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no, not saying Groening did South Park, just that people are afraid he'll do to Simpsons what Trey and Matt did with South Park. To me though, the south park movie was pretty much what they'd do on the show if there weren't censors to worry about, come on, they're the same guys who make both. People acted like they just went so out of control but it's like, no, it's pretty much the same and pretty friggin hilarious, just as on the show. and you do realize that the movie was an incredibly good and totally legitimate musical, right? regardless of the profanity. even my film studies prof mentioned it, though we didn't get into it.
that's how trey and matt kept it honorable. they let loose cause that's what we wanted and they wanted all along, and it didn't lose the laughs and it was a terrifically talented composition. matt COMPOSED all those songs - he has a musical background. that's talent, can't deny it.
as for the simpsons - come on, if they have christmas and holloween tri-feature specials and they even have them in video stores for rent, those might as well be mini-movies. and you're right, might as well move to movies. there's nothing wrong with this, so long as it's done right (aka, SP). Groening has a huge fan base and I'd like to add it's not just kids/teens. A whole lot of young adults (ie, 18-29) have mentioned they watch it and people older do too. It's just comforting and funny and quality to the American public. it fits the American psyche - the family and the antics. Groening will stick to intelligent humor that strokes the funny bones of his entire demographic, and will know that the formula used in his show will have to aplly to the movie.
as for futurama - it just hasn't moved me at all and I know he really wants it to work but it just doesn't have the oomph. it's like irreverent comedy that barely has a concrete foundation - the simpsons has an entire community of people, a recognizable family unit, all of which provide countless scenarios that can continue to be tapped. in the the first episode of futurama, where the robot actually crapped a brick and I cracked up laughing, that was all that was funny. everything else was pretty lame. and despite a few gems along the way like that, Futurama really hasn't clicked. i think it needs to branch out and get more in depth with the basic plot and variou storylines cause it's just so random and it's basically a cartoon star trek with some blah action for the most part and a couple of laughs occasionally.