Your deeper, inner thoughts about the characters.

Topic: The Matrix...It's like it's from another millennium

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[Tyrannus]

After watching the premiere and seeing the character in question, I'm pretty secure saying that it was probably a misanimated Sherri or Terri.

Possible, as I said, the evidence could be false. But I thought the animators would be past the stage when they're making such obvious mistakes without correcting them.

Never say never. Remember Patty and Selma with new nose designs in "Today I Am a Clown"?

Hey, I don't recall saying never. And no, I don't really remember. But it seems that just Patty and Selma's noses were different, yet if Sherri/Terri was misanimated then the animators screwed up the head proportions, fringe, skirt (it looks too much like Janey's), legs (again, looks like Janey's). You would think that it would of been noticed.

[Dark Mage]

Hey, I don't recall saying never. And no, I don't really remember. But it seems that just Patty and Selma's noses were different, yet if Sherri/Terri was misanimated then the animators screwed up the head proportions, fringe, skirt (it looks too much like Janey's), legs (again, looks like Janey's). You would think that it would of been noticed.

Just like Apu with yellow skin in Bart's Comet?  And I seem to recall a scene from Children of a Lesser Clod with Bart that had like, a split second of just his outlining in the first airing.

Don't forget, animators are still human, and humans are not infullible.

[Tyrannus]

Hey, I don't recall saying never. And no, I don't really remember. But it seems that just Patty and Selma's noses were different, yet if Sherri/Terri was misanimated then the animators screwed up the head proportions, fringe, skirt (it looks too much like Janey's), legs (again, looks like Janey's). You would think that it would of been noticed.

Just like Apu with yellow skin in Bart's Comet?  And I seem to recall a scene from Children of a Lesser Clod with Bart that had like, a split second of just his outlining in the first airing.

Don't forget, animators are still human, and humans are not infullible.

They are? But anyway, the example I mentioned was on a much bigger scale than a simple colouring error, or not. They might of just miscoloured a background character with the twins' colours, that must be it. Or as I said, maybe the devious duo do have a younger sibling (that would also work as an alibi for some of the goofs in episodes like Lisa the vegetarian but not Little girl in the big ten but keep in mind there have been other characters mixed into different grades like in My fair laddy or On a clear day I can't see my sister)

Did anyone else get the impression that Martin was going to be a major secondary character judging from seasons one and two? He had quite a lot of screen time or importance in the episodes he did appear in. Yet sometime after he was nearly dropped. I'd really like to see a main or another sub-plot involving him, Bart and Milhouse (A.K.A. Thrillho).
Yes, for the record I like Martin.

[A Spy in Mancunia]

I may be wrong, but I've always considered Martin to be a fairly major secondary character (if not as central as Milhouse). Sort of on the level of Nelson, and more major than the twins, Wendell, Uter etc. I can see what you're getting at, but he's one of the more central school kids.

I'd really like to see a main or another sub-plot involving him, Bart and Milhouse (A.K.A. Thrillho).
Yes, for the record I like Martin.

How about "Three Men and a Comic Book"? "Bart on the Road"? He was in the expedition in "Lemon of Troy" as well. To name but a few...

[Casper]

I thought Smithers was black after watching the first episode 'Roasting On An Open Fire'*. But was probably the projector shadow. (Thats if the episode I'm thinking of was the first)

Thats about as deep as my inner thoughts get...  


EDIT: * Opps! It was "Homer's Odyssey". Thanks Chris!

[Tyrannus]

How about "Three Men and a Comic Book"? "Bart on the Road"? He was in the expedition in "Lemon of Troy" as well. To name but a few...

Damn! I hate it when that happens, I kind of meant another one. I may be wrong but there doesn't seem to be any episodes of that kind anymore.

[A Spy in Mancunia]

You're thinking of "Homer's Odyssey". Smithers did not appear onscreen in "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", though his voice was on the tannoy.

And yes, Smithers was black or at least non-Caucasian in "Homer's Odyssey". Chief Wiggum too was black when he appeared in "Krusty Gets Busted".

[fellranger]

I always thought the twins looked more East-Asian, possibly Chinese.
As for the season one stuff, a lot of the models changed as things got settled down, as did the voices!

[Tyrannus]

The whole Sherri and Terri being at least partially East-Asian thing is semi-common fannon. Although I think that they're more likely to be Japanese, I'm unsure what skin colour chinese characters have (the closest Springfield resident I can think of is Kookie Kwan and her skin's more of a pale yellow colour.) but the twins' skin colour maches that of Akira and all of the Japanese in "Thirty minutes over Tokyo.
Sherri and Terri are also good examples of changing models;
Original: The head and fringe almost equal half of thier hieght, Fringe covers half of thier eyes which could give them a very moody look. Also, the lower lip wasn't present often. Thier colours are quite dark with the exception of thier skin colour, which I find to be more fitting than yellow.
Scully era (e.g. "Faith off" and "Lard of the dance"): Thier designs are still very similar to the original, the only changes are a smaller head and lower lip. Thier clothes and hair colour are a bit brighter
Jean era (e.g. "Last of the red, hot mamas): Thier original proportions are back, but they kept the lower lip and a teensy bit more of thier eyes are shown, making it easier to make them "cute" but they still aren't that easy on the eyes. Thier clothes and hair colour are a bit brighter than the Scully "design"

Aw nuts I'm rambing again. But after all, I like to think that I have encyclopedic knowledge of Sherri and Terri.

