| |_||_ ( )
the simpsons ( )
folder, man! ( )
( ) ,__
suck, suck! }//{ ( ) / “
_///_ | | (_ _ _ ) | |
_///_ ,, ,,/_ (.)(.) (,, ,,) (.)(.)M
,>o(,,/_ (.)(.) /_ | C |) (.)(.)) C___ |)
(.)(.) /_ /C__, @_/ (___/| /C__, @ /___/|
/c @_/ ) |/ )__| ) | __)__/|__
C_, )/ oooo / \ oooo / / /
/ |/ / \ / \ /___\ / /

—————————————————————————————————————-
Fan Interview: Ben Goretsky

This document is done
—————————————————————————————————————-

Who is your favorite character on the Simpsons and can you explain why?

My favorite was and will always be Professor Frink. I think the fact that he can create anything he wants interests me about him plus when I was growing up I used to love Jerry Lewis… I was a kid! Anyways, Frink is great and when they had Lewis voice his father it was fantastic! Oy Mayven!

What is your favorite episode?

Ohh.. tough call. There’s lots of episodes which I love but if I had to choose one then it would have to be THOH 4. It’s 3 shows in one!

How do you see future of The Simpsons?

I would love to be 30 years old and have the Simpsons still on the air. It looks like so far they’re good to go until 2009 when I will be 29. I suspect they’ll do 20 seasons, finish off a movie and call it quits for the show. As long as Matt and Al Jean are in control I think the show will keep up.

I believe you also own pretty extensive collection of Simpsons merchandise. How much money you have spent to your collection so far?

Oh yes.. I have quite a collection. Truthfully it almost makes me sick when I think of all the money I have spent over the years. The art alone has costs me over $7000 [cels, limited editions, sericels, drawings…]. I have everything and anything released in the US regarding the Simpsons from the time that Playmates started to release their line. I have to estimate that the collection has costs me another 10-15 thousand but it may be more. I had to quit on all the Hamilton collectibles and since most of the new licensed products are just weird items I don’t but them anymore. Plus! I’ve just run out of room to keep the stuff. Funny thing is that even with the size of my collection, there are people that have more than I do.

What is your favorite item so far and why?

Favorite items have to be my art and signed toys. I have a signed Homer by Dan, signed Burns by Harry and Mrs. K by Marcia Wallace. I have a sericel signed by Matt, Dan and Harry and I have a Bart cel signed by Nancy. All my Simpsons art if very special to me but those two are my most valuable to me.

You’re webmaster of Simpsons Crazy. How did you end up creating fansite for the Simpsons?

On the side I make websites and before I started my site I visited other sites for information. Problem was that I had to visit 4-5 websites to get ALL the information I wanted. I figured I have to tie it all together and made Simpsons Crazy. Finding the news and product info was a little hard at first but the connections I made with retailers and Fox licensing made things a lot easier.

Do you still (after all these years) enjoy updating your site?

I have to say that even though I don’t have the same amount of time to work on the site as before, yes! I still enjoy updating it. Scott has been a great help and the fans make it all worth it.

Any memorable moments with your website?

Quite a few. Of course the typical milestones such as hitting 10,000 unique visitors, the 1 year anniversary, the 2 year anniversary… the usual stuff. Although not my favorite some other memorable moments include when other sites would tell their members to “boycott” and bad-mouth my site <sigh> … but we’ve resolved those issues.

You are creator of Simpsons News Network -radio where bunch of people gathered online, made simp-themed radio show and broadcasted on the net. Is there going to be new shows in sight in the future?

Yes… Tim and I are trying to get a few people together for the show we just keep running into a problem where one person can do it one day and another person can’t. Hopefully we’ll have a new show done before 2006, maybe even 2 shows!

Any memorable moment to share with us from making the show?

I love doing the show, every show has its memorable moments. We usually end up cutting out all the fun/stupid stuff out. What gets me all the time is the support of all the people that actually take time to do the show with us… I really appreciate all those people.

Do you have any new simp-projects coming up that you can tell us about?

Hmmmm… aside from getting some new SNN shows done, nothing really. I was thinking about making a site called Simpsons Folder but then found out someone else was already doing it… sheesh! Go figure.

What is most important element on the simpsons site in your opinion?

“Original” material and updated regularly. There are a lot of sites that have the same information on it or a lot of good sites which don’t do many updates. If you want people to come visit your site you need to give them new, fresh, original material and give it regularly.

What do you think about the Simpsons sites on the net?

I think they’re great. I always enjoy seeing new sites in the community which is why SC gives away hosting to a lot of the sites. My favorite will never change but I am always up for looking at new ones.

Any favorites?

Adam’s Simpsons Channel and Last Exit to Springfield.
Bryan’s Simpsons100 and Maggied.com
Jon’s BlockoLand
And of course.. Simpsons Folder

What kind of computer system do you use?

Dell, P4 3.2 Ghz HT Windows XP Pro, 2 gig RAM, 120 GB drive, DVD-R and all the nifty extras. Pretty common system.

Name 3 people from the simpsons community that you could meet in real life.

1. Bryan from Simpsons100, we might actually meet up during Spring for Vegas.
2. Adam Wolf, he just seems cool.
3. Jukka, a legend.

If I could have 1 more it would be Alicia, she’s Ukrainian background like me, she’s cool.

Any final words?

They’ll never take me alive! I have a dream! Just say No! I am not a crook! You can’t handle the truth! Watch the Simpsons! <shameless plug> Visit SimpsonsCrazy.com!

—————————————————————————–0———————————