LogFAQs > #983432964

voldothegr8 posted...

"Celebrate your country's independence by blowing up a piece of it!"

Funny thing is it wasn't Apu who said this.

It was a stock replacement character with slight variation in a different convenience store because the Simpsons were traveling in that episode (Summer of 4 Ft. 2). A pretty common joke for them to run when the Simpsons were on the road.

My criticism of the situation is more of a criticism of the stagnation of the Simpsons as a whole. Oh sure, Homer has a smartphone now, but the entire series is built on the characters themselves remaining who they are in their Flanderized states.

Apu was merely a product of that. An example of early 90s comedy sense of "immigrant doing their best to fit in but also being a fish out of water, working a job no one else wants to do". I'm of the team that yeah, it's a pretty tired joke at this point and it's better that they move on from it, but also, it's one among SO MANY tired jokes that the Simpsons can't help but keep coming back to.

The sad part is that the Simpsons have come up with some truly interesting episodes in the last ten or so years, but they've been so rare among the middling gruel that I just feel that these plots were wasted and would have been better served (and remembered) in newer shows.

Like I just saw a clip of Ned Flanders and Marge discussing his grief and coping mechanisms over losing Maude and then Edna and it was pretty heartfelt but also real difficult to get around the fact that neither Shearer or Kavner have the capability to carry the roles anymore.