The Simpsons
Warning : This article hold SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 35 , episode 17 .
Summary
AlthoughThe Simpsonsseason 35 has improved the show ’s critical repute , the long - run sitcom still falls short in one embarrassing expanse . Sincethe Simpsons never senesce , it can be tough for the show to keep up with the time . The serial has been on the air for 35 year and , in that time , social club and civilisation have shift infinitely . WhileThe Simpsonsseason 36may shift this , for the most part , the show ’s attempts to touch on fads have been meet with motley receipt . Some young episodes ofThe Simpsonspull off this slippery challenge well .
time of year 35 , installment 14 , “ Night of the Living Wage , ” parodiedThe Bearand addressed the live subject of ghost kitchen , but its topicality worked in the expedition ’s favor and garner the show great reviews . In contrast , the jokes about NFTs see in time of year 35 , episode 5 , “ Treehouse of Horror XXXIV , ” were disastrously late . The fad had fallen out of relevancy over a twelvemonth before the installment publicize , make the satire find more quaint than cut . The same outcome recurred whenThe Simpsonsseason 35 ’s Marge focustook a backseat in the Homer - centric installment 17 , “ The Tipping Point . ”
The Simpsons Season 35 Episode 17 Referenced A Forgotten Meme
The Outing Recreated Kyle Gordon’s “Planet of The Bass”
The main storyline of “ The Tipping Point ” was n’t in particular strong , trust on Homer ’s struggles with the praxis of tipping to keep viewers emotionally endue . However , the sequence ’s biggest payoff was n’t its plot . “ The Tipping Point ” referenced a viral meme months after its popularity peaked , makingThe Simpsonsfeel out of touch and irrelevant . Comedian and musician Kyle Gordon ’s Eurodance parody “ Planet of the Bass ” was Brobdingnagian when the Sung first descend out , but this was nine month before the episode aired . “ major planet of the Bass ” was democratic for just about a hebdomad , almost a year beforeThe Simpsonsrecreated the song .
AlthoughThe Simpsonsdid enlist Gordon and his collaborators Chrissi Poland and Audrey Trullinger for the episode , this was n’t enough to justify the lengthy recreation of the track . “ The Tipping Point ” turn “ Planet of the Bass ” into an anthem about Europe ’s lack of tipping culture , but these variety were n’t all that inventive and the out-of-date nature of the meme reference overpowered the song ’s posture . The Simpsonsuses musical number as paddingeven when these song are n’t recreations of viral hit , and this scene was doubly senseless given how threadbare the plot was . This proves the show has a recur issue .
The Simpsons Production Process Makes Meme References A Bad Idea
It Takes The Series 8 Months To Produce An Episode
net memes are commonly comical exactly because they are ephemeral , so their popularity seldom lasts for more than a few weeks .
On average , it takes around eight months forThe Simpsonsto bring forth an episode . While this is n’t unusually long in the humankind of vivify comedy , it is foresighted enough to make meme reference book a bad idea . Internet memes are usually funny on the button because they are ephemeral , so their popularity rarely last for more than a few weeks . Post - Golden Age seasons ofThe Simpsonshave repeatedly been pick apart for trying too unvoiced to seem relevant , so the last affair that the show needs is reference work to fads that are guaranteed to be forget before an episode air .
The Simpsonscould focussing on reference - base comedy or broader societal and political trends , which tend to exchange slowly . However , the series instead insists on repeatedly reference pop culture minutiae despite its brief shelf aliveness . This is how viewers ended up with season 35 , instalment 16 , “ The Tell - Tale bloomers , ” reference the Barbieheimer hoopla almost ten months after the issue occurred . These tired nod feel less like a monitor of the show ’s place in the papa finish landscape and more like a do-or-die attempt to prove thatThe Simpsonsis still cognisant of the humanity outside Springfield .
The Simpsons Repeatedly Made This Mistake Before
The Show’s Earlier Meme References Were Horribly Dated
Whether it was base an intact sequence aroundPokemon Goin April 2017 or 2016 ’s meme song " Baby Shark " in December 2019,The Simpsonshas always been right smart too dumb to cite memes . Traditionally , the news show that a mainstream video show referenced a meme was enough to prove that the inside caper had become passé and was no longer subversive or interesting . This included shows likeSaturday Night LiveandSouth Park , which share a turnaround time of only five to seven days . As such , a serial with an eight - calendar month yield procedure cite any meme is guaranteed to defeat it .
This is n’t necessarily a bad thing , since it means that the show can return to less intensely topical humor . The Golden Age ofThe Simpsonsreferenced plenty of pappa culture minutiae , but the series rarely devote integral chunk of screen time to recreating music videos . alternatively , the strongest episodes rivet on the central characters and thread nod to other shows , moving picture , outcome , existent - life figures , and even former cyberspace phenomena into their story . The cringe - cause “ Planet of the Bass ” homage inThe Simpsonsseason 35 proves the series should return to this approach .
Episode Number
Episode Title
Air Date
1
" Homer ’s Crossing "
October 1
2
" A Mid - Childhood Night ’s Dream "
October 8
3
" McMansion and Wife "
October 22
4
" Thirst Trap : A Corporate Love Story "
October 29
5
" Treehouse of Horror XXXIV "
November 5
6
" Iron Marge "
November 12
7
" It ’s A Blunderful lifetime "
November 19
8
" Ae Bonny Romance "
December 3
9
" Murder , She Boat "
December 17
10
" Do The Wrong Thing "
December 24
11
" Frinkenstein ’s Monster "
February 18
12
" Lisa Gets An F1 "
February 25
13
" Clan of the Cave Mom "
March 24
14
" Night of the Living pay "
April 7
15
" Cremains of the Day "
April 21
16
" The Tell - Tale Pants "
May 5
17
" The Tipping Point "
May 12
" Bart ’s genius "
May 19
