Os Simpsons

I was hesitant to give this the rating I did, but from reading other audience reviews, my review actually will come across as far more... lenient. What can I say that hasn't been said already, the golden age of The Simpsons (seasons 3-8) is flawless television. Going through it again, it was awe inspiring to me how they manage to structure joke upon joke upon joke upon joke, something that must've been a complete breath of fresh air considering the boring, lifeless, milk-toast excuses for comedy shows that were coming around at that time. Yeah, those ones using canned laughter which relied completely on actors and people being loud as an excuse to be funny with a roaring laughter every 5 seconds spoon feeding the audience of when to laugh, with an exception of Seinfeld these were just boring shows for boring people, The Simpsons was intelligent, heart felt, structured and most of all... FUNNY.

However, all good things must come to an end. In an ideal scenario, The Simpsons ended on season 10 and season 9 didn't include the infamous 'The Principal and The Pauper', it lives its legacy as one of the greatest TV shows of all time and is passed down from generation to generation. Sure, the season 9 and 10 weren't golden age material, they were still solid entries in The Simpsons canon but then from season 11, things started to drastically change, we were getting episodes which would've been some of the weaker episodes in a golden age era season that were the best episodes of the season they were actually in. Sure, season 13 was pretty good but the show was tanking in quality almost directly after, pretty much season 14 onwards was terrible (not to mention the really bland movie). Now we're on the 31st season, the show is just completely unwatchable, the best episodes are mediocre and boring and the worst episodes are... 'Lisa Goes Gaga' (if you know what I mean). The show, at this point, is almost completely unrecognisable, a mere slight resemblance of what it once was (even the animation sucks nowadays), that's why it's so damn difficult to rate this show, at the same time it's one of my favourite and least favourite shows, the show should've ended 20 years ago, you can't keep lightning in a bottle for that long, it's not a show that is relevant to today's cultural landscape, it would be so much more respected if it had ended on its 10th season. That's why I can't in good conscience rate this show the 9 or 10/10 that I want to... but the only reason I'm giving it a 7 over a 5 is because even though there is more bad than good of The Simpsons (more signals for it to just end), the golden age is some of the best television to have ever been constructed and cannot be ignored.





Here's how I'd rate the seasons: Season 1 - 8/10 Season 2 - 8/10 Season 3 - 9/10 Season 4 - 9/10 Season 5 - 10/10 Season 6 - 10/10 (best season) Season 7 - 9/10 Season 8 - 8/10 Season 9 - 8/10 Season 10 - 7/10 Season 11 - 6/10 Season 12 - 6/10 Season 13 - 7/10 Season 14 - 5/10 Season 15 - 4/10 Season 16 - 5/10 Season 17 - 4/10 Season 18 - 4/10 Season 19 - 4/10 Season 20 - 6/10 Season 21 onward - 2/10

The Simpsons is one of the best TV shows of all times. It is a perfect mirror of the American culture and has many memorable moments that will always be remembered . I don't know anybody who doesn't like this show, it's impossible not to be a fan of it. You could watch each episode 20 times and never get tired, you will always find a new funny thing every time you watch it

Unfotunatley the show is getting worse and worse with every new season, Maybe it's time to let "The Simpsons" die with dignity before the audience starts to hate it.

My rating: 11/10

Network: Fox; Genre: Animated Comedy, Parody, Satire; Content Rating: TV-PG (language, adult contend and animated nudity); Available: DVD and syndication everywhere; Perspective: Classic (star range: 1 - 5);

Seasons Reviewed: Season 12+

If someone had told me 10 years ago that I would one day be bored by 'The Simpsons', I would have called them crazy. But here we are and while 'The Simpsons' has become the longest running show on TV at the cost of its core integrity. "Simpsons" in its prime was the best things to grace the small screen. A funny, ground-breaking animated comedy with lightening-quick wit, insightful social and brilliantly integrated parody. It created its own universe with an entire town of original characters. Most importantly, it actually helped shape the sense of humor of an entire generation. That generation which has now grown up and is now creating animated shows in direct competition.

"Simpsons" is a pale shadow of its former greatness. It gradually slipping this way for several years, but it wasn't until the 2002 and 2003 seasons that the show really smashed up against the rocks for good. I used to delight in each new episode of "Simpsons". But now the show clunks along each week in what appears to be filling time. The free-wheeling gags it used to deliver with such ease are now weighted down by an unnecessary over importance on story. The show at its best may get off a funny, sharp one-liner every now and then. It's biggest asset currently is it's willingness and given latitude to slam its own network. I do delight in their "Joe Millionaire" on-air promo parodies or a recent episode where Homer calls to give the network an idea and the recording says something like "If you know of another network's reality show we can rip off, press 2..."

So what happened? There really is no one thing that can easily be pointed out to all the late-commers and say "this is what happened" - you have to have traced the history. The 'jump the shark' moment could have come as early as the infamous Frank Grimes episode where our vision of The Simpson family was suddenly turned into something to aspire to instead of parody. It could be the legion of big name celebrities forced into every episode. To bring down a show as great as this, it was a slow convergence of several things.

Watching it, 3 differences are evident on-screen at any given time: First, the stripping down most of the characters to 1-note cartoons. Notably, British favorite Homer Simpson going from child-like, hard-luck father to a rag-doll for wild animals to rip apart as each episode closes. I'm particularly appalled at its attempts to use Homer as a political mouthpiece. Did you know that a guy who once lit a Q-tip so he could see inside his brain has an active concern for global politics? Yeah, I didn't either.

