The Fall of The Simpsons: How it Happened

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Ortved, John (2009). The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History. Greystone Books
Levine, Ken (2011-08-05). "How we got our first Simpsons assignment". By Ken Levine. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
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[@Vezmus1337]

They have a word for this: "Flanderization", named after the Simpsons character Ned Flanders who starts off as a genuine character and gradually becomes a parody of himself.

[@Vezmus1337]

Yeah he used to be the "straight man" to Homer's "funny man" but now every character is just a joke. The first few seasons will always be the best in my opinion.

[@anothermediocreuser6422]

I know it's sad for someone becoming into an exaggerated version of themselves for no exact reason, but this term shouldn't be named after Ned because Ned changed for a reason. Ned was an average normal christian until his wife got shot by a t-shirt cannon and died. That traumatized him and turned him into an insane religious weirdo.

[@caminanteesteparia2286]

@@anothermediocreuser6422 I don't think he changed for his wife. There is a flashback episode around season 20 or so when is having his honeymoon with Maude or something and still he is portrayed so horribly. The current writers just don't get the characters... Not only Ned's flanderization frustrates the hell out of me, but also Lisa's, Homer's and Skinner's.

[@anothermediocreuser6422]

@@caminanteesteparia2286 The canon of the simpsons is broken. As the video said, new simpsons and old simpsons are not the same. There is also another reason of why the canon broke. The time travelling toaster that brought Homer to the dino age might broke it because Homer does some things accidentally and after that, his family act different. The different canons of the show might occur that. But those canons are from the old show. The new show has a different canon/s because of the new staff. Also, it might make sense because maybe his "flashbacks" aren't actually his flashbacks and his memory is fucked up after the accident.

[@razkable]

ned was not that religious early on..he was just a more wealthy positive nice guy with some faith and yet somehow he got turned into the overly religious guy

[@Larry]

The best explanation I've ever heard of why The Simpsons is still on TV was comparing it to an old family dog... It's gone blind, wanders around aimlessly and pisses on the floor constantly, everyone knows putting it to sleep is for the best, but they can't bring themselves to do it as they've grown up with it and love it too much.

[@krog875]

LARRY!!!!!!

[@mattc5876]

The last time The Simpsons pissed on my floor, I was all like..Never again!

[@fhehle]

Haha well said ! ;)

[@bobthebear1246]

Larry Bundy Jr Perfect

[@jerrysmith5114]

I used to run home from school to watch The Simpsons...Well, at least I got some exercise. *inserts laugh track at own joke*

[@shutuptravis5609]

‘90s homer was ignorant, 2010’s homer is just stupid. That one sentence sums up the writing of modern simpsons

[@johnbible2768]

Nah he was always idiotic, they just made him self aware

[@plumcakey]

I would describe him as a rip-off peter griffin

[@disgruntledcommenter]

@@plumcakey If anything it's the other way around lol

[@plumcakey]

@@disgruntledcommenter yes and no, the new homer simpson it's not homer simpson it's a discount peter griffing

[@TharsanJeyachandran]

And the 80s era was dope to yeah the 2020s is dead

[@Spiritinthewind]

The Simpsons is one of the only shows to make me nearly cry. The older homer of being poor and trying his hardest to bring a good life hit so hard for me because that's how my dad was in the beginning. The episode that made me nearly cry was the one with Bart and Lisa asking why there wasn't any pictures of Maggie up then showing the wall of her pictures at homers work with "DO FOR HER" up. That episode will always be my favorite.

[@torstenscholz6243]

Yeah, that shows why people loved it at the beginning: because despite all the wacky comedy, the plots and characters were relatable and down-to-earth and had soul to them that made you actually acre about them. Nowadays it's more and more the Family Guy style of humor where the characters are flat and lifeless and just serve als plot devices for the lame jokes.

[@debater452]

@@torstenscholz6243 Wasn't the Simpsons always Whacky like the time Homer went it to space there was nothing grounded about that. Not every Classic season was season 2

[@flowrepins6663]

​@@debater452 no old simpsons had drama, romance and stuff that made characters feel relatable and alive.

[@debater452]

@@flowrepins6663 modern simpsons also has these kinds of episodes and old simpsons had just as if not more whacly episodes then down to earth ones

[@flowrepins6663]

@@debater452 gotta give old simpsons credit for.its creatitivy being one of the first if not fitst cartoon based on a family and a town with all stylish yellow characters design. that in 80s and 90s was very unique and inovative. but now ... not so much. the creator did futurama also but would expect he stopped being creative at old age, show should have stopped long time ago. mike judge still making beavis n buthead but he didnt do it non stop, when he does the show he does it properly.

[@TimpBizkit]

The trouble is "Jerk-Ass" Homer is Peter Griffin. I don't think they were meant to be similar characters, but Homer ended up turning that way in later episodes.

[@cagefreeowl843]

Season 1 to 4 Peter or Current Peter?

[@1000000man1]

Yeah and the Pathetic thing is, Family guy takes the Piss out of The Simpsons for not being Funny anymore while Copying it. Seriously the "Jokes" and the delivery in Family Guy is *Identical* to The Simpsons. The 'characters' even talk in the EXACT same Unrealistic, Unfunny way.

[@rars0n]

@@cagefreeowl843 What even is "current Peter?" Honestly I loved Family Guy up to and including the 4th season (I even bought them all on DVD), but quickly started to loathe it after that, and I'm not sure I even bothered to watch all of season 5. I find it a little funny you particularly contrast the first 4 seasons for that reason. I guess I'm not the only one?

[@2diefor]

@@rars0n He got better in the latest seasons, he's not abusive (especially to Meg) but the show itself is meh compared to seasons 1-4 .

[@M.L.official]

@@2diefor honestly this is generally a trend for all tv shows. it's really difficult to stay on the ball for that long. Few shows, beyond just animated ones, can boast that the series was excellent start to finish, and these are the greats of all time.

[@epicboyo4883]

90s Simpsons: *character goes through trauma or depression* 2010s Simpsons: *Marge makes a Facebook page (Christmas special)*

[@hechno9080]

2020s Simpsons: wait, fuck

[@Niagaranobs]

2030s: the fall of reality.

[@stanlee5465]

Any chance that's a money thing? Is Facebook paying to have their name mentioned, or is Facebook somehow associated with the Simpsons TV show somewhere in the web of pop IP ownership?

[@markkaminsky4943]

Ya no doubt

[@BluePuffyy]

you forgot homer gets fired something about moe future episodes more facebook iphone

[@addishat]

The Simpsons already did it actually, that's pretty damn funny. In Episode 7 of Season 5, 'Bart's Inner Child' this same thing happens to Bart. Lisa summarizes the situation for him thusly: Bart: "Lis, everyone in town is acting like me. So why does it suck?" Lisa: "It's simple, Bart: you've defined yourself as a rebel, and in the absence of a repressive milieu your societal nature's been co-opted."

[@naejin]

It could have been if more people gave it a thumbsup.

[@livewithinchristskingdom7541]

addishat I urge you to repent in the name of Yahushua, Jesus Christ the use of foul language can cause others to fall away from the word of God Yahuah. Don't be in danger of hell fire find salvation and seek Elohim God and Yahushua Jesus Christ, and have eternal life in the Kingdom of Elohim God. Colossians 3:8 - But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Ephesians 5:4 - Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thank

[@addishat]

I don't know if you are some sort of spambot or earnest. But I don't really appreciate getting a whole bible spiel dumped on me out of nowhere. Either have a conversation about it, if you really want to have the discussion, or respect peoples autonomy in their matters of faith. Personally, I don't believe in the existence of God, having considered the matter carefully, or that using some words the honestly convey meaning is harmful unless such harm is implicit in the context of the relationship in question. (such as a white person using the n word in a conversation with a black person) As such, I will continue to use the words I see fit to describe my thoughts and feelings. I will continue to be kind and respectful to other people, because that is what I feel is morally right. I will not repent or acknowledge a god I don't believe exists because someone dumps a copy pasted blurb on me, and the expectation that I would is, frankly, rather rude.

[@TurboPikachu]

Super Eyepatch Wolf needs to make this the pinned comment

[@RPanda3S]

you wrote so much at a bot lol

[@charlessalvia7176]

The "Guy Incognito" joke, where Homer is kicked out of a bar, then wears a disguise to get back into the bar, but then it turns out it was actually a doppelganger look-alike of Homer, but then it turns out the real Homer makes the incredible discovery of meeting his exact double, but then doesn't give a shit because a cute dog passes by - is the BEST example of the "escalating" multi-part joke that was a staple of classic Simpsons

[@TheUltimateMarioFan]

No, I think the best example is when Waylon Smithers needs to find an incompetent replacement for him for Mr. Burns while he's on vacation but since he's jealous he searches the database for "incompetent" and gets 742 results, then he searches a bunch of "stupid" adjectives and synonyms and still gets 742 and finally says "Ah nuts to this, I'll just get Homer Simpson". That typified what you're describing.

[@MsJubjubbird]

I think Luke Perry being get shot out of a cannon is the simplest version. The sequence of ordeals followed by him landing in a pillow factory, only for it to be blown up.

[@Yawnford]

This is a "Die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villian" situation

[@Johnlindsey289]

You glad Bojack Horseman, King of the Hill, Futurama, Regular Show etc. ended and knew when to stop and become legends than become shambling soulless zombified corpses like Simpsons, Spongebob and Family Guy?

[@Yawnford]

@@Johnlindsey289 yes

[@nemomukerji]

They wanted to milk the franchise which is sad

[@nemomukerji]

@@Johnlindsey289 SpongeBob is still on

[@Johnlindsey289]

@@nemomukerji i know, it's sad it's still on and so is Family Guy when they should had also ended long time ago

[@sophiemason8444]

The fact Bart Sells His Soul was used in British religious education to effectively explain the concept of a soul tells you how special this show used to be.

[@donnaquixote7538]

Lisa's words at the end of the episode are really beautiful. "But you know, Bart, some philosophers believe that nobody is born with a soul - that you have to earn one through suffering and thought and prayer, like you did last night."

[@duffman18]

Lol what? No it wasn't. We were taught with normal religion textbooks, not a bloody simpsons episode. What gave you the idea that we used the simpsons to teach religion in the UK? What has that episode actually got to do with, say, Hinduism, or Islam, or Buddhism, or any of the other religions we were taught about? Nothing at all, is the answer. The depiction of what a soul is in that episode doesn't teach anything about what any religion says about a soul. What did you think, that we'd do our R.E. GSCE exams and be able to answer questions by referencing the simpsons? We learned about religions, in R.E. We didn't learn about cartoons.

