Step 2: Cartoons: Not Just for Saturday Morning Anymore
By Ari Augenbaum
Part 2 of 5 part series of articles about political exile
Part 1 was posted on July 7, 2005
We all remember when we were kids and we used to wake up early on Saturday morning so we could sit in front of the TV for about seven mindless hours watching Looney Tunes. Still wondering to this day, if the Road Runner ran into the door he painted onto the wall, how come when Wiley Coyote tried it was just paint? Okay, maybe it's just me who's still bothered by that. Today, there is a whole new age of cartoons. The Simpson's, Family Guy, American Dad and South Park are just a few of the new generation of cartoons taking over prime time television.
Now you're probably thinking: "What does Homer Simpson have to do with House Majority Leader Tom Delay?" or "My burrito is burning; I should probably go take it out of the oven." If I'm right, first, take the burrito out of the oven, then come back and we can go on.
Now that you've had a bite to eat, let's get back to the relationship between Tom Delay, and Homer Simpson. It's really very simple. Shows like The Simpson's and Family Guy are nothing but political commentary delivered in the medium of flashy, colorful, animated characters. For example, The Simpson's, which aired on Sunday June 26, 2005, was entirely based on the issue of gay marriages. The beauty of prime time television is that from the time a writer, like Family Guy's Seth McFarlane, brainstorms an idea until it is able to hit the air is a minimum of two months. Generally the shows will be written some time around the summer or fall and then air during the next season, as much as eight months away.
Another reason prime time television can be such a useful tool in returning to the game, is because of reruns. We all hate turning on the TV after a long day of work and saying, "oh, I've already seen this one, wonder what's on TiVo instead?" but like NBC used as their marketing slogan in 2000, 'If you haven't seen it, it's new to you.' Since we both know you haven't seen the newspaper from last September, you might not have known that the issue plaguing the country was, whether or not gay marriage should be upheld as a legal union. That makes June 26, episode of The Simpson's your 'get out of reading the New York Times free card.'
Part 2 of 5 part series of articles about political exile
Part 1 was posted on July 7, 2005
We all remember when we were kids and we used to wake up early on Saturday morning so we could sit in front of the TV for about seven mindless hours watching Looney Tunes. Still wondering to this day, if the Road Runner ran into the door he painted onto the wall, how come when Wiley Coyote tried it was just paint? Okay, maybe it's just me who's still bothered by that. Today, there is a whole new age of cartoons. The Simpson's, Family Guy, American Dad and South Park are just a few of the new generation of cartoons taking over prime time television.
Now you're probably thinking: "What does Homer Simpson have to do with House Majority Leader Tom Delay?" or "My burrito is burning; I should probably go take it out of the oven." If I'm right, first, take the burrito out of the oven, then come back and we can go on.
Now that you've had a bite to eat, let's get back to the relationship between Tom Delay, and Homer Simpson. It's really very simple. Shows like The Simpson's and Family Guy are nothing but political commentary delivered in the medium of flashy, colorful, animated characters. For example, The Simpson's, which aired on Sunday June 26, 2005, was entirely based on the issue of gay marriages. The beauty of prime time television is that from the time a writer, like Family Guy's Seth McFarlane, brainstorms an idea until it is able to hit the air is a minimum of two months. Generally the shows will be written some time around the summer or fall and then air during the next season, as much as eight months away.
Another reason prime time television can be such a useful tool in returning to the game, is because of reruns. We all hate turning on the TV after a long day of work and saying, "oh, I've already seen this one, wonder what's on TiVo instead?" but like NBC used as their marketing slogan in 2000, 'If you haven't seen it, it's new to you.' Since we both know you haven't seen the newspaper from last September, you might not have known that the issue plaguing the country was, whether or not gay marriage should be upheld as a legal union. That makes June 26, episode of The Simpson's your 'get out of reading the New York Times free card.'
posted by Nancy Madsen at 1:43 PM
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