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So, I've been watching some of the more recent episodes and, while certainly not good, are still a vast improvement over the last ten or so years. So, I'm curious about what you dudes think about the state of the show? Beating a dead horse? What was your peak Simpsons season?

If my memory serves me right, I think that Season 6 was the best season. It might have been Season 5, but regardless, one of those seasons had the episode with the trampoline, as well as Homer Goes To College, which is my favorite episode ever.
They have really started to loosen up with their plot-lines due to the long-running success of the show, and I think this is a mixed blessing. It can result in bizarre plots and events, or ideas that have been "flogged" before. They have gotten into a groove of where episodes go, which I find a little bit annoying. It still beats a hell of a lot of animated shows out there, though.

I've seen a few recent episodes and they are better than the slightly-less-recent episodes. I've only seen a few, though, because I still don't enjoy them much. It's hard to be at all objective about those episodes because the classics (around seasons 3 to 6) are pretty much my favourite thing in the world, and these days it's just not the same show.

ortsz wrote:I've seen a few recent episodes and they are better than the slightly-less-recent episodes.

That's my view, too. I enjoy watching the episodes that are shown on TV - especially the newer ones - but they're not as funny as some of the classic ones. I'm still kind of glad that it continues though, because it does have its moments.

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The show bottomed out for a while in the early ... naughts, but it's taken a turn for the better (and for the bizarre, as Broghan said) lately. Peak season is probably 2, 6, or 9, from memory.

I have to say that some of the jokes from the new series do seem really tired and almost cringe-worthy as they are really scraping the barrel for ideas now. So a lot of the jokes are predictable and unfunny. With that being said though, I do like how much more random it is getting. It's almost turning into family guy humour with parts just being completely 'wtf?'
It's a tall order for such a long running show to keep being funny, so I think they are doing well considering.

Ahaha, my favorite TV show after Star Trek!
I'm currently at season 17, and, although the quality does go downside a lot in comparison with the earlies, it still has some good episodes. For example, The Monkey Suit.
Also, I recently got SciFi Channel on my TV, and there's Futurama on it. I didn't watch it, although I probably will when I find some time.
I think MG should dedicate to one of these shows. The Simpsons' quality is suffering more than Futurama (it's how I heard), and Futurama is newer, so canceling TS would be logical.

EdoI wrote:Ahaha, my favorite TV show after Star Trek!
I'm currently at season 17, and, although the quality does go downside a lot in comparison with the earlies, it still has some good episodes. For example, The Monkey Suit.
Also, I recently got SciFi Channel on my TV, and there's Futurama on it. I didn't watch it, although I probably will when I find some time.
I think MG should dedicate to one of these shows. The Simpsons' quality is suffering more than Futurama (it's how I heard), and Futurama is newer, so canceling TS would be logical.

I'm not sure you understand the Matt Groening Situation.

Since MG created The Simpsons, he has been credited with writing (or co-writing) four scripts in the entire run of the 20 Season series. He's never been a head writer, and it's my understanding that, while he occasionally popped in to the writing room back in the day, he's virtually uninvolved. (A noted exception being the mediocre to good film, which he was also credited with writing.)

On Futurama, Matt Groening has been credited with co-writing just one episode; Space Pilot 3000. The show has been run and executed by David X. Cohen (who, incidentally, also cowrote the first episode.) Matt Groening's involvement in this case was, as I understand it, much more realistic. He has been involved in every writing room for every episode in this show, but it would seem, from the various commentary tracks, that the degree of his involvement is up for debate.

Now, that being said, he makes plenty of appearances, helps to teach people drawing and cartooning, and he is involved in every commentary track for the DVD releases of The Simpsons and Futurama, so it's not like he's slacking. But certainly it is not the pull between the two that shows both marked decline in quality. Futurama has gone downhill because it can not deal with the film format, and I look forward to seeing this change during the next episodic season. The Simpsons "decline" matches up with changes in showrunners and writing staff. It's obvious that Oakley and Weinstein emphasized making the show more obscure and absurd; Mike Scully pressed these limits even further, sometimes forgetting about the heart of the show, and then finally, Al Jean came in and, despite his cred as an earlier show runner, could do little with the new writing staff that was young enough to be fans of the seasons he had worked on. I think that the fact that it has improved recently probably has to do with some of the writing staff brought on by Scully quitting, and we're getting different people in the mix.

I have never kept track of the season or episode number for any given episode I watch, but I've seen countless. Still, the newer episodes always stand out from the previous, and I think this is a trend that just about any cartoon would be very hard-pressed to avoid.
The difference is sharper in a show with more casual production (i.e. less professional) like Aqua Teen Hunger Force. If you've seen the later seasons and then jump back to season 1, it's very obvious that the voice actors and the animators are still trying to get a feel for their characters. I think a good way to minimize this (time permitting, of course) would be to animate and record the first season and maybe even start in on the second season to get the actors and animators broken in, and then go back and re-record / animate the first half.

Tsukatu wrote:If you've seen the later seasons and then jump back to season 1, it's very obvious that the voice actors and the animators are still trying to get a feel for their characters. I think a good way to minimize this (time permitting, of course) would be to animate and record the first season and maybe even start in on the second season to get the actors and animators broken in, and then go back and re-record / animate the first half.

That's a really fantastic idea, you see this effect with a lot of artists/creators.

I like the newer animations better. The old ones bother me a little. Also, all of the Halloween specials are great.

I wish I had Foxtel so I could watch that shit non-stop 24/7.

I definately enjoy the new animations and the fact that the voices are more defined (as opposed to the early seasons)
I agree that the plots have changed, but I'm really indiffrent to the question of if they are better or worse.

Oh, anybody who prefers the new animation to the animation from season four to the fucking Tennis episode is dead to me.

Everything after season 3 is good, the first and second seasons where everything is the wrong color gets to me though.

The animation is certainly better in newer episodes. In terms of writing I feel there has been a decline, which is really what counts in a comedy show.

On another note, the age of the simpsons is questionable. For example the simpsons are celebrating their 20th year of being on TV. This would mean bart is around 30, lisa late 20s and maggie early 20s. Homer and marge are 60ish. Abe 90ish (100?). Santa's little helper must be some sort of demigod.

Seems that The Simpsons has started to emulate the sketch-show format of Family Guy. I've only seen a few episodes from the newest season, but they lack the narrative and charm of the earlier episodes and stand more as a collection of moment to moment gags.

Has the animation changed lately? I didn't notice...

Aphex wrote: Santa's little helper must be some sort of demigod.

Ignoring the preposterousness of the rest of your post, I'm pretty sure SLH died at some point and came back, which would, indeed, make him godlike. Like, Gandalf godlike. Big time.

Did people see the Eternal Moonshine episode? It was pretty great!

I prefer Simpsons Lite.

rocket_thumped wrote:I prefer Simpsons Lite.

<3

That aside, I saw one of the newer episodes (who know which season it was from... Australian T.V and all) and there were many sad moments where I saw a joke, and it was clearly a joke, but it was not funny in any sense, it was either stupid, in bad taste, or, the most poignant, cheap. I was really irritated.