Speaking of Simpsons… the past 2 seasons have sucked… and what’s with the blood and gore. When Homer lifts his shirt and all his organs are showing, or even last episode where he cut his wrist punching the jukebox. This isn’t the same show it once was. Sure Homer got bloody noses and scrapes before (falling down that canyon), but what they do now doesn’t fit the Simpsons unless it’s a Halloween episode. Homer getting his eye sucked out be the vacuum–yuk. This isn’t South Park.
The stories are beyond ridicules, even for a cartoon… Homer has a crayon lodged near his Brian. Why was Bart digging a hole in the backyard last episode. There’s no heart, Homer practically puts his kids in danger on purpose. Remember the Eps. Where Lisa wanted to take the bus, and at the end bonded with her dad? I mean I know the Simpsons isn’t known for sentimental qualities, but there where nice moments, (Bleeding Gums, his song on the radio/ Moe saving Homer from the boxing match). One of the creators of the show said the secret to it’s success is if you take away all the absurdities and comedy, some of the Simpsons episodes themes would make a great drama. Where’s that mentality? When M. Flanders died, it was TOTALLY in bad taste… I LOVE this show, and I don’t think it’s run it’s course… I just thing the writing is beyond sloppy.
I know ‘MY’ writing in this post is sloppy… I’m in a hurry.
Well, the thing is, you’re looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. The Simpsons have ALWAYS been “hit-and-miss”. Five years from now, we’re going to look back at these episodes and think, “They were great then, but they suck now.” And five years after that, we’ll think the same thing…
By that time, of course, Futurama will be long gone.
Well, lately the Simpsons has been miss, miss, miss.
Last night’s episode was particularly bad.
As to why Bart was digging a hole–that was an example of the boring stories Moe had to listen to all night. But, IMHO, that was the only interesting part of the episode!
I totally agree with you, SPOOFE. I began reading “alt.tv.simpsons” back in 1993, and the biggest thread at the time was a discussion of how the quality of “The Simpsons” had dropped so much. The Cape Feare episode had just aired, and everyone felt that the rake gag had gone on too long, and everything that made the Simpsons a great show had faded.
Now, when I scan “alt.tv.simpson”, people are still complaining that the show’s quality has gone down. But many of them hold up the '93-'94 season as the show’s “Golden Age”.
Someday, when we’re all in retirement & are watching all the Simpsons episodes in reruns, we’ll realize that every season had it’s gems & it’s clunkers.
But then again, The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase is one of my favorite episodes, so what do I know?
Me I like the bloody bits. I laughed my head off much like Bart and Lisa laugh at Itchy and Scratchy.
In fact once my head fell off, my wife ran over with a knife cut it open and emptied my brains then put a candle in my mouth… we laughed for several hours after that.
The truth is some people think excessive violence in cartoons is funny. Think Of Elmer Fud shooting Daffy Duck point blank in the Face with a shotgun when Daffy shouts “Duck Season, Fire”. tell me that doesn’t make you at least smile.
Interesting, I thought last night’s episode was much, much better than any of last year’s stuff.
Also I’ve noticed that no matter what the season, the first time I see an episode, I really do not laugh all that much. However, when I see it as a re-run, I laugh my ass off. I don’t know wha the difference it.
I think the only bad episode was from early last season when Homer became Burns’s assistant because Smithers went to New Mexico (“There’s a new Mexico now?”) That one was just horrible.
spoofe is right. I remember first seeing that episode the OP refered to with Lisa’s busride. When I first sae it, I thought eh but now that I’m seeing it constantly in syndication I see it is quite good. It’s like that for a lot of episodes. Except for the first season. I just don’t like the 1st season at all.
And for the record I thought last nights was pretty good. It started off real well, and then degnerated in the second half. They seem to do that a lot.
I still love The Simpsons as much as I always did, but lately there are a lot of gags that I just don’t get. Last night, at the end when they’re bringing in the turkey…Homer or someone said something (which I didn’t get and now don’t remember because I didn’t understand) and there was a big long pause…anyone care to explain?
Well, it’s clear that this show isn’t as good as it used to be. The older shows were much tighter, less a collection of gags than a story which was crammed with gags in the final draft after the dramatic arc was completed a few drafts earlier. However, I still laughed out loud more than once.
Moe: “It’s PoMo.”
Homer/Lenny/Carl: Blank stares
Moe: “Post Modern”
H/L/C: More blank stares
Moe: “Weird for the sake of being weird.”
H/L/C: “Oh, yeah, right, we get it.”
It seems that most TV shows in general eventually lose steam and its writers become increasingly desperate for coming up with material to keep it going. This is known to some as “jumping the shark.” There is a website devoted to this subject at http://www.jumptheshark.com . A thread for the Simpsons is at http://www.jumptheshark.com/s/simpsons.htm . Lots of other people there have commented on various points at which they believed this show “jumped.”
I think it’s been more miss than hit lately, but I still enjoy certain moments in every show. Once these start going into reruns and I see them a few more times, I’m sure they’ll grow on me.
From last night, I thought there were a few good moments. I particularly like when Carl called himself the “Urban Lenny” and the Chinese Spy Satelite scene.
