great would have seemed jarring to Simpsons fans at the time.

>>90574293
Funny you should mention that because Harry Shearer and Julie Kavner both objected to this episode for having too many guest stars and a bunch of surreal moments like the Springfield Mystery Spot.

The two actually boycotted Krusty Gets Kancelled entirely which is why none of their characters have any speaking part in the episode.

>>90574293
only if it was for a joke and something hilariously bad happens to them.

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>>90574293
If the episode is done well, yes.

And that episode was done well.

>>90574293
They didn't put the celebrities on a pedestal and that's a large part of why it was funny.

Except for Jose Canseco who demanded his part to be rewritten into something more heroic.

>>90574293

cause it was actually funny.

nowadays the Simpsons wouldn't have the balls to have these celebrities go through the misfortunes they go through in this episode.

>>90574293
This isn't an episode I go back to very often. I'm not an American Baseball fan and don't know who any of the players are and the really weird things that happen to them don't do much for me.

>>90581495
Well Beerus had done it
Universe 7 had won it
With Gohan, Clucking all the while
Goku's tragic accident made us smile
While Tien lay unconscious on the barroom tile
We're talking baseball
From Mount Paozu to Penguin Village
We're talking softball
Krillin and Mr. Satan
Piccolo's grotesquely swollen jaw
Vegeta and his run-in with the law
We're talking Yamcha, Trunks and the Champa
We're talking baseball
From Mount Paozu to Penguin Village
We're talking softball
Krillin and Mr. Satan
Piccolo's grotesquely swollen jaw
Vegeta and his run-in with the law
We're talking Yamcha, Trunks and the Champa