# Will someone please put The Simpsons series out of its misery? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150 "2007-01-08T15:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Valteron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f17d59/32.png) [@Valteron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valteron)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/21 "2007-01-08T19:06:18Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] If only there was a way to not watch _The Simpsons_ if you don’t like it. Damn those FOX network executives with their guns at our heads. [/QUOTE] Cafe Society is where we discuss various arts and cultural issues, is it not? Does that not include offering an opinion on the quality of sjows on TV? Am I only allowed to complain about the quality of a show that I am forced at gunpojnt to watch? Does this strange rule apply to theatre critics, restaurant critics, etc.? I do not remember reading such a rule in the stickies about cafe society. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/22 "2007-01-08T19:17:31Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] I wish I had a snapshot of the internets from the time of season 8. I GUARANTEE there were just as many people complaining then about the show going down hill since season 4 as there are now about it gong downhill from season 8. [/QUOTE] I do not think so, season 8 was 1997, and my recollection is the Simpson was at their height and Fox’s most popular show. I remember very few complaints except maybe that all the geeks would quote entire shows verbatim. In 1997 the internet was near it Nadir of geekiness. Simpsons were very popular. [QUOTE=RickJay] Whatever does or doesn’t happen, Matt Groening helped to produce two of the funniest sitcoms ever made. He deserves nothing but praise. [/QUOTE] Well said and very true, it would be like bitching about Norman Lear. [QUOTE=Captain Amazing] I don’t know. Wanting a bad show to go off the air (and I like The Simpsons and don’t think it’s a bad show) makes sense. As long as The Simpsons is on at 8 pm on Sunday, some other show that might be better can’t be on at that time.So, you want bad shows off the air to free up room for good ones. [/QUOTE] I understand your logic, but by your reasoning, most TV shows should be wished off the air. Most TV really stinks and even the most popular shows are usually disliked by more people than actually like them. For instance, Fox’s big show now is American Idol, I have noticed that for everyone that talks about it and watches it religiously, there is at least one of us who roll our eyes over the show. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/23 "2007-01-08T19:22:09Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] I don’t know. Wanting a bad show to go off the air (and I like The Simpsons and don’t think it’s a bad show) makes sense. As long as The Simpsons is on at 8 pm on Sunday, some other show that might be better can’t be on at that time.So, you want bad shows off the air to free up room for good ones. [/QUOTE] Yeah, Fox needs to clear up some space for _American Dad_ and _The War at Home_ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/24 "2007-01-08T19:27:20Z")
[QUOTE=Valteron] Cafe Society is where we discuss various arts and cultural issues, is it not? Does that not include offering an opinion on the quality of sjows on TV? Am I only allowed to complain about the quality of a show that I am forced at gunpojnt to watch? Does this strange rule apply to theatre critics, restaurant critics, etc.? [/QUOTE] Eh. Of course you’re allowed to complain, you just have to consider that remark in context of complaints about the show. Seems like a couple of people say it should be cancelled every week. ---
**Author:** ![initech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/439d5e/32.png) [@initech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/initech)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/25 "2007-01-08T19:37:45Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] I do not think so, season 8 was 1997, and my recollection is the Simpson was at their height and Fox’s most popular show. I remember very few complaints except maybe that all the geeks would quote entire shows verbatim. In 1997 the internet was near it Nadir of geekiness. Simpsons were very popular. [/QUOTE] I was there. People bitched. Season 8 was the season of Frank Grimes, the X-Files tie-in, Lisa dating Nelson, and Hurricane Neddy. Trust me, people bitched. In fact, the Poochie episode was in Season 8. That episode was a response to all the internet geeks crying about how the show was past its prime and needed to end. I think that episode was probably the first use of “worst episode ever.” Check out [snpp.com](http://snpp.com) sometime and see how episodes that are currently regarded as classics were torn apart on the day they aired. This is nothing new. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/26 "2007-01-08T19:44:57Z")
[QUOTE=initech] I was there. People bitched. Season 8 was the season of Frank Grimes, the X-Files tie-in, Lisa dating Nelson, and Hurricane Neddy. Trust me, people bitched. In fact, the Poochie episode was in Season 8. That episode was a response to all the internet geeks crying about how the show was past its prime and needed to end. I think that episode was probably the first use of “worst episode ever.” Check out [snpp.com](http://snpp.com) sometime and see how episodes that are currently regarded as classics were torn apart on the day they aired. This is nothing new. [/QUOTE] Apparently my mileage did differ. I was not on any Simpson sites, but among my circles of friends and acquaintances and parts of the Internet I did wander around to, the Simpsons were still very popular. Of course we liked Poochie and thought it was a funny in joke at the expense of every show that ever added a cousin Oliver. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/27 "2007-01-08T19:50:50Z")
