The Absolute Worst of Modern Simpsons

[@captainmidnight]

What you think of The Simpsons season 33 overall? Are you watching it? Go to brilliant.org/Midnight/ and sign up to Brilliant free, the first 200 people that go to that link will get 20% off the annual Premium subscription.

[@marioacosta-warren921]

When people say Simpsons is good again they usually refer to the two parter "A Serious Flanders" which I have to say I haven't seen yet.

[@alecity4877]

A serious Flanders was good, that's all and that's about it.

[@CurtSP]

I haven't watched the Simpson's since shortly after the Movie...

[@dogez9873]

I’ve actually enjoyed it a lot more than the rest of modern simpsons

[@noahheninger]

Simpsons has evolved over the years, meaning they are going to pull some fans back in (and further alienate others). But I would hardly say they have returned to their glory days. The recent episodes seem a bit more focused and plot-driven, and for some people that's going to seem "better". But all the great episodes from the latter half of the series have been entertaining for reasons other than being funny. The last episode of Simpsons that was good just for being funny was season 16's Don't Fear the Roofer, and that was a long time ago now.

[@nickwood8762]

Something really grossed me out about this episode. Marge has a line “I used to want to be as perfect as a Disney Princess” or something like that. And it’s just subliminal advertising for Disney. And it’s not funny. Old Simpsons used to bring up Disney to point out this exact type of hypocrisy, or corporate shilling. But now they’ve become exactly what they used to satire

[@FernieCanto]

"But now they’ve become exactly what they used to satire" I've been saying this about the Simpsons for about the last 10 or 15 years or so. The show just continues to become its own worst enemy, thanks to the malignant narcissism of its writers.

[@Slayerandsprite]

Never forget, Bart in his Mickey Mouse voice in the movie: "I'm the mascot of an evil corporation!"

[@bargu]

@@FernieCanto More like 20 years really, the show has been more "the satire it used to make fun of" than it was not.

[@GeteMachine]

In 2010 it was nonstop apple shilling. Now its Disney and Avengers shilling.

[@waynefisher9824]

It’s “satirize.”

[@ultramagnus4374]

I think you hit the nail on the head when you stated that originally the writers were drawing from their own experiences, while now it’s just a bunch stale stereotypes

[@Phreemunny]

Yeah; during the first decade of the show, it felt organic and spontaneous; now it just seems forced

[@starbringeryt4191]

he said it the other way round

[@laurocoman]

@@Phreemunny yeah, the products they showed also took part in the narrative organically. Like the lunchbox, that videogame Bart stole, Flanders' sport footwear. Now it's LOOK, HERE'S A WII, HERE'S A DVD PLAYER, HERE'S A REFERENCE THAT WILL DATE THE EPISODE RIGHT AWAY. And those products end up not altering the plot at all.

[@MrOrgeston]

So much of this show's foundation is built on 1990. The nuclear power plant, the conflict about whether or not to go to church, the novelty of edgy comics and video games, and America in general moving from an old-fashioned way of life to "the MTV era" as they called it. Look at the color palette and technology/industry of Springfield. It's as if it takes place in the old TMNT cartoon, but we're just watching the people instead of the superheros. Bart and Lisa feel like out-of-touch aliens when you try to put them into the situations of today's youth. Entire characters are lacking their fundamental context, like Dr. Hibbert being a parody of Cliff Huxtable with his loud sweaters, and Krusty being a parody of old hokey Howdy-Doody style TV shows. When you hack the show into pieces and try to fit it into the modern context, it's just a big pile of nonsense with absolutely no charm. They don't even have the old interesting Simpsons color palettes anymore. It's just a normal-colored world, except the people are yellow and the Simpsons' house is pink and orange.

[@ludovico6890]

Yes I think you nailed it. I was born late 70s, I'm in my forties now. The Simpsons is very much a product of its time.

[@GagsAnimation]

That is the major reason why the Simpsons is the worst cartoon ever

[@GeteMachine]

@PestoMayo I think it was just the more rugged animation back then, but I don't think that made the show better, it was a coincidence that the writing was better. The show was still good when its animation was cleaner by the early 2000s, the problem is just the writing is very uninspired and the post movie HD animation being robotic despite the very high quality character models. It often always after a show's first movie that for some reason writing always declines but with the simpsons, the animation in HD does look incredibly flat, unexpressive and stiff.

[@GeteMachine]

The characters lacking *functional context* for their satire and characterization today is definitely what I feel. The characters don't really represent anything anymore about what the premise is. Its why in retrospect, I actually think Family Guy is better than modern Simpsons, only because the characters for the most part seem to exist primarily for their own satirical context and that often comes before the jokes they are used for are given. Like Meg in general to me is a better character than Lisa, because Meg feels like and will always feel like that satirical misadventure of a teenage girl trying to fit in, find her identity, but is always ignored by her family, has bad luck all the time and is treated as uncool or ugly yet still always good natured. Sure family guy goes a bit overboard at times but the joke of her character similar to Chris being the fat teenage son that masturbates is always there. Where as what exctly is Lisa suppoed to be to the premise of the show anymore? She seems to have the same issues Brian had, from not being a character with a context. (He barely acts like a dog anymore, like in old Family guy he was human like but still a dog. He was attracted to normal female dogs, not human women.) Lisa is 8 but has no interests of an actual 8 year old to satirize. She also doesn't seem to have that prior fictional character parallel to be parodying or trying to outdo, like how Bart was originally a legacy character after Denis the Menace, and at times they reference that. Lisa wasn't really based on anything before her, to my knowledge. Even for today if those things the Simpsons was formally praised for are outdated, the show doesn't really try to deconstruct itself anymore either, nor do the writers seem self-aware enough to try to get rid of this 1 dimensional ridgedness it currently has.

[@Attmay]

@@GeteMachine Hank Ketcham died and the story of his son Dennis is actually pretty sad.

[@Dinosaurprince]

Bart and Lisa sharing a joint and Marge saying Maggies room was where she used to grow weed, was enough for me to realize the show was long dead.

[@alonfan-lg2iu]

wtf

[@alexwright4930]

Wait what? Was that a flash forward episode?

[@spimbles]

as someone that smokes weed, seeing established fictional characters smoking weed is just as unfunny as it is to everyone else lol there is absolutely no demographic for weed humor anymore, i have no idea why theyd do that

[@andethidialbubabibub3261]

Marge being cool with weed is so dumb

[@cats9thlife704]

You're so thin skinned it's hilarious

[@SirIkeMedia]

Their decision to modernize the characters and the show killed it.

[@Chud_Bud_Supreme]

Homer and Marge being Millennials who were in high-school at the same time I was is surreal. I wish so much this show ended decades ago

[@johnmartinez7440]

@@Chud_Bud_Supreme Why does it matter when it ended?

[@Chud_Bud_Supreme]

@@johnmartinez7440 Because it turned to sh!t a long time ago

[@Drilbit]

It's gonna give me whiplash when in 10 years homer is going to be the same age as me.

[@andrewkelly6828]

@@Drilbit Ugh, he's 39? I'm 39. I was 6 years old when this show came out...

[@RideMyLighting]

10 years from now they’re gonna do an episode where Homer and Marge are in high school during COVID times

[@sebastienholmes548]

Please don't have this be true.

[@spimbles]

oh please, i give it 5 years, tops

[@LucasFernandez-fk8se]

20 years because they’re in their 40s

[@nonpondo_]

That would be so funny

[@probablyjinxed]

actual pain.

[@JTMitchell87]

Okay. As someone who hasn't watched an "new" episode of The Simpsons in... dare I say a decade? hearing what Marge sounds like now is honestly heartbreaking. Now I'm just sad.

[@bangitybangbabang]

I'm actually surprised with how much hearing her voice upset me

[@crimsondynamo615]

When the voice of one of your main cast has deteriorated to a point you can hear the voice actress in pain with each syllable, methinks it’s time to ax the show.

[@devote]

she sounds like how Marge's grandmother sounded.

[@Nightweaver1]

Kavner needs to retire, for her own health. Like, it's time. Disney, please cut that woman a break. Give her a nice fat severance package and let her retire.

[@mark6302]

jeez it really is I'm glad I stayed the hell away

[@pearsareawful9006]

The show started with Bart & Lisa being 90s kids. Now Homer and Marge are the 90s kids.

[@NateS917]

Technically bart would be an 80s kids, but born in 1979

[@Redman_real]

​@@NateS917thats still an 80s kid

[@Attmay]

The episode with his birth depicted it as being 1980 based on the references to *Nine to Five* and *The Empire Strikes Back,* both of which were also from 20th Century-Fox.

