Has The Simpsons Died?

[Pidgeot]

Ah, The Simpsons. Possibly the most successful sitcom of all time. And while it was arguably the most clever and funny show back in the 1990s, some say that the show has died and reached an inescapable hole. Some say it did so in Seasons 9 and 10. Some say it was 11 and 12. Others say it was 13 to 16, or later. And some say it hasn't at all. So, I ask you this: Do you think The Simpsons has died? And if so, when, and why?

I wouldn't quite say the show has died, but yes, I would admit that it has declined in quality over the years. Seasons 3 - 8 was absolutely brilliant comedy, but in Seasons 9 - 12 it started to lose the cleverness that it used to have, instead becoming funnier and focusing in supporting characters more. And, though I haven't seen much of Seasons 13 and later, of what I have seen (eg. most of Seasons 13 to 17) I can so that it has declined. But I wouldn't quite say that it has 'died' quite yet - I mean, I still prefer modern episodes to Family Guy or South Park.

 

[Synthesis]

I used to really like it, and I still like the older episodes so I don't think it's all bad.

I do find any episode made in the last few years quite annoying for the most part. There are less subtle jokes and more crude stabs at humour that just don't work for it imo. I'm not sure about which season started this trend, but it's been going on for a while from what I've seen.

 

[Pidgeot]

I do find any episode made in the last few years quite annoying for the most part. There are less subtle jokes and more crude stabs at humour that just don't work for it imo. I'm not sure about which season started this trend, but it's been going on for a while from what I've seen.

From searching about this on the internet, it was apparently Season 10 that sparked all the hate. But personally I find it a bit harsh to say it died that early.

 

[Robo-Floatzel]

Just about anyone will admit one thing, and that is that Seasons 2-8 are essentially comedy gold at it's finest. Season 9 is often considered to be the bridge between "Old Simpsons" and "New Simpsons", this was around the time Matt Groening left the show and moved on to other things, such as starting Futurama for instance.

 

[dig]

Nope. Which is a real shame because it at this point it's stomping on a long dead horse's head. Simpsons started to decline in quality around season ten, perhaps as early as season nine. And now when you watch it you'll see the episodes are very often centred around a celebrity cameo. The social commentary has also been dumbed down and made more accessible. Once upon time The Simpsons would poke fun at a range of subjects - modern art, music, politics, sports, economics, etc. and now the jokes are often about the current state of affairs, which is fine if the jokes hit as hard as they did in the nineties. Simpsons lost all its bite and has became a self parody. I've watched many recent episodes and they are 90% of the time humourless, whilst I can watch an episode from season 4 and keep on laughing, and as an adult even take more from the show now that I understand more of the hidden jokes and references.

Tl;dr - Simpsons isn't dead. I'd love for it to end right now.

 

[garrison-san]

I do find it very curious to look at Season 8 NOW and contemplate that the show not only didn’t end soon after, but actually managed to drag itself on for a further decade and a half plus. Not because there’s anything wrong with Season 8 – it’s actually my favourite Simpsons season, as a whole, and I do not believe that the show’s writing had ever been sharper – but because there are so many references throughout to the likelihood that the end was coming soon. Certainly, it does feel as though the writers were toying with the notion of “winding down” at this point – heck, they even dedicated two whole episodes (“The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show” and “The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase”) to the implicit suggestion that maybe they’d exhausted all the possibilities of the Simpsons universe, and that there was probably no way to keep things fresh any more without severely upsetting the show’s balance.

Season 9 wasn’t without its moments, but it was certainly a very odd, jarring season coming off of Season 8 – a bit less emphasis on sharp, a bit more on silly, and there seemed to be no unifying mood or tone. Episodes ranged from sweet and heartfelt (“Lisa’s Sax”), to fun but totally frivolous (“Bart Star”, “Simpson Tide”), kind of mean-spirited (“Bart Carny”), to kind of extreme and frankly a bit disturbing (“The Cartridge Family”, which Sky One in the UK declined to broadcast). Meanwhile, the most self-conscious, experimental episode of the bunch, “The Principal and the Pauper”, became arguably the show’s most controversial. There was a lot to enjoy, but it was all over the place, and Simpsons fans who count it in among the show’s “golden age” are, IMO, being generous.

(The only saving grace of Season 10, IMO, was Stephen Hawking’s cameo. Honestly, you could’ve skipped the rest and you’d have been no worse off.)

 

[Ghetsis-Dennis]

You do realize that whenever longtime fans complain about the current state of the Simpsons, they poke fun of them using the Comic Book Guy as the avatar of said fans. They probably won't end the Simpsons if this keeps going until they fully admit that the fans are right and they have lost.

