The Fall of The Simpsons: How it Happened

[TMC]

[IllinoisTVFan]

Interesting. Not sure I agree with all of it but makes one think.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by TMC

This is a very good analysis, and most of what they say makes sense. I'd only add a few things:

1) Flanderization grew rampant. Characters started becoming hopelessly exaggerated: Ned Flanders became a caricature of himself. But more importantly, Homer became a complete drooling idiot (similar to Jackie Harris on Roseanne). The writers forgot how to write him: as a simple man who was a lovable loser. In the early episodes, he was no brainiac, but he knew it. He became an annoying boor with few redeeming qualities.

2) Instead of focusing on less annoying characters, most episodes began revolving around the now-ruined Homer character. That turned many people off the show.

[TMC]

http://whatculture.com/tv/10-once-aw...suck-2?page=11

1. The Simpsons

The Simpsons in its golden age was, quite simply, untouchable. With episodes like Homer at the Bat, Homie the Clown and Marge vs. the Monorail to name but a few, seasons three through eight maintained a standard of quality that the show has since been unable to recover, and that would be fair, if it were any other show. But come on, this is The Simpsons!

That five year period genuinely produced some of the greatest TV of all time, and the series just hasn't been the same since. Granted, it does show the occasional good episode and/or couch gag from time to time, but it's just not - nor ever will be - the show it used to be. The animation is almost too crisp, and the voice acting - for some reason or another - has seemingly deteriorated; as has the writing, which seems more concerned with filling as many references into a twenty minute period as possible rather than just producing something that's, well, funny.

The Simpsons will no doubt retain a legacy for its golden period during the nineties, but it's high time that the show called it a day. Matt Groening's other seminal cartoon series - Futurama - managed to end things on its own terms after a shaky period, and it seems almost unjust to deny the same opportunity to the residents of Springfield.

[TMC]

An exploration into The Golden Age of The Simpsons and the infamous episode that started its downfall to mediocrity.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by IllinoisTVFan

Interesting. Not sure I agree with all of it but makes one think.

Fixing the last 15+ seasons of The Simpsons

• (1) Make the episodes more realistic, or at least, less obviously zany. In the earlier seasons of the show, the cartoon aspect of the show was subtle; the things that happened were crazy, but not IMPOSSIBLE (outside of the Halloween specials, of course). Whereas recently, they've given up any pretense of that. In the past season The Simpsons have had visits from the cast of Futurama, as well as the aliens Kang and Kodos (again, not a Halloween special).
  
  (2) Place characterization at a higher priority than cheap gags. This would address a problem that has been happening since around season 10, (in the episode "When you Dish Upon a Star") when Homer asks Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger to keep a secret, which turns out to be that he can't read. The joke is that he just got their mail which included a gift basket from an agency whose name Homer recognized. When they ask how Homer knew the name if he couldn't read, he said "I recognized their logo." Later in THE SAME EPISODE, we see Homer reading a grocery list. Not to mention all the times we've seen him read and write in the past.
  
  There's another episode in season 12 ("Bye Bye Nerdie") where Lisa has trouble with a girl who bullies her at school. The writers originally planned to have an interesting story where Lisa beats up the bully, but gets sent to juvenile hall and realizes that that's not the kind of person she wants to be. In the end, they changed it to a story where Lisa discovers that the reason the bully goes after her is because she's giving off nerd pheromones, and once she changes her scent, the bully ignores her. They gave up a really interesting story idea in exchange for a not-very-clever joke.
  
  (3) Play around with the structure of the story. A lot of recent episodes seem to follow the writing method of "Put the characters in cliched plot X, come up with a bunch of gags that work in cliched plot X, put in a beginning and end, and we're done." But many of the most memorable episodes of the past played with the medium ("The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase", "Treehouse of Horror", "22 Short Films about Springfield") or came up with bizarre endings to cliched plots ("Homer At the Bat", "Homer Goes to College").
  
  (4) Don't worry too much about being current/trendy/topical. Recent episodes seem to each make fun of some new cultural phenomenon, which ironically ensures that today's episodes will look extremely dated in 5 to 10 years. While the show has always been political, it is, at its best, not particularly topical or up-to-the-minute -- in fact, Matt Groening's original idea was to have The Simpsons take place in a vague, 1950s-esque America, frozen in time.

[Amanda Hugnkiss]

I just hope the show doesn't end. Speaking of which, have they had the season finale for season 29 or is that still coming? I wouldn't mind working as a voice actor, but there are things I'd never do. I wouldn't swear or deny God's existence while voicing the character.
Take care and God loves you.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by Amanda Hugnkiss

I just hope the show doesn't end.

I feel the opposite way: the show should have ended a long time ago.

Speaking of which, have they had the season finale for season 29 or is that still coming?

Yes, it aired back in May.

[MrCleveland]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I feel the opposite way: the show should have ended a long time ago.



Yes, it aired back in May.

The Simpsons will never end no matter what because It's a cash-cow!

I now hate this show because of it!

I even used the Lamb-Chop song called "This is the song that doesn't end" renamed as "This is the show that doesn't end"!

This is the show that doesn't end,
Yes it goes on and on my friend.
Some people started watching it, not knowing what it was,
And they've continued watching it forever just because...

I'm surprised The Simpsons haven't sang this yet!

[MA]

Just end the show. It’s been on for way too long and getting really old.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by MrCleveland

The Simpsons will never end no matter what because It's a cash-cow!

I now hate this show because of it!

I even used the Lamb-Chop song called "This is the song that doesn't end" renamed as "This is the show that doesn't end"!

This is the show that doesn't end,
Yes it goes on and on my friend.
Some people started watching it, not knowing what it was,
And they've continued watching it forever just because...

I'm surprised The Simpsons haven't sang this yet!

The Simpsons has definitely worn out its welcome in my home. I stopped regularly watching around Season 10. The first 8 seasons are classic. There have been a few good episodes since then ("Barthood" was one of my favorites), but they are few and far between.

[MrCleveland]

Originally Posted by MikaelaArsenault

Just end the show. It’s been on for way too long and getting really old.

I too want The Simpsons to end!

It's overstayed its welcome and the show keeps getting less funnier as other new shows pop-up.

[MA]

Originally Posted by MrCleveland

I too want The Simpsons to end!

It's overstayed its welcome and the show keeps getting less funnier as other new shows pop-up.

End Family Guy as well.

[MrCleveland]

Originally Posted by MikaelaArsenault

End Family Guy as well.

I'm done with Family Guy as well...there's more Peter episodes than they're are Brian and Stewie episodes!

[MA]

Another show that needs to end is Arthur. Nowadays, the show isn’t even focused on him anymore and instead the other characters.