MovieChat Forums > Psycho (1960) Discussion > Anybody ever notice

Anybody ever notice


The early episodes of The Simpsons (the ones that were actually funny) followed the plot structure of Psycho? The episode would start in one direction, then something would happen, and the story would veer into a totally different direction after the first commercial break.

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I am in the rare segment of the populace who has watched maybe two or three episodes of The Simpsons in all of its 66 years and 2,300 episodes. I respect the show for its long popularity, but never really got into the animated humor.

That said, I'm pretty aware that Psycho figures directly in the plots of a few Simpsons episodes and so I would figure that the famous plot structure of Psycho might well inform filmmakers who are fans.

Veering off, another example: in the Tarantino-scripted , Robert Rodriguez directed From Dusk Til Dawn of 1996, the movie seems to be about two criminal brothers(George Clooney, QT himself) taking a family led by Harvey Keitel hostage and across the Mexican border from Texas, but once the villains and their hostages encamp to a Mexican strip club to await drug dealers -- the club turns into a hotbed of zombie-like flesh eating vampires, and the villains and the hostages must team up to survive. One movie turns into another, on a dime.

Psycho was very influential, that way.

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episode would start in one direction, then something would happen, and the story would veer into a totally different direction after the first commercial break
You need to give us some examples of the phenomenon you have in mind. Many classic Simpsons eps have a completely un-Psycho-like structure of an A-story and a B-story. These stories develop in parallel but often one turns out a lot funnier or more memorable than the other. Convince us that what you're calling 'Psycho-like Structure' isn't just 'better than average B-story is very memorable' (or some other unrelated phenomenon).

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I agree with what your saying. It's almost reminds me of a comic strip where the first panel could be there or not. Sometimes I can't tell if I've seen an episode until it "really" starts. Hope what I'm trying to say makes sense.

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It's almost reminds me of a comic strip where the first panel could be there or not.

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I don't much read comic strips anymore, but that was always weird to me. Buy two papers with the same comic -- one runs the first panel, one does not. Its as if the first panel is "an extra joke for more expensive newspapers." So I guess I see what your are saying about The Simpsons -- the opening could be totally detached from the real story.

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no.

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