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When did the Simpsons stop being good?

Kermit.de.frog

I can't put my finger on it but watched one of the "newer" ones (as in last 10 years) and it was so bad compared to the older ones it's actually sad to see.

Where and when did it all go wrong because it strikes me that a lot of damage has been done to the cartoon's actual legacy (which it has) because maybe they should have stopped more than 10 years a go but I guess money got in the way.

When did it all go wrong?

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Dirty Dingus McGee

The Strawman Argument wrote: »

Left to do the Iron Giant, no?

Anyways, here's my breakdown:
Season 7 onwards: Numerous writers gradually leaving. I'll specifically focus on Greg Daniels who went on to head King of the Hill, the Office and Parks & Rec, three fantastic comedies that were able to get by quite easily for a long while due to having such fantastic little worlds of their own (Arlen and Pawnee in particular are the two closest to a Springfield that I can think of from any shows ever). Also, unsure whether it was totally the writers or also the animators, but the Simpsons up until about season 7 was jam packed with some really funny visuals, it's gradually became more and more joke based.
Season 8: Mike Scully becoming showrunner and changing the whole writer's room process so that they weren't spending literally every free second of their lives writing it
All over the place: The movement of time making it impossible for the Simpsons family (blue collar baby boomers?) to be able to maintain their world as they became further and further off from what a real life family with kids those ages would be like

Mike Scully became the show runner in Season 9.

Season 7 and 8 were the years Wesntein and Oakley were showrunners.

Generic Dreadhead

deadybai wrote: »

The episode where the went to Brazil was the first really really terrible episode. I remember watching and thinking 'wtf was that?' I still enjoy season 8 to that episode but season 3-4 5-8 were terrific

God yeah that was f**king woeful.

"They play soccer here".... is that a joke

The one where they went to the UK was awful too, "oh look it's J.K. Rowling... something something muggles"...

Also I know everyone is hating on the New Homer. But I cannot abide Lisa anymore, such a little try-hard, know it all smart a$$.

"Well since i became a Buddhist...: F**K OFF :mad:

TheDoctor

I dont know what the years are but I think season 2-10 are absolute quality

Watch those episodes all the time. (I dont like the animation in Season 1 so it puts me off viewing it)

After Season 10 I felt the episodes began going downhill.

Considering its now what Season 25? 26?, the show has been in decline for a long time.

Maximus Alexander

It peaked with the Hank Scorpio episode in 1996. It didn't immediately plummet into abject failure after that, but it began its long decline.

But man, what an episode.

[Deleted User]

It's all summed up here: http://deadhomersociety.com/zombiesimpsons/
The main site has a quote of the day as well which is good. They also pick apart the new episodes.

The "It's been getting better" mantra has been around for a good 6 or 7 years and still isn't true. It's a shallow, humourless, out-of-touch show now.

Irish Guitarist

I don't think it just suddenly got bad. It had periods where it went downhill but still had the occasional funny episode. My memory isn't good enough to say what series it was, but the Armin Tamzarian one was the first one I really hated. It was never the same after that and the characters became less likeable. Homer suddenly went from being slightly dim but well meaning to being a total moron and a prick.

It still had a few laughs here and there though. There were a few episodes over the years that made me gradually lose any remaining respect I had for the writers. I can't remember every single such episode but the most 'recent' ones (probably from around 2006) were the episode where Bart was trying to come up with a prank to play on Skinner and said "what else can we do? We've already toilet papered his house and egged his fathers grave". I thought it was a cheap, unfunny joke that didn't have any place in The Simpsons. Another one was the episode where Homer drove into a horse and kept driving while wiping the blood off his windscreen. It was unnecessary and unfunny. It was a completely different Homer than the one that had once worked two jobs to get Lisa a horse. I think that was the point where I just gave up on it.

RobbingBandit

Episode in 2008 when Bart has a Muslim friend Basher, when Homer goes all racist on the dad of Basher as he is about to blow up the Springfield Mall in a controlled explosion, that is when this show died for me, I still watch every new episode though, sweet OCD is a bitch.

Peter Griffin said it best on the crossover episode a few weeks back regarding Homer, when I first seen this guy I thought he was great and I am going to quote him to all my friends but now I am so over the Simpsons,

The most recent episode was about FRACKING, give me a Monorail, Scorpio or Prank Monkey episode if I want current affairs I'll read the paper.

Earthhorse

Deleted User wrote: »

It's all summed up here: http://deadhomersociety.com/zombiesimpsons/

This is actually the analysis I was talking about earlier though it appears to be in quite a different format from when I first read it.

KungPao

Just thinking of the "Illegal cable TV" episode makes me laugh. All the lads in Homer's watching The Bought to Knock the Other Guy Out!

Fabulous episode.

Drederick Tatum was hilarious in it.