[QUOTE=Amok] You know, if you don’t watch _The Simpsons_, it’s like… the show is canceled… for you. Amazing, I know, but I promise you it’s true. And that way, those of us who like the show can continue to watch it, and those of you who don’t, can not. It’s the best of both worlds. And yet, for reasons I’ve never been able to understand, some people just don’t get that. [/QUOTE] That’s a gamble I’m not willing to take. Mediocre Simpsons is still better than “The War at Home”. I’m not going to trot out the old “it’s still better than 90% of what’s on TV” line, but the fact is that the chance that the Simpsons would be replaced by a good show is about the same as the chance that it gets good again. There’s enough really awful shows that can be cancelled to make way for good new stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/28 "2007-01-08T20:02:38Z")
WAG: The people who want _The Simpsons_, specifically, to go off the air are those who used to love the show and watch it constantly, and to an extent still do even though they dislike how it’s being written these days. It’s like a family pet with a terminal condition; put it out of its misery now instead of letting it suffer until it flops over and dies on its own. A mercy kill, basically. Naturally, not everyone agrees the show is doing that badly. FWIW, I haven’t watched a new Simpsons episode in years until the one last night. I turned it off less than 10 minutes in, because it just wasn’t funny. (Although Moe’s “Even I hope this isn’t porn” was pretty good, that was it.) I don’t necessarily think it should actively be cancelled, but I wouldn’t shed any tears if it were. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/29 "2007-01-08T20:45:14Z")
[QUOTE=initech] Season 8 was the season of Frank Grimes, the X-Files tie-in, Lisa dating Nelson, and Hurricane Neddy. Trust me, people bitched. In fact, the Poochie episode was in Season 8. [/QUOTE] Frank Grimes is one of the best episodes of all time. Frank Grimes, Jr. not so much. Poochie episode? I have no idea what you are talking about (he said with tongue in cheek). ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/30 "2007-01-08T21:01:02Z")
If the show had been consistently excellent for the past 17 (18? 19?) years and was just now starting to show signs of slipping, I could understand the calls to cancel it before its reputation of greatness was ruined. But the show hit rock bottom years ago, rebounded, fell again, etc., etc., ad infinitum. For that reason, I hope it stays on for years to come: there’s no image to protect anymore, and there’s still a chance it’ll get really good again. My secret hope is that the process of releasing the DVDs will in some way drive home to the producers what made the show great in the first place, and will make them get back to basics. In the commentaries, they seem well aware of the fans’ dissatisfaction with certain elements of the show (“jerk-ass Homer,” as I think he’s called, Homer taking a new wacky job each week, etc.) – maybe they’ll begin to tone those things down. FWIW, IMHO the best years of the show were seasons 1-4. David Mirkin, executive producer of seasons 5 and 6, is responsible for beginning the decline of the show. ---
**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/31 "2007-01-08T21:20:39Z")
[QUOTE=Trunk] I wish I had a snapshot of the internets from the time of season 8. I GUARANTEE there were just as many people complaining then about the show going down hill since season 4 as there are now about it gong downhill from season 8. [/QUOTE] No problem. Go to [http://www.snpp.com](http://www.snpp.com) and look at the episode capsules. In there, you’ll find a bunch of stuff, one of them being reviews by fans. Here’s an excerpt from a season 5 episode (Widely considered the Best Season Ever.) > [@](#): > > The writing was flat, the story uninspiring, the pacing glacial, the jokes stale. The whole thing seemed totally forced, predictable, UnSimpsonesque." Here’s a few reviews of “Lisa On Ice”. One of my favourite episodes, it’s from season 6. > [@](#): > > Grrrr! Who was responsible for last night’s monstrosity? He should be forced to apologize on the air, and then be fired from the show, sterilized, and sent to live like an animal in the sewers below Los Angeles for the rest of his life. The first I’ve seen of the “Simpsons sucks now” reviews start to show up around the same time. > [@](#): > > The stories are no longer clever, instead they’re complete crap. I think they are trying to fill an obvious lack of story creativity with gags, and it’s getting REALLY old. Duh, me lose brain? Why I laugh? So that’s how it was during the golden years. Unfortunately, the reviews only go up to season 13. If you take a look at the more recent ones, the reviews actually improve… So… Yeah. That’s something. I have to come out in the “The show should have been canceled years ago” crowd. So obviously, I disagree with a lot of the reviews. In my opinion, season 11 should have been the final season. After that season, I’ve seen one episode I liked (Trilogy of Error)… That’s it. I think if Behind the Laughter was the series finale, everyone would have been happy. 11 years is a good run. And don’t get my started on the movie. My understanding was that Matt Groening was refusing to do a Simpsons movie until after the show was finished. Making the movie now says to me this says that even Groening considers the show to have run its course, and is now doing it for profit alone. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/32 "2007-01-08T22:00:04Z")
In the hidden commentary on the Season 9 DVD in which Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein say goodbye and tell their stories about working on _The Simpsons_, they comment on how they would go on the Internet each week and see what the fans thought of each episode. They would be disappointed when an episode they thought they had put effort into was criticized, but they actually agreed with many of the comments of the reviewers. > [@St\_Ides](#): > > Unfortunately, the reviews only go up to season 13. You can go to Google Groups and visit alt.tv.simpsons, and search for an episode by its title or production code to see all of the posts relating to that episode to see what people thought about them. ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/33 "2007-01-08T22:52:42Z")