[@Your_friendly_racist_neighbor]

I know it so stupid. Homer and Marge were boomers. A buddy of mine was watching that Y2K episode and saw that Homer is now a millennial. I immediately told him "turn off that garbage, put something else on"

[@Superboologan1]

Because they shifted with the audience, since when the show started, 90s kids were the same age as bart/Lisa, but now they're homer/marge's demographic, which's jarring to say the least

[@JakeWerkmeister]

The Simpson's used to write jokes about The Krusty The Clown show, in which a dried up comedian just stopped caring about anything other than a quick buck. The fact that Krusty kept dragging the show out for decades after this point was the joke. Little did we know that the entire gag would be a premonition of what The Simpson's itself would become.

[@zythr9999]

lol

[@davidchavez1330]

That is so accurate that its really disappointing

[@JakeWerkmeister]

@Professor Thinker yes.

[@zythr9999]

Oh well, the pickings to replace them is very slim. Many new comedies make no sense, so they don't last. They're even coming out with a comedy that includes part of the past comedy Raising Hope. It looks to be a cross between that show and My Name is Earl.

[@NotALiberalSoSkipTheScript]

I got 3 months free of Disney+ so I’ve rewatched the Simpsons and I heard one of them say in like season 5-6 “Krusty is a classic. All 512 episodes across a decade” So surreal.

[@Foxheart]

I've heard people mention how bad Julie Kavner's voice had gotten but my god... hearing it here for the first is absolutely blowing my mind. Let the poor lady's vocal cords rest

[@LordGopu]

I haven't seen a new episode since like season 14 maybe and my god it sounds terrible. Again, it's not to knock her and obviously people age but it's just another nail in the coffin of the show. A reminder of how much it's deteriorated.

[@ClovissenpaiDotR]

im so glad people agree with me, she literally sounds like she's dying. its actually so fucked up

[@MightyHawx]

I'm another that hates the last 20 odd years of the show, but maybe she should stop signing on to more seasons lol. Pretty sure they're not holding a gun to her head

[@LordGopu]

@@MightyHawx She probably just hurt her vocal chords in a boaking accident

[@BP-dn9nv]

I really worry about what's going to happen if one of the main actors decides to leave (which Kavner definitely needs to do) or dies. Usually when an actor dies they're just written out of the show, but so far that's only happened for minor characters. I wonder if Disney will sink so low as to replace them.

[@Kaboomboo]

The show has been bad twice as long as it was good. That fact that we can still regard it as a "great show", or at least "once a great show" despite so many years of mediocrity, tells you how good it truly was.

[@dugonman8360]

I always tell people every simpson meme or comes from classic simpsons, never modern simpsons. It's not just millenials who are making them, but zoomers as well. 30 years of content and they shuffle through it and still find merit in those first 11 seasons.

[@mr.x2567]

@@dugonman8360 but it’s boomers that keep green lighting the series for new seasons.

[@timaeustestified3951]

@@mr.x2567 Youre insanely out of touch if you think boomers have control over any current cultural output. They may have SOME economic power and financial control within the entertainment sector, but the culture we're in is a result of "artistic" (and I use that term very liberally) output from the nihilistic, consumerist, empty X's and millenials.

[@jamesben1]

I think the show had run out of steam by season 9. Arguably it’s been…average/poor for three times as long as it was good.

[@Red_Lanterns_Rage]

yep.... at it's height the show made me laugh, cry get a little upset then make me laugh more....it was a show that was alive and made you care....everything I've heard for awhile says the shjow is now terrible it really shoulda ended in 2000 on a bang....do the movie in 2005 or whenever it hit, a miniseries in 2009 then a new mmm 4 year run in the 2010's showing a more evolved family.... Bart & Lisa are in their 20's, Maggie is just hitting high school, Homer quit the plant and now works security for a tech giant [Booble or Viking...stand ins for Google and Amazon if it wasn't obvious] IDK what to do with Marge but grandpa passed away, many of the adults retired, changed jobs or moved away or passed away, Skinner's mom woulda passed away, Skinner would be superintendent now with Chalmers likely retired....and here's the fun bit....what do the kids all do? nelson: police chief Bart: school principle Lisa: actress in LA Millhouse: Bus driver Ralph: ditch digger other characters Otto: bartender [formerly Moe's tavern now The Steel Wheel, now turned into like a hard rock cafe like place] Moleman: still around as a joke [the joke would be something like aren;t you like 100? and he'd say yes in that shakey voice] the point of some of the kids, nelson as chief of police should be obvious, as a bully for so long seeing him grow up and mature and take that kind of responsibility?? Bart being principle? again it's the irony of going against what you once stood against and his boss being Skinner is icing on the cake cus then the old joke plays out again Skinner & Chalmers but now Skinner is chalmers?? lol I have no doubt Lisa coulda become an actress and moved away and it makes sense millhouse being the bus driver? it fits otto being a bartender kinda makes sense too and Ralph.....we can't just have him perpetually in school picking buggers right?? or really going real and making him a killer or something?? ditch digger or grave digger works too 4 years like that? it could work and having that time off would allow em to consider where everyone ends up, who to cut and not....and my idea is just my idea I'm not saying this is how it'd be but it makes sense to me...

[@CJ-111]

I agree with you about continuity. Homer’s Dad fought in WW2 but also has a kid who was in school for Y2K

[@florinivan6907]

That's not technically impossible but just weird. If Abe was born in 1920 and Homer was born circa 1982 that makes his dad aged 62 when he was born. But this implies Abe is a dirty old man chasing after young girls. There's no way Homers mom was close in age to his dad at this point. I'm 100% certain the writers didn't want Abe to be a dirty old man in the original seasons but due to continuity issues he's become one by default.

[@copperbunnies9849]

@@florinivan6907 poor Abe

[@Ometecuhtli]

Just waiting for an episode where Abe is worried about the effects Zika or COVID could have on little Homer (maybe that's the reason he isn't very intelligent), putting their dates of birth roughly a century apart.

[@zumogerstubchen2340]

There's one episode where he says he also fought in WW1 but lied a bit about his age. He was then depicted as a child in the trenches which makes sense, considering Abe is at least 80 years old when the Simpsons once aired in 1989, so he was roughly 8 years old back then.

[@Attmay]

They joked about Y2K as it was going on!

[@Jt1Torso1Winabego]

The show looks so unusually clean and polished, sanitized compared to the early seasons.

[@SammEater]

Corporate Simpsons.

[@Lucas_Antar]

Just a better resolution and the 90s was a nasty dirty decade.

[@industrialme]

Infected by curable political correctness disease these days. The infection started when John Swartzelder gave up on them back in the early 00's

[@j.k4150]

I don't like the look of the modern Simpsons its just so bright and 2D

[@Lucas_Antar]

@@industrialme “these days” lol as if political correctness hasn’t always been a thing. Do you not know about the Christian takeover of America from 1880-1970? Too this day they still have people thinking the US was founded as a Christian nation.

[@MacyPooh196]

I legit gasped at Marge’s voice. I haven’t heard it recently and I can’t believe that’s how it sounds now.

[@InsidePhil]

She didn’t watch the metal vape monster ad 😞

[@jovalleau]

She sounds like Marge's mother!

[@Wyattoons]

Geez… yeah it might be best to recast if they want to keep it going. I remember her voice sounded different but that was just a few years ago. It’s ripped her vocal chords even further now…

[@HiBuddyyyyyy]

I’ve heard of actors damaging their voice box from relatively small changes in their voice. I can’t imagine it’s doing her va any good.

[@CormDaCrow]

Honestly she sounds like she's in pain

[@AnnoyingMoose]

How could Homer be a teenager in 1999 when he was the power plant's Y2K compliance officer who caused the Y2K bug by leaving all the plant's non-updated computers hooked up to the internet??

[@rhm3408]

That was a Halloween episode, so not canon 😜

[@Duncaster]

Boy, I sure hope someone got fired for THAT blunder!

[@bonedude666]

​@@rhm3408Don't put that emoji there, it makes you look like a bastard.

[@dingdongfootball5331]

Julie Kavner’s voice was always gravely because she was born with a vocal chord cyst, but you can really tell the difference between the OG Marge voice and the Marge of today. When she started she was in her 30s and she’s 71 now! Her poor throat!

[@cooper.quinlivan]

That’s actually crazy

[@CEO_of_Steidi]

it's not like she's forced to do it though, even if her voice sounds terrible she still willingly voices marge so i think she's okay with it

[@alvexok5523]

​@@CEO_of_SteidiYeah. You've got to give her credit for that. Dan Castella is getting pretty old now too. The Simpsons isn't gonna keep going forever, someday when Kavner and Castella pass on, that will end the series since they're the 2 voices of the 2 most center characters of the show. The Simpsons definitely won't work anymore with new voice-over actors/actresses speaking their characters

[@TheKingHyral]

@@alvexok5523the Simpsons is going to be one of the first shows that will use AI voice acting when the voice actors die. They’ve already set it up and the VAs recorded all kinds of shit so it was come to fruition.

