Disintergration of The Simpsons

SoupyNorman

I would be up there with alot of Simpsons fans in the sense that i could recite the next line before spoken and have an indepth knowledge of the show and not care how many times i've seen an episode it just dosnt get old HOWEVER....I have lost every shred of respect for The Simpsons and my heart really sinks when I talk about it but the show should have ended on the crest of the wave it was riding back when the cream of the writers went to Futurama, but no instead they decided to continue and boy have they made an a*se of it all, Homer has just gone from being a well timed idiot in that his stupidity had a comic purpose and was delivered with split-second timing to a clumsy oaf where he is put in 'whacky' situations which seem to just lead him to being seriously injured and scream and repeat himself over and over for the remainder of the episode, as for marge she is unrecogneisable from the stern, houseproud, motherly, affectionate breath of fresh air through the madness character she was......now they have her acting like a teenager which in turn takes the shine off Bart and Homers 'crazyness' which in turn makes the writers have to come up with more and more crazy 'whacky' stunts for Homer and Bart to be involved in to make them live up to the expectations of the viewer when compared to marges or Lisas behaviour.

The Simpsons is caught in a tornado of 'whackyness', stupidity, unoriginality which is spiraling out of control......The Simpsons has evolved into a corporation and like any multi-million corporation the more money they make the less emphasis is put into the content of the finished product.


When you think back to the mid ninties ......Sunday at 6, a new episode of The Simpsons, England and Ireland came to a halt, it was the last shred of goodness before school on Monday, the week wasnt complete without your fix, and you would be near to tears if you missed it. Nobody feels like that anymore, sure the show still gets the viewers but this is made up of kids who just know its The Simpsons and thats it!, People who have only ever watched it from time to time so their not comparing to the 'good' episodes and the worst culprits are the fans that are so 'hardcore' that they turn a blind eye to the horrendous-ness of the episodes JUST so they can say that have seen EVERY episode ever.......Well the true fans I believe dont need to see Every episode they just know what it is that defines the old humor and charm from the drivel they are pumping out now.


Thanks for reading.


Thank the lord for Family Guy.......apologies for any grammer mistakes

Boo-yah

I agree with preety much everything that was written, apart from the "Thank the lord for Family Guy" part at the bottom. FG cannot touch classic Simpsons. In fact, new Simpsons sort of remind me of Family Guy (FG is better though). I would say thank the lord for Arrested Development and South Park (the only two good comedies on t.v at the moment imo).

BuffyBot

*checks watch*

Ah yes, another "The Simpsons has got awful" thread. Knew it was due soon.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=512 is the place to go have it out.

Peteee

Good post.

Would agree with all you say.

At least we still have seasons 2 - 12 (Or thereabouts, Season 11 contains 'Behind the Laughter, which i consider to be an all-time great)

honru

Homer is so unlikable now. In fact, all the characters are just so one-dimensional.

Anyone notice whenever there's a big social gathering, yup, the whole gang will be there. Apu, Chief Wiggum, Flanders, Principal Skinner. They're everywhere!

segadreamcast

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

Homer is so unlikable now. In fact, all the characters are just so one-dimensional.

Anyone notice whenever there's a big social gathering, yup, the whole gang will be there. Apu, Chief Wiggum, Flanders, Principal Skinner. They're everywhere!

Bingo! That's another problem that I pick up on in every new episode...same with how characters who the simpson's shouldn't really know/like turn up at social events (Skinner, Krabapple (sp?), Comic Book Guy etc etc) - this was exemplified pretty well in the episode with Mick Jagger, when "Homer's friends" are in the crowd. The Simpsons has become way too insular in this regard - whereas they used to fill the background with real background characters (e.g. the episode where Homer learns how to play a game off some kid in the arcade... they had no problem letting a background character come to prominence there, however, if this were a new episode, it'd be Ralph or someone teaching him), they now rely on the 'same old same old'.

This is just one issue in a litany of problems - the all-too-clinically-clean animation, the lack of punchy jokes, the dumbing down of the characters, the poor standard of writers (IAN MAXTONE-GRAHAM!!!) etc etc. It's sad, but it's over. The Simpson's is beyond revival... the characters have gone to a place that they can't be pulled back from.

