Wow, I've had vague memories of this floating around in my head for 25 years—I remember watching it with my mom on HBO (?) and just being confused because the concept of "mockumentary" didn't immediately make sense to an eight-year-old. At least now I know I didn't dream this.

Sorry, it still won't beat Sazae-san, an animated Japanese sitcom that has been going strong since 1969 with 7000+ episodes.

I had to reply to this because my experience is eerily similar to Max's in that nu metal/rap rock turned all of my (white, middle-class) friends into obnoxious assholes. The kids who would previously waste weekends playing Mario Kart were now "all about the music, man" and became sullen, joyless dickheads with no…

I'll remember Eureeka's Castle most for the dreary, off-putting animated segments they'd use as filler between actual entertainment. I distinctly recall a recurring segment where a little British boy hangs out with his "gran" and everything is very… pleasant.

The Ren and Stimpy book is excellent — if you don't happen to side with John K. (And you shouldn't.)

John K. True Believer spotted!

I've read several oral histories where this wasn't the case.

I enjoyed many of the anecdotes in this book, but it lacked the guidance and context of similar oral histories like I Want My MTV. Plus, not including a credit alongside the interviewees' names (like "Toby Huss, The Adventures of Pete & Pete") made reading some of the chapters incredibly confusing. And I'm a little…

The whole "contractual obligation" is evidence that the show isn't nearly as confident or rebellious as it once was. Remember, James L. Brooks made it so the writers could ignore ALL network notes, which is what made The Simpsons so, so good.

He's complaining all the way to the bank! And he declined to participate in the Simpsons Ride, which strikes me as petty and spiteful.

I always assumed the joke was that Burns identified something as broad and commonplace as "standing around and walking" as someone's defining feature. The randomness of "Rory Calhoun" is icing on the cake.

The sad, actual reason for this is the fact that Harry Shearer completely checked out around a decade ago, so they don't write his characters into the show as often — Al Jean said as much in a reply to Shearer's public statements about one of the actors' many contract negotiations. But it should be noted that Shearer…

Zombie Simpsons usually hits on things long after they're relevant, so I can see this happening. I think they saved their Phantom Menace parody until like 2004/2005.

Jesus I hope this show ends before they desecrate the opening with another pop starlet.

I love the weird, overarching meta-joke that Australia is being depicted incorrectly as a result of American exceptionalism breeding ignorance. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it…

Was Steve Guttenberg still being forced down our throats as late as 1994?

I've been reading The A.V. Club forever, and I have nothing but respect for everyone still on board, but the increased focus on Gawker-style news pieces and Allison Brie updates has made me worry about the future of what might be my favorite website. I realize those kind of things pay the bills, but no matter how much…

Every character on this album was strangely pitched up into chipmunk range, and I'm surprised that Nathan didn't notice it.

No one is probably reading these comments at this point, but I remember an ancient Patton promo on Comedy Central. He and another comedian (Blaine?) did this weird ad that mentioned all of the network's original programming at the time, and I remember Patton on there smashing two Godzilla figures into each other and…

No one is probably reading these comments at this point, but I remember an ancient Patton promo on Comedy Central. He and another comedian (Blaine?) did this weird ad that mentioned all of the network's original programming at the time, and I remember Patton on there smashing two Godzilla figures into each other and…