[@TheLegend2848]

As someone who was basically raised by the first 10 seasons on DVD but stopped watching around season 22, I really appreciate this video. It touches on everything that kind of bums me out about modern Simpsons, especially poor Julie Kavner. I really wish they'd just put the show out of its misery at this point, because every new season is just further diluting its greatness. I've tried getting my friends who've never seen the show to try watching it, but now they're so put off by the amount of episodes that they won't bother.

[@dtay8913]

On an unrelated note, that's how I feel about One piece. It's way too long.

[@weeyooRaven]

@@dtay8913 I thought so too and now i am 500 episodes in and I'm starting to think it's too short...

[@KasumiKenshirou]

That's one reason why fans are upset about these later episodes. Some kid tuning in to a random Simpsons rerun is now much more likely to see a bad episode than a good one.

[@RedFloyd469]

You should perhaps clarify to your friends, that the simpsons isn't a series with an overarching story that requires them to watch literally every episode to understand the story, in comparison to say, Avatar: The Last Airbender. You can watch any episode you want from the simpsons and more or less have the same set of characters with the same set of personalities, with most of the events happening around these characters either being forgotten or reset, so as not to bog down the episode with too much information. While there ARE changes, they are incredibly minor or are mostly in the background. So watching seasons 1-10 feels like the best thing you can recommend to them, perhaps with the movie included given it's cultural value and it's value as a proper ending to the show as a whole. (And also because I genuinely do like the movie.) I consider the first 10 seasons of the simpsons to be "must watch" material for anybody who enjoys witty, sketch-based humor and loveable characters. They are a classic show for a reason, and anybody who ignores these first seasons because of the mistakes of the newer ones, is giving both themselves and the original writers a huge disservice. (And while you're at it: recommend Futurama to them as well.)

[@lainiwakura1776]

There's a reason these seasons are called zombie Simpsons.

[@NextToToddliness]

I'm so bored by the lack of imagination or risk taking in the entertainment industry. Let the Simpsons have the dignified death I gave it two decades ago. I don't even know who this show is for anymore.

[@Attmay]

The more the voice cast got paid, the less funny the show became.

[@johnmartinez7440]

Doesn't sound like you gave it a "dignified death" if you're still moaning about it 20 years ago. Curious how the people who proudly claim to have given up on it years ago still seem to have intricate knowledge of every character arc and storyline.

[@the_bottomfragger]

@@johnmartinez7440 It's the classic "show sucks now, I haven't watched it in years", I don't know how people fail to see the irony. I don't enjoy the show much anymore either but it's not hurting me by being on the air. I just wish they took more risks. The best episodes in the recent years tend to be the ones were they follow a very different concept (Barthood comes to mind)

[@DaRealKing303]

@@jonathanwilliams1451 agreed

[@CorazonMexica]

@@johnmartinez7440 The day modern Simpsons stans stop defending the show and asking the rest of people to give it a chance again, that is the day people will stop complaining about modern Simpsons. I've seen modern Simpsons enough to know it's awful and I will continue to disrespect bad writing.

[@KasumiKenshirou]

Watching modern Simpsons feels like visiting an elderly relative with Alzheimer's in a nursing home. Visually it somewhat resembles what it was in its prime, but it's merely a husk of its former self and it makes me sad watching it.

[@consciousiota2161]

It’s like those really old people who are on the verge of death, but won’t die.

[@consciousiota2161]

@Daniel Rumbacher There are a lot of factors, such as being a product of its time, original writers leaving the show, the characters becoming derailed, the animation becoming less fluid, the stories becoming conceptual.

[@PolentaTaragnarock]

Wrong example. It's been proven that people with Alzheimer's are still themselves, and that memory loss doesn't make you less of a Person. However, Simpsons HAS become an empty shell. It's more like a shellshocked veteran from WW1

[@AnAdorableWombat]

@@PolentaTaragnarock Wrong! Do you know what Alzheimers is???? People do lose themselves because they can't remember anything. Their brain is literally disintegrating. You tried though.

[@heinrichagrippa5681]

@@PolentaTaragnarock I mean, if we're going to be sensitive about dehumanizing people, treating vets with PTSD as a better example of someone becoming "less of a person" isn't the nicest thing either. I get what both of you are trying to say though. I'd go with "seeing an old friend after they've undergone a botched frontal lobotomy... and then had several consecutive strokes, yet somehow still retain a tiny sliver of brain function."

[@abysses]

it’s crazy how i went from hoping this show would never end, to hoping the show would just hurry and end before they lose the remaining respect they still have.

[@CorazonMexica]

They already lost it, sadly.

[@nolesy34]

And they'll get it back one day in retro cool dont worry

[@thegodofeggs]

​@@nolesy34They did! The rest of season 33 and season 34 was amazing!

[@veg411]

@@thegodofeggsdoubt

[@StonedCabbage]

I hope this show ended a long time ago. It was never good, just overrated

[@StuartLugsden]

Another problem this show has now is the new characters and visual of everything. Back then the Simpsons themselves and everyone in their universe looked like cartoon characters, acted like cartoon characters and had a cartoony voice including the background characters and it worked with the rought animation and art style. Now all the new characters look like normal humans, they act like normal humans, have normal voices and with the technology of 2022 everything is smooth and clear and it just doesn't work. Every original character and location sticks out like a sore thumb.

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

They really lost a lot of charm when they went fully digital. I get why they did it, but it just looks so much colder compared to the cel animated episodes.

[@cakes3958]

Absolutely! No new characters have the big circular eyes.

[@jcohasset23]

@@CinnamonGrrlErin1 I think some of that is because the fully digital animated style really doesn't look all that different from most of the animated shows currently out there. It might make it easier for the show to be made now but it lost part of its identity and charm in the process.

[@starkillersneed]

The new characters are also much less unique. The Simpsons extended cast from earlier episodes is so memorable, even one-off characters like Hank Scorpio and Frank Grimes. Now compare that to, say, that one Latino boyfriend Smithers had one time, or half of Lisa and Bart's school crushes.

[@lollybowser]

This! Even their house looks out of place now cause it has wacky color palettes, a remnant of when everything had fun, bright color schemes. The fact that there was even a modern episode where some of the gossip ladies made fun of the house cause of the bizarre color scheme really shows modern showrunners don't understand the show. The backgrounds are so dull now. Modern Simpsons are just hard to even look at now cause of the thin lines, dull colors and hideous modern character designs. Even the old characters look horribly dull with this new thin art style.

[@AndorRobotnik]

Whoever told you Modern Simpsons is good again were absolutely trying to bait you into having a bad time

[@captainmidnight]

The succeeded!

[@IcyDiamond]

@@captainmidnight It was a cruel April Fools joke

[@arthurfortes8398]

@@captainmidnight Please mr Midnight, I do not wish to bother, but you should consider making videos about underrated gems like Legion, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, Legends of Tomorrow, Superman TAS, Smallville and Wolverine and the X-Men. Edit. The Simpsons has gone the route of losing quality because of time, just like How I met your mother, The X-Files and even Family Guy, ironically.

[@OreoBrawl]

They might have been talking about the last few episodes that have dropped

[@mattpiercey1576]

The 2 part episode "A serious Flanders" is a good episode though. But it's not exactly what you would call "classic" Simpsons

[@spnked9516]

The Simpsons is a product of its time, and the further removed from that time it gets, the more disconnected it becomes. Like a joke repeated endlessly by more and more people, it has become a parody of itself. As hard as someone might try, there is no "redemption" for the modern Simpson and there never can be due to the fact that the circumstances which created it no longer exist. You can take the Simpsons out of the 80s/90s, but you can't take the 80s/90s out of the Simpsons.

[@thewopstop]

seriously. why can't they just end it? what are they waiting for? the apocalypse?

[@Im__Andy-f6x]

@@thewopstop money

[@MrEOM41]

Well put… Simpsons should’ve ended at about 2000

[@11sfr]

The over-reliance on guest stars is another problem - when it was done in the golden years, it was in a way that actually made logical sense to the plot, or else, the celebrities would voice a new character. Now, they've got all sorts of random stars just dropping in on Springfield and befriending the Simpsons, and the writers don't think the audience is smart enough to know who they are, so there's always some forced dialogue of Lisa stating the celebrity's name and what they're famous for, just to make sure we get it. This is something that used to be a desperation move to juice the ratings on a tired, declining sitcom - have some celebrity show up and build an episode out of it, in other words, the sort of thing the Simpsons used to mock, but, now, its become their whole business model.

[@bonedude666]

That Lady Gaga episode genuinely made me cringe. There weren't any jokes, it's just Lady Gaga.

[@SamuelBlack84]

Reminds me of Will & Grace

[@xFlareLeon]

​​@@bonedude666They didn't need to write any, Lady Gaga IS the joke. She's just not a funny one.

