In case it needed reiteration, David X. Cohen -- writer on "The Simpsons" and co-creator of "Futurama" -- is a big, big nerd. He has a B.A. in Physics from Harvard and an M.S. in Computer Science from Uc Berkeley. Additionally, he clearly loves jokes about math, science, and technology, and savvy, well-educated viewers of "Futurama" will likely understand at least a handful of the show's many mathematics jokes laid out in plain view. I can think of no other sitcoms, for instance, that feature an extraterrestrial Harlem Globtrotter referring to the 19th-century Polish mathematician Józef Hoene-Wrońskye.
Cohen began his career writing for animated programs back in 1992 when he started penning scripts for Mike Judge's "Beavis and Butt-Head." Yes, it takes a lot of intelligence to write dumb jokes. The following year, Cohen started writing for "The Simpsons" and would eventually work on 14 separate episodes, including five...
Cohen began his career writing for animated programs back in 1992 when he started penning scripts for Mike Judge's "Beavis and Butt-Head." Yes, it takes a lot of intelligence to write dumb jokes. The following year, Cohen started writing for "The Simpsons" and would eventually work on 14 separate episodes, including five...
- 12/9/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Have no fears: The Simpsons has stories for years.
The seminal cartoon created by Matt Groening is back in the headlines with the return of a fan-favourite character after 33 years.
The animated show has covered a lot of subject matter over the course of its nearly 700-episode run.
While it retains a devoted fan following across the globe, it's also been kept strangely relevant in recent years, thanks to an uncanny pattern of headlines that suggest only one thing: The Simpsons can predict the future.
From a sly mention of a Donald Trump presidency in a 20-year-old episode, to a revolutionary scientific theorem 14 years before its discovery, the series has often been months, years or even decades ahead of global news events.
While its creators have sometimes disputed the veracity of the show's status as a modern Nostradamus, The Simpsons' ability to foreshadow seemingly unforeseeable occurrences is often astounding.
Here...
The seminal cartoon created by Matt Groening is back in the headlines with the return of a fan-favourite character after 33 years.
The animated show has covered a lot of subject matter over the course of its nearly 700-episode run.
While it retains a devoted fan following across the globe, it's also been kept strangely relevant in recent years, thanks to an uncanny pattern of headlines that suggest only one thing: The Simpsons can predict the future.
From a sly mention of a Donald Trump presidency in a 20-year-old episode, to a revolutionary scientific theorem 14 years before its discovery, the series has often been months, years or even decades ahead of global news events.
While its creators have sometimes disputed the veracity of the show's status as a modern Nostradamus, The Simpsons' ability to foreshadow seemingly unforeseeable occurrences is often astounding.
Here...
- 3/20/2023
- by Louis Chilton
- The Independent - TV
The experiment has failed. The Oscars simply don’t work. And no, I’m not just continuing to vent my frustration over Boyhood losing.
For the last six years, The Academy has experimented with a different number of Best Picture nominees, starting with 10, then a variable number between five and 10 based on first place votes.
That experiment could now be coming to an end. The Hollywood Reporter floated the rumor Tuesday that the Academy is seriously considering switching back to five nominees for Best Picture, and that the motion has support with a “significant fraction of the Academy”.
This is speculation at the moment, as the Academy’s Board of Governors isn’t set to meet until March 24. That said, this year’s Oscar ratings were down by 15 percent from last year, despite having one of the year’s biggest box office hits in American Sniper up for Best Picture...
For the last six years, The Academy has experimented with a different number of Best Picture nominees, starting with 10, then a variable number between five and 10 based on first place votes.
That experiment could now be coming to an end. The Hollywood Reporter floated the rumor Tuesday that the Academy is seriously considering switching back to five nominees for Best Picture, and that the motion has support with a “significant fraction of the Academy”.
This is speculation at the moment, as the Academy’s Board of Governors isn’t set to meet until March 24. That said, this year’s Oscar ratings were down by 15 percent from last year, despite having one of the year’s biggest box office hits in American Sniper up for Best Picture...