Burky126

You have to take people's version of quality with a grain of salt when it comes to the arguement of when The Simpsons 'went bad.' Some people say it was when Conan left (Which is bull****,the guy wrote four episodes and contributed some jokes to others) or Season 9 which is the obvious culprit for The 'Armin' incident. Ultimately,what killed the show for many was the death of Homer Simpson's character,as he became more 'jerky' and less relatable which goes to show you the testament of his writing.

Many people pinpoint a change in his character season 8 and onwards.The Leader episode especially in which he shows these traits and which he repeats the line 'jerk ass'.

Over time,characters change in any narrative which is normal.However in the case of The Simpsons,it's a bonafide mutation which has gradually consumed the residents of Springfield as if a meltdown occured at the Nuclear Power Plant.Coupled with the stronger writers leaving and new writers who are inexperienced and who have to cope with the deadlines and Fox executives interfering with the show more and more and you get a more diluted product as a result.

The Strawman Argument wrote: »

Also, unsure whether it was totally the writers or also the animators, but the Simpsons up until about season 7 was jam packed with some really funny visuals, it's gradually became more and more joke based.

Interesting you mention that. There was a forum thread that featured a former Simpsons animator who worked in the show from seasons 4-6 who mentioned how interference from both FOX and Matt Groening himself made the show less and less cartoony and more into an 'animated sitcom' which browned off a lot of animators.

One such example that he mentioned was how the animators got notes that Homer was no longer allowed to have his mouth open extremely wide. This news was received negatively by the animators and as a result, come the time when everyone signed Matt Groening's birthday card that year,they all drew pictures of Homer with his mouth open wide with sarcastic comments.

EDIT: Here's a link to that thread where a Simpsons layout artist talks about his time working on the show. A real interesting read.

http://www.nohomers.net/showthread.php?97907-Former-Simpsons-artist-identifies-his-scenes

Dirty Dingus McGee

KungPao wrote: »

Just thinking of the "Illegal cable TV" episode makes me laugh. All the lads in Homer's watching The Bought to Knock the Other Guy Out!

Fabulous episode.

Drederick Tatum was hilarious in it.

I would also like to dedicate this fight to his manager

KungPao

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I would also like to dedicate this fight to his manager

You can't do dat!

[Deleted User]

Burky126 wrote: »

You have to take people's version of quality with a grain of salt when it comes to the arguement of when The Simpsons 'went bad.' Some people say it was when Conan left (Which is bull****,the guy wrote four episodes and contributed some jokes to others) or Season 9 which is the obvious culprit for The 'Armin' incident. Ultimately,what killed the show for many was the death of Homer Simpson's character,as he became more 'jerky' and less relatable which goes to show you the testament of his writing.

Many people pinpoint a change in his character season 8 and onwards.The Leader episode especially in which he shows these traits and which he repeats the line 'jerk ass'.

Over time,characters change in any narrative which is normal.However in the case of The Simpsons,it's a bonafide mutation which has gradually consumed the residents of Springfield as if a meltdown occured at the Nuclear Power Plant.Coupled with the stronger writers leaving and new writers who are inexperienced and who have to cope with the deadlines and Fox executives interfering with the show more and more and you get a more diluted product as a result.

Interesting you mention that. There was a forum thread that featured a former Simpsons animator who worked in the show from seasons 4-6 who mentioned how interference from both FOX and Matt Groening himself made the show less and less cartoony and more into an 'animated sitcom' which browned off a lot of animators.

One such example that he mentioned was how the animators got notes that Homer was no longer allowed to have his mouth open extremely wide. This news was received negatively by the animators and as a result, come the time when everyone signed Matt Groening's birthday card that year,they all drew pictures of Homer with his mouth open wide with sarcastic comments.

There's no set point but season 8 showed some weaknesses, season 9 had some really bad episodes and symptoms and by season 10 it was pretty much beyond help.

KungPao

Actually, thinking of Drederick Tatum...

Another big problem with the Simpsons was the way they stopped doing hilarious parodies (and clever guest appearances)* of celebrities and just got the actual celeb to voice themselves...in an utterly boring way with the voice acting phoned in.

*Dustin Hoffman as Lisa's teacher / Michael Jackson as "Michael Jackson" / Steve Martin as the Garbage commissioner...with his finger on the button / James Woods as a parody of himself etc.

I mean Tony Blair? Ricky Gervais? Give me strength.

Burky126

Deleted User wrote: »

There's no set point but season 8 showed some weaknesses, season 9 had some really bad episodes and symptoms and by season 10 it was pretty much beyond help.

Just remember,season 8 ended with that Spin-off Showcase that showed a preview of 'season 9'.In hindsight,it seems like it was an early cry for help.

valoren

Burky126 wrote: »

Just remember,season 8 ended with that Spin-off Showcase that showed a preview of 'season 9'.In hindsight,it seems like it was an early cry for help.

to the tune of "We didn't start the fire"

Ullman shorts, Christmas show, Marge's fling, Homer's bro
Bart in well, Flanders fails, whacking snakes, monorail
Mr. Plow, Homer space, Sideshow Bob steps on rakes
Lisa's future, Selma's hubby, Marge not proud, Homer chubby
Homer worries Bart is gay, Poochie, U2, NRA
Hippies, Vegas, and Japan, octuplets, Bart's boy band
Marge murmers, Maude croaks, Lisa Buddhist, Homer tokes
Maggie blows Burns away, what else do I have to say?
They'll never stop the Simpsons
Have no fears, we've got stories for years
Like, Marge becomes a robot
Maybe Moe gets a cell phone
Has Bart ever owned a bear?
Or how 'bout a crazy wedding?
Where something happens, and do-do-do-do-do
Sorry for the clip show
Have no fears, we've got stories for years

Burky126

For anyone who hasn't watched the simpsons in years,this is basically how it is now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSDZCbCT-kI

Squeedily Spooch

KungPao wrote: »

Actually, thinking of Drederick Tatum...

Another big problem with the Simpsons was the way they stopped doing hilarious parodies (and clever guest appearances)* of celebrities and just got the actual celeb to voice themselves...in an utterly boring way with the voice acting phoned in.

*Dustin Hoffman as Lisa's teacher / Michael Jackson as "Michael Jackson" / Steve Martin as the Garbage commissioner...with his finger on the button / James Woods as a parody of himself etc.

I mean Tony Blair? Ricky Gervais? Give me strength.

The Gervais episode is genuinely the worst 20 odd minutes of TV I've ever seen, it was appalling.

[Deleted User]

KungPao wrote: »

Actually, thinking of Drederick Tatum...

Another big problem with the Simpsons was the way they stopped doing hilarious parodies (and clever guest appearances)* of celebrities and just got the actual celeb to voice themselves...in an utterly boring way with the voice acting phoned in.

*Dustin Hoffman as Lisa's teacher / Michael Jackson as "Michael Jackson" / Steve Martin as the Garbage commissioner...with his finger on the button / James Woods as a parody of himself etc.

I mean Tony Blair? Ricky Gervais? Give me strength.

At least with Ricky Gervais they "tried" to do it properly. Now most of the guests have to be introduced with exposition. Even the episode with Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin was on the other day, season 10 I think, and pretty much the first dialogue with them involved was Homer saying their names. Don't start me about the Lady Gaga episode.

Squeedily Spooch

Seasons 4 and 5 are the two most consistently great seasons of a television show ever, there's not one bad episode in the lot of them, even the ones that aren't great by the rest of the seasons standards are leagues ahead of anything in the last ten years.

Generic Dreadhead

[

Jesus that plot

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Oscartheboxer wrote: »

Don't forget Mcbain.

Having Schwarzenegger in the film was unforgivable.

cloud493

To be fair, the episode where they go to London is absolutely appalling all over, not just with the celebrity cameos.

Turtyturd

cloud493 wrote: »

To be fair, the episode where they go to London is absolutely appalling all over, not just with the celebrity cameos.

A lot of the recurring ones like 'The Simpsons are going to...' and Sideshow Bob episodes have long since run out of original ideas and are stale.

The tree house of horror ones are the same but not to the same extent Imo because they fit in to the joke to joke style of the show now.

cloud493

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzLoCotf8v8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T2dHHK1u9o

Kevo

Dolphin episode.

KungPao

Deleted User wrote: »

At least with Ricky Gervais they "tried" to do it properly. Now most of the guests have to be introduced with exposition. Even the episode with Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin was on the other day, season 10 I think, and pretty much the first dialogue with them involved was Homer saying their names. Don't start me about the Lady Gaga episode.

True. But it was a bad idea from the start. I'm a fan of some Gervais stuff, but I'm not sure his sense of humour works with the Simpsons. It was just a bad episode either way.

Remember the Mel Gibson one? Homer said "That's Mel Gibson" about three times in a row.

[Deleted User]

cloud493 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzLoCotf8v8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T2dHHK1u9o

Dead wrong.

Hank Scorpio

The original seasons created scenarios which were somewhat believable and within the realms of possibility. That's what made the show gold in my opinion. The later seasons got so bad I feel a little angry inside when there on the TV and just have to switch channel. The stuff that goes on isn't believable anymore and every show seems to have one of those annoying lawyer type characters, or some celebrity. I find it hard to believe anyone who watched the original episodes continues to watch these days. Simpson memories should be things like the stonecutters, grimey, sideshow bob, shelbyville etc, not some super sensationalist bs involving outside characters who have the charm of a dog turd. Even the main characters you don't care about anymore. Every old episode had brilliant one liners like the clip below, it truly was genius.

wendell borton

“Oh, the network slogan is true, ‘Watch FOX and be damned for all eternity’.” – Ned Flanders