[@MrMapacheumr]

When they get the crossword writers from a newspaper lol Lisa: its this and that guy Me: woooow, amazing!!! *forgets about them a minute later*

[@Attmay]

I couldn’t get through more than 10 minutes of a single episode of that show, and I am gay.

[@marcuswalters8093]

Another critique of this episode; the idea that all these characters knew each other as teens. If this had been done in the golden age, there'd have been new characters introduced. Instead we go back to established characters, shrinking the town of Springfield down

[@Ocyla]

THAT is just maddening. It was pathetic when they did it in Final Fantasy 8 ages ago ("what do you know, we all came from the same orphanage!!") but this just screams 'closed set'. There's no way all those people went to the same high school or whatever. Just ugh.

[@11sfr]

And, also, whenever a celebrity guest star is introduced now, everybody in town has to be a complete super fan that knows everything about them, even if it makes no sense for that character to be interested in that sort of thing, because they need "somebody" to come out of the crowd and gush over the celeb, and they only pick from the same standard roster of recurring characters to do everything

[@antoinedesgagnes9969]

Which brings us to the fathers serving together in the Flying Hellfish during WW2. It worked because this was well dosed, but also quite plausible and doesn't redefine the age of the characters or the relationship between them. Before and after The Flying Hellfish episode, Homer and Barney are still of the same age while Skinner is older than them since he's a Vietnam veteran. "The Blunder Years" in the season 13 really pissed me off back then: Moe, Fat Tony and his crew are of the same age than Homer, Lenny and Karl. They all knew each other back then. Smithers is significantly younger than them and his relation with Mr Burns is now really awkward.

[@DanG6311]

Feels really odd, Springfield doesn’t feel like an actual town anymore populated by thousands of citizens, it feels like a giant Truman show set populated by the same 50 people

[@SamuelBlack84]

Maybe that explains the yellow skin everyone has. Severe limitations in the gene pool

[@cormacthem8406]

I can appreciate the fact they kept the same voice actress but Marge’s voice is unfortunately tearing my eardrums in its current condition. Maybe they could modify it somehow to both put less strain on Julie Kavner and on us.

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

I thought she was sounding rough back when the Family Guy crossover came out (I stopped watching The Simpsons around season 17), now I just want her to retire and relax.

[@Elvusmiw]

Doesn't help how they made fun of her voice in the episode

[@weathermansam2]

I think they should just find an impressionist to voice her

[@GossamerGhoul]

It's animation, so they can just replace her and no-one will be able to tell the diddly-ifference!

[@whodatninja439]

the simpsons cast are basically elderly, they're not gonna live forever. what happens when god forbid Julie Kavner pass away? she sounds like shes near death

[@tubeguy4066]

Marge was in highschool during y2k? Jesus Christ, just imagine in ten years they will be showing Homer in school when LMFAO was a thing lol

[@consciousiota2161]

The Simpsons started to deteriorate during Y2K.

[@conorsmith8551]

Show died when Phil hartman died. Sad to say..

[@consciousiota2161]

@@conorsmith8551 I have never understood how Phil Hartman’s death ended the Simpsons’s Golden Age. Didn’t Hartman only voice a few minor characters?

[@ewanherbert3402]

Homer receiving a Dreamcast for his 10th birthday

[@legalduidriving]

In 30 years, Homer and Marge's highschool flashbacks will depict them using Tiktok lmao

[@antoinedesgagnes9969]

@07:43 It was important to me too. I was born in 1988 and my paternal grandfather fought in WW2. I then related to Bart when I watched this episode in the late 90's and early 2000s. There's also that older episode where we see Homer as a teenager listening to music instead of watching Neil Armstrong on TV. My parents were both teenagers in 1969. Those little details were important. They provided a fuzzy backstory for the characters. What did matter wasn't that much the facts themselves, but what was behind. They were like flower and leaves from a plant we didn't see its roots. So, we knew there were roots.

[@coolguy1127]

Having grown up with the OG Simpson’s my breaking point was around season 12-14 when it became the guest of the week. The show became what it was satirizing. I still enjoy the old episodes and they hold more emotional weight now that I’m a father now. “Do it for her” hits so much harder now.

[@BryanAJParry]

Yeah. Season 8-10 was where it began to go wrong. By 12 or so it was just poor.

[@zeroelus]

Exactly. About a year ago I started re watching those earlier seasons but now instead of sort of around Barts age, I’m now slightly older than Homer and with 2 kids. Having been facing a few months of forced OT watching and maggie makes 3 absolutely wrecked me. Up to this review I was unaware Marge and Homer where now highschoolers around my era and not in the 70s. I appreciate the attempt to relate but…no, just put the show out of it’s misery. Please. It’s now long time that the great simpsons seasons seem like an accident in the way of whatever the current show is.

[@davidmhh9977]

​@@BryanAJParry And by now, the series has been in a decline over twice as long as it was in its golden age. I have a lot of positive feelings about 2000's Simpson's, because that's when I got into the series. Even a few seasons past the Simpson's Movie, it still had some dignity. I know this my nostalgia talking, but at least I have nostalgia for it. I just can't see some tuning in to season 33 of the Simpsons and remembering it over ten years later.

[@jeffersonclippership2588]

Same, 13 is the last watchable season for me. I was in middle school at that time and remember it clearly because all my friends also loved the show and we all started to become disappointed with it at that time.

[@leob4403]

@@BryanAJParry not really, season 12-20 were all pretty damn good

[@QuakerMC]

I think the 180° turn that Barney's life took after that first beer was something they stuck to for a while. In the episode where he and Homer are competing to go to space, Barney has to remain sober and becomes exceptional in every single way (I think what got him back into alcoholic-mode was just a swig of sparkling grape juice). His lost potential was a really funny and sad part of his character, and it does kinda suck that they just casually threw it away

[@Robloxman226]

I really like that about Barney's character. Get him off the bottle and he's sharp as a tack.

[@bellowingsilence]

See also the barbershop quartet episode. The theme of wasted potential is… or *was* always central to his character.

[@PeterParker-ff7ub]

He was an alcoholic and that's how it works

[@timkasansky2528]

makes you think if the people writing it today actually watched it in the past. You just can't undo a trait of a character known for 30 years to make a cheap joke. It was easier to not include him in the flashback.

[@dycedargselderbrother5353]

The Principal and the Pauper set the standard of retcons for no reason.

[@jerry3790]

I think this is a lesson that if you have a show that starts in the 90s, keep it in the 90s, even if you don’t care about continuity. Or just don’t keep a show running for 33 seasons. That also works

[@RocStarr913]

Entertainment is ultimately a business and has to live in the moment.

[@MikeSandersonVideos]

Wish the same could be said for a Beavis and Butthead but everyone is eating up that terrible new trailer.

[@quangamershyguyyz7166]

Or age up the characters very slightly higher about each season so they grow and develop with the changing times.

[@Shinyarc]

@@MikeSandersonVideos I think beavis and butthead actually adapted to the modern era well, especially compared to the other reboot in 2008 or whenever. Instead of unrealistically having beavis and butthead just know everything by default they have them react to modern pop culture and tech in a way that fits their character

[@maltehenryk1409]

I think it started in the 80s.

[@steve9094]

It's surreal to realize that I've missed nearly 25 straight years of The Simpsons ever since I abandoned the show during season 10, but every time I get curious enough to check out a newer episode, I'm reminded of why I ditched the show in the first place. Even as a huge fan who had obsessively watched the show ever since the very first episode's debut, somehow back then I could just sense that the show wasn't ever coming back.

[@Knight_Kin]

Hard to believe it's even still running considering it was hard to believe it was still running almost two decades ago. It's just a zombie at this point - long, long dead.

[@laservampire]

I lasted a bit longer than you but I remember exactly which episode I gave up on, the one with Blink 182 and Tony Hawk. Just remember thinking “ahh well I’m not watching any new episodes of this crap”

[@vincenzo082]

​@@laservampire as terrible as the tony hawk episode was (that was the bart gets emancipation episode I believe) the line "and I am important" from homer makes me chuckle to this day.

[@peterkerj7357]

Worth remembering: if the show would have ended when it should have there would probably have been a reboot by now. We might be living in the not-as-terrible timeline.

[@Attmay]

Maybe then people would be happy to see it back after years of it being away. Or maybe we wouldn't get all these reboots if they had packed it in 20 years ago.

[@bonedude666]

The reboot would've been bad, but at least we could look back at the original series and enjoy what we had. We don't get that luxury here. We can't look back at the original series; this _is_ (unfortunately) the original series.

[@JosefTBB]

I would argue that a reboot where the characters aged up would be better. At least they could stop erasing established lore with one.

[@le_fancy_squid]

Imagine a Simpsons reboot in the style of Velma. The thought alone is making me shudder...

