The Simpsons Beyond Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family...Still Continued

by Matt Groening

Book Overview

Finally, the follow-up to the phenomenal episodes guides The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family and The Simpsons Forever! he Simpsons Beyond Forever! covering seasons 11\'912612. Join Matt Groening for the next instalment of the The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family. Picking up where The Simpsons Forever! left off, this new volume will tell you everything thing you want to know and more than you think you know about...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060505923
• ISBN13: 9780060505929
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Harper Design
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

So fun!

It's hard to say more about this book than I have about the prior two, but to summarize: if you are a Simpsons fan, you need "The Simpsons Beyond Forever", and its predecessors, "The Simpsons Forever" and "The Simpsons Forever Cont'd". Like the other two, the current edition follows the same format: each episode is reviewed in detail, and there are pages for such miscellaneous items as when Homer says "D'oh!", songs, etc. For each episode, the reader is treated to a plot summary, stills from the episode, what the couch and chalkboard gags are, and "Stuff you might have missed". The last item is particularly enjoyable, because there is always so much going on in any given episode, it is almost impossible to keep up with it all. In particular, there are many pop culture and movie tributes that are clarified.I'll always love The Simpsons, but these books take watching the show to a whole new level, whether it's figuring out that voice cameo that's driving you nuts, or catching a joke that came and went too fast. Moreover, these books are just fun to look at, they are brightly colored, creatively arranged, and printed with the highest quality. This is a must have for any Simpsons fan!

A Fun and Insightful Book

If you are a fan of the Simpsons, which I do not doubt if you are considering buying this book, I strongly urge you to pick this up. I have the two other Ultimate Simpsons books, and while seasons 11 & 12 are not the best the show has to offer, this is far and away the best of the three. Each show gets a 2 page synopsis, except for the two treehouse of horrors, which get 4 a piece. More quotes and more "stuff you may have missed" can only be a good thing. I was a little disappointed with the second book, with its lackluster plot retelling and lack of groundbreaking material. This one on the other hand is much better in both of these departments. Not only do you get the expanded information for each episode, but also included are rough sketches from the particular season (4 pages of these). You get to see early sketches of such characters as Xena from the Treehouse of Horror XI episode, Kid Rock from the Spring Break episode, as well as the show's regulars. Very interesting to see. This book follows the same format as previous versions but for the first time expands on the original idea. If you have the other two Simpsons books, you will not be disappointed with this one. If you are a fan of the show, I recommend this and the other two books to you. It is a must have. A truly entertaining and insightful book!

The Simpsons Have Done It Again....

Matt Groening, the creative genius behind "our favourite family," has done it again with the release of this book. The Simpsons Beyond Forever picks up where "The Simpsons Forever" left off. In this, the third volume in the series, the book takes a special look behind seasons 11 and 12. Included in the book is a synopsis with highlights from each episode, the blackboard gags, "The Stuff You May Have Missed," (relating to trivial-like tidbits of material within the show), pictures, and sometimes a "Movie/Musical Moment." Reading these is a nice treat as it helps to show what was special about each episode. Also inclusive in the book are the Couch Gags (which we all know and love), an Itchy and Scratchy Filmography (detailing each episode of "their show"), Church Marquees (which show the "advertisements" of the church billboard), a "Homer says D'Oh" section, a Simpsons Song Lyrics section and even the popular "Who Does What Voice", detailing the `stars' behind the voice of each and every character. But I find the real treat to be the Character Designs/Production Art sections, which show a lot of the rough work and earlier designs for some of the characters and sets. Overall I really enjoyed this book and recommend that any Simpsons fan would be naked without it. It is a wonderful companion to its earlier relatives. The book is an easy read and would make a nice addition to any coffee table, or present for that special someone. Just please buy the book or you may find yourself saying D'Oh after the stock runs out. :-)

D'oh! and a whole lot more

The Simpsons juggernaut keeps on rolling along, this title updating the successful series of books on the show with Season 11 and 12. Continuing the successful formula of previous books, we are treated to two or more pages per show, with synopsis, guest stars, quotes and notes (as well as "things you may have missed") from the episode. In between are sketches, D'oh comments, couch gags and the ever popular chalkboard per episode. With the ever expanding world of the Simpsons, what is ultimately great parts of the guide are the index, which let you look for that obscure character name, or the guest voices, and the list of voices for the regular cast members. The latter truly shows the breadth of many of the fine voice actors of the series that help contribute to it's continued success. And with the Simpsons showing no sign of slowing down, I'm sure we'll see some more volumes of this series. Just like the "Simpsons Forever..Continued" this book is a bit thin to justify the price. It weighs in sturdier than the last volume by over 30 pages, but it still has to work hard to justify the price tag. Happily, the book is a full color collection of such minutia and trivia that it makes up for the value, somewhat.

Layer upon layer, joke upon joke

It should be enough that The Simpsons is the funniest show on television. This book, a reference to Seasons 11 as 12, goes a long way towards explaining why. This is third in the reference series of Simpsons books (the first is "The Simpsons: A Complete Guide To Our Favorite Family" and "The Simpsons Forever"). But forget all of the stodgy things that come with the word "reference". This is like reading the scripts to the "Director's Cut" of each episode. The series is so detailed and layered, joke upon joke, that it takes a reference book like this to give you appreciation of how much work goes into The Simpsons. This book give you back-character development, all of the tiny little jokes that fly by too fast for you to see (like the sayings on the church billboard), and lots of the freeze frame humor (The Animal Control ad has a woman fending an octopus off with a broom, or store names: "Just Chloroform: The Store For Liquid Persuasion"). Plus the more obvious list of chalkboard gags "I WILL NOT PLANT SUBLIMN al MESSA gore S", and couch gags. Of course, it really helps to have seen the episodes. There are some things that were funny when you saw them that aren't funny when you read them. "New Kids On The Bleech", the episode where Bart forms a boy band, was hysterical when I saw it but didn't seem as funny when I read the premise.If you love the show, the three reference books are indispensable. I found myself laughing at all of the things I missed in episodes I'd already laughed at!