[@davidsweet6626]

@@duffman18 I did my religious education in the 60s in England and every section was based on an episode of the Simpsons! In other words, given that the UK does not have a single-syllabus approach to RE - or any other subject - the fact that you were not taught in that way is no more evidence about what really happened than what the OP claims.

[@HopeAuq]

I legit remember watching the episode in high school XD

[@alexhero64]

It's still used in British RE lessons.

[@youthfulcurmudgeon3627]

"Hello, I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such eras as "When The Simpsons Were Good".

[@youthfulcurmudgeon3627]

True.

[@vonniebeth]

I read that in his voice lol.

[@nowheredan27]

Hey Troy, I heard you're into fish

[@phillthylucid2629]

Hey ted that meant a lot to you huh?

[@adultmoshifan87]

Believe it or not, Until sometime after I turned 11, I used to mishear Troy McLure's "You may remember me from such films as..." as "You may remember me from sex films as...", which to me made him sound like a porn star!

[@SleepyHeather]

The scariest part of this is, 5 years later, they're still shambling out episodes. There is no soul left

[@debater452]

Not really the most reasent Season was actually quite solid

[@SleepyHeather]

@@debater452 That's quite good to hear. Because it tried watching the newer stuff on Disney+ and I couldn't ge through any of it.

[@debater452]

@@SleepyHeather Yeah their doing more experimental episodes and swiching things up

[@Manaklyps]

@@debater452 Everytime I want to watvh the newer Episodes, I don't know where to start. From what point do they start getting better?

[@han6061]

Lol

[@samleheny1429]

I actually just started rewatching The Simpsons from episode 1. The other day I had my heart warmed by the end of that episode where after a running gag of both Bart and Lisa being unable or unwilling to say "Daddy" instead of "Homer", Maggie pulls out her pacifier and whispers her first word "Daddy". I saw this and thought "That right there is what current day Simpsons just isn't capable of."

[@briantaylorcloe7725]

I think they are, they just don't for some reason. I have only watched 3 or 4 episodes since the downfall (boxing episode, methinks), so hardly an authoritative voice am I, but the Lisa future episode was a bit heartwarming while the Bart & Grampa one was very good indeed.

[@superplaceholder6537]

@@briantaylorcloe7725 NO THEY CAN'T.

[@briantaylorcloe7725]

@@superplaceholder6537 fine addition, gent

[@RyanTheDark]

If they did that beautiful scene today they just add a Stupid Cringy joke to it. I miss the old Simpson that there was emotion and funny jokes.

[@Shocknfunk]

I think for me the time I just fell off watching it was after the movie. Actually loved the movie and thought it was the last time Simpson’s was funny to me.

[@senseispud2197]

Remember the second Treehouse Of Horror? When Bart wishes to become rich and famous? And then everyone hated them because their face was everywhere and they were boring? Man...

[@benk1525]

Mr. Bublee holy shit

[@mr_anime_man]

Dude the newest episode is trash

[@aeroblu2002]

That episode might have predicted the Minions.

[@queencancerous5332]

I’d buy Simpsons Go Calypso

[@faiazrahman6105]

yes i do

[@deez678]

80/90s Simpson's: deal with real issues that most television shows don't talk about (depression, existentialism, etc) 2020 simpsons: homer and bart make an internet video and that's the whole plot for the episode

[@fandyus4125]

2019 simpsons: Bart becomes a SJW

[@max8m1]

The political commentary has also gotten very on the nose and cringeworthy. I saw some snippets of an episode featuring Trump and "The Squad". Made me want to puke how completely unimaginative and predictable it was

[@cagefreeowl843]

marianne mccrank Too late Bart Simpson did fortnite dance moves

[@BeautyMommysUnite]

Well after 30 seasons or so you're bound to run out of things to cover. Even over 17 seasons family guy has changed. Look how much the character Stewie has evolved over time. He started out as a baby trying to kill his mother and bent on world domination, now he time travels and you never hear him talk about those things anymore..

[@Helenemh04]

Mrs. Buttersworth i have been waiting for someone to say that! Because ofc a show will change after 30 years and they have to keep up with the time. And they probably have a lot of new employers since the 90’s, u can’t expect a show to stay the same after 30 years. The voice Actors and animators have basically given their life to this show (then again Just my opinion)

[@cottagekitchen6839]

The great thing about the early Simpsons, was that as a child I laughed at certain jokes but as I grew older I understood others. It really did appeal to everyone.

[@chillibenny69]

We always said how it was funny on many levels...

[@diyagore1784]

Remember kids: doing something ironically is a gateway drug to doing it unironically.

[@MrPopadopoulis]

Ender's Game has a good line one this: "Spend enough time pretending to be a certain person and eventually you become that person."

[@gankhef5564]

@Nero Wynn Story of my life.

[@RockBarnRecords]

@@MrPopadopoulis Also would have accepted, "Wear the mask for long enough and the wearer will no longer remember that they're wearing it".

[@gankhef5564]

@Nero Wynn High five!

[@jonsnow3089]

@@RockBarnRecords difference is thats a good thing

[@frankreads8618]

What makes The Principle and the Pauper even worse is that the primary writer behind it's defense of the episode amounts to "If people don't like it, it's because people care too much about this fictional show," that... really isn't a good defense.

[@TheProfessor230]

Honestly I consider the principle and the pauper non Canon

[@ikept_the_jethryk2421]

I like this episode but I think of it as the series finale

[@ValleyOfTheKens]

Ken keeler (the writer of The Principal and the Pauper) really was biting the hand that feeds that episode. I don't quite agree though with how you summarize his explanation for it. He was critiquing television viewers that were afraid of change and expected everything to be back to the norm after 30 minutes each episode. Futurama also took jabs at these types of tv viewers (episode 12 season 1, for example).

[@aidangriffiths5075]

Yea fans of shows are bad and just get in the way 😂

[@dajokahbaby1506]

Honestly I kinda agree with him about fans sometimes being too invested in fiction, but that is totally not the mindset that a writer should have for their own creation, like you’re just asking for the show to become mediocre by that point

[@bonniehowell4259]

Grandpa Abe Simpson summarized the downfall of the Simpson's the best: "I used to be with 'it', but then they changed what 'it' was. Now what I'm with isn't 'it' anymore and what's 'it' seems weird and scary."

[@thepartysjustbegun5557]

We used to tie an onion to our belt in those days....

[@pi_beta7306]

....which was the style at the time.....

[@notsureiL]

We all became grandpa Abe.

[@aidangordon2713]

*"It'll happen to YOU."*

[@1skcusebutuoy1]

No way man! We're gonna do the show forever...forever...forever...forever.

[@ayoutubechannel3813]

The Simpsons went from mocking and satirizing pop-culture and celebrities, to flat out worshipping them, which is a sad transformation. If Lisa Goes Gaga was made in the 1990s, The Simpsons would be making fun of Lady Gaga and satirizing her during her guest appearance, and they wouldn't worship her like she is God. Modern Simpsons is legitimately something that classic Simpsons would make fun of.

[@Weensx]

That one episode where they kiss elons ass was another garbage episode

[@antoniokastrocarlisledemel6617]

Tru, i also think it's cuz even back towards the beginning with episodes like Homer At The Bat and Flaming Moe's and The Simpsons being new compared to many of the celebrities they recruited it was never like The Simpsons needed them.. they were having fun with it and bringing in people who had been celebrities for years whereas since the turn of the millennium they're more on some flavor of the week shit...I'll never forget seeing 50 Cent in the Simpsons i couldn't stop shaking my head and thinkin "this is why I don't watch the Simpsons anymore" well one of the many reasons actually.. Futurama also played a part for me cuz it was so much better than the Simpsons at the time and in some ways Futurama i actually love better than even prime Simpsons(which is season 1-9 for me though 10 was pretty good and 11&12 we're ok but after that it was over for me)..I'm curious if Futurama played any role in the quality of The Simpsons dipping since they pretty much overlap..I'm yapping but yeah i agree with u

[@andygarside2418]

I think my (then) 11 year old son said it best, 'the Simpsons used to be definitive, now it's derivative'...

[@ayoutubechannel3813]

@@andygarside2418 So true

[@steves1015]

One of the reasons i dislike the episode where Lisa becomes a vegetarian is because it felt like the McCartneys were shoe horned in and basically treated like they were being worshipped.. And that was well before celebrity worship in the Simpsons became more normal.

[@TheRyanNutt]

I find it insane how there are now what? 32 seasons, yet only the first 7-9 are good. There are literally over 20 seasons of bad/mediocre episodes of The Simpsons.

[@slohmann1572]

A slow and terrible death...

[@ronanhavern1980]

There are some gems in there not every episode is awful

[@yourex-wife4259]

@@ronanhavern1980 But honestly, whose going to dig in a mountain of dooky to find a quarter

[@queencancerous5332]

The first 9 to 10 seasons are some of the best TV episodes ever written

[@sivad1025]

I'd even say 10-12 are good. They aren't great, but there are still gems in those couple seasons.

[@eyelove_owlcity]

Example of an old Simpsons episode: Marge protests against the extremely violent Itchy and Scratchy cartoon show because she believes it's a bad influence on children. Her protest changed everything: The chairman of the cartoon, Roger Meyers Jr., admitted defeat after recieving negative letters, and decided to make Itchy and Scratchy heartwarming and kid-friendly, no violence anymore. Every kid in Springfield didn't like the new Itchy and Scratchy and they eventually stopped watching it. The kids of Springfield started playing outside. Homer believes it's the golden age and he thanks Marge for it, though Marge didn't really expect things to change that much. Meanwhile in Italy, the curators of Michelangelo's David send it on a tour of the United States, with one of the stops being Springfield. Marge's friends urge her to protest the sculpture, insisting that the sculpture is offensive and unsuitable. However, Marge, an artist herself, argues that the sculpture is a masterpiece. Dr. Marvin Monroe capitalizes on this hypocrisy and asks Marge how she can believe it wrong to censor one form of art but not another, to which Marge is forced to admit that she can't. Marge decided to end her crusade against cartoon violence because she realizes that one person can make a difference, but most of the time they probably shouldn't. Every kid in Springfield returned home as Itchy and Scratchy immediately returns to its old form. The playgrounds and backyards are now empty. "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" is seriously one of the best episodes ever. Example of a new Simpsons episode: Patty and Selma realized that their father died due to lung cancer. Mr. Bouvier's lung cancer was caused by chain-smoking. Patty and Selma decided to quit smoking. While Patty is trying her best to resist smoking, she realizes that Selma's been smoking all along after agreeing they shouldn't anymore. They had a fight and decided to part ways. Later, they forgive each other and started smoking again. That's it. That's really it. The other thing that happens in this episode is Maggie saving a possum, while leading a bunch of her animal friends i guess.