SprostonGreen

I simply dont watch it anymore. Its like a family member once proud, that has sunken into embarassing drunken sadness.

tvnutz

Totally Agree,Simpsons was classic,it now sucks. Family Guy is far better (even better than the classic simpsons,just far funnier). Put the simpsons out of its misery before they totally ruin it for good.

Chong

I simply dont watch it anymore. Its like a family member once proud, that has sunken into embarassing drunken sadness.

I love it .

Its so true about the simpsons it really does need to be put out of its misery. I was a massive simpsons fan but since season 7 its started to wane in my opinions.

SprostonGreen

WDK wrote:

I love it .

Its so true about the simpsons it really does need to be put out of its misery. I was a massive simpsons fan but since season 7 its started to wane in my opinions.

I remember it on the Tracy Ullman show in 1988 and the first series in 1990, I couldnt wait for it every week, like you said. But now, flick by and shudder at the thoughts of Tony Blair or Tony Hawk appearing on it, with some stupid one liner.

mickymg2003

tvnutz wrote:

Totally Agree,Simpsons was classic,it now sucks. Family Guy is far better (even better than the classic simpsons,just far funnier). Put the simpsons out of its misery before they totally ruin it for good.

Family guy is better than the simpsons now because i dont find the newer simpsons funny anymore. But the older episodes are pure class and nothing compares to them. In my opinion the best episode of the simpsons is in season 8-"You only move Twice" The one where homer joins Globex.-Brilliant Epsiode

YeatsCounty

tvnutz wrote:

Totally Agree,Simpsons was classic,it now sucks. Family Guy is far better (even better than the classic simpsons,just far funnier). Put the simpsons out of its misery before they totally ruin it for good.

I agree with all of the OP's points. The Simpson's are absolute muck now, and have been for quite some time. Even the "good" episodes they come up with now would be considered to be weak episodes if they were screened in its heyday. It needs to be stopped now. Actually, it needed to be stopped five seasons ago, but that can't be helped.

I disagree with tvnutz when he says that Family Guy is better than classic Simpson's. Sure, I love Family Guy and it is far superior to The Simpson's in its current guise. Classic Simpson's completely owns Family Guy. The very best Simpson's episodes had a great story behind them, with meaningful gags behind them. Even the best Family Guy episodes are mostly a collection of gags. Eg: 'This reminds me of that time I *insert whacky situation here*'

And thank you NoelRock! I've noticed that problem as well, the other characters are dominating the show now. I'm sick of Apu, Moe and Flander's getting far more recognition than they deserve. The show is called "The Simpson's" FFS. It should revolve primarily around the Simpson family. It's not called "Whacky Homer Simpson and his Krazee Possee".

Boo-yah wrote:

I would say thank the lord for Arrested Development and South Park (the only two good comedies on t.v at the moment imo).

Hear hear.

lostexpectation

some of them have been crap but I really like when the one where the frenk gerring opera house was turn into a prison, loved snake sliding down the architecture etc, the snitch hat, and the rich lexicon etc

saw half of the one with the prison painter that was pretty good, homer hanging lisa in front of the bull etc

what series those eps from?

segadreamcast

lostexpectation wrote:

some of them have been crap but I really like when the one where the frenk gerring opera house was turn into a prison, loved snake sliding down the architecture etc, the snitch hat, and the rich lexicon etc

*Shudder* Sorry man but no...just, no.

tvnutz

YeatsCounty wrote:

I disagree with tvnutz when he says that Family Guy is better than classic Simpson's. Sure, I love Family Guy and it is far superior to The Simpson's in its current guise. Classic Simpson's completely owns Family Guy. The very best Simpson's episodes had a great story behind them, with meaningful gags behind them. Even the best Family Guy episodes are mostly a collection of gags. Eg: 'This reminds me of that time I *insert whacky situation here*'


Hear hear.

When watching an animated comedy I am not looking for a story,nor meanginful gags. I am looking to laugh my ass off. And family guy does that. The old simpsons is classic,but IMO,I just still wouldn't be laughing as much or for as long as I would be with family guy. I also hate the touchy feely crap in the simpsons...shoot lisa in the head already.