- 3/6/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
From the Nutcracker to American Psycho, from Mary Poppins to Kurt Vile, our critics pick their must-sees of the festive season
If you wish it could be Christmas every day
Nutcrackers, various
You know it's Christmas in the ballet world by the number of Nutcrackers touring the world's stages. In the UK alone, there are close to a dozen doing the rounds, but the top three remain the Royal Ballet's exquisitely traditional version, the sparky family friendly production by Birmingham Royal Ballet, and English National Ballet's – with the best snow scene of them all. Royal Opera House, London (020-7304 4000), 4 December to 16 January; Birmingham Hippodrome (0844 338 5000), to 12 December; London Coliseum (020-7845 9300), 11 December to 5 January.
Father Christmas
Does Father Christmas use the loo? Does he secretly long for summer? Does he have strong views on the size of chimneys? You bet he does. Raymond Briggs's gorgeous picture book gets a heartwarming makeover for under-sixes.
If you wish it could be Christmas every day
Nutcrackers, various
You know it's Christmas in the ballet world by the number of Nutcrackers touring the world's stages. In the UK alone, there are close to a dozen doing the rounds, but the top three remain the Royal Ballet's exquisitely traditional version, the sparky family friendly production by Birmingham Royal Ballet, and English National Ballet's – with the best snow scene of them all. Royal Opera House, London (020-7304 4000), 4 December to 16 January; Birmingham Hippodrome (0844 338 5000), to 12 December; London Coliseum (020-7845 9300), 11 December to 5 January.
Father Christmas
Does Father Christmas use the loo? Does he secretly long for summer? Does he have strong views on the size of chimneys? You bet he does. Raymond Briggs's gorgeous picture book gets a heartwarming makeover for under-sixes.
- 11/25/2013
- by Lyn Gardner, Michael Billington, Andrew Clements, Alexis Petridis, Judith Mackrell, John Fordham, Brian Logan, Stuart Heritage, Mark Lawson, Jonathan Jones
- The Guardian - Film News
From new voices like NoViolet Bulawayo to rediscovered old voices like James Salter, from Dave Eggers's satire to David Thomson's history of film, writers, Observer critics and others pick their favourite reads of 2013. And they tell us what they hope to find under the tree …
Curtis Sittenfeld
Novelist
My favourite books of 2013 are Drama High (Riverhead) by Michael Sokolove, Sea Creatures (Turnaround) by Susanna Daniel, and & Sons (Harper Collins) by David Gilbert. Drama High is incredibly smart, moving non-fiction about an American drama teacher who for four decades coaxed sophisticated and nuanced theatrical performances out of teenage students who weren't privileged or otherwise remarkable and in so doing, changed their conceptions of what they could do with their lives. Sea Creatures is a gripping, beautifully written novel about the mother of a selectively mute three-year-old boy; when she takes a job ferrying supplies to a hermit off the coast of Florida,...
Curtis Sittenfeld
Novelist
My favourite books of 2013 are Drama High (Riverhead) by Michael Sokolove, Sea Creatures (Turnaround) by Susanna Daniel, and & Sons (Harper Collins) by David Gilbert. Drama High is incredibly smart, moving non-fiction about an American drama teacher who for four decades coaxed sophisticated and nuanced theatrical performances out of teenage students who weren't privileged or otherwise remarkable and in so doing, changed their conceptions of what they could do with their lives. Sea Creatures is a gripping, beautifully written novel about the mother of a selectively mute three-year-old boy; when she takes a job ferrying supplies to a hermit off the coast of Florida,...
- 11/24/2013
- by Ali Smith, Robert McCrum, Tim Adams, Kate Kellaway, Rachel Cooke, Sebastian Faulks, Jackie Kay
- The Guardian - Film News
A hedge fund manager, a science writer and a friend of Robbie Williams gave thousands to the group that is demanding new press laws
One of Britain's wealthiest hedge fund managers, a music producer who is a close friend of Robbie Williams, and a successful author can all be named today as donors to the Hacked Off campaign.
