I personally think that the Simpsons used to be a great show. I remember watching it when I was younger and it was like a great family experience. Nowadays though, I just feel that its just kind of there, ya know. Its as if Fox only keeps it on because its their baby. They’ve had it from the beginning and its all they have to show for themselves.
Now I don’t want to get into discussions on which is better -* Simpsons* or Family Guy. Those are old debates, so whats the point.
My question is this : Should the Simpsons stop and how?
I watched the show religiously for at least the first 10 years. My kids grew up with the show. I’m not one of those who claim it the quality has dropped off significantly, but for whatever reason, I rarely watch anymore. When I do, I find the show “acceptable.” It won’t break my heart when it ends.
Should it stop? Doesn’t matter to me. Whatever Fox decides is fine.
How? couch gag: They sit there for the whole show, at the end, Homer says, “I got nothing”
No one is getting the inside joke here: the more people bitch, the more they play right into Fox’s hands–any mention of the show continues its popularity. <twirls mustache>
Troy McClure said it best: Yes, the Simpsons have come a long way since an old drunk made humans out of his rabbit characters to pay off his gambling debts. Who knows what adventures they’ll have between now and the time the show becomes unprofitable?
I’d bet an impending cancellation would spur the writers to send the show out with a bang. The last season, whenever it came, might end up one of the best since the '90s. Sounds worth it to me.
I used to love it, and did through the first 10 years. But yes, it seems the writers that did the stuff I liked went on to other things. So I won’t be tuning in.
Very good OP. Either I or one of my kids could have written it. I remember huddling around the TV so we could read the chalk board during the intro.
For the last 5-10 years it’s been so flat. No cutting humor, very little cleverness.
By itself it’s dry as a bone. But add to it that Family Guy is kicking it’s ass in humor and cleverness and you have a long ago has been that can’t give up the ghost. In the FG/Simpsons episode it was easy to detect who wrote what by what was actually funny.
I think people like me tune in to new Simpsons episodes in hopes to see something we know isn’t going to be there anymore.
I can’t believe I’m talking about my beloved Simpsons that way.
While it may not be as good as it was 15 years ago, it’s considerably better than it was 6-7 years ago, and I’ve continued to enjoy it over the years and been inclined to let them go for as long as they want.
But the departure of Harry Shearer is a big concern for me. I used to think the loss of any of the Big 6 would be fatal for the show. We’ll see how true that is…
There was a blurb going around a few months ago that one of the Simpsons head honchos proposed that the final shot of the series be identical to the first shot of the first episode, closing it out as one giant closed loop.
I agree. Although I think the show has had its ups and downs, it’s been very solid lately. The celebrities-playing-themselves gimmick (which I hate) seems to have subsided.
Reading this thread reminds me of when I hung out in the alt.tv.simpsons Usenet group. Every new episode was greeted with howls of “worst episode ever,” and there was a general sense that the series had run its course and should be cancelled before it deteriorated further. And this was back in the 90s, a period now considered the show’s “golden age.”
The Simpsons and their decaying popularity shares some similarity with Seinfeld’s last years. Seinfeld [IMO] reached its peak in the sixth season and slowly deteriorated after that point. The only difference is that Larry David was wise enough to pull the plug on Seinfeld, something that should’ve have been done by Fox a long time ago.
