Ted Cruz Auditions For The Simpsons

Via the AV Club:

The Germans, as they so often do, have a word for a highly specific, immediately recognizable sensation that nevertheless has no English-language equivalent. This particular word is fremdscham, the cringing secondhand embarrassment you feel when someone is obliviously making a fool of himself, and Ted Cruz has revealed himself to be a natural at generating it. The presidential candidate and Tea Party favorite did some of the worst Simpsons impressions you’ve ever heard for BuzzFeed, as part of a mock audition to replace departing cast member Harry Shearer. Nitpickers might point out that Shearer didn’t voice Homer or Lisa Simpson, but that doesn’t stop Cruz. In just over one extremely painful to watch minute, Cruz appears dead set on developing counter-evidence to a separate BuzzFeed piece about his supposed savvy at viral campaign strategy. According to that article, Cruz and his team agreed to do the video on the fly and had just a few minutes to go over the script, which definitely checks out once you’ve seen the impressions. Still, neither his Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Homer, Lisa, nor Kang-as-Bill Clinton manages to be quite as fremdscham-inducing as his rendition of “Amazing Grace,” so there is that.

Kang said it best.

Simpsons: Farewell Edna Krabappel

Jagged Metal Krusty-O Not Included

Gizmodo reports:

Visitors to Orlando Universal can now quench their thirst and stuff their faces at Moe’s Tavern, Krusty Burger, Cletus’ Chicken Shack, the Frying Dutchman, Luigi’s Pizza, and even finish it all off with one of Lard Lad's gigantic donuts. For fans of the series, it's a dream come true, and the only place on earth you'll be able to order a Krusty-Partially-Gelatinated-Non-Dairy-Gum-Based-Beverage.

I still have four boxes of Krusty-O's cereal from 7-Eleven's promotion a few years back.  It was just Froot-Loops inside, sadly.

Homer Simpson Votes 2012

They did this in 2008 as well, so I've posted both.

The Final Life In Hell

The continuing demise of print has claimed another victim, Matt Groening's seemingly eternal Life In Hell strip, in which cavorted Jeff and Akbar, the gay "lovers or brothers or both, whatever offends you the most."

"Life in Hell” actually earned Groening his big break in Hollywood. It started running in Wet Magazine in 1978, then moved to the now-defunct LA Reader, where Groening worked. The strip eventually made its way to LA Weekly. Its popularity grew, amassing a client list of more than 250 papers, when producer Polly Platt noticed “Life in Hell” and showed it to actor/producer James L. Brooks. Brooks contacted Groening and wanted him to develop a series of “bumpers” based on “Life in Hell” for “The Tracey Ullman Show.” Groening was a bit apprehensive at the thought of handing over the rights to his characters, so he created the Simpsons to fill the slot.

At its final publication last Friday, Life In Hell was only appearing in 40 papers. Now to dig out my Jeff and Akbar t-shirt, circa 1988.

Mad Magazine Asks...

SUNDAY: The Simpsons 500th Episode

The television show that many (including myself*) consider to be the greatest in the history of the medium will air its 500th episode this Sunday. Special guest star: Julian Assange.

The man at the centre of the Wikileaks scandal will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming 500th episode of The Simpsons. According to a Reuters report, the episode, scheduled to be aired on Sunday (February 19, 2012), will feature the voice of Julian Assange, which was recorded down the phone after the show's producers' tracked him down in Britain. Assange is currently under house arrest in Britain, fighting extradition to Sweden where he would be questioned for allegations of sex crimes. The executive producer of The Simpsons, Al Jean said of their decision to include Assange "Obviously he's a controversial figure and that was discussed before we agreed to let him do it. But it's a funny cameo and it makes no judgments about the larger case about him."

*Second place: All In The Family.

LEAKED: Two & A Half Men Finale

Simpsons Rip Fox News

Last night's episode of the Simpsons took a great dig at Fox News. Watch the clip here. First funny Simpsons in a loooong time.

The McRib Is Back

The famed McRib, the greasy pork sandwich whose fanatical devotees were parodied on The Simpsons, is back on the McDonald's menu beginning today. Gothamist reports on the marketing push:

The McRib will be available through December 5th, and to help make The Simpsons parody a reality, McDonald's is "inviting McRib fans to tap into their creative passion with the launch of The Legends of McRib website." The site collects "McRib stories and tall tales submitted by fans who want to share their love for the sandwich with the world. The legends don’t have to be true. They don’t have to even be possible. They just have to be bigger than life and worthy of The Legends of McRib." The winner gets a trip to Germany (the only country that sells McRibs year round) and his or her story animated into cartoon that McDonald's can use for marketing (and that you can use to get laid).

I admit without shame, I love the McRib.

Vatican: Homer Simpson Is A Catholic

The official newspaper of the Vatican has decided that Homer Simpson is a secret Catholic.

“The Simpsons are among the few TV programmes for children in which Christian faith, religion, and questions about God are recurrent themes.” The family “recites prayers before meals and, in their own peculiar way, believes in the life thereafter”. It quoted an analysis by a Jesuit priest, Father Francesco Occhetta, of a 2005 episode of The Simpsons, The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star, which revolved around Catholicism and was aired a few weeks after the death of Pope John Paul II….”Few people know it, and he does everything he can to hide it, but it is true: Homer J Simpson is a Catholic,” insists L’Osservatore Romano.

"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman." - Homer Simpson.

Banksy Directs Simpsons Opening

Gothamist notes that last night's opening sequence of The Simpsons was story-boarded by famed graffiti artist Banksy.

The Simpsons Cover Ke$ha

Last night The Simpsons nodded to the internet lip-dub fad.

But Is She Free of Engrams?

Nancy Cartwright, who voices Simpsons characters Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum, and Nelson Muntz, has made a $10M donation to the Church Of Scientology. The amount is twice her estimated annual salary from the show. In return, the cult named Cartwright their Patron Laureate. For comparison, records show that Tom Cruise has donated $5M over the last four years. In 2007, Kirstie Alley donated $5M, with John Travolta and Kelly Preston giving $1M each.

Success!

It took three visits to the 42nd Street Quik-E Mart, but I finally scored me some Krusty-O's. A shipment had arrived just before we did and the place became a bit of a madhouse as the word got out. The boxes bear this disclaimer: "Product shown is not representative of product inside." Because people would totally expect their cereal to be laden with worms and a jagged metal Krusty-O. Although that would be cool.