10 TV Shows That Made Fun Of Their Fans
8. The Simpsons Makes Fun Of Internet Critics
Starting with Season 7, the Simpsons writers began using Comic Book Guy to parody angry fans on alt.tv.simpsons, a huge community for Simpsons viewers that the writers would often visit. In the episode Radioactive Man, the character is actually seen logging in to a site called alt.nerd.obsessive.
But the biggest example was in the extremely meta The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show, an episode all about the process of writing television. The Itchy & Scratchy Show becomes a stand in for The Simpsons, and Comic Book guy represents angry fans nitpicking every aspect of the series to death instead of just enjoying it.
"Last night's Itchy & Scratchy was without a doubt the worst episode ever," he says. "Rest assured I was on the Internet within minutes registering my disgust throughout the world."
In a blatant example of the writers talking to the audience, Comic Book Guy says he feels the show owes him, and Bart responds, "For what? They’re giving you thousands of hours of entertainment for free. What could they possibly owe you? If anything, you owe them."
Later in the episode, there's another great moment making fun of fans who nitpick mistakes in a cartoon show, with an Itchy and Scratchy nerd complaining about a ridiculously minor inconsistency and then saying, "Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder."