Wow. You really, really don’t get the Simpsons if you think it’s the bottom of the intellectual barrel. If only more shows were so intellectually deprived.
Mmhhmm, and how many of the 400+ episodes have you seen? The answer, which is clear from reading your post, is zero, but go 'head and throw out a number.
I love how he/she thinks The Simpsons is below the bottom of the intellectual barrel, but Momma’s [sic] Family is good.
If one were to compose a list of the 300 most vapid, brainless American television programs, The Simpsons would still be well out of consideration.
Jinx: Since you obviously haven’t read this thread past the OP, it’s pointless to reply to you.
I was going to comment on the irony of the post, given that it is riddled with spelling errors (“roll model,” “whimpiest,” “ala,” “Momma’s Family,” “Carol Burnette,” “down-right,”) but I decided to refrain… Well, until now, that is.
Was it a jelly-donut roll?
MMMMMMMMmmmmmmm! Do-nuts. Glaaagghhh.
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Certainly true…
I would agree that the Simpsons spends a lot of time at the bottom of the intellectual barrel. I mean, you’ve got a spiky-haired kid saying “Eat my shorts” and Homer getting drunk, collecting giant piles of sugar, and almost getting killed by a garage door.
But that’s just one level of the show, on top of that are numerous cultural, political, scientific, and artistic references.
Homer’s a great roll model. If I modeled a human being optimally designed for rolling, he’d probably look a lot like Homer.
I gave up on the Simpsons many years ago, having been a loyal viewer from the first episode. I remember how welcome it was to see a sitcom that was irreverent and smart and witty, after suffering through the ghastly TV of the 80s. And I remember feeling quite shocked when I realized, years later, that the show was slipping, becoming crass and annoying where it had once been subversive and sharp. (The moment came early for me – the one where former president Bush moved into Springfield.)
I stuck with it loyally for many more years, even as other shows began to catch up to and surpass it. King of the Hill was richer and deeper; South Park more satiric; Family Guy (in its pre-cancellation glory days) bolder and more outrageous. Futurama was wittier, more clever, and had a soul that the Simpsons had largely abandoned. Malcolm in Middle carried on the Simpsons’ “we may sometimes want to kill each other but we’re still a family” vibe. And Arrested Development, well, that was in a class by itself.
That all of these shows owes an obvious debt to the Simpsons doesn’t really matter in the end. One of the hazards of longevity is having to compete with newer, fresher work you may have inspired. It was evident to me (I’ve only seen three or four episodes of the last few seasons) that the Simpsons was eneavoring not to stay ahead or break new ground, but simply to keep the ship afloat. The old barge is hauling in too much money to be scuttled. Finally, I admitted that the show was no longer for me, and stopped watching. I had no conception that this was supposedly the “cool” thing to do – it simply made sense to stop watching a program that annoyed me far more than it amused me.
The idea, often mooted, that the Simpsons “is still better than (XX)% of so-called comedy on TV” is baffling to me. For one thing, I don’t see it, unless you lower the percentage to somewhere in the 50s or 60s. For another, given the amazing range of choices available to you, why settle for ANYTHING in the bottom (XX)%? If you have to watch the tube every Sunday evening, pull the latest Venture Bros. or Mad Men or [insert favorite show here] off your DVR, or punch up something on demand or throw in a DVD, and laugh.
You’ve been playing The Simpsons Game haven’t you?
Why isn’t it funny? Because you’re not watching it 10 (at least) years ago!
Heck, I remember watching the very first episode with my brother, the one in which the family gets Santa’s Little Helper. It was sort of the pilot. We thought it was pretty good even then. It wasn’t great, but it was more good than disappointing. It got much better after that.
I don’t completely get the people (sometimes even professional critics) who brag about never having watched the Simpsons. Aside form being completely awesome, it’s also THE cultural touchstone for an entire generation. Being ignorant of the Simpsons greatly limits one’s ability to understand American 20-somethings, I think. It’s essentially no different than the huge gap that would be left in your knowledge of baby-boomers if all you knew about the Beatles was that they were a rock band of some sort.
The scene where Barney is having a bar fight over who was the best Prime Minister has always been proof to me that no matter how smart I think I am, at one stage at least, the Simpsons’ writers were far smarter.
I really like seasons 1-9 of The Simpsons. Then after that, the quality of the scripts seemed to dip.
PITT THE ELDER!
Lord Palmerston!