[@Animenji]

My kids are pre-teens and have just started watching classic Simpsons and they LOVE IT! They've tried watching newer ones because they didn't believe me that they weren't as good, and even they had to admit that the jokes just didn't land as well. And again, They're not even teens yet! One of my greatest joys in life now is I can trade old Simpsons quotes back and forth with my kids now and we all laugh everytime, just like I was doing with my friends when we were younger.

[@maxpayne4129]

Yeah the classic Simpsons episodes are just so good. Can't compare the new at all 👍

[@pittland44]

That's wonderful.

[@ryanmason2502]

The best Simpsons took place in the '90's, and the characters KNEW it was the '90s. Homer and Marge are clearly the products of being 70's teens. You simply CAN'T believe in the least that Marge and Homer were '90's teens. They even had jokes about Y2K back then. No. Just no. Better to just have someone ask "Hey how old ARE you?" and just wave it away.

[@diegomujica4910]

@@NillaVille It would be interesting a "future episode" but instead of being a futuristic episode it's a modern day 2023 episode with the characters having the age that they're supposed to have, Bart having 44, Lisa 42 and so, and respenting the original cronology, talking about the 90s and stuff like that

[@Callaghan552]

@@diegomujica4910 Imagine a Simpsons where Homer and Marge aged into Grampa and Grandma Simpson, and Bart and Lisa had their own families and became the new "parent" roles. Like what kind of Dad would Bart be, what kind of mom would Lisa be

[@MrMapacheumr]

Make the simpsons 2 with all characters aged up and being chronocally correct with modern actual stories. Changing their past every season is a dick move

[@DullTorpor]

Yeah, they spoofed Y2K in a 'Treehouse of Horror' episode.

[@matthewlawton9241]

I don't see why it's so against protocol to just have these shows transition to period pieces. It should still be like 1989 in the Simpson's universe. That would be no LESS relateable to modern young people than the nonsense they're doing now is. Period pieces kick ass!

[@DullTorpor]

The show doesn't even _look_ interesting now, from a visual standpoint.

[@dubblewokad]

The simpsons were mishandled by younger writers with no talent. This went on for too long and allowed these hacks to poorly transition the de-aging of the springfield setting. The show became bastardized at the hands of trash writers.

[@edgarwalk5637]

Why blame the writers? The bean counters who hired them are to blame.

[@BMoser-bv6kn]

@@edgarwalk5637 List of show runners: Season 1-2: Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, & Sam Simon. Season 3-4: Al Jean & Mike Reiss. Season 5-6: David Mirkin. Season 7-8: Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein. Season 9-12: Mike Scully. Season 13-31: Al Jean. Season 32-present: Al Jean & Matt Selman I think Al Jean is 95% to blame. The Mike Scully years were pretty bad themselves (Lost Our Lisa literally made me stop watching it. The "Homer gets hurt in a cherrypicker scene" was the straw that made me walk out of the room and never come back, like a superfluous kid from an 80's sitcom. But from interviews and commentaries, Jean is obviously in charge and made the show into something new and bad.

[@CorazonMexica]

@@BMoser-bv6kn At least the Scully years had some funny jokes out of context, even if his era has my most hated episode (Maude's Flanders death). But the Al Jean era is just a flatline of nothingness with occassional frustrating moments.

[@Attmay]

I agree with that assessment. Even if Al Jean ever does step aside and let Matt Selman run the show by himself, he will likely be the last showrunner. Even if he manages to make something palatable out of this mess, it will have been too late to undo the damage done by two decades of Al Jean and Dana Gould letting this show degenerate into unfunny, cringeworthy, pandering soyboy schlock unworthy of calling itself *The Simpsons.* Mike Reiss must have been carrying Al throughout all the years they wrote together for this show, *ALF,* and *The Critic.*

[@Knight_Kin]

@@BMoser-bv6kn Ah that explains why I haven't watched since season 12 (and season 1-8 being my favorites of the series). Anything newer than that I just stopped watching a long, long time ago. 20 years now? That seems about right.

[@grahamphillips3916]

When the show began, Homer was a Boomer. Now, he's a millennial.

[@CoderatheGreat]

God I feel old. 😱

[@denimchicken104]

Shut up shut up shut UP! This is giving me an anxiety attack!

[@joshoftheapocalypse]

Yeah, I hate that.

[@torstenscholz6243]

D'ohkay, Boomer.

[@phillytheflyerable]

@@denimchicken104 shhhhhhhut uuuuuup

[@desperatemohammedantheworl5833]

"What if teen Homer was actually into hip hop?" When you said that inside I died a little.

[@mark6302]

The episode where Bart got into rap was atrocious I can't believe they did it again

[@Attmay]

@@mark6302 Now they're copying episodes that weren't any good the first time. They might as well use magic to stop an invasion by Shelbyville.

[@mickeymojito]

Homer is into Grand Funk Railroad damn it . The wild, shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner, the bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher, the competent drum work of Don Brewer.

[@consciousiota2161]

OG Homer was a boomer, and was into 60s Top 40.

[@consciousiota2161]

@@mark6302 Bart was always into rap. But him worshipping 50 Cent was a turn-off.

[@ahabduennschitz7670]

The thing is, its already hilarious when you just explain the absurdity of the Plot from older Episodes. "Mr burns is locking away the 2 dumbest Employees to hide them from Safety Inspectors" already had me rolling 🤣

[@Attmay]

I love how they are the classic cartoon dumbbells all the way down to the moose-like voices.

[@justachannel8600]

By watchings bees no less.

[@itbesilly4544]

That episode was great; the jokes hit one after another. "The bee bit my bottom, now my bottoms big" Homer causes a meltdown in a testing truck, with no nuclear material. Mr.Burns useless ejection pod. Homer Hulk, overcome because it's lunch time. To Mr.Burns bribing the officials with a mystery box.

[@beauwalker9820]

​@@Attmayand best of all, Homer was the smartest of the dumb guys. "That's why he made me head bee watching, Guy!"

[@Adam-cs3ld]

​@@itbesilly4544Not to mention when they first tell Burns its an inspection. "There must be some mistake, we... we make cookies here. Mr Burns old fashioned, good time, extra chewy.. GET THE AXE" lmao.

[@FlymanMS]

At certain point The Simpsons changed from their own show into "That one show that makes jokes about what's trendy and disregards its own origins for it"

[@nolsee1176]

The only thing about the new Simpsons that makes me laugh is finding out that they’re up to 33 seasons.

[@SuperMarioBrosIII]

@Nol See well I think we know the show won't last another 33 seasons LOL... then again?🤔🤷🤦‍♂🙆

[@mr.x2567]

It’s more depressing than funny tbh

[@lachlancalderwashere301]

At least until September when Season 34 premieres on FOX

[@bonedude666]

​@@mr.x2567It's a tragic comedy.

[@gamecokben]

I refuse to watch any Simpsons that retcons their history. I was in high school in the 90's and a huge Simpsons fan. It just doesn't work. It would be better for them to be "ageless" than for them to keep "logically" changing their date of birth. Just write a new show. Don't ruin the legacy of the Simpsons.

[@galaxypedestalfan]

The most confusing thing about that episode is how all of them were even able to be in the same high school musical, since Hibbert is nine years older than Smithers and Helen.

[@Attmay]

He is also from Alabama and went to college in Texas where “Kegmeister Julius” was a classmate of Willie Nelson.

[@anxietyfox4322]

Homer Simpsons was born in 1951. He should be around 71 in 2022. They need to cancel this fucking show already. It ain't workin' anymore. These aren't the same characters.

[@ElZilchoYo]

In a few seasons teenage Homer will be prestiging on Cod4 in the late 2000s.

[@Ocyla]

Yeah, should have been cancelled like 10 years ago.

[@11sfr]

I think season 4 gave his exact birth date as May 12, 1956, which fits with season 2 showing Marge and Homer graduating high school in 1974 (well, Homer didn't actually graduate at the time, and he also ate all the fancy soaps Marge bought for the bathroom)

[@jil2312]

It was going to end in 2011 with the episode holidays of future passed. I wondered why FOX didn't end it there. Oh wait.. money.

[@avathorman5781]

@@11sfr Did he choke from the soaps?

[@trevorlambert4226]

So Marge was in high school in 1999. And later, in 1989, she was married with three children. This is why it's best on shows like this not to reference things that can be so easily dated. Of course, this problem could have been avoided if they ended the show when it was last funny, around 1999.

[@Attmay]

It should have bowed out right when *Family Guy* and *Futurama* began. Matt Groening obviously shifted his priorities to that.

[@Лучшийотчимвмире]

I see no contradictions

[@kolyasmirno9116]

well i honestly like 2000's simpsons they were fun as 90's so i'd say 2010 or 2014 could've ends it all.