Sparky

I have to agree with a lot of people that the new episodes of the simpsons is crap, there are more celeb appearances in them now as ever,
I watched an old episode tonight on skyone and it was the kind of simpsons i liked where it would make me laugh more than once.
Best bit in the episode is the singing
http://www.sparky-s.com/videos/classicsimpsons.wmv
~10mb 4mins.

J.R.HARTLEY

i'm afraid that i verysdly and with a heavy heart agree with the OP on every facet of his post, i can't believe i'm tired of homer, and it's got nothing to do with growing up and maturing cause i'm taller alright but i still act like a kid. great clip man, i also love the monorail song, mono, d'oh



oh and the burlesque song

YeatsCounty

tvnutz wrote:

When watching an animated comedy I am not looking for a story,nor meanginful gags. I am looking to laugh my ass off. And family guy does that. The old simpsons is classic,but IMO,I just still wouldn't be laughing as much or for as long as I would be with family guy. I also hate the touchy feely crap in the simpsons...shoot lisa in the head already.

Perhaps I'm just being wistful when looking back at the old Simpson's episodes, but I really enjoyed them when they had some semblance of a story behind them.

I still love Family Guy though! I'm just looking for something different from the Simpson's.

Roddy23

Its like a family member once proud, that has sunken into embarassing drunken sadness.

Quality. Agree with all the OP's comments.

segadreamcast

tvnutz wrote:

When watching an animated comedy I am not looking for a story,nor meanginful gags.

*Shrug* Then go watch King of Queens, My Wife and Kids or some other such bilge, and away with ye...

It takes a far more talented team to get laughs out of a story, than it does to just get simple belly laughs.

Sparky_S wrote:

I have to agree with a lot of people that the new episodes of the simpsons is crap, there are more celeb appearances in them now as ever,
I watched an old episode tonight on skyone and it was the kind of simpsons i liked where it would make me laugh more than once.
Best bit in the episode is the singing
http://www.sparky-s.com/videos/classicsimpsons.wmv
~10mb 4mins.

That was terrible - is that what you call a classic simpsons episode? I think they had already gotten sour by that stage.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

I completely agree with e the OP. the new epsiodes are terrible ****e. i dont see why they are killin off what was once the best show going and draggin out its lifespan while cancelling futurama. Futurama had endless possibilites compared to the simpsons stupid new stories. And although my picture and quote might suggest different i think that the old simpsons were quite a bit better than futurama, and family guy is as good if not better then both of them

tvnutz

NoelRock wrote:

*Shrug* Then go watch King of Queens, My Wife and Kids or some other such bilge, and away with ye...

It takes a far more talented team to get laughs out of a story, than it does to just get simple belly laughs.

Wow,great comment...(note heavy sarcasm). I don't watch any of the crap you just mentioned. An animated show like family guy is hilarious and thats all I want.They are also talented in that the majority of pop culture references are genious.

I get my fix of intelligent comedy from Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm...both far better than the simpsons.

-Al-

Eh, im scared, I think the OP is me, or at least your in my mind :eek:

feel exactley the same way, I havent looked foward to a new ep in years, it really has turned into a load of sh*te. Im buying the dvd sets, but will probably stop at series 8, anymore and you start to enter the 'unknown'

As for family guy, im a huge fan of it, but I still think classic simpsons beats it, series 3 of family guy wasnt that funny, but 4 is back up there again and definatley holds it own, although in saying that, there hard to compare, there very different styles of comedy.

segadreamcast

tvnutz wrote:

Wow,great comment...(note heavy sarcasm). I don't watch any of the crap you just mentioned. An animated show like family guy is hilarious and thats all I want.They are also talented in that the majority of pop culture references are genious.

I get my fix of intelligent comedy from Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm...both far better than the simpsons.

Whatever you say yourself, man. Meaningful pop culture touches are everywhere in classic Simpsons but, hey, whatever you like yourself, it isn't my problem.

