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John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

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Re: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

#21

Post by klmadfejno »

dfxm12 wrote: post #14

“The Simpsons” did something I didn’t think possible: it got viewers to look at writers’ credits on TV shows. This made me think about what The Simpsons , or any show, really is. For a show with a relatively thin premise, it can really be anything the writing team wants it to be. Homer at the Bat might as well be from a different series from The Bonfire Of The Manatees . The cast is the same, so the different writing…

I've gotten into the habit of looking at writers credits when a show I'm watching starts to go downhill. Inevitably its because some key person at helm started to leave.

Re: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

#23

Post by AlwaysRock »

tootie wrote: post #13

There's so many jokes in vintage Simpsons episodes that I can't understand how they were even written. They can't have made sense on paper. The writing was amazing but so was the cast and the writers had to have so much faith that putting a stage direction Homer shrugs and grunts would be devastating at the right moment. It can't be understated how big an impact they had. Every show, even non-comedy, has borrowed inf…

They were written and then endlessly workshopped to increase the number of jokes per minute. I believe the goal was 6 per minute during early seasons of the Simpsons.

Obviously that is really hard to do and its fallen out of style.

Re: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

#24

Post by murph-almighty »

rasfincher wrote: post #3

I enjoyed this article. Especially his discussion of writing filler text in scripts that would be ironed out later during rewrites. I see a nice correlation to writing software. Get it working in general and then go back and optimize it.

I did something similar for a show script I had to write once (a spoof of a children's show). I got the original plot down, then worked with a partner to actually go back and insert the jokes we'd thought of while writing the first draft.

Worked out pretty well, though I don't have any awards to show for it.

Re: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

#25

Post by theorymeltfool »

rasfincher wrote: post #3

I enjoyed this article. Especially his discussion of writing filler text in scripts that would be ironed out later during rewrites. I see a nice correlation to writing software. Get it working in general and then go back and optimize it.

This is a well-known trick of writers though. You put something down that sucks, and it basically makes your brain think about it while you're not doing anything. Harlan Ellison talks about this too. It's why so many Simpsons episodes are parodies of films; you take the basic plot outline to a film, change up as much as you can to make it funny, and then fill in the rest.

Re: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

#26

Post by dec0dedab0de »

tootie wrote: post #13

There's so many jokes in vintage Simpsons episodes that I can't understand how they were even written. They can't have made sense on paper. The writing was amazing but so was the cast and the writers had to have so much faith that putting a stage direction Homer shrugs and grunts would be devastating at the right moment. It can't be understated how big an impact they had. Every show, even non-comedy, has borrowed inf…

In high school my friends and I would discuss during the commercials to see what jokes each of us were laughing at, because we knew it would be different.

Re: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

#27

Post by hardwaregeek »

I've been debating with my friends about the Simpsons vs Family Guy/South Park. And while Family Guy/South Park definitely have their merits, the Simpsons is just in a different league. There's a great roundtable^[1] of Simpsons writers hosted by Conan O'Brien (who also was a writer). They talk about how with the Simpsons, no matter what, the family fundamentally cares about each other. Whereas with more modern animation and comedy as a whole, there's this extremely misanthropic feel. Bob's Burgers is probably one of the few shows that actively bucks this trend.

Of course The Simpsons is also just really funny. Family Guy/South Park are too, although I find that Family Guy resorts to shock humor far too much and South Park often repeats the same joke for the entire episode ad nauseum.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtJ28qOEG1g

Re: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

#28

Post by flobosg »

hardwaregeek wrote: post #27

I've been debating with my friends about the Simpsons vs Family Guy/South Park. And while Family Guy/South Park definitely have their merits, the Simpsons is just in a different league. There's a great roundtable^[1] of Simpsons writers hosted by Conan O'Brien (who also was a writer). They talk about how with the Simpsons, no matter what, the family fundamentally cares about each other. Whereas with more modern anima…

> no matter what, the family fundamentally cares about each other (...) Bob's Burgers is probably one of the few shows that actively bucks this trend.

King Of The Hill comes to mind as well.

Re: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

#29

Post by germinalphrase »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #23
tootie wrote: post #13

There's so many jokes in vintage Simpsons episodes that I can't understand how they were even written. They can't have made sense on paper. The writing was amazing but so was the cast and the writers had to have so much faith that putting a stage direction Homer shrugs and grunts would be devastating at the right moment. It can't be understated how big an impact they had. Every show, even non-comedy, has borrowed inf…

They were written and then endlessly workshopped to increase the number of jokes per minute. I believe the goal was 6 per minute during early seasons of the Simpsons. Obviously that is really hard to do and its fallen out of style.

It is still fairly common advice in stand-up to keep the jokes coming every 7-10 seconds.

Re: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

#30

Post by anamexis »

tootie wrote: post #13

There's so many jokes in vintage Simpsons episodes that I can't understand how they were even written. They can't have made sense on paper. The writing was amazing but so was the cast and the writers had to have so much faith that putting a stage direction Homer shrugs and grunts would be devastating at the right moment. It can't be understated how big an impact they had. Every show, even non-comedy, has borrowed inf…

I learned from this interview that The Simpsons are what popularized the word "meh." I had no idea that it was not a common word before this.
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