[Archonix]

They always reminded me of the twins in The Great Outdoors. Any minute I expect their heads to spin around and barf pea soup...

[Lisabella]

Eh, I'll bite:

I'm actually of the opinion that Martin's been used less and less - to whit, he's never had an episode entirely centered on his character, while we've had at least two Nelson episodes (A Date With Density, The Haw-Hawed Couple), several Milhouse episodes (A Milhouse Divided, Milhouse doesn't live here anymore, etc. al.) and two Ralph-centric episode (I Love Lisa, etc.).  An entire half-hour with Martin might be a good change of pace.

My personal RDT: Why isn't there more Skinner/Krabapple fic?  I know, I know, if you want fic, you write it.  I just think their relationship is unmined by fic writers and might be worth a spin.  

Out of all of the retcons that came down in the Jean era (IE: Milhouse's parents back together), the one I approve of the least is My Big Fat Geek Wedding.  More desperate, lonely Edna?  That's been mined to death all the way back to her time as a groupie in the Flaming Moe's ep.  More henpecked Skinner?  That used to be a fraction of his character (besides his experience in 'Nam, which is never mentioned anymore because the show's written itself into a corner and it's no longer canonically fesible for someone his age to have served in that war) before it became the entirety of his character, and now it ceases to be funny.  Marrying them off would've given a new twist to the picture and made teacher-versus-principal battles even funnier and more tension-fraught.

Rare pairing that just might work: Moe and Selma.  I think they have similar tempraments.

Characters I'd like the show to tell me more about: Otto, and (oh, am I asking for it) the CBG.  There's got to be a little more depth to him when he's not being used as a rod to beat us 'net geeks who actually like the show.

Kids I'd like to see reoccur more frequently/come back: Sam Stanky, Gina, Allison Taylor, and (an unpopular opinion) Sophie Krustoffsky.  

[A Spy in Mancunia]

All good points about Skinner and Krabappel. I'm not sure whether Martin's character can hold the weight of an episode centred on him, but then, the same could be said about Nelson before "Lisa's Date with Density".

My personal RDT: Why isn't there more Skinner/Krabapple fic?  I know, I know, if you want fic, you write it.  I just think their relationship is unmined by fic writers and might be worth a spin.

I wrote a script centred on the two of them trying to get married, a long time ago. It wasn't that good. That aside, I'm as surprised by this void as you are. You'd think fans would flock to a canonical relationship.

I've never thought about Moe/Selma before, but it sounds really workable!

CBG does need to be more central to stories. One fanfic (forgotten the author, unfortunately) shows that he has potential to be quite a dramatic character. I'm also all for bringing back Samantha.

[Crimson Light Blue Heat]

Sophie and Sam Stanky, along with Greta and Thelonious, have got the shared problems of attending schools other than SES.  There isn't that regular interaction with Bart, Lisa and the other regulars.  There are only a few ways in which there could be a reason for us to see these other schools' students on the show without looking contrived; one good way would be to show their schools going up against SES in academic or athletic competition, but events like that tend to either portray them as interchangeable or introduce new characters rather than re-portray classic characters.

(Aside:  I suspect Jessica's long absence is because of the confusion surrounding just what happened to her after she was found out.  Did Tim send her back to boarding school or was he too cheap and just had her stick it out in public school?  Either one is plausible, as is the possibility that she's in neither Bart's nor Lisa's grade.)

I actually agree with you on Sophie, though that's more due to my being a big Drew Barrymore fan than the character herself.  It's one thing to be a new character that gets ignored by the show, but she's practically invisible from fanfic and fanart too.  That ep also had a real abrupt ending; the last impression of a character in an ep is very important, and Sophie didn't get a sweet or dramatic exit the way most of the other originals got.

[Lisabella]

You'd think fans would flock to a canonical relationship.

I think  it's because a good portion of fanworks for the fandom seem to gather around the kids versus the adult characters.  There's been some lovely Marge and Homer art, but the extended cast doesn't get a lot of it.

Moe and Selma have actually had canonical relations, too - their exchange in "Moe Baby Blues" had a nice rapid-fire patter.  You get a feeling of them being equals in small moments like that.  On top of everything, they accidentally made out in "Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky".

I remember that CBG and Otto-related fic - it was actually rather beautiful.

There are only a few ways in which there could be a reason for us to see these other schools' students on the show without looking contrived; one good way would be to show their schools going up against SES in academic or athletic competition, but events like that tend to either portray them as interchangeable or introduce new characters rather than re-portray classic characters.

They could also go for the somewhat-cliched idea of them all going to summer camp together.

Jess has been used as a background character in a few episodes, so it's presumable that she's still in SE, just not interacting onscreen with the gang.  In the nether-world of the comics, Jessica goes to the school with the gang and appears as a secondary character.

that's more due to my being a big Drew Barrymore fan

You too?  I love Drew, but I just like Sophie because she had this nice gravity to her.  Plus she's another artistic sort of girl, and I imagine she'd get on with Allison and Lisa well. 

[A Spy in Mancunia]

I've always taken for granted that Jessica returned to boarding school (or perhaps went to a new one) after the events of "Bart's Girlfriend".