I used to LOVE the Simpsons but since about 99 I’ve gradually tuned out. The ones that don’t entertain me at all anymore are the various insane adventures Homer gets sent out on. It started with the astronaut one and as time has gone on they seem to be less and less “integrated” with the simpsons universe. They may as well start these episodes with Homer undertaking somebig adventure instead of giving some absurd way that he ended up there in the first place.
Last night’s treasure hunting was just another example of a weak plotline to send Homer on a lame adventure.
Maybe I’m being too hard on them here but it’s just not fun anymore. I think it’s time for the Simpsons to retire.
Wow, the treasure hunting only took up about what, five minutes of the show? I guess you must have missed that whole toll road, frozen mailman, and HOMER AND THE QUESTION OF HIS PARENTAGE.
I’ll keep watching as long as they’re doing it. It’s not always great, and it’s not what it was, but it’s still funnier than most of the other stuff out there and I enjoy its presence in my Sunday nights.
I burned out a coupla years ago. Hard to say exactly when—but when I realized didn’t mind missing the Halloween special, I knew it was all over for me.
And, IMHO, saying the Simpsons is still funnier than the rest of TV is unfair to the rest of TV, and to the Simpsons.
So if you’ve stopped watching the show already, why do you care whether or not they put it to sleep? I mean you don’t seem to have a horse in the race any more. What difference does it make to you? Why not let the people who still enjoy the show enjoy it while you do whatever else you do on Sunday nights at 8:00 pm.
Truth in Complaining Disclaimer: Last night’s episode was the first one that I laughed at this season.
I’m kind of going through a personal rediscovery of The Simpsons now, working my way through the DVDs of the early seasons as they come out. For over a year now I’ve always either been working on Sunday nights, or away for some other reason, so it’s been quite a while since I saw a new episode. The last time I did watch it I too got burned out by exactly the thing the OP mentioned: too many crazy, dumb Homer adventures. I’m starting to wonder how many more seasons of the show I should buy before it starts getting bad (there were some foul notes in seasons five and six, but season seven seems a marked improvement).
The funny thing is that listening to the DVD commentaries for the early seasons, the creators seem all too aware of how annoying “dumb Homer and his wacky adventures” can be. They’ve mentioned several times that the ratings for the show go up and down in accordance with Homer’s IQ – the dumber he gets, the fewer people watch. So what gives? Have they just run out of sane story ideas? Are the people doing the commentaries no longer the ones running the show?
Sorry, I mistyped. I did mean to say “it’s unfair to most of the other TV out there.” Again, IMO, the other stuff isn’t that bad, and the Simpsons isn’t that good.
Ding ding ding ding. The people who did the good shows have long since moved on to other shows, other than Matt Groening, who, from what I understand, has very little with the day-to-day production of the show.
In a way, I’m kind of looking forward to the DVDs from some of the real stinker seasons. I’d like to hear the people who made them try to justify them on the commentaries.
Yeah, I’ve thought of this too!! Either they’ll be alternately defensive/apologetic, or they’ll still think the work they did is hilarious. What Matt Groening says on these commentary tracks will be especially interesting. My bet is that he’ll try to wriggle out of it.
The show should do what it takes to bring back some of the earlier talent. TV shows are learning that their longevity and after-life on the DVD market depends on quality writing. Bring back Al Jean and Mike Reiss (and Matt Groening on an active basis) and whoever the two guys who did season seven.
Looking at some of the other comedies on the same network - excepting, of course, The Funniest Show on TV, which won’t be on Fox for much longer (here’s hoping ABC or Showtime pick it up) - there’s Family Guy, which I got bored of years ago and seems to have diminished in its return, American Dad, which is like a dumbed-down Family Guy with some bad, clunky Bush bashing thrown in, The War at Home, whose ads are so bad they should be cancelled… no, I’m gonna stand by my assessment.
The mighty Bob Fiore wrote about The Simpsons in The Comics Journal’s Winter 2004 Special Edition. He dates the show’s decline from the beginning of season nine onwards, saying: “As so often happens in entertainment, it exhausted its creative potential before it exhausted its commercial potential”.
That remains the best summary I’ve ever seen for what eventually happens to almost every money-spinning TV series, movie franchise, comic book title and other form of serialised fiction. The only exceptions I can think of are Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers, both of which were closed down when their creators decided that producing any further episodes could only cheapen what had already been achieved. Over to you, Matt . . .
I think a big problem for any ongoing series is when it goes on so long that people who grew up as fans of the show get old enough to become writers for it.
Not only have all the great ideas been mined, but the fanboys liked them so much, that they try to rehash them.
I think one of their songs is apropos here, or a bit of it…
Simpsons is pretty funny still, but they’re farting around trying to keep it fresh… bunches of silly high-concept episodes. (sighs.)
I agree with the notion of actually letting the characters age slightly… maybe not even having Bart hit his teen years. But it sounds like that might be a good way to refresh the franchise.
I don’t want to make you cry or anything, but Al Jean is back on the show as producer this season. He sort of comes and goes repeatedly and makes a joke about it on the Season 6 commentaries.
You know what? If you don’t like it stop watching the show. If you keep watching the show so you can keep running to the Internet to post “worst episode ever” messages like Comic Book Guy, the show will stay on forever.
I’m sick of these people who complain about the Simpsons every week. The old episodes weren’t that good either. The art sucked and they hadn’t developed really any of the characters other than the Simpsons and a few others. Every episode wasn’t pure gold either. Every episode before season nine was not The Stonecutters or the the one where Homer gets a medical marijuana perscription.