[@thegoldenboy294]

Tldr

[@nfffg]

The writing just got more bland as the series progressed. Like the writers are so stripped of ideas they’re just doing whatever they can to get episodes made by the deadline that Fox set because Fox doesn’t want there money maker to go away.

[@VicvicW]

The one episode that really drove home for me how unfunny the modern Simpsons is was the following one. New donuts are bought at work, but Homer doesn't get any. Frustrated he searches for the place where they were bought with help of Police Chief Wiggum. They find the guy, a hipster, who Homer thinks is super cool. This guy is looking for a place for him and his family to live and Springfield is really uncool so they move into the house next to the Simpsons. Homer tries his best to fit in with his new hipster friends. Marge and Bart don't really care for this new family, but Lisa and Homer are really taken by their way of life. This all culminates with the son (called T-Rex) having a birthday party. Homer hand paints a denim jacket with a T-Rex on it for the kid. After receiving the present, T-Rex chucks it aside and calls Homer a poser. Bart stands up for his dad and gets in a fight. Meanwhile Marge is being ostracized by the other mothers for formula feeding Maggie. The Simpsons are kicked out of the party. Springfield soon becomes infested by hipsters who eventually move away when Springfield becomes too mainstream. I didn't laugh once during this episode. Not once. It wasn't funny. It didn't say anything intelligent. The only laugh it got was with the CREDITS scene of Mr Burns marketing "home style" energy. Honestly without that scene I don't think I would have realised how unfunny the episode is.

[@lel9422]

yes, this is it. new simpsons does not have bad jokes, it does not have any jokes. i stumbled upon one other day and throughout 15 minutes of watching, i did not remember a single mark where they tried to even make a joke.

[@ImEazyE]

@@lel9422 What used to make classic Simpsons jokes funny was that the jokes were serving the plot of the episode. In new episodes jokes are mostly detached from the story, and the way they incorporate them seems to be forced, to keep the attention of the spectators. Classic Simpsons writers were true geniuses of humor

[@combatscape2000]

''Do it for her'', It chills me today

[@shamrock141]

Best moment in simspons history, I'll always remember the real Homer

[@blue_thingys8813]

Don't forget. You're here forever

[@Coolrecords567]

Yes

[@dickheadjohnnybraindamage9751]

I wanna was a really good day today today and I wanna wanna vomit day is the that a day

[@dickheadjohnnybraindamage9751]

isn’t it bad

[@TheAcer1981]

Mother Simpson ending was and still one of the most beautiful yet tear-jerking moments on the show, the whole episode was brilliant, shedding light on Homer's uprising and current character - back then - and how he had to lose her again "At least this time I'm awake for your goodbye"....one of the best, yet saddest lines ever. And then show managed to destroy that moment profoundly in the penultimate episode of season 19, which is another testimony of Zombie Simpsons era.

[@CorazonMexica]

You just mentioned the reason why I rage-quit the show that moment and wish it stopped after S9.

[@humanbeing3159p]

Instead of giving one of the most important characters to Homer a down to earth goodbye that let’s us see the family’s reaction to her death, they do a stupid mission impossible parody and basically just forget about her death. They treat it as an opening for a wacky fun concept, which it shouldn’t be.

[@goldiewings6864]

It’s kinda sad to see that the Simpsons has been bad longer than it’s been good

[@paperchasindude6578]

Ikr

[@Johnlindsey289]

Behind the Laughter was the last episode as far as i'm concerned

[@spenser9908]

Johnlindsey289 Yeah, I noticed that all the episodes I roll my eyes at were from season 12 onward.

[@Johnlindsey289]

@@spenser9908 You agree this show should had ended with that episode?

[@spenser9908]

@@Johnlindsey289 Yeah for me, that was the last good season.

[@IonxZone]

One thing that didn't get mentioned is Flanders. He became a symbol of the show's downfall for many places like TV Tropes. He started as a loveable fuddy-duddy Mr Rogers parody, who was kind and nice and really the one true symbol of goodness and hope in the show. Now look at him. He's basically the Westbro Baptist Church. Which reminds me of another big problem in the show - the satire used to be so on point and methodical. Now it's just the kind of cheap shots you get in Family guy.

[@sissyrayself7508]

Zoaz I still like Flanders, his character was used to make churches and Christians look like something they are not I didn't buy into that programming.

[@carlbloke8797]

Ask Me My Name you have to be a fool to believe Flanders is still a good characters and it says a lot about your judgement if you think Christians aren't honest

[@CaffeineKid11]

They actually named a TV Trope after him: Flanderization

[@crossbones116]

The thing is Flanders wasn't 'the religious guy' at first. He was this... incredibly perfect guy that Homer envied immensely. And yeah he was Christian, but the Simpsons were also pretty religious in the early seasons. But ultimately the religious aspect grew on his character like a tumor, completely overriding his original personality. Which reminds me of a broader problem in modern Simpsons. The characters aren't characters, they're punchlines. All personality was boiled away, and they exist solely to show up for the sake of one note jokes. Making a gay joke? Better find a way to shoehorn Smithers in. Doing a nerd joke? Comic Book Guy's time to shine. Need an old person to be old? Thank god we had Mister Burns on the line.

[@nam3400]

Family guy does that well.

[@r.j.tammaro8383]

0:49 god I hate what they did with the animation. In the original shot Marges movement is so fluid and expressive. In the new shot Marge’s neck just snaps into place.

[@charlieniven6558]

She's like a robot

[@thekiller7994]

@@charlieniven6558 honestly, everyone in the newer seasons moves like robots

[@NemoNemoNemo.]

Yeah that’s amazing. Nice catch

[@allnaturalfigjam310]

Came to the comments section looking for this exact take, thank you

[@jeffcarpenter1750]

Somewhere in the deep recesses of the internet there is an interview with the animator who did the new neck snap - he claims his first pass looked like the old version but the powers that be forced him to change it to what you see now. My assumption is that they knew the regular episodes would have that level of quality going forward and they didn’t want the opening titles making the rest of the episode look bad.

[@ivorymantis1026]

Flanderization is actually one of the worst proponents to what happened to the characters of the show. Because so many characters were introduced, all of them needed to be distinct. This need for uniqueness is a mandatory thing as why have two characters that essentially do the same thing? Unfortunately it also meant that writers had to focus on a smaller and smaller pool of traits. in order to grant that uniqueness. This ultimately ends in the stripping of one or more character traits from a relatable character until they become a caricature.

[@ExaltedUriel]

The fact that a term so widely used is named after a character from this show just illustrates how impactful its decline is even further.

[@staanislaw]

Such as Henry from Thomas and friends

[@vulpesaustralis1452]

Ooh, I never thought about that as a possible reason for Flanderization, very interesting! There must be other reasons why this happens though, as I've seen it happen is shows without a huge amount of characters.

[@spazzwazzle]

Exact same thing happens to a lot of games--they keep adding new jobs, new weapons, new characters, until you have a bunch of things that are borderline redundant and cause the developers to have to overly balance everything and ruin the meta. I'm particularly sad that it's happening to FFXIV right now since it killed the last MMO I was into, MapleStory.

[@mycookiehasnoname]

​@@spazzwazzle the *cause* is what makes the developers have to change, not "cause the developers to have to change" - shouldn't it be "makes the developers have to change", no?

[@jordanfleming7022]

How the principal and the pauper could have been: Seymour is celebrating his 20th year as the school principal, only for his old army bud Tamzarian to notice Skinner’s name on the sign - and pop in to visit him. They decide to catch up after the celebration, only for Tamzarian to realise that Skinner just isn’t like he used to be in Vietnam. While in Vietnam, Skinner was brasher and more free-spirited. Not because he was some thug off the street, but because he was finally free from his mother’s authoritarian control; if only for a short time. After returning from war and becoming a principal, Skinner treated his students and work in much the same manner as his mother treated him - as it was the only parenting/teaching he had experience with and was back in an overly controlling environment. While Tamzarian is in town, they spend some time together and let loose for a bit. Skinner lightens up and reflects on his life. This could also lead into an interaction between Skinner and Bart, with Bart realising that Skinner is harsh on him, but not out of malice. At the end of the episode, Skinner and Tamzarian have a heart-to-heart and say their goodbyes before Tamzarian has to leave town. Overall, I think this re-scripting of the episode has more opportunity for both comedy and heartfelt moments, while fleshing out Skinner a bit more without breaking his story or character.

[@rockhistoria2537]

👏👏👏

[@originalname6349]

Props.

[@McCoy-00]

Now that’s a good alternate universe

[@simpso8753]

or a sequel episode where it is revealed armin tamzarian and seymour skinner are half brothers.

[@anonymoose_0056]

👏👏👏

[@alexschneider1667]

i love how the term "flanderization" means when a character's personality becomes an exaggerated version of a single one-sided trait came from the simpsons. good job.

[@Libtardo123]

Black Clover in a nutshell

[@hydqjuliilq27]

@@Libtardo123 shut the fuck up

[@Libtardo123]

@@hydqjuliilq27 did I hurt some fan boy’s feelings? 😂

[@hydqjuliilq27]

@@Libtardo123 No, honestly I feel bad for you. I’m aware that you got COVID, and a major symptom of COVID is losing your sense of taste, which must explain why you don’t have taste in anime.

[@Libtardo123]

@@hydqjuliilq27 what? I’m saying Black Clover is trash. I watch DBZ, One Piece, Dr. Stone, Attack on Titan, Parasyte, Death Note, My Hero Academia

[@joewellmannnn]

Really interesting how the "Skinner looking out the window" joke works and escalates almost exactly like the street cleaner joke you broke down. (1. Funny description of overbearing mother (2. Oh hey, she's an omniscient being who lives in a creepy house overlooking the school (3. Skinner can hear her talking to him somehow (4. She's telling him to wear a sailor suit, and that is upsetting to him (5. Marge and Lisa are STILL in the room, and are incredibly uncomfortable

[@ruthjewell560]

The domineering old woman living in a decaying house with her timid and stifled adult son is also a reference to the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Psycho", so the joke works on that level as well. This would have been much more obvious to the late 80s-early 90s audience, as it was a very common movie for media to reference at the time. Even if you hadn't seen the original, you were still pretty well primed to recognise the tropes. And now, seeing as I can do all that and am now horribly aware of how long its been since I last saw a "Psycho" reference in anything at all, I feel incredibly old.

[@dazedandconfused5711]

That joke just makes me laugh every time. God I LOVE old simpsons.