N.B.: Whenever you have to point out that it's sarcasm, it ceases to be funny. Sadly, in your case, the sarcasm was never funny to begin with... so I'm not sure what sort of a quandry that puts your comment in.

tvnutz

NoelRock wrote:

Whatever you say yourself, man. Meaningful pop culture touches are everywhere in classic Simpsons but, hey, whatever you like yourself, it isn't my problem.

N.B.: Whenever you have to point out that it's sarcasm, it ceases to be funny. Sadly, in your case, the sarcasm was never funny to begin with... so I'm not sure what sort of a quandry that puts your comment in.

Ummm...again with the witty comments. Great stuff mate. It was never meant to be funny,I just thought you might need the little reminder to understand where I was being sarcastic and where I was not. You seem like the kind of person that would need that.

loyatemu

I used to be a simpsons fanatic, but I've totally lost interest now - if an episode is on TV I'll watch the opening couch gag and if it's not from one of the "peak" seasons I just switch off.

Season 1: basic but still funny
Seasons 2 - 6: genius, some of the funniest TV ever made
Seasons 7 & 8: patchy but still occasionally brilliant
Seasons 9 - whatever (I've lost track): mostly garbage.

whiskeyman

loyatemu wrote:

I used to be a simpsons fanatic, but I've totally lost interest now - if an episode is on TV I'll watch the opening couch gag and if it's not from one of the "peak" seasons I just switch off.

Season 1: basic but still funny
Seasons 2 - 6: genius, some of the funniest TV ever made
Seasons 7 & 8: patchy but still occasionally brilliant
Seasons 9 - whatever (I've lost track): mostly garbage.

My sentiments exactly.
Dont even bother watching any of the "newer" stuff.

Family Guy is a godsend, but remember it's only in its peak now comparing it to the Simpsons.

Sparky

<Jonny> wrote:

That was terrible - is that what you call a classic simpsons episode? I think they had already gotten sour by that stage.

hey, atleast it was better than whats on offer now.

mickymg2003

Is there actually any sign of the simpsons ending any time soon.There on season 17 now i think. They'll hardly take it over 20 will they?

segadreamcast

tvnutz wrote:

Ummm...again with the witty comments. Great stuff mate. It was never meant to be funny,I just thought you might need the little reminder to understand where I was being sarcastic and where I was not. You seem like the kind of person that would need that.

OooOoOo... you're using sarcasm on the internet! Oh you're so clever! You have one mighty chip on your shoulder; not sure what your problem is/where your inferiority complex comes from (maybe because you're from Kildare ?) but consider yourself blocked.

Yeah loyatemu, I'd pretty much agree with that...season 9 has one, maybe two episodes worth remembering...can't even find any in season 10 that are worth remembering... it just gets worse and worse from there as we get up to:

The Italian Bob (#HABF02 / SI-1702) (11 Dec 2005)
Mr. Burns's Stutz Bearcat finally breaks down, so he decides to buy a new Italian sports car, and have somebody pick it up for him - all together now: "The Simpsons are going to Italy!", only to end up in a small town where the residents aren't aware of the criminal past of their new mayor - Sideshow Bob. Can Sideshow Bob trust the Simpsons to keep his secret? Did he forget that Italy is quite known for its wine, and Homer and Marge are quite known for enjoying it a bit too much?

The General

Its still better than Futurama though

segadreamcast

Classic Simpsons or the Simpsons now?

Classic Simpsons is definitely ahead of Futurama.

The Simpsons now are leagues behind where Futurama was...

-Al-

mickymg2003 wrote:

Is there actually any sign of the simpsons ending any time soon.There on season 17 now i think. They'll hardly take it over 20 will they?

nope dont think so, and teh films gone in to pre production, or production :rolleyes:

I remember they said they would never make a film until the show was as funny as it used to be. I guess they seen that wasnt happening any time soon and thought there wallets felt light.

tvnutz

NoelRock wrote:

OooOoOo... you're using sarcasm on the internet! Oh you're so clever! You have one mighty chip on your shoulder; not sure what your problem is/where your inferiority complex comes from (maybe because you're from Kildare ?) but consider yourself blocked.

