This is something I've been meaning to ask for a long time. I consider myself a big Simpsons fan. It was probably the first show I watched on a daily basis on TV - and I still do so today. But at a certain point (around season 13 for me) the show just lost its charm. And I'm not the only one who sees it like. A lot of friends and people I know think of it the same.
The question is what went wrong? Is it the "new" look? The plots? Or do you think it's still as good as it used to be?
Vote in the poll and let us know in the comments!
I think I stopped some time around season 13, then later caught up again when they were airing season 15 or 16 and then stopped watching it completely. It just wasn't funny anymore. Homer became unbearably stupid and was just a washed out joke of the character he once was. I guess every now and then there still are funny episodes, but the show reached a point where those few episodes weren't worth watching the other crappy and unfunny episodes.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying more moments than actual overall episodes (seems to have lost something in the HD transition), but it hasn't yet reached a level of hate, so I'm still in.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch every ep anymore like I did for the first 10 years or so, but the ones I do catch are more often than not pretty good.
ReplyDeleteJust like Mike said, I don't watch it like I used to, but when I do, I still have a good time. I don't think I'll ever stop loving The Simpsons. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen a series is as old as The Simpsons, certain eras of the show begin to represent significant times in the viewers life. Those eras are the ones we wish we could bottle and preserve as our ideal memory of the show. As for me, The Simpsons will always be seasons 6-10. That is The Simpsons that I cherish above all. Hank Scorpio, Hurricane Ned, Rodney Dangerfield, Homer trying to get on disability, Max Power, Homie The Clown, Spinoff Showcase, Canyonero. That's my wheelhouse.
ReplyDeleteNone of this means that the newer and current seasons aren't good. We, as a viewer, are inclined to allow nostalgia and the rose-colored glasses of childhood to turn the rest of the series pale in comparison to what we love best.
Nonetheless, this doesn't stop me at laughing at Moe using Homer as a wingman, as he did a few weeks ago.
The show is still good, the show is still funny, but time moves on and the show isn't made exclusively for US anymore. The Simpsons is entering its third decade and has younger fans that feel the same way about the new episodes as we did about the old ones.
It's good, it's just not the same. That's just the way it goes when a sitcom (albeit an animated one) has been on long enough to be multi-generational.
Yeah, I still watch the show but no religiously like my other shows, I only watch it if im really bored and stuck for ideas on what to do :P
ReplyDeleteExcept a few episodes here and there (which were mostly horrible), I stopped watching with season 13. I recently heard that this season is the strongest in a while, so I started watching somewhat regularly again, and... it's surprisingly decent. Not even close to old Simpsons greatness, of course, but entertaining enough and after Bob's Burgers usually my favorite Fox Animation Domination show.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Bruce. I guess it's just not my humor anymore.
ReplyDeleteBut there are at least 100 great eps so I'm not really sad :)
Bob's Burgers is surprisingly good.
ReplyDeleteThe Simpsons is kind of like Smallville, it's been on for so long that it's bound to lose it's way.
ReplyDeleteWhat's so great about the Simpsons, as with Smallville, is that it always finds a way to get back up again.....So yes, the show has changed, but it's not a bad change and it's still highly enjoyable!
Even though I know we're a decade past the classic years, I'll probably keep watching the show until the day a meteor hits this Earth and kills us all.
ReplyDeleteI prefer Family Guy these days, occasionally I'll catch a rerun of the simpsons, every once in a while I'll catch a new one, but I could take it or leave it, it's had a good long run.
ReplyDeleteI prefer South Park, Futurama, Archer and also The Ricky Gervais Show when it comes down to animated shows.
ReplyDeleteI can't get into southpark. futurama is good, love the Ricky Gervais show, but I pretty much missed the family guy phenom when it was popular, but I can say proudly I love it now that i'm in my thirties, and well it comes on several times a week on several channels so I'm always looking for one I've missed.
ReplyDeleteSouth Park definitely is kind of weird and similar to the Simpsons I'm getting the feeling that show just looses its touch, but I'll always have the old seasons.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a big Family Guy fan, but when I'm bored and happen to see it on German TV I tend to watch it for a while.
I've grown up watching The Simpsons and I guess, I've changed as it has. I still find it funny to the same levels I did as a child. Sure, I'm not always satisfied with the episode but I think every season has a couple of "duds". I don't get to see it every time it's on (as schedule's are erratic on Australia TV) and perhaps I manage to catch the good ones but me personally, I'm still a fan.
ReplyDeleteI dont think I can ever stop watching even though the newer episodes arent really up to par.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... I know I am definitely in the minority but I actually prefer the later series as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI think after 22 seasons it's hard to come up with jokes that haven't been used to some extent or that aren't over the top. However, with that said, I think the Simpsons definitely still has it's moments with at least a few really good episodes every season. I don't watch it religiously like I did when I was a kid but when I do catch it on Sunday night it can still make me laugh and enjoy the episode.
ReplyDeletei agree it kinda has lost its charm
ReplyDeletenone of the newer episodes seem to have that kind of classic simpsons stuff of the first round of seasons
i never watched it on a daily basis but i have seen all the older episodes
i find the new seasons just don't interest me anymore
I stopped watching around the age of 14 (watched it all through childhood) but not because I didn't like it anymore, just a shift in viewing schedule. In the last 2 years I watch it new occasionally, and honestly I find it to be better than any of the other animated shows on FOX recently. Family Guy (while still sometimes makes me laugh) fell from hysterical to downright ridiculous and mere shock value... It's much worse than the Simpsons. Lately it seems there's been a creative incline on the show, as it still seems to have some sharp words or jabs at pop culture, and is still generally entertaining. I think people over-dramatize how bad it is. I DO think for a few years the show was off its rocker and just really meh, but I think it's picked up the slack and is back in good form, even if not as good as it used to be.
ReplyDeleteI hope Season 23 with a Jack Bauer-type character (with Kiefer Sutherland) will inject new life into the show.
ReplyDelete