As I said, I love a good witty comedy, and when I hold out hope for one and don’t get it, I’m bummed in the moment, but move on. I only dwell on it in these type threads, not in everyday life.
Matt Groening has to realize the new shows are a different type of humor, and I wonder if a conscious effort was made on his part to change the humor for ratings or whatever, or if he is just working with what he has- all of the classic early writers have gone on to bigger things, and now he’s just making do. I can’t see the point of a Metal Music Machine type fuck you to the early fans, if that’s what it is.
No, but it would be a definite shark. There wouldn’t be any debates about it afterwards if the movie completely sucked. The movie would be the shark and we could work backwards from there.
And, for the record, I was an early Simpsons adopter, watched fervently, and loved many many years of it, but fell away for no particular reason. I want to see the movie succeed.
I just developed a theory on the devolution of Simpsons writing. At any time, there are maybe 50 people on the planet capable of writing a classic early Simspons ep. In 1990, pretty much the only TV outlet for this type writing was the Simpsons. Now you have dozens of shows to chose to ply your craft. And if you’re really good, you know early Simpsons is tops, and why would you write for the Simpsons now, only to be compared against such early classics? Anyone who can now write early Simpsons type gold either is no longer a writer, or is writing for other shows.
I respectfully disagree. I see nothing ridiculous in being saddened by watching something that once gave you so much pleasure fall so terribly in quality. I’m not missing sleep over it, but I’m saddened nonetheless.
Beats me. Certainly television has changed, and things like the language they can use have changed. I think it’s just a question of the writing staff changing and wanting to do things the show hadn’t done before.
Ever seen Saddlesore Galactica? Or how about the episode where Bart wants to get the word out about something important and Milhouse asks him if they should use the internet. Bart says, “Nah, we want to reach people whose opinions actually matter.”
whole bean made a good point when he/she said the show hired writers who had never watched the fuckin show. If I’m not mistaken, we had a stretch of about 2 or 3 years where we never saw Martin. The fucktard writers probably didn’t even know he existed.
Yeah, I did. Let me clarify. I am sad when I see people laughing “at the Simpsons” because I remember when I used to laugh “at the Simpsons.” But the Simpsons they’re laughing at is not the same Simpsons I laughed at. At first it looks the same, and for a moment, If I try, I can convicne myself by pretending it is. But eventually, the illusion lifts, and I am melancholy for the show I loved which has become something I cannot stand.
The feeling is similar to the feeling you might have when watching an ex-girlfriend with another guy. You now know the girl is a head-case, but their fun reminds you of the fun you used to have together, before you found out she was loony. Only in the case, the Simpson really was great. So it’s just the feeling of loss that is the same, not the context.
Then in recent years, Paul bounces back with albums such as “Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard” and “Memory Almost Full.” Nothing can beat what he accomplished with the Beatles, but the recent stuff is quite good coming after what many people regard as a creative slump. That’s how I feel about the later episode of the Simpsons. I really enjoyed the latest season and am looking forward to the movie.
I don’t agree with everything in the article, (the “best” moments he describes aren’t even close to being the best that came out of that show) but I think he captured the essence of the problem. It did indeed become “anything goes”. Remember when , in the early 1990s, we looked forward to a new Halloween episode every year? Why? Because that was when they turned the show on it’s head, and you never knew what kind of wacky stuff was going to happen. And you suspended your disbelief because they prefaced the show with something to the effect of: “Here’s a scary Halloween tale…” The Halloween gags, and the occasional surreal gag that popped up from time to time on the regular episodes, were funny because they contrasted with the idea that this was a normal family - a family with a rather dim-witted father prone to angry outbursts, a hyperactive son, and a daughter who’s a little too smart for her own good, but a basically normal family.
At some point around the turn of the century, the show became the Halloween episodes. There’s no longer any premise to the show. The gags where surreal, wacky things happen fall flat because they don’t contrast with anything. It’s just a bunch of random garbage. But it’s not just that. It’s the horrible, horrible writing. It’s just not funny. The “everything goes” approach works to some extent on The Family Guy because there’s an occasional funny quip in there. The Simpsons seems more about trying to fill up 1/2 hour any way possible. I was watching a re-run from the polluted syndication pool the other day. The family got sick, and the gag was that Homer kept saying, “I’m gonna throw up…no I’m not…I’m gonna throw up…no I’m not…I’m gonna throw up…no I’m not…” This went on for God knows how long until I turned off the t.v. in disgust. For all I know, he’s still saying it. Maybe that was the entire remaining 20 minutes of the show. I’ll never know, because I refuse to watch such unmitigated drivel. It almost seems as though the writers are playing a giant prank on us, seeing how much utter dreck they can put on the air and still have us come back for more.
I wasn’t explaining anything. I was describing my feelings. Perhaps you could clue me in as to what it is you mistakebly thought I was “explaining”? Or was this a limp dicked attempt at a zinger? 'Cause, if that’s the case, do I have a TV show for you.
I agree - at least about the show (haven’t heard McCartney’s new stuff). There was definitely a slump of several years. I’ve liked the last two seasons a lot, particularly the one that just ended. And as somebody who’s been watching regularly for around 10 years, who went through a grueling, three episode-per-day training regimen - pre-DVDs - to catch up on all the older episodes I’d missed, I’m definitely excited about the movie.
Actually, it doesn’t even look right anymore. It’s something I can’t exactly put my finger on, but the animation is too “sterile” looking or something. The characters all have this annoying homogeneous, antiseptic look to them. I can’t tell exactly what they’re doing different, but the show does not look the same as it looked in its prime.
Then why do seasons one through seven still rock on the rewatch on DVD? I don’t think it’s nostalgia. Some of the episodes less common in syndication were almost like new epsidoes to me.
Also, when two of your main characters are an erudite talking dog and a megalomaniacal toddler you’re pretty much saying up front that “everything goes” on your show.
The linked article doesn’t really say anything new about “The Simpsons.” However, I did notice that the author places the “Armin Tanzarian” episode that he pinpoints as the start of series’ decline as airing two years before it actually did so his 10-year anniversary of Simpsons mediocrity is a bit premature.
As for the show itself, it’s become like “Saturday Night Live”–the quality will wax and wane from season to season or episode to episode and there’ll always be people complaining it was funnier 5, 10, or 15 years ago. At least during the last few seasons, I’ve seen fewer episodes where the the storyline will suddenly go off on some random tangent in the third act.
You’re entitled to your opinion, but I’m not getting sucked back in. Fans have been saying, “It was bad for awhile but now it’s better”, for the entire period of its suckdom. And every time I tune in to see the new “better” Simpsons, it’s worse than ever. Same goes for SNL. There will always be people complaining that it used to be funny because it’s true. The waning is there, but there ain’t no waxing. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…