[@michelegraham1181]

Whenever my family is referring to a unhealthy mother-son relationship, I will just randomly say “Mother that sailor suit doesn’t fit anymore!” and my family gets it.

[@torstenscholz6243]

@@ruthjewell560 Yup, definitely a Psycho reference, the house also looks exactly like the house form Psycho as well.

[@Resimaster]

I'm amazed they have never done a Tree House of Horror spoof of Psycho with Skinner yet.

[@qrowing]

The street sweep joke is hilarious to me. Not just because it's some random public servant in the dead of night, but the fact that Bart doesn't even really react when his bike falls apart, or when the guy drives into the subway.

[@speedracer2008]

He’s as caught off guard by the awkwardness of the situation as we are.

[@TheHive616]

Thank you! That's such a perfect response cause part of it is like "well that was ridiculous..." But also, because he's grown up in the insanity of Springfield, he's sorta like "well, that's not the strangest thing I've ever gone through...'"

[@theunchartedartist1224]

The craziest part is that Homer doesn't even look that fat to me anymore.

[@missmoxie9188]

The Uncharted Artist dad bod

[@ryanporter7972]

Bc now his size is average lmao

[@WhatRemainsofNovaJames]

I think they made him thinner?

[@sonial1839]

@Richard’s Testicle Head Annoyingly sexy. like the aunt who does not understand that her best days are gone.

[@capo_di_capi]

that only means one thing, you've gained even more weight.

[@BuckyNugget]

The joke *used to be* that they didn't know or care who the celebrity was. "Aren't you one of the Little Rascals?"

[@pronkb000]

Or, the celebrity didn't know or care about them. "HELLO, ST. LOU-IIIIIIS!" "Uh, that's Springfield, Steve."

[@dabble778]

That sounds like a John Swartzwelder joke. Great but dated references to things no-one can remember. I mean, hobos riding the rails? lol

[@pronkb000]

@@dabble778 The monorail ep was written primarily by Conan O'Brien. But point stands--Conan is *also* obsessed with dated references to things no one can remember.

[@torstenscholz6243]

Old Simpsons: "Aren't you....?", and then something really funny, clever happens with the celebrity cameo. Today's Simpsons: "It's.....", and then a lame, joke-free cameo emerges.

[@razkable]

yeah they could play anyone

[@louib716]

The phrase Zombie Simpsons kind of freaks me out. The picture it puts in my head is the characters dying in 1999 and being preserved like a wax corpse.

[@aiiiia9971]

You're freaking me out rn

[@charlesburns7391]

The new intro is a perfect representation of new Simpsons. So jammed pack with stuff in an effort to stay relevant.

[@MsJubjubbird]

I think it's new audience is gen zalphas who want to be like the "big kids" (gen y) and watch what they were watching, but are offended by the older episodes

[@vivchim]

The older seasons had beautiful, meaningful scenes that would be remembered forever in people hearts including: - “You are Lisa Simpson.” - “Do it for her.” - Lisa’s first word. - Lisa friends who signed her yearbook at the beach.

[@Nahue91Carp]

"Do it for her" is one of the strongest emotional moments of TV

[@mcusucks3280]

Also the sence where homer sits on his car after his mother left

[@I8UxAnonymous]

Yesssss all these scenes are my favorites, its so sad that tv will never have moments like these again

[@chaoskingz]

Lisa needs braces. Dental Plan.

[@youthfulcurmudgeon3627]

Chaoskingz I personally always loved the 60s-esquse dream trip sequence Lisa went on when the dentist put her to sleep with gas.

[@icantthinkofaname1009]

I just finished the first eight seasons for the first time and was really surprised by how well they hold up. Even if they no longer seem subversive to a modern audience, there’s so much wit and the comedy and characters are so well-constructed that those seasons really do still come across as some of the best television of all time.

[@rars0n]

Yeah, I recently re-watched season 1 and was surprised by how good it was. Mind you, I watched them as they aired, I loved the show, I watched all the repeats, and I bought season 1 on DVD. But I kind of got tired of it because I had watched it so much. Going back and watching it after a long hiatus, I'm reminded of how brilliant it was. Utterly classic jokes, from episode 1 on. Season 1 is also great because ALL of the episodes are really good. Unlike seasons 9 and 10, where the majority of them are bad. Such great writing in the first 8 seasons. It's a shame that it has completely devolved into insufferable nonsense.

[@_.soymilk]

The Simpsons isn’t something I ever saw growing up but now I really wanna go and watch the earlier seasons

[@mr.jamster8414]

@@_.soymilk go 'head!

[@_.soymilk]

Mr. Jamster I started it and it’s been rly fun so far!

[@stopwatch1127]

Now I don't even hear characters in the Simpsons say their catchphrases in every episode they appear in

[@cmilla111]

I think the airport joke summed it up perfectly.

[@alexnavarro7543]

I agree

[@NeutralGuyDoubleZero]

It's weird to see the animation decline in the way it did. As we gained sharper definition and better backgrounds, the characters lost almost all of the fun elasticity and bending they'd have during jokes. Every single character has to be perfectly on model in every shot, never changing. Feels like I'm watching stiff cutouts more than cartoon characters. I guess that's partially applicable to a lot of modern cartoons nowadays though.

[@curtisthomas4753]

What happened to the distinction? In characters, in designs, in personality, in writing, in humor, in tone, in style, in how it's even animated? Why does every show, every character - animated or otherwise - have to always be the same?

[@MsJubjubbird]

Disney set them up with the best studios when they took over. But I liked the slightly rough animation, because the Simpsons are meant to be a bit rough and imperfect.

[@NeutralGuyDoubleZero]

@@curtisthomas4753 Laziness and following trends mostly. Family guy and simpsons have set the standards for what people expect from an adult cartoon so every producer thinks copying the style leads to success by default.

[@el_bandito9677]

"You have become the very thing you swore to destroy!"

[@thebloocat]

Where's that quote from? Batman?

[@detectivemarkseven]

@@thebloocat starwars

[@thebloocat]

@@detectivemarkseven Where lol? I don't remember

[@philipobando]

You swore you’d never be them. You’re just like them now.

[@brandonchan5387]

@@thebloocat it's in the same scene as the infamous "I have the High Ground!!"

[@lazilyymade]

Growing up as as nerdy girl in the 2000s, I genuinely had a love for Lisa because she was written as actually relatable to the demographic for the most part. After years of not watching, the Lady Gaga was the first Lisa episode I'd watched a d that all went down the river.

[@Claudia-tm9dr]

Funnily enough this is me too! I recently watched season 1-3 and man it's full of so much heart which I really miss.

[@GogiRegion]

She’s more aware of her surroundings, and it makes sense. She’s a smart kid who hasn’t been desensitized to the way the world is and is therefore more critical of it. Her character is well written, and just makes total sense.

[@thadonmel5352]

She's not being written for your demographic anymore how is this not obvious? You're not a 8 year old in the 2010s

[@thadonmel5352]

@Kein Herz アニ Please explain then

[@hotchocolate5908]

@@thadonmel5352 the way lisa flipped from being a nerdy girl to a celebrity shill robs her of the relatability she once had and changes her character unnecessarily . also between a nerdy girl and celebrity shill only one of those are actually good.

[@lukapitkanen3333]

I honestly think that the show wouldn’t have lasted great even with the original writers. Everything has to end at some point. Theres only so much you can get out of these same characters that at some point it becomes stale. I guess theres so much money in the simpsons so they are just milking it at this point

[@bubblegumxo]

They've been losing money for every episode made for awhile now. Like other people have said, I think they just keep it going out of "love" and how iconic it is. Though it hasn't been good in sooooo long I wonder when they will finally pull the plug. I literally haven't known a single person in over a decade who still regularly follows new episodes.

[@libertatemadvocatus1797]

South Park has been pretty good for its run time. I mean, there's been episodes that have fallen flat and there's seasons better than others, but there's not the downhill trajectory that Simpsons had.

[@louisduarte8763]

As a fan of the show, I recognize it aged like milk. Left in the sun. They should have had the characters organically grow up and age. It would still be The Simpsons if we followed Bart and Lisa's families.

[@torstenscholz6243]

Of course the characters will become boring at some point, but the political and societal commentary and the pop cultural parodies should always have enough potential to still make the show work. Just look at South Park - they've been on the air for more than 20 years now as well and still mange to keep the show and its humor and characters fresh and up to date. Simpsons already did it - but now South Park does it much better.

[@ChrisPC1]

Every Puertorican kid can remember tuning in at 4pm to channel 11 every week day to watch the Simpsons. Even in the Spanish Latin dub the early seasons were a masterpiece of comedy

[@equaleyez]

Yow in Belgium too man! Good times :)

[@samwindmill8264]

You ever hear the German dub? The episode where Homer finds his old robot (admittedly after the glory days): "Vater! Gib mir Beine! VATER!" ("Father! Give me legs! FATHER!") 😂

[@agustinpastorino5988]

Acá en LA muchos le atribuyen el fracaso a la serie no sólo por lo que vimos en el vídeo sino también por el cambio de dobladores. Coincidencia tal vez.

[@84ccipollini]

Its kind of telling that a game based on the Simpsons is called "Tapped Out".

[@EndsleyIV]

Good point

[@tenmahakusho6390]

I got bored of that game after a while. -.- it felt so soulless, just like the show nowadays.

[@PeruvianPotato]

@@tenmahakusho6390 Blame EA, fuckers had to install alot of microtransactions of a otherwise charming game

[@acousticfoam4184]

Poet Sense i guess you could say that they tapped out of creating quality works.

[@ismariebirriel6492]

Poet Sense i love the game personally, and storylines and how many characters i can get, although it might be a little money grab, you can still get a lot done

[@nothinghappened7599]

The saddest part is that if The Simpsons ends right now, it won't end with dignity.

[@CorazonMexica]

The only way the show can recover its dignity is by deleting the storylines from season 11 and onwards.

[@jek__]

Slow death is often undignified. Things will turn to any means in panic to try to stay alive on the way down

[@EugeneOneguine]

It ended in 1998, don't worry.

[@0rangecray0n]

@@EugeneOneguine man if that's the case I missed the whole damn thing 🤣🤣

[@harold3165]

Yeh, it's already too late for it to go out on top. The reaction to it ending will be "FINALLY!"

[@novared7]

Just hearing the words "you are Lisa Simpson" nearly overwhelmed me with a feeling of nostalgia and so many other emotions. I teared up, and I was just home alone doing the dishes. If that doesn't tell you the impact the original Simpsons, I don't know what does.

