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Alan Siegel

@alansiegella.bsky.social

1.7K followers 340 following 220 posts

"Admirable yet breezy" –Los Angeles Review of Books Senior Staff Writer, The Ringer Order my book! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alan-siegel/stupid-tv-be-more-funny/9781538742846/

www.hachettebookgroup.com

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Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · Feb 24

I've basically been writing this in my head since I was 10, but now it's finally time to unleash it on the world. My book about the golden age of The Simpsons comes out on June 10. Preorder STUPID TV, BE MORE FUNNY here. www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alan-...

Stupid TV, Be More Funny

This comprehensive account of the meteoric rise of The Simpsons combines incisive pop culture criticism and interviews with the show’s creative team th...

www.hachettebookgroup.com

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Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 1d

Big thanks to Dan and Derek for having me on. More Simpsons talk!

American Prestige @amprestigepod.bsky.social · 1d

E229 - How The Simpsons Reshaped American Comedy w/ @alansiegella.bsky.social

Alan Siegel of @the-ringer.bsky.social joins the show to talk about the golden age of the Simpsons and the effect it had on American culture.

Link in the replies 🔽

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks! Appreciate it.

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 1d

Amazing. I have a friend who kept his VHS recordings from the '90s. He's a vice principal and let a student borrow them--but he never got 'em back! Crushing.

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Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 1d

Same!

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 1d

You may be on to something!

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Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 1d

If you need a Simpsons fix, the great @bookshop.org has free shipping today and tomorrow. bookshop.org/p/books/stup...

Stupid Tv, Be More Funny: How the Golden Era of the Simpsons Changed Television-And America-Forever

How the Golden Era of the Simpsons Changed Television-And America-Forever

bookshop.org

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Reposted by Alan Siegel

Tyler Parker @tylerparker.bsky.social · 2d

NAME RANK

Ranking the 117 Best NBA Names of the Quarter Century

What’s in a name? Everything. Featuring Dwayne Bacon, Stromile Swift, and so many more, these are the NBA player handles that stand the test of time.

www.theringer.com

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Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 3d

It's amazing how long people have been projecting negative shit onto Lisa.

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 3d

RIP Kimberly Hébert Gregory, who played Belinda Brown in Vice Principals. If you want to know how funny and smart she was, I talked to her for this story back in the spring. www.theringer.com/2025/05/01/t...

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 5d

I knew them before they were famous.

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 6d

A prophecy foretold.

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Reposted by Alan Siegel

The Syllabus @the-syllabus.bsky.social · 9d

Merriam survives on snarky posts, games, and sharper SEO. With U.S. lexicographers down from about 200 to under 50, this piece urges treating dictionaries as public goods amid fights over words like insurrection and woke.

By @stefanfatsis.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com

buff.ly/ycOMo0K

Is This the End of the Dictionary?

Obsolete (adj.): no longer in use or no longer useful

buff.ly

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Reposted by Alan Siegel

Liam Murphy @limbamurphy.bsky.social · 10d

Wrote about FBI raids on bootleg Bart Simpson shirts, @alansiegella.bsky.social’s fantastic new book on it, and how an animated show helped shape our modern times for @the-independent.com

www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

The Simpsons didn’t predict the modern world – it shaped it

The record-breaking animation may be returning for a 37th season, but many fans have long switched off. If ‘The Simpsons’ is struggling to make an impact, it only has its own success to blame, writes ...

www.independent.co.uk

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Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 10d

The internet definitely helped make fandom much more influential than criticism. Used to be the other way around.

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 10d

Thanks!

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 11d

And old-timey great taste, too.

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 11d

Like me, he was obsessed with John Swartzwelder. I get the sense that those two would've actually gotten along really well.

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Reposted by Alan Siegel

Luke O'Neil @lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 11d

Put together some thoughts here.

In an earlier time he would have been the kind of writer being paid $5 a word by magazines to go write about whatever he pleased. And no one would be pissed off or jealous about it either.
www.welcometohellworld.com/life-is-a-pr...

He seemed to be struggling. With drinking and with not drinking of late. Always looking for work too. What a fucking condemnation of this industry that he was ever in need of it. One of his greatest pieces ever – on Haggard – was taken down by a corporation that decided it no longer needed great writing anymore. It can only be read on the internet archive . That’s just how the industry is now I suppose. In an earlier time he would have been the kind of writer being paid $5 a word by magazines to go write about whatever he pleased. And no one would be pissed off or jealous about it either. All of the rest of us scrabbling for that kind of gig just nodding in approval. That makes sense. He has that coming.

A couple years ago I offered him the most money I have ever offered anyone to write for Hell World. Not as much as he deserved mind you but a lot for me. Write about literally anything you want I said. He said he would. He promised he would write something for me multiple times over the years but one thing or another always came up. Something big just around the corner was about to happen.

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Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 12d

Reposted by Alan Siegel

alyssa bereznak @alyssabereznak.bsky.social · 12d

it was such a pleasure to edit this charming and hilarious @joshgondelman.bsky.social take on balding. i giggled to myself pretty much the whole way through it

Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 12d

I was asked by @gqmagazine.bsky.social to write a little bit about just going bald in the age of widespread head-shaving and affordable, believable hair transplants...so I did!

Nothing Looks Cooler Than Not Caring You’re Balding

In a polarized culture that demands balding men pick a side, opting for the follicular middle ground is a refreshing act of honesty.

www.gq.com

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Reposted by Alan Siegel

soraya roberts @sorayaroberts.bsky.social · 12d

wrote about THE SIMPSONS, a show people can't stop quoting to me even tho i have never seen an entire episode. (s/o to @alansiegella.bsky.social for sending me his book despite this).

To Artistic Freedom: The Cause Of, And Solution To, All Of Life’s Problems | Defector

People have been quoting The Simpsons to me so often, and for so long, that even if I don’t recognize the quote, I am able to recognize that it’s from The Simpsons. When I do recognize the quote, it’s...

defector.com

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Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 13d

every single time!

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 13d

I always go back to this quote by Michael Imperioli about the legacy of Goodfellas: "When was the last time you rented Dances with Wolves?" www.gq.com/story/goodfe...

Getting Made The Scorsese Way

Yes, indeed, The Godfather is masterful. The Sopranos? We never missed an episode. But you want to talk about a movie that leaves a mark? Twenty years after the release of GoodFellas, the good people ...

www.gq.com

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Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 13d

!!!

Alan Siegel @alansiegella.bsky.social · 13d

Happy 77th birthday to the late, great Phil Hartman, The Simpsons' skeleton key.

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