Could that perhaps be more about the changing perspective of edginess in society compared to early Simpsons? Sure, Simpsons was considered edgy and a threat to family values by certain conservative folks in it's early days. However in the time since then it has actually been much more accepted as a depiction of a strong family bond. They may be disfunctional at times, but ultimately they have great love for one another. The characters haven't really changed, just people's perspectives of them.

We now live in a world full of things like South Park, Family Guy & the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network. Many of these shows are edgy for the sake of being edgy. They actually try to be offensive to get their point across, if they even have one (SP usually does, FG not so much). I don't think Simpsons needs to adapt to fit in their world. If they did, they wouldn't be the Simpsons anymore.

I gladly concede that the movie was nearly as "great" as it could have been, but it was deffinitely "good" and very true to the characters. There were funny moments as well as some very touching family moments. It would have been nice to see some musical numbers though, because those are often my favorite episode moments.

Yes, that's exactly my point. When it started, they pushed boundaries, and as a result woke the nation up to some screwed up preconceived notions about family. But while as a nation we've certainly improved our perspective, it's a long way from being completely fixed. Just because the boundary has moved doesn't mean it can't be pushed further. The Simpsons are no longer doing that pushing. It may not even really be their place to anymore, but that to me is a definite detraction from my enjoyment of the show. It's an element that is glaringly missing and has lead to major stagnation of the characters.

I'll reiterate that I didn't think it was "bad". But I'm disappointed that after 18 years, with no TV budget restrictions, no deadlines, and a whole new media format to work with, they failed to muster the creative energy to come up with anything more than, "phew, that didn't suck." Baldercrap.

Please name 3 other TV show movies that went beyond 'whew, didn't suck.'


I admire your standard for success in this field, GD, and agree with it. It's just that, after 15 years or so of TV-to-movie adaptations, I think the goal must be loftier than is practical to achieve.

The Addams Family
The Untouchables
The Fugitive
Serenity
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Charlie's Angels (the first one, not the second one which is an all time worst)
The Brady Bunch Movie
George of the Jungle
Miami Vice
The first Mission: Impossible movie
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
The Naked Gun (again, the first one)

I know it is against the critical grain and definitely not as good as the TV show but I liked Maverick. If you count SNL skits I would add Blues Brothers and Wayne's World.

Looking at that (off the top of my head, there's probably more I'm missing) and considering my first reaction to hearing that a TV show is being turned into a movie I'm surprised at how often the effort is at least moderately successful.

And I'd add Bewitched (although I'm willing to admit that was because a "phew, that didn't suck" movie on an airplane is like gold) and, in the SNL sketch category, Ladies Man.

If it's possible to have kept a show funny for 10 seasons, it's possible to turn it into a good movie. But as Alex predicted before the movie came out, they stuck with the standard ruts the character franchise has fallen into over the last 8 years. They risked nothing and as a result gained nothing.

See: you couldn't name just three!

You are not alone on this. It was silly good fun.

Bewitched?!? Please tell me you're kidding!


Alex's list is much better, though The Addams Family was not based on a TV show (but rather, was based on material which also inspired a TV show)

I concur with about half of his list as to movies I thought were good, but none of them met the Ghoulish Delight standard of television trancendence, as far as I'm concerned.

(Well, perhaps Wrath of Khan ... but that was the second film ... not fair comparing it to the first Simpsons movie).



Ah well, it was nice to see a list of arguably decent TV-to-movie adaptations. I put The Simpsons Movie squarely on that list. To me, it was a whole lot better than "whew, didn't suck." I liked it.

The Brady Bunch Movie!

Serenity.

hmmmmmm I know there are more out there, I just can't think today.


Edit: Ack you already mentioned those, that is what I get for taking an hour to write a post @ work.

Like I said, I was on an airplane. And as airplane movies go, I was sufficiently entertained. I'm sure I wouldn't have had the same opinion below 10,000 feet.

One handicap that The Simpsons Movie suffers under, I'd say, is the fact that the TV show is still on the air, which must be horribly limiting (even in a TV show like The Simpsons where continuity isn't so important).

One common approach to these TV-to-movie adaptations is to spoof the source material (The Brady Bunch, Car 54 Where are You?, McHale's Navy). Another is to re-envision an artifact of the past into the modern day presentation (Charlie's Angels, S.W.A.T., The Mod Squad). A third would be to take the original as an inspiration and then just tell your own story (Maverick, The Addams Family, Mission: Impossible).

For The Simpsons Movie they can't really make too much fun of themselves and there is no temporal separation to offer up a different perspective. And having to return to the small screen in the fall it would be difficult to truly and completely shake up the Simpsons universe.