Yeah loyatemu, I'd pretty much agree with that...season 9 has one, maybe two episodes worth remembering...can't even find any in season 10 that are worth remembering... it just gets worse and worse from there as we get up to:

Lol...you block me because you can't take what I have to say? Sad indeed.

I'm also from Dublin...just live in Kildare.

mickymg2003

Whats with all the anger?Cant we all just get along?
A movie is dodgy because it can be like an episode.You can have terrible episodes and brilliant ones. a bit hit and miss.

tvnutz

mickymg2003 wrote:

Whats with all the anger?Cant we all just get along?
A movie is dodgy because it can be like an episode.You can have terrible episodes and brilliant ones. a bit hit and miss.

Hey...of course we can Except apparantly my opinion meant that I watched a ton of crap comedy instead of intelligent comedy...according to that tool anyway.

mickymg2003

We should get Dr Phil in to solve our problems!!!He could point at us and then try and sell us his book!!!Works every time.

canker

The simpsons was great when it started and it continues to improve season after season. Long may it continue.

Peteee

Listing and scripts and loads of other stuff of most simpsons episodes ever

http://www.snpp.com/episodes.html

See if you can pinpont where it all went wrong

Dr. Nick

It's the best show ever, tonight's new episode was weak though, as have some recent ones.

I stopped watching on a regular basis in 1998, just couln't be bothered anymore. But it was brilliant before that.

honru

Peteee wrote:

Listing and scripts and loads of other stuff of most simpsons episodes ever

http://www.snpp.com/episodes.html

See if you can pinpont where it all went wrong

I think the Frank Grimes episode (Homer's Enemy under Season Eight) is where there were clear traces of the show declining in quality, mainly because it's the transition of Homer becoming the fucking moron he's been for the past eight years.

On the subject of Season Eight, while it wasn't as great as past seasons, there's still quite a few funny episodes in there and I'd still consider it in the "golden age" of The Simpsons.

Season Nine is definetly when the show quickly jumped the shark imo and I seriously despise all seasons past this one. Haven't seen anything good come out of Springfield since 1997! It's been that long?!

The episode where they killed off Maude Flanders (as a result of Homer's actions) was around the time when I completely cut off from watching any future episodes of the show.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

canker wrote:

The simpsons was great when it started and it continues to improve season after season. Long may it continue.

are you serious?, is he serious? (stewie anyone)

mickymg2003

canker wrote:

The simpsons was great when it started and it continues to improve season after season. Long may it continue.

Are talking bout the same simpsons? Are you watching some alternate good version because it really has gone downhill and its just being milked by fox now just so they can hold onto the simpson name.
I guess everybodys entitled to their opinion.

Mr E

I'll be interested to see episode 17x15 (the upcoming episode written by Ricky Gervais). It has the potential to be the funniest episode in over 9 years!

Kojak

TmB wrote:

I'll be interested to see episode 17x15 (the upcoming episode written by Ricky Gervais). It has the potential to be the funniest episode in over 9 years!

Well, that wouldn't be hard. :rolleyes:

The last 5 years, at least, have been fu*king sh1t. :mad:

This new season on Sky One is absolute rubbish.

SprostonGreen

playa3 wrote:

are you serious?, is he serious? (stewie anyone)

He might be serious, but he's wrong.

Pigman II

f®eak s&#169 wrote: »

I think the Frank Grimes episode (Homer's Enemy under Season Eight) is where there were clear traces of the show declining in quality, mainly because it's the transition of Homer becoming the fucking moron he's been for the past eight years.

Yep, that's spot on. The Frank Grimes episode is where TheSimpsons died as a show and where Homer first changed into that blissfully-oblivious, soulless-idiot type character hurtling thru life without a care in the world and seemingly without motivation for anything he does.

MsMolko

Pigman II wrote:

Yep, that's spot on. The Frank Grimes episode is where TheSimpsons died as a show and where Homer first changed into that blissfully-oblivious, soulless-idiot type character hurtling thru life without a care in the world and seemingly without motivation for anything he does.

I hate that Frank Grimes episode with a passion. It has absolutely no emotion in it whatsoever.

Saskia

Just read that entire thread and it made me a bit sad. Bring back the classic Simpsons!