# Do away with The Simpsons

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-away-with-the-simpsons/727013>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 4, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-away-with-the-simpsons/727013 "2015-08-04T21:57:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-away-with-the-simpsons/727013/21 "2015-08-05T04:38:47Z")

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The Simpsons have changed and evolved during their decades-long existence. During the earlier seasons they were a lot more about emotions, then other writing teams came and opted more for a surreal series of gags, then others for the metalinguistic humour and parody.

Interestingly, this season had a special episode that Judd Apatow wrote when he was a young, struggling nobody, “Bart’s New Friend” and you can see how it stands out, not because it’s particularly better, but because it goes for a sentimentaly in the relationship between Bart and Homer that contrasts with the current, more cynical style.

But different doesn’t mean worse. The Simpsons has always had top notch talent, even in their biggest slumps.

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**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-away-with-the-simpsons/727013/22 "2015-08-05T06:19:52Z")

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I find it simply unwatchable now.

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**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-away-with-the-simpsons/727013/23 "2015-08-05T09:49:01Z")

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> [@ImperatorAugustus](#):
>
> 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.

Why? It’s pretty safe to say they’re still making money off it (and besides the show proper, it’s a whole franchise that has sold plenty of merchandise, toys, video games, a feature film, etc.). From a business perspective, if something is profitable, you don’t put a stop to it. Especially not because Some Guy From the Internet thinks it “should”.

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**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-away-with-the-simpsons/727013/24 "2015-08-05T16:01:22Z")

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It’s not a question of how talented the writing staff is; blaming them just obscures the issue. There’s only so many times you can visit the same well before it dries up. How many times can you watch Homer catastrophically screw up, apologize and be forgiven? How many wacky “Homer’s new job” episodes can you watch without being reminded of half a dozen better variations on the same theme? How many “Wow, [Celebrity Name]!” cameos does one show need? That was really why I stopped watching: it became the same thing over and over, and less funny each time.

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