[@jimlaregina]

With the "Lisa's Substitute" episode, THE SIMPSONS reached greatness.

[@conorsmith8551]

God and that episode was 1991 wasn’t it? Dustin Hoffman was amazing in that episode . One of the best celebrity cameos

[@eliasripley2357]

Having binge-watched all episodes up to season 9/10 recently, I honestly burst out laughing and guffawed out loud at many of the golden era episodes. And that was whilst alone; I rarely even crack a smile watching something that, even though I find it funny, doesn't draw a proper belly laugh from me like classic Simpsons did. My best friend from school n I used to have the perfect Simpsons references or quotes for most things. And hearing/seeing them again upon rewatching just rekindled that wonderful spark of nostalgia. They should've quit whilst ahead. But that's (mostly American) series for you. In the UK, shows tend to end after a couple or more series cos the writers realise that they've done everything possible by that point and figure that they'd just be repeating ideas or not be as 'sharp' or 'fresh' as they used to be. Integrity over profits, in most cases. But shows like Fawlty Towers, The Office, Bottom, Spaced, Saxondale, Black Books, the IT Crowd, Blackadder, Mr Bean, Father Ted, etc only ran for two or three series. IT Crowd ended after five series and that's the longest running one I've mentioned. And these consisted of roughly six half-hour episodes per series. America has SEASONS; twenty-four odd episodes each. And to have 32 SEASONS? The quality is BOUND to suffer. Again, one side wants to squeeze every last possible cent out of a show, quality be damned. Whereas the other realises when a show has run its course, it decides to "go out on a high note" and not sully its legacy with endlessly underwhelming and shrinking returns.

[@Tkokat]

this comment perfectly encapsulates what the Simpsons used to be

[@bananana611]

the fact that i instantly remembered the episode despite not having seen it for years says a lot about the show's emotional impact, and younger me never thought about how powerful it could be sometimes

[@j0hnf_uk]

There's a reason why some of the best comedy series ever made only ever ran for a few seasons before the makers decided to move onto fresher fields. You can only maintain excellence for a relatively short time. To continue on means having to constantly up the ante and be self-comparative to everything done before, with the question, 'is this good enough?', being ever presence. Having changes in staff responsible for the show kind of did away with a lot of that, as it became almost like an institution that was seen more as a production line of samey episodes stamped out in the same mould, but without the edginess and subtlety of the originals. It became a gravy train to ride on for a number of years, taking more out than giving into, until eventually it became a shell of its former self.

[@alymacdonald1034]

I love 90s Simpsons. It’s my go-to comfort show when I’m feel sick/sad and I want to feel better. New Simpsons is just... cringey.

[@AstraVex]

90's Simpsons: A mix of satire, comedy, heart, and homages to cinema. 2020 Simpsons: WhAT iF MaRgE rAn a SaNdWiCh sHoP?!

[@conzmoleman]

the pretzel wagon episode was really good. classic era. but i don’t watch zombie simpsons. the writing is painful and the animation is so offensively flat and bland and unexpressive. i take one look at it and can’t bear to watch.

[@peterthefourth6678]

90’s Simpsons: wHat iF mAggIe sHoT mR buRns!? 2000s Simpsons: Actually good treehouse of horror specials that are scary and entertaining also Marge wanting to do something with her life instead of being homers butler what a terrible idea marge should just never do anything ever and be a useless character

[@nekozombie]

@@peterthefourth6678 :o

[@Mr_Lukasgrim]

@@peterthefourth6678 treehouse of horror specials from 2000+ are good but normal episodes are trash

[@hurri.]

2000s South Park: actually funny and entertaining stories involving the four boys and the wacky adventures they go on. other characters like the kids’ parents, friends, and one-timers like the kid from the toilet paper episode are also relevant. A good mix of satire of American/pop culture and character driven stories. Mid-late 2010s South Park: haha politics haha current events. haha randy tegridy farms haha. laugh.

[@matthiasmodeste916]

The simpsons basically became what they were trying to destory

[@hannaosterlund5974]

You have become the very thing you swore to destroy

[@errorbirdesther]

I feel there are so many quotes that fits this

[@thineevee7345]

@@errorbirdesther yea

[@torstenscholz6243]

90s Simpsons: A subversive spoof of mediocre American family sitcoms Today's Simpsons: A mediocre American family sitcom

[@ScaryStories604]

Yeah Gum left on The Street

[@laurocoman]

When you commit character murder so hard that you invent terminology for it: flanderization.

[@pjvalenciano]

I remembered when the simpsons could genuinely bring tears to your eyes.

[@theonlyconstantischange123]

Damn... It's been so long i completely forgot it could do that.... Used to watch this with my parents brother and sister around dinner time

[@theonlyconstantischange123]

Every character became just a schtick

[@theonlyconstantischange123]

Like other commentors said, saddest thing is it's been bad longer than it's been good

[@paulnadratowski3942]

I agree. Look at the Valentines episode with Lisa and Ralph, funny, moving and memorable, or Mr Burns runs for governor, a brilliant satire.... Now.... it is flat and cheap

[@paulharper4196]

Ah those great days. Ill always remember being doubled up in laughter, tears streaming down my face as sideshow Bob kept stepping on rake, after rake, after rake.......

[@PowerThirteen]

I just saw another example of a fine Simpsons joke, in the episode where Grandpa makes the love elixir. After Homer drinks it, speeds home, gives the kids 50 dollars for the movies and practically throws them out of the house then sweeps Marge off her feet and takes her upstairs, slamming the door to their bedroom. Then we get clips of a train entering a tunnel, a rocket taking off, then hot dog sausages on a conveyor belt. Then the scene zooms out a bit and it turns out it's on a cinema screen. Then it shows the Simpsons kids with popcorn and cola watching the movie, with a big sign saying "STOCK FOOTAGE FESTIVAL" on it. I didn't stop laughing for two minutes. Old Simpsons were classics. It is a shame what happened in later series.

[@magusl9628]

PowerThirteen Those clips after they go to the bedroom are a pistake of The Naked Gun, I believe. With the extra Simpsons touch of the sausage, which makes it pistake.

[@zimriel]

That was a Groening joke. I remember it from Life In Hell. Mattie was a Californian. They're into recycling, especially content.

[@JeffreyThrash]

As a Californian, I approve this joke.

[@biteme9486]

He's from Oregon

[@iagreebut6813]

PowerThirteen ill never forget a few. One of my favorites is, it cold opens right into the Simpsons eating dinner. We dont know anything before this scene.. One person ask homer "so why did Carl bite you?" homer starts by saying "well, see i really gave him no choice.." then suddenly bart interrupts "hey dad.." and changes the subject. Never finishing the story. Lmao, i want to know so bad the rest of that story. HOW ON EARTH DID HE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO BITE HOMER AT WORK!? lol and the family only mildly cares, as if these stories happen everyday. The delivery is perfection, the timing is perfection.

[@Nicebitoftucka]

Seasons 1 to 9 are great. 10 to 13 the quality dipped but it was still watchable. After 14 it's just terrible

[@iamaperson2906]

Australia's Best Blood Sausage I’d say 1 - 2 was great, 3 - 7 was a masterpiece, 8 -9 was good, 10 - 12 was acceptable After that it’s just plain mediocre garbage

[@iamaperson2906]

Bill Patrick Jones that’s why you shouldn’t continue a show for 30 years

[@iamaperson2906]

Bill Patrick Jones he probably had enough revenue to live a wealthy life entirely tho

[@conaldeugenepeterson2147]

South Park has entered the chat. Only reason South Park has continually gotten better imo? Trey and Matt are still in charge.

[@mergieismoronic]

+Australia's Best Blood Sausage They switched showrunners in 10-13 and then in 14. That’s why quality dipped.

[@deadpoolnerd]

The principal and the pauper just shows a huge issue with the characters, they're interchangeable. That the image of Bart Homer Lisa Marge can change but as long as they say D'oh, Cowabunga, plays saxophone, or grumbles and says Homey then it's the same thing. And that's essentially what later seasons became.

[@uberhams7541]

Its bizarre The Simpsons has lasted so far out of the 90's. It was artistically designed to be a reflection/parody of that era and a lot of it is no longer relevant. Its like a lone dinosaur wandering the streets of new york.

[@razkable]

it was fine until 2011 range..then i feel it lost its impact...and could of ended...i still enjoy seasons 11-21 personally...

[@roxanne_]

Even then when you revisit those episodes they are still funny as hell the newer ones…

[@wjzav1971]

Most of the characters are parodies that no longer make sense.

[@JesterJinx]

Truly money's the greatest necromancer known to us.

[@Shorty_Lickens]

I am of the opinion the writing was better when the animation was worse. they put more love and care into good stories back then.

[@ersturdevant2831]

When the drawing style lost its crude, vital quality and became overly clean and sterile.

[@ericzerkle5214]

Agreed.

[@MisterBinx]

That’s what happened to family guy and it’s starting to happen with Rick and Morty just three seasons into it.

[@JMLRetroRoom]

Once it went HD, it lost me. I did try though.

[@marcopolo6944]

true that man! fox execs and tv producers take notice.

[@objectivemillennial2117]

God I hate people and their nostalgia you think the Simpsons suck now and they were good before, I think the Simpsons are good now and will suck tomorrow, how about that ?!

[@Sakkeru96]

Just looking at the the intro comparisons - the modern animation is so bare bones and flat in comparison. The shot where Marge turns to look at Maggie in the shopping cart - the old animation has her move her whole body in a dip and turn, her hair following her movement in almost a loopdeloop, it has energy. Then the modern animation literally just rotates her head. No life, no energy, just a stiff tiny turn. That's really sad when they could easily do so much better.

[@torstenscholz6243]

The old animation was primitive and far from perfect, but it had a naive amateur charm to it. The new animation looks way too clean and sterile in comparison. Even the animators just don't care anymore and just go through the motions.

[@JohnSmith-ds7oi]

That's intentional, like how movies are all CGI and have the colors washed out and the screen shaking.

[@historyZZ]

Hilarious

[@Andrew-fb8ph]

They actually couldn’t have made it better, in fact it’s a miracle the animation for the opening is as good as it is. FOX didn’t give them enough money or time when they were updating the intro 😂

[@writershard5065]

I mean, I don't think the intro has anything to do with the writing though. It's literally the same, even if the individual frames are different. This new style of animation still takes a lot of work, organization and effort. If the Simpsons evolved to maintain its spirit but adapt for the changing times, then it would've been great regardless of the change in animation style.

