Simpsons-L was a listserv dedicated to a show that hasn’t been consistently funny since the late 1990s, run by The Simpsons Archive, a website launched in 1994 before most people had PCs, maintained mostly by people from a usenet newsgroup created in 1990. With three levels of obsoleteness batting against it, I suppose it was only a matter of time before it joined Geocities in the great internet boneyard. But the news of its demise was still a little surprising to me, like finding out telegrams still existed.
I subscribed to it a few years back in order to to stay abreast of the latest Simpsons news and views, delivered instantly to my inbox at the lightning-fast pace of about once a month. If my Gmail label is accurate, there have been only 21 messages this year, so far. Chalk it up to yet another online Simpsons community that got sick of this lumbering zombie of a TV show.
Here’s some excerpts from long-time moderator Kushibo‘s farewell address:
Like Trissa, I also remember those heady days of list hyperactivity. It was fun. We had a lot of quirky personalities and good rapport. I signed on as junior associated moderator in order to help things move smoothly along. Plus the Lexus 250 company car.
But that is no more. This isn’t your father’s Internet anymore. Instead of “lists,” people go to FaceBooth and the YourTube. The Courier type of the SNPP.com episode capsules seems so, well, so 1990s.
It didn’t help much that The Simpsons changed away from what attracted many of us in the past. It’s still a good show, and I catch it on Hulu.com whenever I can, but not in the same religious way. It is the first decade I fell in love with, while the second decade has its moments but sometimes I’m just tolerating it out of past loyalty. Sort of like my wife.
(Um, I’m not actually married, and I don’t actually have that dismal a view of the second decade, but I just thought the wife joke was kinda funny. Well, unless that’s actually how you view your wife.)
Anyway, it’s been a lot of fun and a good ride. If you’re ever in Hawaii or Korea (at the same time as I am), look me up. We’ll share a Blue Hawaiian (the Democrats in the Aloha State are into threesomes).
K U S H I B O
Simpsons-L was a part of Simpsons internet history. With that in mind, let’s all raise a glass and congratulate me for knocking off yet another competitor. Booyah! [Simpsons-L]