 

[Pidgeot]

You know, a lot of people always say Season 10 is when The Simpsons died, but to me that season is still pretty great. You've got "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace", "Bart the Mother", "Lisa Gets an 'A'", "Homer Simpson in 'Kidney Trouble'", "Mayored to the Mob", "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday", "I'm with Cupid", "Marge Simpson in :'Screaming Yellow Honkers'", "Mom and Pop Art", "The Old Man and the 'C' Student", They Saved Lisa's Brain", and "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", all classic episodes in my mind.

 

[garrison-san]

You do realize that whenever longtime fans complain about the current state of the Simpsons, they poke fun of them using the Comic Book Guy as the avatar of said fans.

I think everybody knows that. Thing is, these self-appointed internet critics have been around for nearly all of the show's lifetime, not just the point where it had been on the air for what felt like an eternity. You can trace this particular usage of Comic Book Guy back to at least Season 8, where it was clearly intended as a swipe at participants of the then-popular newsgroup alt.tv.simpsons (who did kind of paint their own bullseye target with their pedantic analysis of every single episode). It's a love/hate relationship which the writers are fully-accustomed to.

 

[Continent Turtle]

Technically, the Simpsons were never alive. The series is long dead though.

 

[CrackFox]

I think the Simpsons is considerably less popular that it used to be, yeah. Probably due to rival shows like South Park and Family Guys being so popular nowadays. That said, I think it still has a huge fanbase and the quality of the plots/jokes are as good as ever, so it's not ready to be cancelled anytime soon.

 

[Kouzan]

Personally I don't think The Simpsons are dead, the show has dwindled in quality. I think the best seasons are 1-16. it's was still good but not the comedy gold it was. Then the Movie premiered and then after that is when I say it started dwindling in quality. I haven't seen much episodes after season 19, but the ones I have seen were still good, though nothing compares to the first 13/15 seasons. I say that because seasons 12-13 is when I actually started watching the Simpsons back in 2001 with reruns on ABC everyday and then new ones on FOX. One of my favorite episode from the time is "Blame It On Lisa" or the one where they go to Brazil. I think while there are more popular shows that are similar like Family Guy and South Park, but it still has a fanbase so it's not gonna be cancelled soon. In fact was renewed for a 25th season not too long ago.

 

[Joshawott]

The Simpsons has definitely tumbled downhill when compared with the earlier seasons, but I think it truly went down the toilet in season 14. However, for me, I just stopped caring about new episodes after the movie; the seasons just before and following it have been pretty dire in my opinion.

Personally, I would prefer if they just let The Simpsons die and focus on Futurama.

 

[Hariyama5]

I must admit that The Simpsons have changed dramatically in the last few years. The earlier seasons (seasons 1 - 9), are the classics for me and well the rest of the seasons began to gradually get boring. As Matt Groening called Seasons 11 and 12, "The Wackier-Than Ever Years", I did not really have a problem with those seasons. The plots got a bit weird like how Manjula gave birth to octuplets and how Maude Flanders was killed by t-shirts but The Simpsons got weird from Season 16. My favourite season suprisingly was season 15 but after that I saw a change in the world wide animated sitcom.

 

[Water Max]

I voted Season 19 - present because I used to watch the Simpsons after school every weekday until season 18 ended and the movie released. I now think that Season 16 was the last Simpsons season with very good episodes. I still have all the VHSs and DVDs and will continue to buy the DVD boxsets every year until the last ever season releases because I'm still interested in the series but not as much as I was before season 19 started.

 

[Hariyama5]

I must admit Season 16 was probably the last of the best episodes. From then on The Simpsons changed and it was probably due to the change of times. I like the classic episodes better but there are some good ones out of the new seasons. Whatever season you watch there are still good laughs and jokes.

 

[Karamazov]

I used to really like it, and I still like the older episodes so I don't think it's all bad.

I do find any episode made in the last few years quite annoying for the most part. There are less subtle jokes and more crude stabs at humour that just don't work for it imo. I'm not sure about which season started this trend, but it's been going on for a while from what I've seen.

This. When we get jokes where Homer runs over a squirrel, and the punchline is that he ran over a squirrel, you know the show just stopped trying to work in subtlety.

I think The Simpsons can improve, but it just won't. The show's worship of the status quo means that characters almost never grow and change, so everything becomes stale. Even a ton of plotlines have been recycled. I swear, we've seen Homer and Marge talk about the prospect of having more kids once a season, and it never gets any more compelling or funny when I see it.

But look at Flanders - after his wife died, the show explored more facets of his character, and what made him tick. We got great episodes about him becoming less prudish, getting back in the dating game, and trying to be less controlling. Those episodes are fresh, and oftentimes are the funniest and most memorable episodes of their respective seasons. And I think these episodes would really improve the show, and allow more a lot more refreshing content to work with. The new season's a step in the right direction, now that they've been trying newer things.

tl;dr the show's stagnation is killing it, but it still has some kick in it as long as it's willing to fight.