[@dbh6668]

Spot on assessment. I am GenX. I watched all the 80’s family sitcoms as a kid and I was there when the Simpsons appeared. It was like a breath of fresh air. Family sitcoms were mostly done real time - it was rare for episodes to span more than a few fictional days and multi-episode arcs were almost unheard of. Therefore all TV family’s problems arose, affects were felt, and were resolved within what felt like just 22 min. My generation knew this was wrong. We knew we were being lied to or at least were made to feel bad because our family had no capacity to work this way. The Simpsons called all this BS out into the open. It showed us that problems aren’t simple and we weren't bad because we couldn't easily resolve them. It showed that parents only deserve respect if they earn it, and that the mild dysfunction I was living with wasn’t weird. I wasn’t alone. Also…it was crazy funny😊

[@dingfeldersmurfalot4560]

Well said. I always got the creeps from the Cosby show even while it was worshipped, and The Simpsons was a welcome antidote to that smarmy phoniness that made every real family look like failures in comparison. It wasn't just the Cosby show, but that was perhaps the most worshipped example. It was gross. The Simpsons was a laxative that cleaned all that crap out of my system at long long last.

[@justinjames3028]

I think using the Cosby Show as an example is a bit unfair. There was a specific purpose for them appearing as an almost perfect family. African American families had previously been more like Good Times. (That is not to say the parents in Good Times were not great people. They were.). Cosby wanted to show America an example of an upper middle class black family with parents who were doctors and lawyers. So in one respect Cosby was similar to many other late '80s shows, in another it was ground-breaking in the sense that it was a black successful black family. With that setup, then family couldn't stray too far from being a model family without sending the wrong message to a public that was still quick to judge African Americans. And for those who wanted a bit more realism, there was Rosanne.

[@jack8988]

Your not gen X if you were born in the 80s

[@corruleumblue3317]

I've always hated "here's a celebrity cameo, that's the joke, now laugh" style cameos in general, especially since most of the time I'm just like "...who?" (if I'm feeling charitable, otherwise it's "who's this douchebag?") because I just don't keep up with pop culture and never have.

[@Blackhawk211]

Be careful not to cut yourself on all that edge

[@WakkoKakko]

Those celebrity cameos did a lot of damage. When they started doing those on a regular basis in the early 2000s, that was the beginning of the end for me.

[@MrAlcazar]

The worst one for me was the the Great Gatsby parody with Mr. Burns and the rappers. Shit didn't make sense, and the performances were terrible.

[@Qia_shaajah-deh]

@@Blackhawk211 How is he being edgy?

[@MrKeychange]

I absolutely agree with this. I hate these and all of the episodes with a one sided social agenda.

[@SKyrim190]

That one with Lisa making "cool friends" at the beach is so incredibly bittersweet, specially for someone who was a nerd adolescent! It shows how Lisa although nagging and annoying sometimes doesn't mean to be any of that and how she is actually...kind of lonely! Of course that as the show moves on only the irritating aspect of Lisa remains and she becomes a really unlikable character...

[@cruiselifeeric]

One of my very favorite episodes.

[@JacobBen94]

No one likes a know it all self righteous annoying little twit

[@svenweisserfuchs1297]

Summer of 4 ft 2! My favorite episode for exactly the reasons you described.

[@Aristowi]

Another example of multiple jokes in a few seconds: Homer is jumping across the Springfield cliff with the skateboard, he fails and falls hurting himself badly but hilariously, an ambulance picks him up hitting his head multiple times, that's already funny, but wait, the ambulance crashes into a tree, Homer falls again. Pure magic.

[@doggydude98]

It’s also an emotional scene at the same time. Homer willingly did it, just so Bart wouldn’t do it... very modern Simpsons would not be able to pull that off. There’s a few exceptions but 99% of it just can’t. Pretty much all golden age episodes was funny, and had its emotional pay offs.

[@Aristowi]

@@doggydude98 True, there was always a message in the humor, not empty jokes like the recent episodes.

[@bonorbitz]

Yes! That's another great example! Pure magic indeed.

[@BobbyBaxter]

I still remember seeing that scene for the first time as a kid. My best friend and I were in tears laughing for about half an hour. The visual gags were like rapid fire and it absolutely KILLED us!

[@PurpleLink11]

My wife and I just started watching the series for the first time from the beginning thanks to Disney plus and that scene made us laugh for minutes after the episode ended. Completely agreed

[@eggabacon]

I've watched more than 20 of the seasons of The Simpsons on Disney+ and probably the time I noticed a real decline in quality was how in the original seasons (1-9/1-10) they always found a way to wrap up each wacky adventure and find them back at home with everything back to normal, however in the later seasons, they ended episodes off in bizarre scenarios with no discernable way for things to go back to normal, for example, one episode ended with them on a fancy island after they got kidnapped and put there and it ended with them being gassed or something like that.

[@1000000man1]

Even the animation is shit now. People will automatically say it's "better" because it's cleaner and done on computer but that's Exactly why it's Worse. It's Too clean. There are No varying shades in the colour. It looks like it was coloured with Microsoft Paint and the movements are Robotic. There's no Flow in the movements. There's no personality in the movements. They look like they're on a default setting.

[@erintexel9739]

I disagree, it just seems clean with bright colors to see. I still like the old ones more but visually, it seems more human to me instead of cartoonish.

[@wehatealf6543]

@@erintexel9739 i agree with him to me its off putting and almost robotic

[@theevildrjelly4626]

I agree I like the old animation. A cartoon is a cartoon it doesn’t need to be clean

[@raceris7309]

It's why I prefer the animation style they used between season 10 and 20. The animation wasn't so clean as it is today, but was able to retain some old animation elements.

[@elgekok560]

@@erintexel9739 you have an lps picture in 2021, I love you

[@patrick_dy3r]

The Simpsons: a show about the zombiefication of the American family that eventually turned into a zombie of what it once was.

[@MaevaA_09]

@Simon Koeman 9

[@torstenscholz6243]

90s Simpsons: A subversive spoof of mediocre American family sitcoms Today's Simpsons: A mediocre American family sitcom Need we say more?

[@Miakel]

Seinfeld ended before it went down hill and now it is a cult classic. Imagine if the Simpsons did that. It would be untouchable for criticism

[@redlightmax]

+Retro Michael It's incredible that The Simpsons didn't do the same thing. When Jerry Seinfeld said his show was ending he was everywhere, being asked why, and he explained the importance of timing the show's end before things got stale. Maybe the problem is that 19:23 after the three co-creators left, The Simpsons didn't have anyone as integral as Jerry who could pull the plug.

[@longstrandna1]

Yes, the Beatles knew when to leave on a high note, Abbey road. The rolling Stones, on the other hand, have a similar chart to the Simpsons downward spiral of their overall body of work. Money and fame often blind people to the fact that they're flogging a dead horse.

[@hratchsetrakian1692]

I loved Seinfeld too, but they would be cancelled before Simpsons would've been. Jerry is balder than George now, so the balance of power would be even lol

[@icecreamhero2375]

That's not true my mom said that she hates the Simpsons because she doesn't like rude people and it's too stupid. I absolutely love it though.

[@WinstonMcGregor-hx8ub]

fox would never let it happen it pays their bills. When majority of the original cast goes is when it truly will die, cause then they'll get desperate and make a synthetic simpsons. I always said to keep it fresh they should focus on other characters as if they were the main character, like a season of when homer was a child, or when marges dad was around etc.

[@Radical1777]

Incredible. You didnt use the word "flanderize" once, a real word, made because of the Simpsons, *which basically explains why the Simpson's is the way it is now*

[@TheSlipperyNUwUdle]

Funny story: my mom thought The Simpson’s was too inappropriate for me to watch as a kid but Family Guy was allowed. 🤔 I think she was just busy and unaware of what Family Guy was about. Lmao

[@TheSlipperyNUwUdle]

Okay now it makes sense. My mom was only just out of high school and barely with her first kid when the show came out. It makes sense she probably had enough time on her hands at the time to catch an episode or two. Though my dad doesn’t seem like the type to watch it either.

[@WakkoKakko]

A show that taught me phrases such as “damn it to Hell” and “draining the lizard” cannot be more appropriate than the Simpsons.

[@TheSlipperyNUwUdle]

@@WakkoKakko lol I didn’t say she was right. That’s just what she thought with her limited view of what the two shows were about.

[@ThePsycoDolphin]

Literally the same here. My mum hated Simpsons and absolutely forbade it on telly. But not only did she let me watch Family Guy, she even went and brought me south park DVDs. Like, as a gift. It was just mad. I think she hated simpsons because, for some mad reason, she felt being more "kiddy friendly", in a way, it set a terrible example for people of my age, whereas Family Guy and South Park were kind of meant for adults, so she knew they were obviously morally terrible and didn't care? Which, I mean, makes no sense at all. But I'll never understand her approach to censorship, which was full of weird stuff like that. She always said she hated homer for being an abusive father, throught all the characters were horrible, thought bart was a little sociopath, Marge put upon and felt Lisa was just ignored and crushed. Which clearly shows me now she never saw like even one episode of the early seasons, as they're are innumerable eps of genuine loving moments between each of the characters, or when Homer does screw up, heart warm moments of repair (like the Sax episodes). Ironically its probably a good description of the show today.

[@msc2u1]

I believe it was a cultural thing because there was this parental movement against the show back in the day. Just shows how tribal we really are!

[@melonieashway4189]

25:30 This point on how Simpsons went from making fun of the concept of "celebrity" to worshipping it to a horrific degree is even something I identified as a kid. Even i thought it would be so much better if they made fun of the celebrities, rather than glorify them. I hate celebrity guests appearing as themselves in general in any show. it always leads to the writing being sterile and completely unfunny to avoid offending the celebrity

[@torstenscholz6243]

It can be funny though if the celebrities are willing to make fun of themselves - just watch Extras, I'm F***ing Matt Damon or Web Therapy as excellent examples of how celebrities can mock themselves.

[@jordanread5829]

@@torstenscholz6243 The sad part was that there were a few celebrity guest appearances like that in classic Simpsons. From Adam "pure west" West in Mr. Plow to Leonard Nimoy's guest appearances in the episodes "Marge vs the monorail" and "The Simpsons Files". But at some point the show started to worship these appearances instead of having them take the piss out of themselves.

[@ssunsspott]

@@jordanread5829 I love the Homerpalooza episode, it acknowledges the guests while not making them the main focus of the episode or treating them overly so. And it also makes sense to have them there because it's established that the family's going to an alt rock concert. "And remember, don't trust anyone over 30! And now, here's Peter Frampton!"

[@yourex-wife4259]

also half the time I dont even know who he is. At least as a kid

[@dr6559]

@@jordanread5829 Leonard Nimoy was a goddamn treasure in those episodes.

