Matt Groening, lawyers, and Futurama...

instapundit is linking this post on lawyers in The Simpsons, based on this Minnesota Bar post.

I'm not a big fan of some of the political views in the bar post, where they complain about the comoditization of legal services. But the Simpsons quotes are good.

I think it's also interesting that the same interest in the legal field show up in Matt Groening's other show, the short-lived but funny Futurama.

The best of this legal dialog comes from Insane in the Membrane. In it, the judge is a very rich guy who doesn't care about those up for trial. At one point, he says that he has been told that a bank "is a place where people keep money that has not been properly invested, and thus robbing a bank is tantamount to that most heinous of crimes, theft of money. Another great quote is this:

Fry: "You're right. You're right. It was ..." *phone rings*
Judge: "Yes? What? You say if I testify I'll be killed? Oh, it's for you."
Roberto: "And the other hamburger will also be made of your lungs. So long pal."
Fry: "I refuse to testify on the grounds that my organs will be chopped up into a patty."
Judge: "Ah, the 67th amendment"

In the below quote, the "Councellor" is a giant mutated chicken with a southern accent, known as the Hyperchicken. It's one of those things you have to watch to appreciate.

Judge: "Counsellor, what evidence do you offer to support this new plea of insanity?"
Counsellor: "Well, for one, they done hired me to represent them."
Judge: "Insanity plea is accepted!"

Another episodes that come to mind as involving trials are "A Tale of Two Santas, where Bender is cross-examines a witness:

Bender: "Isn't it true that you have been paid for your testimony?"
Girl: "Yes. You gave me a dollar and some candy."
Bender: "And yet you haven't said what I told you to say! How can any of us trust you?"

Brannigan Begin Again also contains a trial in front of DOOP (the Democratic Order Of Planets, an intergalatical UN).

What's the point of this post? I'm not sure, but it seems to suggest that a)Matt Groening has an interest in legal proceedings and b)Mad Anthony likes to make posts that involve the word "Hyperchicken".