Tell GR: After 500 Episodes, Do The Simpsons Still Have It?

My reaction to watching episodes of The Simpsons



-_-

The Simpsons started to lose its appeal for me in 1999 when Family Guy premiered and South Park started getting really good. It had a near monopoly on the edgy cartoon scene through out most of the '90s until those two shows came along. My sense of humor evolved, The Simpsons didn't.

First of all, when South Park "started getting good" ? That's a fallacy sir. It's always been good.

I digress. I think my last legitimate experience with the Simpsons was the movie. Which was AWESOME. I think also the RPG episode, which was after the movie. I think. WHich was good, but just cuz it hit a certain audience (including me) doesn't mean they still have it. To make it this far, is an achievement in and of itself. South Park is hit or miss. The Simpsons was consistent for far longer as far as I'm concerned. /drunk rant

and by always been good, it started faltering in the last few years.

South Park was a better show than the Simpson's from season's 3 to 9, and is the better show overall. South Park deal's with real life problem's and tells it like it is more than any show in history, and has had the balls to push the boundaries of good taste far further than the Simpson's ever did, which I give them endless credit for. South Park is one of the best written shows in television history, and Trey Parker smokes Matt Groening when it comes to writing, voice acting, singing, songwriting and musicianship. And that sir, is MY drunken midnight rant. Screw you guys, I'm going home.

I think The Simpsons doesn't know what direction it wants to go in. Being on the air for that many years is an accomplishment but the results may vary.

I stopped watching the show right about the time they made the movie, so I can't really judge the new episodes. It was definetly going downhill though, which is why I stopped watching it in the first place.

The Simpsons went downhill around the same time Futurama was introduced, as was Family Guy. I remember hearing all the good writers were moved to Futurama and new, cheaper ones were hired for the Simpsons (I have no evidence to back this up, however). It made enough sense, though, since after about 1999/2000 the jokes were over-explained, dwelt on too long, and some characters acted, well, out of character.

Come 2007, the Simpsons Movie debuts, and is actually really good. The series hits a new stride afterward, and seems to be good for at least another season, but then it didn't take long to slump back down again.

I haven't seen the new 500th episode, but I certainly want to watch it, if at least out of curiosity.

The Simpsons movie definitely proved to me that the show was still relevant / viable if the writing was there to back it up.

Perhaps I'm just jaded, perhaps I'm just older now and things have stayed the same, but The Simpsons just doesn't resonate with me anymore. More often than not, I groan instead of laugh at the premise, the characters, and the interactions.

The Simpsons is basically like a beloved family dog, we have fond memories of the younger years, fleeting moments where we were angry or disappointed, but now they're just limping around and sighing a lot. You don't want to put the dog down, but just seeing it go on through the motions is a little painful to watch. Then again, maybe I'm just not who they're trying to impress anymore.

I love the Simpsons, from it's awkward start to it's hey-day to it's really bad phase and to what I now consider a comfortable and still funny show. But with more than 20 years under it's belt, you have to consider that this show has changed. It's no longer focused on Bart alone. Also, comedy is best when it feels fresh and new, so what do you do when your "actors" can't even age? Does it still feel fresh? No. Do I still find myself laughing out loud at the episodes? Several times usually. I enjoy it, and still watch it. Can't say the same for many other shows.

You don't just happen to stay on the air for 20 years. Especially on FOX.

The Simpsons is a part of my childhood just like Super Mario and the X-Men. And when a new Mario game is released or a new X-Men movie hits the theaters I'm still excited. Same can be said about the 500th Simpsons episode.

When a show has run that long you can't expect it to be perfect. It's had its ups and downs but I disagree that once the show declined it continued to decline up until now. There have been plenty of great episodes (more bad ones) in the past 10 years.

Everyone episode seems to have a guest-voice actor that doesn't really add anything to the episode other than give us a new character to forget.
The characters used to interact with each other. Or have real problems with unreal solutions. We could have lost the Simpsons once Futurama came along and KEPT that for 20 years.

The worst, I find, are "Lisa episodes" in which Lisa becomes Kyle's Mom or "Marge episodes" in which Marge's period threatens her marriage.

To me, the 20+ years The Simpsons have on the air puts them, in my opinion, above and beyond mere criticism based on whether last night's episode was funny or not, they are already the greatest tv show ever made, and no uninspired episodes they might air is going to change that.