[@maryland_dna3099]

The Devil Flanders to Homer: "Your wide butt won't save you this time!!!" [Bart walks into the room] The Devil Flanders to Bart: "Hey, Bart." Bart waves nonchalantly: "Hey" Subtle comic genius that was lost after S8.

[@theungreatkahli]

Agreed. I miss that kind of humor.

[@donnaquixote7538]

Yup. The comedy of today's Simpsons is a bit like Krusty pointing at the things in his skits that you are supposed to laugh at, going "eh, eh?". It's most of the time really hamfisted even if I still chuckle at some jokes, while in the 90s' episodes, the comedic timing is much more subtle and fluid.

[@i..9339]

I dont get the joke

[@donnaquixote7538]

@@i..9339 They indicate that The Devil Flanders and Bart know each other from before or are even acquaintances, if not pals. :D

[@TheDMB411987]

Another great example of a well layered joke is in the George Bush episode. Hell the whole episode was a great joke, but one in particular I loved was after they move in Homer is looking him up to confirm he was president and says “Eh, his story checks out” then asks Margie if she wants him to be president, because he’d do it if she wanted him to. She then sweetly says “Homer, all I ask is that you leave the car full of gas and I’m happy” . Homer then nervously looks at the car sitting in the driveway with dramatic music playing implying the car is low/out of gas. Hahaha

[@rturae]

"Smithers, I'm home" "What? Already?" "Yes" *audience laughs* Perfect mockery of modern TV 🤣

[@WakkaMadeInYevon]

"Thanks for the lift Tony Hawk. I gotta go now Tony Hawk." God this is so blatantly pandering. That caught me off guard, legit a hard line to listen to.

[@ChateauShack]

I don't even know who Tony Hawk is... I just checked. I'll have completely forgotten who he is by tomorrow morning.

[@WakkaMadeInYevon]

@@ChateauShack I only do because I played some of the Tony Hawk games when I was little. Never been a skater myself

[@AlejandroMartinez-zw9if]

Yes, a sloppy cameo. "Hi famous, bye famous" A moment that old Simpsons would have made mockery of.

[@taylord5381]

Wakka: Made in Yevon, you know Tony Hawk!?

[@SouprSpookr]

Wakka: Made in Yevon I thought that was a joke at first due to it being so blatant. It feels like a joke they would have made in early Simpsons but it’s somehow legit

[@_Mark41]

Why simpsons doesn't work today: 1. It became boring 2. characters changed alot , for the worse 3. there is no emotion in it 4. It started as an attack on pop culture while now IT IS pop culture

[@s.i2898]

Mark41 everything has an expiration date imo

[@Emy-fv5ny]

I love them. I don't imagine live without them, but to be honest I don't watch them as often as I used to do. And now I found out Apu isn't goint to be in the show anymore!

[@claybradley6122]

Uhmm no

[@alex9920ro]

@@Emy-fv5ny for the fact that Apu isnt on the Simpsons you have to thank Hari Kondabolu, a piece of shit!

[@foxtoons1999]

Also, the characters don't age (unless it's plot relevant like Stark Raving Dad), thus making the pop culture humor confusing for the continuity of the show.

[@cuddlesthetiger5739]

I'm surprised that Married With Children wasn't mentioned. I would have thought that was a big pioneer in transforming primetime television towards what the Simpsons had brought to the table. Married With Children came out in 1987, and was also completely turning what sitcoms were on it's head. Focusing on a much more down to earth family, who struggled with poverty, and relationships between each other were far from wholesome. I think that show deserves some credit as well. Both shows were amazing and truly pioneered changing sitcoms.

[@MasDouc]

He's Irish, probably wasn't big over there, but you're absolutely right. Married With Children was the turning point.

[@RainDrifter]

Can you imagine if the show ceased production after season 8 /9??? It would be considered a work of art now!

[@colingznetwork781]

Rain Drifter holidays of future past was a good episode, so was season 20 episode 1, and Barthood, and Bart and Homer’s excellent adventure were good episodes

[@emanatingf]

@@colingznetwork781 But are they worth all the sh*tty, soulless episodes & in general the degradation of the Animation, Character arcs, Continuity, Satire, Joke setups & the oversaturation of too many characters being integrated into Springfield. And characters that didn't need to die getting killed off instead of characters that added less to the Show, deserved it more due to their noncontributing natures & weren't helping the Artform within the Worldbuilding. They just cared about the Attention, Pandering & Graphics nowadays.

[@reek4062]

there are still some good episodes

[@komison64]

Then people would want a revival in the future 😅

[@Sammy-bi9fj]

@@komison64 well they would at least have time to write a good script. Go through 20 or so drafts, and make it really good...

[@plolsteg7705]

In short: They stopped acting like humans and started to act like cartoons, and not in a good way.

[@thadonmel5352]

To me they've always mirrored society idk why people want the characters to act like they're still in the 90s

[@torstenscholz6243]

Original Simpsons was a cartoon that mocked real-life shows and people. Of course the humor was always cartoony, goofy and surreal, but it was always grounded in reality and was still somehow down-to-earth. Now it's just that - an over-the-top cartoon where anything can happen.

[@thadonmel5352]

@@torstenscholz6243 Homer literally fell off a cliff on a skateboard in season 2 ...and the show is still grounded in reality just TODAY'S reality. That's the disconnect with the older generation who loved the Simpsons in the 90s. The show stayed current as they got older. They can no longer understand or relate to it now so it's considered "bad".

[@thadonmel5352]

@213 it's looking like the latter

[@Poopookachew1]

@@thadonmel5352 "Blame the audience, not the writing of the show that's well into season 30-something." That sounds like a winning strategy.

[@westcoastavenger]

I’ve rewatched this 5 times now. This is an incredible assessment of what happened. I watch it once a year to remind myself just how great I had it in the 90’s when the Simpsons mattered.

[@mrmtz4891]

This video was uploaded 4 years ago. If you've watched it once per year, you couldn't watch it 5 times. So you, sir, are a liar.

[@AdmiralBonetoPick]

@@mrmtz4891 Yes he could have: 1st time at the start of year 1, 2nd time at the start of year 2, 3rd time at the start of year 3, 4th time at the start of year 4, 5th time now at the end of year 4.

[@DarkToleSon]

@Rordon Gamsay Definitely. It's impossible that he's watched it more than once per year.

[@jimmydean4494]

I have now watched this 3 times. It is really a well thought up opinion.

[@internetera1523]

Go read the zombie simpsons section of the Dead Homer Society blog,its where most of this video was taken from and has many more details.

[@Evelina_412]

I think it's worth noting that it wasn't actually The Simpsons which first broke the mold of a traditional, wholesome American family on tv. Two years prior, it was Married With Children. It also portrayed a poor, dysfunctional family, living on the fringes of American society, its working title was "Not The Cosby's". The show got big and put the then unknown Fox Network on the map, which is where The Simpsons got its start later.

[@RichardTetta]

Yep, exactly. You could also mention Roseanne, which i think debuted a few months before The Simpsons.

[@seantriplesevyn8152]

Al bundy kinda is the OG Homer Simpson….I never thought about that until I read this reply lmfao

[@anone.mousse674]

One thing John forgot to mention is that even in Mania Simpsons, there was the occasional celebrity cameo, e.g. George Harrison in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" or Tom Jones in "Marge Gets a Job." But "As Themselves" cameos like that were usually only a fraction of the runtime, and he's correct that there's now a significant number of episodes that are completely built around celebrities playing themselves.

[@flamingpi2245]

Exactly, they're used sparingly and to set up seperate jokes, and there's no explicit worship. You get the feeling that they become part of the world and must conform to the show rather than warping the episode and the characters around them

[@anone.mousse674]

@@flamingpi2245 It's the difference between Tom Jones being held captive by Mister Burns and Lisa calling Elon Musk the smartest man alive.

[@lego007guym8]

@@anone.mousse674 Or stuffing Elton John in a dog carrier.

[@alexpatrick3333]

Furthermore, whenever there was a celebrity cameo, either they would create a character for them to play or you could replace them with anybody and it would have no bearing on the plot or even the characters. Ringo Starr and James Woods are also good examples. Also I have to add that Seasons 11 and 12 had some fairly good episodes that ended up getting ruined by celebrity cameos. "New Kids on the Blecch" and "Beyond Blunderdome" are solid if you take out the NSYNC/Mel Gibson ass-kissing.

[@doublep1980]

You can basically sum it up with 3 points: 1). the best writers gradually left,to work on other projects. 2).the concept changed from subversive satire to more generic sitcom. 3). the show went on for too long.

[@dbosst]

#1, #1, #1: John Swartzwelder.

[@ccricers]

Are you saying John ruined the show or him leaving the show caused it to fall?

[@verbalassault87]

doubleP the show went onto long you call it a show I call it a fuck you from start to finish 😝😝😝😝

[@MikeDindu]

Emphasis on the show going on for too long.

[@cutthroatnin3833]

I think a Spongebob video would be interesting since it practically follows in The Simpsons' tragic footsteps.

[@kingskull1689]

CutThroatNin3 Or a Family Guy,that show is a cringe fest now

[@cutthroatnin3833]

Family Guy isn't as timeless as early Spongebob or Simp, even with it's best episodes. It's just too dated.

[@KingCam20]

There is a pretty good video by coolcat001100 called "Top 10 Biggest Problems With Modern SpongeBob". It goes pretty in depth about how Spongebob got to be so bad.

[@YinkThePinkInkDrinker]

CutThroatNin3 family guy and spongebob both came out 1999 dumbass

[@Rocky-gs6mb]

He should do the Fall, Resurrection, and Fall of Family Guy, since 'The Fall of Spongebob' episode will basically be that everything after the first movie is atrocious because of Stephen Hillenburg's departure.

[@mortarboss]

I just watched episode 34-18. It's so bad I don't have words. I now hope they will let the show die, because it hurts to watch it. There's no life left. None.

[@MasDouc]

It's like AI is writing the jokes now

[@LadyHuggington]

I spent more time watching this video than I have watching the Simpsons in the past decade.

[@nicolasbiller7486]

@birdonawire it doesn't deserve that chance tbh

[@ruraladventurer1884]

Same

[@MaxwellEindhoven]

I've watched the old Simpsons thousands of times for the past decade.

[@MultiNonymous]

I spent more time watching this video than I have watching the Simpsons.

[@omar.alnounou]

watched this video 4 times already

[@SBTheDemon]

It’s ironic. The show that has an episode about “selling your soul” went on to sell its soul.