[@attention.kpopzine]

as a gen z who grew up watching and loving seasons 15-23 i think you're being too restrictive there, but it should've definitely have ended around 2013 or so

[@kangarutan1915]

I've always personally said that the Simpson's should've aged up a long time ago. Like, I know they have episodes where the characters are older, but they were always fantastical and never felt real. The smartest way to do it would have been to have Bart be the new Homer, he gets his own version of Marge and a few kids. The formula can continue except now we have some newish characters and it doesn't diminish the previously set canon. You could even have it where maybe the A plot this week is Lisa and her life and the B plot is Bart or vice versa. Homer and Marge can still show up from time to time and we can stop do the "will-they-won't-they get a divorce" plotline that comes back every 4-5 episodes now. You could even keep the running gag going from when it did show them as adults once and still never hear Maggie speak. It just feels weird growing up and, as a kid, I mostly identified with Bart but now I'm in my mid 30's and Bart is still a 10 year old boy and I guess I'm supposed to identify more with Homer now? I know we all take from a show what we want but I think The Simpson's could've been so much better but they've just been so afraid to change anything that they have now run it into the ground.

[@TheEdwardNigma]

That's a tough one. It probably would've been better to stop the show and do a spin-off like you suggested with Bart and Lisa as adults set in a modern world. But if I'm honest, I just think the current writers are just not capable of doing what they did back then. But very interesting thought.

[@therwfer]

Hey that doesn't actually sound too bad. With that premise they'd only have to fire every writer, producer and director to make it a fresh start. I'd cautious-optimistically watch that.

[@Lucky_9705]

It would have made sense to age up all of the characters 10 years. This would make Maggie about 11, Lisa 18 and Bart 20 as well as Homer and Marge be in their mid to late 50s.

[@RocketeerRaccoon]

Yeah, imagine what if the characters actually aged in real time, for instance Bart was originally born in 1980, meaning he should be 42 now.

[@Haunted_Plush]

i really don't like the modern seasons, but the time skip episodes I can at the least tolerate, and at the most actually really enjoy. I think a spin off would be perfect and really interesting, capturing the original magic with a modern twist but without trying to just take outdated references and make them make sense for a newer audience. although if this was ever to be a real show, it would have to be only a few seasons long, because it would face the same problem, growing stale but yeah that's a great idea I love it

[@l.salisbury1253]

"The guy who watched the Simpsons back in 1994 Who won't admit the damn thing isn't funny anymore!" -Stewie Griffin

[@AnnaMWatch]

I saw a discussion on twitter a while back talking about how economically, the Simpsons can only really exist in the 90s. Homer is a non-college educated man in his late 30s who owns a house and supports a family of 5 on a single salary. In the 90s, this was common, but it's almost unheard of today. When I was a kid and watched the Simpsons all the time back in the early 2000s, Homer and Marge were the same age as my parents. There's this kind of cognitive dissonance looking at modern Simpsons and knowing that they're closer in age to me now. You really can't translate that 90's parent vibe to today's late millennial parents. (Also, I haven't kept up with the show in over a decade, and holy shit I had no idea what happened to Julie Kavner's voice! She deserves several years of vocal rest after what her poor vocal cords have been through.)

[@amatheuslc]

It's good to remember that Homer is a boomer. He got his job at the power plant when Marge was pregnant with Bart, which should be in the late 70s to early 80s. By now, Homer shifted into a millenial. In the movie, his wedding's VHS tape was a plot point. By now, their marriage would have happened in the 2010s, later than even Lisa's 2010 wedding from season 6. Bart grew up with VHS and arcade games in the 80s. Nowadays, Bart is should be younger than Netflix and Minecraft. Even though they put a few more years on Homer over time, Homer's current birth date is a 3-4 years after Bart's.

[@calontour]

She can retire if she wants, but keeps doing it for the money.

[@ETBowser]

"Homer is a non-college educated man in his late 30s who owns a house and supports a family of 5 on a single salary. In the 90s, this was common, but it's almost unheard of today." They did a whole episode on this recently. I found it interesting that they'd even acknowledge it.

[@inversion9651]

@@ETBowser Which episode?

[@ETBowser]

@@inversion9651 Blanking on the name but it was the finale of this most recent season. It was a musical.

[@zmbdog]

Saying "Why care about the continuity of a cartoon?" is like saying "Why get invested in a story that isn't real? Why have books or movies or TV shows?". It's very troubling and telling that the writers of The Simpsons don't understand what storytelling even is, as is the fact that they inadvertently reveal that to them "cartoon" is inferior to other medium. These are just wannabe writers who had to settle for The Simpsons cuz they couldn't get employed elsewhere.

[@daviddechamplain5718]

I'm so sick of the entire "it's just a movie, show, etc" line. If the people making something don't care, why should I?

[@crazydragy4233]

@@daviddechamplain5718 Fr. Why the fuck should we pay you if what you make is akin to paint drying by your own conviction?

[@shawnjavery]

I mean not every cartoon has a strong sense of continuity. Something like teen titans go was fine with a very loose sense of continuity. Something like Simpsons would annoy me though.

[@davidbeddoe6670]

same kind of jaggoff writing every big IP now.

[@historyelemental7800]

@@shawnjavery Teen Titans Go, or even the original Teen Titans doesn't need to work it's continuity as hard because it already has one. The comic characters made an easy base for a serialized cartoon, which then made an insanely easy base for an episodic cartoon. Continuity is the world built behind them, Teen Titans already had one.

[@jonathancooper4914]

The decline of Julie Kravner’s voice is truly shocking.

[@GrosvnerMcaffrey]

Not shocking considering what happens do to age just a shame she's had to strain herself this long and for what?

[@catbwoy]

@@GrosvnerMcaffrey regular employment?

[@sawsbone7303]

yeah that wasnt subtle either, that was like night and day

[@illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoon]

Is not like the woman can stop aging...

[@L1am21]

She could have some self respect and retire.

[@charliecooper6586]

The Simpsons was good because if the 90s vibe it had, when they modernised it went downhill completely, changing the backstories of the characters to fit into the timeline because the characters never age just kills the show. It will never reach what it was before simply because it’s impossible to replicate that 90s feeling now.

[@mojotheaverage]

For the love of God they should end this show if for no other reason than just give Julie Kavner a break. That poor woman is destroying her voice over what is now nothing but a mediocre corpse of what was once something great

[@austinreed7343]

They managed to replace Martin Prince and Dr. Hibbert... why not everybody?

[@jackroxable]

Dont forget it has always been her choice to continue resigning for more seasons.

[@macsmith2013]

I'm sure age has contributed more to her voice changing than maybe an hour of voice acting a week. Keep in mind she was in her mid 30ies when she started as Marge and is 71 now. Your general point stands though, the Simpsons need to end.

[@channel45853]

@@macsmith2013 yeah, but a lot of people will lose their jobs. Keep that in mind.

[@GroverJ83]

I am pretty sure Producers would be more then happy if Kavner retired and they could hire a cheaper soundalike, don't think she would ever be fired though as the optics of firing any original voice actors would cost them in bad PR.

[@broadside1713]

I didn't think it would get weirder than Bart and Lisa having no idea what a CRT TV is, but here we are with Marge having made a high school production about Y2K when as far as we can tell she was already a mother of three in 1989

[@elhazthorn918]

Don’t forget that Bart had the Thriller album, too.

[@arthurfleck8777]

1- They fundamentally changed the characters 2- They went from mocking corporations to being corporate owned 3- They've become a bit too political 4- The new animation just doesn't look as good as the early animation

[@tovarischkrasnyjeshi]

They were always political with a big liberal bias. Lisa the vegetarian, Burns the evil energy sector CEO, Ned the conservative Christian guy, there was a big feud with George HW Bush trying to cancelculture them for being too edgy for families, etc. They're just more ham fisted than ever, and expect you to take their word for it instead of earning your sympathy.

[@Slayerandsprite]

They've always been "political", the problem is that the humor is a lot more watered down from the satirical tone those jokes had back then...

[@Attmay]

@@Slayerandsprite It's a watering down of a watering down. Even when re-purposed into Dark Simpsons clips, the new episodes stand out from the old ones by how stiff and sterile they feel.

[@qqq386]

They were always political but threw punches to democrats and Republicans alike. Now they are DNC activists

[@s.a.l.1974]

@@Slayerandsprite they sort of have nothing politics, just milk toast liberal or slightly reactionary politics that do nothing to challenge the status quo

[@Woah_Look]

The Simpsons is another example of what made me respect the Seinfeld cast's decision to end the series while it was still on top.

[@Pollicina_db]

Seinfeld, just like the simpsons, were the products of their time, the only reason the simpsons could go on like this is because its an animation

[@Knight_Kin]

Seinfeld still is very rewatchable because it stayed grounded in it's time. They didn't continue on and wither it away to a husk.

[@CautiousKieran]

with possibly the greatest finale in tv history.

[@BM-wh5qk]

Just pretend The Real Simpsons ended in the early 2000s and this is its soulless reboot.

