GROEN DRAIN

An image of Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy

Disenchantment creator Matt Groening appears to have quietly launched a YouTube channel last night. Currrently its sole video is “Trumpy’s Rhapsody,” a short cartoon directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill featuring Donald Trump singing a song, with the lyrics credited to Groening and Dan Castellaneta (TV’s Homer Simpson) providing the voice.

This raises some questions:

Why now? For someone who’s arguably the most famous cartoonist of the era, it’s remarkable that Matt Groening has maintained almost zero internet presence. His personal website was supposedly “under construction” for years (the domain name appears to have lapsed) and outside of the rare promotional Q&A, he’s had no official social media account or means of communicating directly to fans. Which is fine, because it’s always disappointing when you follow someone and discover they have a weird axe to grind against Cuba or whatever, and it’s also really funny to me when people – sometimes people he works with – unknowingly tag phony accounts.

What the hell did I just watch? This Trump Jib-Jab thing with Putin jokes is, uh, not my cup of tea, to put it politely. Groening is a rich, aging baby boomer Democrat (albeit one who donated to orb queen Marianne Williamson during the primaries) who works in the entertainment industry, which partially explains why he’s succumbed to Trump derangement syndrome like the rest of his peers. But I still can’t quite wrap my head around a line like “Sorry I ruined the Republican party!” coming from the same guy who drew this.

Why do it independently? The Simpsons has been putting out godawful Trump shorts since he announced his candidacy. Why Groening chose not to use the existing Simpsons infrastructure is a real head-scratcher. Was it somehow considered too edgy???

What’s next? Was this a one time thing? Could this be the start of his own version of Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy? Who knows!

[Matt Groening on YouTube via Bob Mackey]

LISTICLE PARADISO

An image of Donald Trump surrounded by Simpsons characters who definitely voted for him.

As you may have heard, there is an election going on right now. Across social media, people are speculating which TV characters voted for President Trump. As a person with both an extensive knowledge of The Simpsons and a degree in Wonk Science, I am uniquely suited to set the record straight on which Simpsons characters definitely, absolutely voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election.
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WEB-WATCH

An image of Martin Prince at the stock market.

  • Lisa Standing In Front Of Words still going strong as we head into Q4. Its easy adaptability to any concept makes it extremely versatile. This could be a reliable blue chip meme to keep in your portfolio.
  • We’ve been seeing a lot of meta-backlash to Homer Stuck In Tube. Sell.
  • Steamed Hams appeared to be at a standstill with the occasional bump (i.e. the recent “Take On Me” video), but it has made a bit of a resurgence with the recent wildfires. Nevertheless, we recommend Sell.
  • We’re taking a wait and see approach to Marge’s Potato.
  • Bart’s Dead has become newly relevant due to current events and has potential to rise as we get closer to Halloween. Buy.
  • One of the biggest trends we’ve been seeing of late is Among Us-related memes. We’re pretty confident this is a passing fad, but this could be a good Buy opportunity for the less risk-averse investor hoping for some short-term gains.
  • Lee Carvallo has us baffled. Hold onto it for now.