[@j.k4150]

Even the animation is more beautifull in old simpsons

[@defconzero]

It felt more organic

[@purplecowsparkles]

The new simpsons just look like robots. They look bland and have no emotion.

[@j.k4150]

@@purplecowsparkles exactly and i also dont like the colour of the new simpsons

[@philipscdi2029]

A subjective opinion, but one that I agree with nonetheless.

[@defconzero]

@@philipscdi2029 why are you a Philips CDI

[@EpicAntos]

Another one of the characters they’ve ruined is Bart Simpson. Back in the day he used to be the prankster, with his slingshot and bad attitude. Nowadays he does absolutely *nothing.*

[@TheAlps36]

To the writers/producers of the Simpsons: Stop, stop it's already dead😭😭

[@eisen.dieter]

Homer as Krusty immitator beating the Hamburger thief?

[@dreye3215]

As far as I'm concerned, the show ended when the original creators left, everything past that is just a big budget, overly drawn out, animated fanfiction by the company who owns the rights. Works of fiction are a product of their writers, not the companies that employ them.

[@CorazonMexica]

"...everything past that is just a big budget, overly drawn out, animated fanfiction by the company who owns the rights". Even calling modern Simpsons fanfiction is an insult to fanfiction. Even really bad fanfiction AT LEAST can have some entertaining value. Modern Simpsons is just a vapid, forgettable, garbage piece of nothing.

[@stevenmorales7814]

After season 9

[@rars0n]

@@stevenmorales7814 Season 9 was the beginning of the end.

[@bonorbitz]

...and they added celebrity cameos and musical montages as a lazy and cheap way to fill airtime.

[@bonorbitz]

@Kunoros Hound of Athreos Thanks Comic Book Guy! Or is it Prof Frink? Wait... Is this Martin?

[@conormccarthy906]

Whenever I think of how bad The Simpsons has gotten, I think of that Tony Blair joke. The man is a war criminal and Lisa is excited to see him. It's apparent that she looks up to him. She loses all of her integrity. There's no reason for Tony Blair to be at the airport. There's no reason for him to have a jetpack. The absurdity exists to mask the fact that there is no joke. There can't be because Tony Blair is voicing himself, and the show cares more about having him do that than it being funny or having a point. It says nothing.

[@nathanseper8738]

Letting Tony Blair on the Simpsons isn't necessarily a bad thing. What is bad is that they don't actually let him do anything...silly. When James Woods and Adam West appeared on the Simpsons, they made fun of themselves. Tony Blair just...flies on a jetpack. That's not...remotely sly.

[@M.L.official]

I think the notion of absurdity is the key context. In the classic simpsons it was always done in a subtle way more or less, and not straight up black and white, unfiltered, here it is, here you go style of delivery like it does now. Thats not to say that that type of delivery doesnt work or isnt good, South park is a great example of extreme absurdity done right and done well. But simpsons had a theme and they needed to stick to it, and they needed to end. Now it is apparent its just a money grabbing scheme. Futurama is a good example of a similar show done extrenely well and ending at the perfect time.

[@Thom-jj7yr]

@Luke Mills if they are illegal, they arent gonna be at an airport are they? And they probably aren't gonna clear customs, according to your own logic...

[@loosetube5417]

@@nathanseper8738 why doesn't Batman dance anymore?

[@monica-ysdfk123]

Tony Blair's appearance on the Simpsons predates the Iraq war

[@jaynotjoe7589]

Beautifully told and so well researched, wow! Thanks a million for this and the links to resources, shoutouts are brilliant. 🙌🔥

[@alvexok5523]

I know, I love the way he describes the changes in the show, he hit the nail right between the eyes. I have a couple more examples on how I've seen the episodes being way worse after season 8 verses before it. I'm sure you have seen the season 11 "Guess who's coming to criticize dinner?" where Homer becomes a food critic and starts non-stop rudely criticizing and insulting every restaurant he eats at, and then the owners of those restaurants (Luigi, Capt. Macalister, etc.) plot to kill him. Now if the premise of Homer becoming a food critic happened somewhere within seasons 3 - 7, Homer would've definitely been less of jerkass, he'd still enjoy the food at the restaurants but while not knowing how to express himself about it while innocently making dumb but hilarious mistakes out of his control while through it all, throwing us real wit and satire. That is what those greater seasons knew how to do. The way that season 11 episode handles things is totally absent of that wit and satire and instead gives us outlandish situations and behavior. There are no more clever layered jokes and instead there are just many unrealistic over-the-top sight gags. See, most seasons 2- 7 episodes took things and situations that occure in reality and exaggerated them or gave them a comical twist, but most seasons 9 and beyond episodes were just completely absent of reality (season 8 was an even mix). Also, see the comment of mine on this page where I describe my thoughts on the not good season 15 episode "The Regina monologues"

[@rupertx_x1613]

The animation team were a big reason for the show’s success as much as the writers. Really vivid and expressive, constantly inventive layouts and colour schemes, really enhancing the deliveries from the amazing voice cast. This starts to disappear surprisingly quickly and by season 11 anything resembling good animation dries out completely. Anything from the HD era is just unwatchable.

[@blaquenguni9249]

Animators never get given their credit, ever... And that level of detail cannot be achieved with CGI or AI. You need a talented human hand.

[@DukeSolaire]

I've always thought of the episode where Maude Flanders dies to be kind of a symbolic death for The Simpsons as a series. It came right at the end of the 90s (the 1999-2000 season), it was the first time a regular character died permanently, it was supposedly due to network interference (specifically the voice actress who played Maude demanding a pay raise), and it was right when the show really started to dip all the way.

[@wjzav1971]

Also, the way she died was really disrespectful and dumb

[@CorazonMexica]

Also, her death casts a permanent shadow on everything aired onwards. At least you can pretend "Lisa goes Gaga" doesn't exist when you watch other episodes.

[@WozzyA]

it's when the simpsons "jumped the shark", as my dad would put it

[@MrMarinus18]

"Flanderization" has pretty much become an official term to the point many (especially me) correct others when it's used improperly. Flanderization can not happen in a single episode. It means a slow degradation of a character, kind of like the reverse of character development.

[@susans8355]

I completely agree. That show was difficult to watch at the time. I stopped liking it after that.

[@ethansmith2141]

The point brought up that “the simpsons went from satirizing pop culture, to worshipping it instead” could not be more true. Celebrities appearing as themselves in shows is one of the worst things they could’ve followed along with. If they stayed with the original ideology of mocking pop culture and it would still have potential to be a good show, people would love a show satirizing what the world is like today without playing into pop culture. Even just sticking with the story being grounded in the characters and not acknowledging pop culture at all would be a much better alternative to worshipping some celebrities and trends.

[@pronkb000]

Even when a celebrity got shoehorned into a classic episode, the very idea of celebrity was still (usually) skewered. Sting in "Radio Bart" being a primo example.

[@torstenscholz6243]

@@pronkb000 Classic 90s Simpsons had cameos by real superstars that weren't even instantly recognizable as such because they did not appear as themselves but played characters, e.g. Michael Jackson and Johnny Cash. That were subtle and smart ways of shoehorning in celebs, nowadays it's just a celebrity appearing as him-/herself and the Simpsons making some lame jokes about him/her.

[@debater452]

@@torstenscholz6243 Yes they did there were way more celebrities that played themselves even in the Classic seasons

[@MillerZhanged]

You have to respect the people who manage to produce high quality video essays and have the confidence to publish it to the public. Hell I can’t even write a review or essay.

[@MasterZaymin]

The airport joke done in classic Simpsons style killed me. It is too perfect.

[@yarpen26]

Actually, I don't think this is actually the "rolling on the floor laughing" kind of joke the early seasons of The Simpsons would be satisfied with. I'd think that should be something along the lines of the loudspeaker listing all those humiliating traits Homer might be easily associated with but he would remain completely oblivious to it until finally it would mention something that's extremely loosely connected to Homer's appearance or personality but which nevertheless would make sense that the fact that _it_ is the one thing which actually triggers Homer's reaction would be hilarious to watch.

[@freeman2399]

Crazy Clown Airlines?

[@mysterymastermind175]

I only got the joke now 3 days after watching

[@jonrojero6478]

MasterZaymin wasnt that funny simpsons and these satire shows are ehh best ex is brickleberry just shock factory so bad but 3 seasons

[@KillerNut2]

@@yarpen26 Marge is pregnant?! AHHHHHHHH!!!

[@anirex3919]

0:47 The old animated style seems a lot more fluid in comparison to the modern style, at least to me. And I really like the old style for that. It was more expressive.

[@sparkles7111]

because it's hand animated and drawn with love, and care. the new episodes are all done by human robots and without any affection or heart for the show

[@blokvader8283]

Just look at the way Marge turns her head! In the old one it was very animated, her hair flew and her facial expressions showed that she was worried about Maggie. In the new one it's just a robotic turn with nothing changing

[@rars0n]

The old style has a lot of embellishments, they would exaggerate features in certain scenes, whereas the new animation style is all computer animated and completely sterile. It may look better on a technical level, but it is less interesting to watch. Also, if you watch the opening comparison in this video, you'll notice that the newer animation doesn't bother to recreate certain frames of animations, like when Maggie is being scanned and tossed into the cart. Honestly, it feels really lazy to me. Considering that they can more easily do it via computers than when they were hand-drawing that stuff, it's pretty disappointing when you really think about it.

[@hollandscottthomas]

There's a lot of animation principles (twelve, in fact, you can google it for some cool examples/breakdowns) that really sing in the classical style that the digital version doesn't bother with, and in doing so feels flat and hollow.

[@rars0n]

@@hollandscottthomas It's interesting, because even the relatively crude 3D animation in the last segment of Treehouse of Horror VI (season 7 episode 6), where Homer goes into the third dimension, seems to have more of that kind of fluidity and character than modern Simpsons animation has.

[@bantwizard2874]

Last perfect season: 7 Last great season: 8 Last good season: 9 Last acceptable season: 10

[@historyoftheromans2527]

Agree

[@aidanbond369]

I thought season 8 was also perfect. So many classics like You Only Move Twice and Mountain Of Madness.

[@thequester7634]

Pretty much.

[@chainfire]

I stopped watching after the movie

[@sharebear421]

11 and 12 were still watchable but 13 is when it dropped hardcore

[@AniGaAG]

My dad used to complain whenever Simpsons was on throughout my late teenage years. About how dumb it is, how silly it is, how senseless it is... but here's the thing: He used to religiously watch the show when I was a kid. And he doesn't even remember! He only associates The Simpsons with feeling annoyed and put off now... and that's the same guy who made a ritual of not missing a single episode a long time ago. That says a lot.