Secondly, the classic Baby Boomer voice of the series has evaporated and was replaced with contemporary generation X and Y jokes. Now, it's the internet and Tony Hawke. The voice of the series used to be one of creator Matt Groening's, seen through the eyes of Homer and Marge. That voice has been lost as the show has turned into an assembly line institution, repackaged and been homogenized for the masses and a new generation of writers lead by Ian Maxton-Graham has come in to "keep it fresh".

Thirdly, it has run out of creative juice. Anyone who has stuck with the show long enough can see it literally re-telling jokes and recycle previous story lines. When the recycling becomes too obvious or the episode makes no sense, they merely double back and declare it all a big self-parody. Not even Al Jean (architect of the show in its prime and the Larry David of "The Simpsons") can save it now.

Since the talented voice cast has remained the same low these many years, I put all the blame on this squarely with the Fox network who refused to let this show go out gracefully when Groening siphoned off his role to work on his dream project, the now far superior 'Futurama'. In Fox's race to claim this endurance record they have turned a once edgy and visionary show into an institution with an assembly line production and revolving door of writers to match any of the other lame shows on TV. Behind the scenes, maybe the condescending we-can-do-no-wrong attitude of Maxton-Graham has dealt the show its biggest death blow, while producer Mike Scully sat back and ineptly let Maxton-Graham run it into the ground.

In the end, the biggest blame may actually land with the "die-hard fans" that embolden the show by letting it get away with this junk. Yes, "The Simpsons" was ground-breaking and every adult animation in the future owns it a bit of gratitude, but blind loyalty to a show only for how it performed in the past isn't healthy.

Since it has hit long-running status the critical bandwagon jumping has begun and "Simpsons" is more popular than ever amongst critics that want to be on the inside of history. We've now reached a point where the bad episodes and bad entire seasons outweigh the good and that, I'm afraid, is going to be the sad legacy of "Simpsons" . A train-wreck of crass, childish humor, grainy animation, oddly misplaced satire and forced parodies of only the most obvious pop culture targets.

10 years ago I didn't know what I would do without "The Simpsons" but now, particularly with the emergence of satisfying new adult animated shows ('Futurama', 'Family Guy' and 'South Park'), living without it might be pretty good.

* * / 5

Brilliant television series that could probably be best described as "The Flintstones" gone stark-raving mad. "The Simpsons", everyone knows them. Some love the series and some could care less about it. Love it or hate it, it is near impossible to criticize the intelligence and creativity of this series. The titled animated family makes their home in Springfield, USA and gets into situations that are seemingly more outlandish and crazier than the previous adventure. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are still going strong after nearly a dozen years of television life and with each passing moment it seems that the series sets some new precedent. For several years the show seemed to be the only attraction to the then obscure Fox Network. It was the first primetime animated show that was treated like a sitcom since "The Flintstones" quietly left the air in 1966. Many people feared the series when it first premiered in 1989 because they felt that it was hardcore adult material in a candied form that would appeal to younger audiences. Well for the most part this was true. However, "The Simpsons" would prove to be much more for all audiences. The great thing about the series is that it caters to all audiences. True there are usually situations that may not be suitable for all viewers, but then again that is true with everything on television this side of Disney Land and Sesame Street. "The Simpsons" works because of great comedy of course, but also great lessons that can be taken from most of the episodes. The people within the program may be animated, but they are just as complicated and vulnerable as the people watching them. All the regulars have their quirks, but in some episodes you can understand what certain characters are going through because the show is so life-like at times. Former President George Bush (the one from 1988-1992) once made a statement that families should be more like "The Waltons" and less like "The Simpsons". His opinion is somewhat old-fashioned and unrealistic. In other words, many topics dealt with in "The Simpsons" fit life for people in the 1990s and 2000s better than "The Waltons" did in the 1970s. A crowning achievement in television art. 5 stars out of 5.

All right, I am hardly the first person to think this, but I used to be a huge, huge fan of this show. As a person who came of age in high school in the early to mid-2000's, I was exposed to the Simpsons episodes that were coming out during that time. I especially loved the 1990s seasons. I also loved the Simpsons Movie when it came out in 2007.

I went for a few years without watching the Simpsons as much, eventually getting back into the show around 2016ish, upon discovering FXX. For some time thereafter, up until mid-2020ish, I quit watching the new episodes, because I felt like I was wasting my time. The new episodes did not make me laugh, they were not coherent, and they looked like they had been tailor-made for people who had the attention-spans of goldfish. It felt more like a cookie-cutter copy of Family Guy, essentially.

In the old episodes that I used to watch, the episodes were funny, memorable, and coherent. They used to tackle issues in a mature, intelligible manner. Now, though, in the latest seasons, what I have noticed is that the episodes are increasingly reliant on using (1) celebrity guest voices, and (2) random Family-Guy-style singing-and-dancing numbers to catch and maintain a watcher's attention. Granted, they had some singing and dancing in the older seasons, but those musical numbers were short, to-the-point, and specifically tailored to the plot of the episode, whereas the musical numbers in the new seasons are random and are put in there just for the sake of being in there.

Also, the jokes in the new seasons are based around either random memes or are re-treads of old plot devices that they had done before ten years before.

I currently have seasons 1-14 in my video collection, but I don't have any intention of buying any more seasons. Seasons 1-4 are decent plot-wise, but their art style is clearly crude (6-7 out of 10). Seasons 5-10 are the height of the Simpsons, no if's, and's, or but's (8-9 out of 10). Seasons 11-14 are hit-or-miss (5-7 out of 10).