Arpad Busson, whose personal fortune is estimated at £145m, donated £20,000 to the group which is campaigning for new press laws. Other donors include Guy Chambers, a producer for former Take That singer Williams, and the science writer and TV producer Simon Singh, the Observer has discovered.
Hacked Off, which sat in on late-night talks at Ed Miliband's Commons office when the royal charter on newspaper regulation was agreed by the three political parties, refuses to reveal its donors.
On its website, the only funding it discloses is a £50,000 grant during 2012-...
One of Britain's wealthiest hedge fund managers, a music producer who is a close friend of Robbie Williams, and a successful author can all be named today as donors to the Hacked Off campaign.
Arpad Busson, whose personal fortune is estimated at £145m, donated £20,000 to the group which is campaigning for new press laws. Other donors include Guy Chambers, a producer for former Take That singer Williams, and the science writer and TV producer Simon Singh, the Observer has discovered.
Hacked Off, which sat in on late-night talks at Ed Miliband's Commons office when the royal charter on newspaper regulation was agreed by the three political parties, refuses to reveal its donors.
On its website, the only funding it discloses is a £50,000 grant during 2012-...
- 5/11/2013
- by Daniel Boffey
- The Guardian - Film News
September 21, 2010: People are desperately waiting for Colors’ ‘Bigg Boss 4’, to start and are eagerly waiting to know the name of the contestants. Though the channel has kept mum about the contestant and hasn’t denied or confirmed any name. According to sources many names have been roped in to be in this season of ‘Bigg Boss’.
Actors and celebrities like Avika Gor, Sara Khan, Chunky Pandey, Dimpy Ganguly, Shaan, Shiney Ahuja, Tarannum-ex bar dancer, Simon Singh, Manoj Tiwari, Sangeeta Bijlani and few more names are tipped to be the part of the show. But still the channel.
Actors and celebrities like Avika Gor, Sara Khan, Chunky Pandey, Dimpy Ganguly, Shaan, Shiney Ahuja, Tarannum-ex bar dancer, Simon Singh, Manoj Tiwari, Sangeeta Bijlani and few more names are tipped to be the part of the show. But still the channel.
- 9/21/2010
- by realbollywood
- RealBollywood.com
It's not just British libel law – well-funded legal attacks are stifling free speech and scholarship in the Us too
The Guardian's defeat of a gagging order engineered by Trafigura's law firm, Carter-Ruck, bears uncomfortable similarities to another recent attack on freedom of expression in the UK, the libel suit brought by the British Chiropractic Association against science writer Simon Singh's criticism of chiropractic treatments.
In the latter case and others like it, British libel laws allow companies and wealthy individuals to sue newspapers, scientists and bloggers – with law suits that would be thrown out of court in the Us – for expression that should be protected as free speech. John Kampfner, chief executive of Index on Censorship, put it his way in a recent Guardian opinion piece: "Britain is seen as a pariah by the Us Congress, which has followed several states in indemnifying Americans from the excesses of English courts.
The Guardian's defeat of a gagging order engineered by Trafigura's law firm, Carter-Ruck, bears uncomfortable similarities to another recent attack on freedom of expression in the UK, the libel suit brought by the British Chiropractic Association against science writer Simon Singh's criticism of chiropractic treatments.
In the latter case and others like it, British libel laws allow companies and wealthy individuals to sue newspapers, scientists and bloggers – with law suits that would be thrown out of court in the Us – for expression that should be protected as free speech. John Kampfner, chief executive of Index on Censorship, put it his way in a recent Guardian opinion piece: "Britain is seen as a pariah by the Us Congress, which has followed several states in indemnifying Americans from the excesses of English courts.
- 11/18/2009
- by Jeremy Goldkorn
- The Guardian - Film News
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