Via springfieldx2 on Twitter I see that Zombie Simpsons made a halfhearted stab at apologizing to Kristen Schaal for misspelling her name last week. Schaal herself even posted a screen grab of it:
At first I thought that was nice of them but, as with everything Zombie Simpsons, they have to make it more complicated than it otherwise should be. After thinking about it for a second, it dawned on me that I probably would remember seeing that, and I didn’t. Indeed, the version I saw didn’t have that on the chalkboard at all. As of this writing, neither does the copy on Hulu.com:
I’m not sure where the other screen grab came from, though there’s a DirecTV logo in the watermark, but it wasn’t the one I saw, and it isn’t the one currently up on Hulu. Zombie Simpsons: good intentions, wretched implementation.
charliesweatpants.com
(The crotch really does wear out too fast.)
My understanding is that the apology one aired on the West Coast, while the guinea pigs one aired on the East Coast. But I don’t really know. Pretty stupid if true.
I think the first version (with Schaal’s name) was last minute implementation they did for the viewers. Because I saw people talk about it here, and was wondering why did the download version not feature it.
They remind of that work event MC guy who first gets your name wrong by misspelling a couple of letters on your name tag, and then just HAS to tell it to everybody during the presentation, probably thinking to himself how he found a clever joke.
Schaal could sue them for this, by the way. But she’ll probably get her revenge otherwise, in a more peaceful and polite way. Like a commentary in her show.
It’s not a west coast-east coast thing, because I’m on the east coast of Canada and I saw the apology version.
I don’t think Schaal should sue. If anything, she’ll be more remembered for having her name used in a chalkboard gag than she will for her poorly defined characters appearance in last weeks episode.
I don’t know anything about the mechanics of network television (e.g. how shows get from the network to the affiliates or to Hulu), but either they restricted the Schaal gag to certain markets for some reason, or they changed it too late for it to get out to everyone. Either way it’s pretty half-assed.
I’m on the East Coast and I definitely saw the apology.
I still think it’s last minute touch.
And now I’m pretty sure it’s been imposed by FOX because they care about ratings and shit.
Sellout bitches.
I’m on the East Coast (in FL) and definitely saw the apology and had no idea what it was referring to. (I don’t watch the Simpsons, just Bob’s Burgers)
The same thing happened with the South Park chalk gag last season in “The Squirt and the Whale.” I remember, because my OH and I decided to watch it just purely to see the chalk gag (after swearing away from new episodes of The Simpsons and prior to discovering this blog), only to find that it was something completely different. I’m not sure I would blame the creators – it must be to do with getting the episode out to different regions at short notice, or something (not being from the states, I understand it even less). It’s probably beyond their control, and shows that there may well be a trace of care about what goes into the episode (that they decide to change it at the last minute).
If these episodes are still highly regarded in 20 years’ time, I guess it’ll make a nice piece of trivia about them, too.
PS They won’t be highly regarded, of course
It must’ve been a slow news day:
http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/the-simpsons-uses-chalkboard-gag-to-apologize-for-spelling-gueststar-kristen-schaals-name-wrong-last-week–2985
Wow. I suddenly lost respect for Schaal. Golden opportunity to bitch at that stupid show wasted with a simple “apology accepted”.
Well, since Schaal is involved with “Bob’s Burgers” and in essence working for FOX, she probably can’t say much and not risk her job. Just my theory.