[@Callmesouthern]

Nah 1997

[@BM-wh5qk]

@@Callmesouthern but then we lose the Mel Gibson episode and the dog with the shifty eyes...

[@Top10Dylan]

The movie is the finale.

[@BMoser-bv6kn]

We call everything post season 8 "Zombie Simpsons"~

[@stelkin656]

Yes, early 2000! The angry dad episode and Halloween special where Homer clones himself are too damn funny to not exist.

[@eddstarr2185]

When Phil Hartman died in 1998, it felt like my television screen dimmed a little. A welcomed brightness that The Simpsons always brought simply wasn't there anymore.

[@Attmay]

He'd be alive today if not for Andy Dick yet Joe Rogan gets all the hate.

[@GrosvnerMcaffrey]

Do you believe in the curse of atuk?

[@thema1998]

I knew that you'd *finally* talk about Julie Kavner's vocal decline! Even in the modern Simpsons episodes that I like and/or enjoy, hearing Marge speak makes me feel uncomfortable. It pains me to say this but she needs to be replaced at some point. She can still play Patty, Selma, and their mother but not Marge. EDIT (5/1/22): Replaced the accidental second "like" with "enjoy" and added a "be". 🤓👍

[@Haildawn]

Watching the Simpsons at dinner with my family was part of growing up. Now its just cringe to watch with my family because of how bad the jokes are, when its on tv everyone sits there awkwardly in second hand embarrasment. I think that says a lot about how the show has changed lmao

[@PoisonousPen]

The Simpsons should’ve stayed in the 90’s. Bart with a smartphone just doesn’t ride.

[@GPS_DS]

Especially with how detailed the smartphone drawing is compared to how simple the designs of the Simpsons are.

[@borntoclimb7116]

90s and early, middle 2000s

[@PeterParker-ff7ub]

the problem is they arent the same characters and the story makes no sense now. nothing to do with technology.

[@JonathanGaeta]

@@PeterParker-ff7ub thus why it’s called Zombie Simpsons because none of the characters acts like they used to back in the day.

[@beefusdoesstuff5194]

It would have made the show pretty unique today.

[@mrsary7868]

As someone who was one when the Simpson's first aired, I can't "brush off" that Marge was at high school at the same time as me in 1999. I really think they should have made these 2000s flashbacks by grown up Bart and Lisa.

[@gridlock7425]

It was half dead in season 9. It should have ended decades ago. When you start losing voice talent due to dying of old age.. maybe it's time. Besides, Marge's character got lobotomized long, long ago.

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

Julie Kavner's voice is a true tragedy. Moe's voice changed early on in the show because it was too hard to be done long-term (and Dr. Marvin Monroe was killed off for the same reason). Julie stated in the past that doing Grandma Bouvier's voice was equally hard on her. Now, she's stuck sounding like she's always in Grandma Bouvier mode, and I wish they would just end the show for that reason alone. Let the poor lady retire!

[@xFlareLeon]

Dr. Monroe is still alive, he was just very, very sick.

[@Smithy082]

Moe's voice changed?

[@ericjohnson6634]

I doubt she's contractually bound at this point. She would just have to say "enough" to all the money she's offered.

[@tubularmonkeymaniac]

$$$$

[@vivchim]

marge used to have such a warm voice; but now, it sounds like something scraping on something. it breaks my heart.

[@spandytube]

It's weird that the current writing staff wants you to not care about Simpsons continuity and constantly rewrite the characters' histories when in the first ten seasons there was a lot of care that went into them. The origin of Homer and Marge getting together, having Bart, then Lisa, then Maggie, all fit together seamlessly and made that world feel so real. Now it's like, "of course it's not real, don't worry about it." Really a shame.

[@TheGrimStride]

They kinda have to since it doesn’t make sense for homer and marge to be kids in the 70s bc then the family would have to be 20 years older

[@JB-fp3fb]

@@TheGrimStride There's really no reason that each new episode has to be set during the time it was produced/released. Most of the time it doesn't make any difference to an episode's plot or jokes what years it is meant to be in Springfield; and, when they do need a date, keeping it around 1989-ish would usually have worked just as well. And that's just the option that's seems best to me off the top of my head. The writers/producers of the modern Simpsons certainly didn't HAVE TO make it like this, they had plenty of choices.

[@commentingisawasteoftime7195]

@@TheGrimStride it would be kinda funny to have made them permanently the same age no matter what year it is and make Bart question why their memories from the 1970s are more than 30 years ago.

[@FernieCanto]

The writers want us to not care about continuity and simply forget about the pasts of the characters, but it *CONSTANTLY* makes those "nudge nudge wink wink" callbacks to older episodes. That is, when the writers want to pull stupid plot ideas out of their ass, we're told to "forget the past"; but when they want to pat themselves on the back for their past glories, then we have to remember it? The fucking NARCISSISM, man.

[@GeteMachine]

@PestoMayo Problem is, people would complain about the show if they were obvious about being stuck in the 90s. Bit when shows get updated they overcompensate by emphasizing the new technology way too uch, like what the Simpsons does.

[@dinolover]

The fact that they set Marge to be in high school in the 2000's is what made me discredit all of this. I remember Y2K so why the hell am I all of a sudden in the same age range as people who were originally pitched to have attended high school in the 80's! Marge was an adult when I was a infant and now she's in her mid 30's like me?

[@RIPLOUDOG]

fr, didnt they have a y2k episode back in the day ?

[@dinolover]

@@deanjustdean7818 this is why shows like this and Pokemon are trash fires now. They're so afraid to change up a winning formula that they look stupid for keeping these characters in a state of immortality. I wouldn't be surprised to be in my 40's and all of a sudden Homer is 25 again.

[@lainiwakura1776]

@@dinolover Pokemon purposely caters to a new crop of children every season, unlike Simpsons which is trying to relive its glory days in its 40s.

[@camelopardalis84]

70s, even!

[@eatatjoes6751]

@@deanjustdean7818 This is also what happens when you revive a franchise after everyone collectively declared it dead, and even if everyone wants it back, it's *STILL* weird to see it (like the Hey Arnold finale movie: as good as it is wrapping up the cliffhanger the last episode brought, it's still freaky to see the kids of PS 118 carrying around smartphones when they're canonically still designed like they're from 1996) because of the dumb floating timeline rule.

[@mcj88]

6:02 - Honestly that kind of response to criticism has always bugged me a bit. To me, if you're asking "why care about the continuity of a cartoon?" Then you might as well just take out "the continuity of" and just ask "why care about a cartoon?" Which y'know, really shouldn't be something the _director of a cartoon_ should be saying, in my opinion at least.

[@NoriMori1992]

It's difficult to respond to, because it's true that it's not always necessary for a show to have much continuity. (e.g. Bugs Bunny) But, that generally only works if that is clearly and specifically what you're going for from the very beginning, because you're doing some kind of absurdist humour. And even in "normal" cartoons, where the audience is willing to accept some lack of continuity (most cartoons, and even a lot of live-action shows, already ignore continuity at least a little bit), there's only so far you can take it. And you need to be fairly consistent about how much you do. It seems like a lot of people don't understand that. They think that if the audience is willing to accept _some_ lack of continuity, they must accept _any and all_ lack of continuity.

[@discounthoody]

This isn't really related to the subject of the discussion but if you're ever wondering where the best place to stop watching the Simpsons is, or where you can tell someone to stop watching: the final episode of season 11, "behind the laughter" is essentially the perfect final episode. Better than any kind of closer the show could get in the future.

[@aaronsarchive82]

AGREED! The sad thing is, the staff didn't know of they would get renewed for a Season 12, so they created that episode as a finale. To me, it is the true ending to show, despite the fact that there are episodes of "Zombie Simpsons" that I quite enjoy.

[@Tarquin23]

I think that’s an acceptable ending. I do think however that S12 and S13 do have some great episodes still, so if someone was still looking forward to episodes they could watch those two as the final hurrahs. S14 onwards in my opinion is mostly very random episode plots where it completely stopped being a sitcom, having any real interesting character development, the bland digital styling started to become unbearable, and before they started major retcons to character backstories. If someone was still desperate I could recommend the film to them but that would be it. I’m not really sure who The Simpsons is for anymore, and no one ever talks about it? Who still watches these new episodes? 🤔

[@leob4403]

@@Tarquin23 its still a better show than rick and morty and all those junk shows

[@Tarquin23]

@@leob4403 I don’t think I can agree with that, at least Rick and Morty has some sort of style and substance to it.

