Yeah, very very disappointing. Everyone did their voices, and there were a bunch of clips. Hardly any interviewing and certainly nothing insightful or worth caring about. These are talented people who have been the bedrock of one of the most successful shows in the history of television, and the best you can do is, "how would Homer respond to a doughnut?" It felt more like a Star Trek Simpsons convention than a serious dialogue on acting or performing or anything relevant to the show.

Very lame that they bleeped "fart."

das

Yes...she has always said that she will never let anyone see her doing the voices because it would take away the illusion. She looked the whole time like she was pissed off to be there.

Plus, wasn't there a clip in the promo of her holding a cutout of Marge in front of her face? I wonder if that is what she was doing on camera, so they just stayed with the clips.

They should have tackled the whole "destroying the illusion" issue head on. I would have liked to have heard the actors discuss how people react to them out of character, and some anecdotes of when they slip into character, either inadvertently or purposefully.

They did kind of make it seem like it was just a job, although the quality of their work over the years shows it's clearly much more than that to them.

I think the disappointment proves The Simpsons is ALL about the great writing. Left to answer questions on their own, they all stumbled to improvise, even the "great" Harry Shearer. The only funny moments came when they regurgitated lines previously written for them.

Definitely interesting to see, but not "funny" at all.

• Quoth Brak55 •<HR SIZE=1>Yes...she has always said that she will never let anyone see her doing the voices because it would take away the illusion.<HR SIZE=1>

Hardly an illusion since Patti and Selma sound the same, each sounds just like Marge after a cigarette, and all of them sound like Brenda Morgenstern. My world is shattered now that the illusion has been destroyed.

As to her disappearance, maybe she realized this was little more than Lipton's own personal "Dance, monkey, Dance!!!" festival instead of a serious interview.

das

The writing for the Simpsons is more important because voice actors for cartoons have to adhere to the script pretty strictly. They add flavor to the characters, but can't improvise anything.

And they never broadcast cartoons live because it puts a terrible strain on the animator's wrists.

Wow, this was totally lame...why did I stay up until midnight for this crap. None of them even looked like they even remotely wanted to be there...especially Azaria...if I wanted to hear the voices I would just watch the show.

I worked with Dan Castelleneta a few years ago. He was the voice talent in a radio spot I wrote. After we got the spot done, i asked him to do a voicemail message for me as Homer.

His improvisation was very, very funny. And I had the coolest voicemail in the whole office.

Pretty bad. The clips were driving me crazy. And I thought this was going to be a real interview, not just a "let's listen to them all talk in Simpsons voices while we watch silent clips from earlier seasons."

And this from such a typically quality show like Inside the Actors Studio. Dissapointing.

I agree with most of you, pretty much a letdown. It was very interesting to see them doing the voices, but there was very little of this. It was, "cut to clips"...and the stuff being asked and answered was hardly funny at all.

It's like Bravo couldn't decide what they wanted to do, hear Simpsons' characters catchphrases from the people, ask questions that are bound to get disappointing responses, or find out about the actors behind the voices.

So, overall a letdown, but it was cool to see some of the cast do the voices, and switch from character to character. They're talented.

This was the first "Inside the Actor's Studio" that I've seen, and I was quite disappointed. Aside from the fact that James Lipton is really an annoying host, the actors really were not that entertaining.

Wouldn't it have been better if it was simply an animated special with the characters being interviewed, rather than the actors? Of course, FOX wouldn't allow that, but still, I bet it would be more interesting. Plus, the writers could actually create an enjoyable, or at least funny interview.

For those who missed it, I think Bravo is airing it at 7 PM tonight, or around an hour from now EST.

I looked at Inside the Actor's Studio .com and they list Drew barrymore as the new one coming up and Will Smith and Benecio DelToro as the encores for the enxt few weeks. I dont see a rerun of this episode coming for awhile.

SPY

I thought Hank Azaria and Nancy Cartwright seemed like they were genuinely having fun. The others seemed just ok with being there and Julie seemed not happy at all. I think I only saw her smile once, while reacting to someone else doing a voice.

It did grow old quickly. I just found Nancy to be so happy to BE Bart and her "transformation" from her voice to his, was like so cool, man. I couldn't get enough of her. Some of the voices didn't even sound that good live, especially the Homer voice, but Bart was totally amazing. I think she seemed REALLY excited and proud to be a part of the Simpsons.

The questions were horrible. As mentioned, why not ask questions about the illusion of the face and the voice? Julie Kavner sounds exactly like Marge, so does she not speak to people because that might ruin the illusion? Ridiculous. But at least make it part of the discussion.

It was fun because there's nothing else to compare it to, but it was choppy and forced and not insightful, really, other than to marvel at hearing them do the voices. Especially Bart.

Anyone watch this last night? My opinion of Crowe (which was already pretty high) went up a few more notches...seems like a great guy.

I saw part of it at the beginning. He seems kind of shy in that type of situation from the little that I watched

Nevermind those moments of arrogant douchebaggery in real life he tends to have.

I agree. This leads me to believe that the news accounts of his obnoxious hijinks may be exaggerated.

Crap - I missed this. Hopefully I can catch the encore.

I've always thought that.

He's never struck me as anything but an actor that takes his job very seriously.

I just wanted to revive this thread because I'm watching the 10th anniversary show on Bravo and I've never seen the show before. James Lipton is a very good interviewer. (Now I understand why Will Ferrell's impression is so good) He seems to pull something really deep out of the interviewee even though they're in front of a huge audience.

I do have a question though. They're showing the clips where all the actors start crying. It seems as if every interviewee who is on the show starts crying. Is this a fair assumption? Is that part of the charm of the show, how intimate the interview gets?

The best Actors Studio episode was when they had the entire cast of the Simpsons on, all doing their voices, etc. It was, to say the least, AWESOME.

shaun, that was great but I found it odd that Julie Kavner did not want her face being shown when she spoke as Marge. And then she left (I forgot why...it has been a while since I saw that one) and was a let down. Thank GOD Dan Castellaneta and Harry Shearer saved the day on that one. Yeardley Smith was just.... BORING!

All De Niro did was shake his hands and clear his throat every 5 minutes.


The funniest Will Ferrell lipton impersonation was when he interviewed Billy Bob Thornton on SNL.


I heard De Niro is extremely shy when it comes to interviews.


Then again when he was promoting Ronin on CNN a couple of years ago he was saying how other countries are laughing at us (The US) because we were going to impeach Clinton for infidelity.


When will Pacino do the show?

I'm doing the survey...and my 300th post.

What Is Your Favorite Word?

Peace

What Is Your Least Favorite Word?

Fart (a truly ugly word)

What Turns You On?

A bright smile

What Turns You Off?

Stubborn ignorance

What Sound Do You Love?

When a really cute girl lets out a little giggle

What Sound Do You Hate?

A high-pitched squeal

What Is Your Favorite Curse Word?

JAMF (stolen from Clint Eastwood)

What Profession Other Than Yours Would You Like To Attempt?

A carpenter

What Profession Would You Not Like To Participate In?

A Cop

If Heaven Exists, What Would You Like To Hear God Say When You Arrive At The Pearly Gates?

This is it.


P.S. Charlie Rose is my favorite interviewer, but I rarely catch his shows. I'm always thrilled to see a film's DVD include an interview, especially since some go a way back.

Did anyone catch this last night? It was cool to hear his side of everything, because until now it's been pretty much Hollywood gossip.

Charlie Murphy!