I was reading alt.tv.simpsons during season 8, and I can attest that people thought it was going downhill then just as much (if not moreso) as they do now. For my money, seasons 2 through 6 are the show’s peak. Not a single mediocre episode to be found (though it does get noticeably wackier in seasons 5 and 6). I have DVDs up to season 7, and there are definitely some not-so-great episodes in that season. I still like the show, but probably won’t be buying any more of the DVD sets. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/34 "2007-01-09T00:52:28Z")
To those who complain about the complainers… I haven’t watched a new episode in years. I stopped watching it because I was dissatisfied with the new episodes. Simple enough. Of course, Fox didn’t put a gun to my head and make me watch it, and I don’t post on message boards each week about how each episode sucked. I wish the series would end because it’s come to the point where the “bad” episodes outweigh the “good” episodes. It’ll eventually come to the point where I’ll say I’m a fan of The Simpsons, yet I only liked 10% of the episodes. Seems a bit silly to me. The main reason though is that I like to catch old episodes in syndication sometimes. At least in syndication they’d show the old, “good” episodes. But now half the old episodes are the “bad” ones. It’s like the show has become two different shows. I wish the series would end for my convenience. This is just my selfish point of view though. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/35 "2007-01-09T01:41:50Z")
[QUOTE=Yumblie] I haven’t watched a new episode in years. … I wish the series would end because it’s come to the point where the “bad” episodes outweigh the “good” episodes. [/QUOTE] If you haven’t watched in years, how do you know it hasn’t gotten good again? Or at least, good enough often enough to be worth watching? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/36 "2007-01-09T02:16:54Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] If you haven’t watched in years, how do you know it hasn’t gotten good again? Or at least, good enough often enough to be worth watching? [/QUOTE] Nice trap you’ve tried. If he doesn’t watch them, “he doesn’t know if it’s gotten good again”. If he does watch them, obviously he’s either a liar or :Fox’s execs have a gun to his head". :rolleyes: -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/37 "2007-01-09T02:55:05Z")
[QUOTE=initech] In fact, the Poochie episode was in Season 8. That episode was a response to all the internet geeks crying about how the show was past its prime and needed to end. I think that episode was probably the first use of “worst episode ever.” [/QUOTE] Indeed it was. And it’s kind of funny that the line is still quoted ten years later but I can’t think of any Simpson’s lines from the past seven years or so which still get bandied about like that 😃 “Don’t watch it” is a lame response. Wait, I know – “If you don’t like this thread, just don’t read it instead of saying not to watch the Simpsons!” Oh my, I am ever so witty! ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/38 "2007-01-09T03:24:51Z")
[QUOTE=Amok] You know, if you don’t watch _The Simpsons_, it’s like… the show is canceled… for you. Amazing, I know, but I promise you it’s true. And that way, those of us who like the show can continue to watch it, and those of you who don’t, can not. It’s the best of both worlds. And yet, for reasons I’ve never been able to understand, some people just don’t get that. [/QUOTE] I’ll say this one time, and then I’d like to think I’ll have a good enough memory to leave it be; I wholeheartedly agree both with the OP and with you’re statement. I found the show less and less interesting from season 9-11. I stopped watching regularly during season 10 and stopped altogether during 11. I hope to one day get the DVD’s of the earlier seasons (especially 4-8 as they were my favorites), and that’s enough for me. I don’t usually participate in “Simpsons suck” threads, because while I think it’s lost its spirit, I don’t see any reason why I need to inflict my views upon other viewers; I just stopped watching it. Would that the Lucas-haters among us could have done that after Episode 1 or 2. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/39 "2007-01-09T03:24:55Z")
[QUOTE=Amok] You know, if you don’t watch _The Simpsons_, it’s like… the show is canceled… for you. Amazing, I know, but I promise you it’s true. And that way, those of us who like the show can continue to watch it, and those of you who don’t, can not. It’s the best of both worlds. And yet, for reasons I’ve never been able to understand, some people just don’t get that. [/QUOTE] I’ll say this one time, and then I’d like to think I’ll have a good enough memory to leave it be; I wholeheartedly agree both with the OP and with you’re statement. I found the show less and less interesting from season 9-11. I stopped watching regularly during season 10 and stopped altogether during 11. I hope to one day get the DVD’s of the earlier seasons (especially 4-8 as they were my favorites), and that’s enough for me. I don’t usually participate in “Simpsons suck” threads, because while I think it’s lost its spirit, I don’t see any reason why I need to inflict my views upon other viewers; I just stopped watching it. Would that the Lucas-haters among us could have done that after Episode 1 or 2. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150/40 "2007-01-09T03:30:42Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ll say this one time, _Notices the page finally loads, then sees that it double-posted somehow_ Well, that’s ironic. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-someone-please-put-the-simpsons-series-out-of-its-misery/387150.md?page=3)