[@leob4403]

@@Tarquin23 no it's constant fart and burp "jokes", it's the dumbest thing I ever tried to watch, apparently it's funny that Rick burps all the time? Rehashing ideas that were done far far better in Futurama and even Back to the future, thats substance?And you are complaining about simpsons season 14, its the effing Godfather part 2 by comparison. Rick and morty is like something a 5 year old would come up with me

[@ayoutubechannel3813]

FOX should realize that just because The Simpsons received extremely high ratings in the early 1990s, that doesn't mean that you should keep the show going for more than *30 years.*

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

Tell that to Disney they own Fox

[@leob4403]

They might aswell keep the show going since the competition is so weak. Rick and Morty anyone? Nails on a chalkboard, complete garbage

[@battokizu]

@@leob4403 No. ;)

[@therealcaldini]

@@leob4403 Just to be 100% sure, because I think you’ve only mentioned it a bazillion times so far, Rick and Morty isn’t as good as the Simpsons. Is that the message you’re trying to get across?

[@RocStarr913]

@@MASTEROFEVIL Disney doesn’t own Fox. They own the entertainment studio that Fox used to be part of, which is now 20th Century.

[@MetalTrenches]

The saddest thing to me is that this show has become exactly what it was mocking to begin with

[@thepickles8833]

The episode where Bart and Lisa asked what a VCR was made me verbally shout “FCK YOU!” at the show.

[@kylejohnson8447]

As someone who hasnt watched past like season 10, Marge’s current voice was shocking to hear!!!

[@adamwally]

I remember being so happy when I was finally the same age as Bart. Now I'm a few years off Homer and Marge, as I was also in high school for the year 2000.

[@chakryand]

I haven’t watched the show in YEARS but hearing that short clip of Marge’s voice….I’m never going to watch again. They need to end it.

[@akorn9943]

Honestly. I wasn’t prepared for that.

[@itspienoon7883]

I just feel really bad for her voice actress. Like she needs some honey and take a break for a while.

[@bobdmz6437]

They try too hard to make it emotional and feel good. The show lost it’s edge and all the characters are always smiling. I also hate the guest stars, they’re never made fun of and they are always best friends with Bart or Lisa.

[@CorazonMexica]

Another thing that annoys me a lot from modern Simpsons and no one else mentions is when they try to make emotional moments, they are very irony-free and 100% straight. So saccharine that feel completely unearned and forced. The Simpsons back then were great at creating genuine heartwarming moments that also were surrounded by absurdity and balanced with funny cynicism.

[@GeteMachine]

"Irony free" sums up the problem with why its not even funny anymore.

[@Attmay]

@@GeteMachine Disney doesn't do irony well. They came close to getting it during the years they had a production deal with Witt-Thomas-Harris, the production team behind *The Golden Girls* and *Empty Nest.*

[@thedungeondelver]

The original Simpsons had pathos. That stopped around the time of the Frank Grimes episode. They threw away a decade of character development for some genuinely and meaninglessly cruel shit.

[@KingYou2002]

Agreed. I think the last 2 Simpsons seasons are very overrated

[@ElVlogdeBob]

I remember watching the "That 90s Show" episode where Marge and Homer met in the 90s. I think that was the first of many Simpsons episodes I really, truly hated. I haven't seen them since the early 2010s and this video just confirms I haven't missed that much.

[@MaverickTsuki]

That episode and the Lady Gaga one were the series' nails on the coffin. While some say everything went downhill between seasons 8 and 13, those two fully betrayed The Simpsons as a whole.

[@Attmay]

Shudder. Cringe. Even Weird Al couldn't save that episode for me. The man is comedy royalty (a word to the wise: never eat concert nachos) but his two appearances on this show were disappointing as fuck, and I blame the writers.

[@tombuck]

It would’ve been great if they just made the show a “period piece” and kept the original-ish time frames.

[@mycuhroni5052]

I had no idea Marge sounded like that now, that’s insanely rough

[@locar7935]

I would love to see a video about disenchantment Matt's other series

[@johnwerner69]

is that still going?

[@Bale4Bond]

Dead on arrival

[@mojotheaverage]

It's so bad. I've never watched a show where the sound mixing was so distractingly bad, which says something about how bland the show was if that was one of my standout memories of it

[@bukunmiogunyomi3848]

@@mojotheaverage what about Futurama

[@Bale4Bond]

@@bukunmiogunyomi3848 good for around half a season

[@funnymanonyourscrean]

It’s genuinely really tragic how much I agree with you. They traded in some really great characterisation for cheap quips and out of place pop culture references that in my opinion feel so out of place for how stylised the Simpsons is for the 80s

[@Zoroasterisk]

You either get cancelled too early or run long enough to make sad and obvious references to a disinterested audience that's long moved on, souring your once-great reputation in the process.

[@eatatjoes6751]

@@Zoroasterisk Yep.

[@ethanjobson3879]

I always thank god Futurama didn’t stick around long enough to go this far into the toilet and hope the reboot doesn’t change that.

[@Attmay]

@@ethanjobson3879 The Comedy Central episodes were headed down that road, but at least it had an ending.

[@Multiroester]

The change in characters is just sad. Characters back then: Homer: Dumb but not stupid, lovely, caring and actually with heart Marge: heartwarming mom, not nagging at everything Bart: Cheecky, but also lovely Lisa: Intelligent, mostly reserved and now everyones annoying and unfunny af

[@whompronnie]

The Simpsons even inspired the modern term for it: Flanderization - Turning characters into a caricature of their most easily-written trait.

[@originaluseername]

“dumb” homer is not deaf or mute. do research before you use a word.

[@Reyob]

​@@originaluseernameNot a single soul but yours use the word dumb to refer as someone deaf or mute, and if YOU did research on the word you would see the first result always say the same, that dumb refer as idiot.

[@Attmay]

In the case of Ned Flanders, he became a vehicle for their hatred of Christianity while handling Islam with kid gloves. They went from that to Krusty the Klown turning his back on Judaism altogether after becoming a bar mitzvah late in life!

[@Journey_to_who_knows]

Moe, from somewhat cynical to constantly trying to kill himself

[@cafeAmericano]

I've never seen a show more worthy of being put out of its misery then the current Simpsons

[@terminatrix92]

I didnt realise that the sound of Marge's voice had become so croaky. Yes that was always a part of the character but captainmidnight is right that the voice has lost its exuberance.

[@DarkNugget]

The Simpsons was such a part of the zeitgeist growing up for me that I can't even believe there are people who haven't seen it before (as some comments here suggest). I'm well into my thirties now and I haven't watched the show since my teens, but it's really sad that it couldn't go out with dignity and is just being kept alive like some lab animal. The fact that a fair amount of the most iconic voice actors have passed away, including the absolute best character in the show - Lionel Hutz, should be a sign that the creative integrity is long gone here.

[@nyouge]

I talked to a little boy that was raised and a very Duggar like atmosphere and he asked me which one was Bart...

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

they should have ended it with the release of the Simpsons Movie, just as the creators originally had pitched back in the late 90s and early 2000s. And yet... here we are...

[@conorsmith8551]

The Simpsons movie came to late for me anyway , the should have done it in 2000 and capitalised then on the massive success of the 90s, seeemed like the movie was done to reignite the show and make it go on for another 17 years like that was the halfway point to them. Surely it is going to end this decade but it’s actually tarnishing the reputation of the show and insulting to people that grew up with the show to see the hack it’s become

[@ludd4411]

@@conorsmith8551The Simpsons movie was in development hell for a long time. Among the ideas they had for a Simpsons movie was Simpstasia, a parody of Fantasia; a live-action movie based on Phil Hartman’s Troy McClure, using the plot of the episode “A Fish Called Selma”, but the project was cancelled after Hartman’s death in 1998; and the episode “Kamp Krusty”, which was originally suggested as a plotline for a movie. In order to find the right story as producers feared the movie would have a negative effect on the series producers built the “strongest possible” writing team, bringing together many writers from the series’ early seasons. Over the years, almost 160 different stories were written before choosing the final one, as many of those plots were repurposed for the television episodes such as “The Bonfire of the Manatees” and even the concept of The Simpsons Game, where the Simpsons were aware they were characters in a video game, was initially an idea for the movie.

[@burtbackattack]

Having not watched a new episode of the Simpsons in about 15 years to hear how Marge's voice has diminished is genuinely heartbreaking.

[@dorgfanger]

I grew up watching the Simpsons consistently, via both reruns in the late afternoon and new episodes Sunday nights. When people meme the idea of “Season 1-(insert number between 5-12) are the best”, it’s because those fans that make claims like that everywhere the series is discussed is because the older seasons have a noticeable quality and charm to them that make them THE defining satire of American life of the time. Your point of Marge and Homer going on a date for Empire and the Old Men of Springfield fighting in WW2 are core elements of the family dynamics - transplanting it decades ahead to maintain a flowing timeline structure ala Marvel comics makes the show essentially meaningless. The struggles of the Flying Hellfish, the idea that Homer got a job at a brand new Nuclear Plant (and was able to raise 3 children with 2 cars in a 4 bedroom house on just that salary), and so many others are key to understanding the interactions of the characters and the purpose of the show. Homer and Marge were 18 in 1999 now? