We Put the Spring in Springfield

Chronicling the Golden Era of 'The Simpsons'

By: Justin Sedgwick

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 1 hr and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

We Put the Spring in Springfield: Chronicling the Golden Era of The Simpsons is a detailed study into the quirky intangible factors that lead to the rise and fall of The Simpsons' phenomenal early years. From Michael Jackson's bizarre guest appearance that kickstarted the golden era to the death of Maude Flanders and all the Conan O'Brien throwaway gags, Phil Hartman guest voices, extensive movie references and encore-worthy musical numbers in between, We Put the Spring in Springfield serves as the perfect companion guide to the Simpsons' golden years and delves into the particular elements that made seasons 3-8 so magical. For anyone who was religiously watching FOX Sunday nights throughout the 1990's or just happened to borrow the season 3-8 DVDs from a friend, We Put the Spring in Springfield is a must-listen, promising to make a Simpson out of all of us.

©2014 Justin Sedgwick (P)2014 Audible Inc.

The details of why Conan's scripts made The Simpsons so good

The good: the narrator going over plot and script details, and the mention of number of jokes, references, intelligent, unexcepted jokes, and developing characters' deeper traits and running jokes Conan's era brought in.

The bad: could've mentioned more episodes and seasons, even if they're not in the golden era. The show is almost as old as me!

Fun Little Book For Simpson's Fans

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but with the low price and being a huge Simpsons fan, I took a chance on it. I'm very glad I did!

The book is a vehicle for the author to look back nostalgically on The Simpsons, particularly the "early years", share a lot of thoughts about it, and relive some of the greatest moments. He talks about a number of the early seasons as the "golden era", and gives a surprisingly astute and interesting analysis as to why he thinks that. Backing that up by describing many of those early shows, what makes them special, and talks in-depth about the stories, the characters, the creative talent, and the music, that makes the Simpsons so memorable.

It's definitely a fun little read, and Simpson's fans will certainly enjoy it.

Just Fine

“We Put The Spring in Springfield” was ok, only because it was short and free. Don’t expect to learn anything if you are a Simpsons fan. It’s basically a college theses from “Television 101” that somehow got published as a book.

Oh, No!

Needed an editor who is a fan of the Simpsons. Factual errors abound.

For instance, in Terrhouse of Horror IV, "Tereor at 5 1/2 feet" did NOT feature an evil Krusty doll (Clown without Pity) Instead it was a parody of the Twilight Zone episode Terror at 20,000 Feet, and a small gremlin who looked like Homer was terrorizing Bart on the school bus. "There's a monster on the side of the bus!!!"

A Short Recap of The Simpsons Greatest Hits

If you know The Simpsons well, you’re not going to learn anything from this, but it’s sort of like having a conversation with a fellow fan about favorite episodes. It’s also super short, so it’s a fun palate cleanser between longer books.
It does drive me crazy that the author misattributes quotes and gets many of them slightly wrong, but maybe I should write my own book if that bothers me too much.
That said, I would highly recommend Mike Reiss’s Springfield Confidential to anyone who really wants to dive into the behind the scenes of The Simpsons. It is written by one of the key creatives of the show and is full of anecdotes that go way beyond trivia and reruns.

Hoped for more substance.

This was a meh listen. It lacks any real substance and offers very little to the listener. Glad it was an included book with my audible subscription and I didn’t waste a paid credit on it. It reads like a synopsis on episodes.

Loved the recap of the best years of the show

Really enjoyed the recap of the best years of this show that I quote every day of my life. Not too academic but intelligent and well presented. It was fun to hear the take on these best years, that comprised some of the best comedy ever written. Almost more interesting is his absolutely accurate discussion of why the years after 8 were not its best. Wonderful quick listen if you loved those years of the show too.

Shallow Recap Without Much Insight

I was hoping for some insight and to learn something new about the Simpsons. Instead the writer made very brief surface level observations. A good portion of this short book is just describing and quoting scenes from well-known episodes without adding much original analysis, or adding back story, or history. I would be upset if I had paid for this and it was not part of Audible's free content. This is hardly a book.

Better off just watching the Simpson’s

If you like the Simpson’s, do not listen to this. Too much argle bargle about a funny cartoon show.

If you thought about bingeing on the Simpson’s, like I was, because you’ve watched most but not all the episodes, this will definitely destroy that idea.

not impressed

Just some guy's opinion about The Simpsons. No real trivia or interesting facts. Although it was well worth the price of free.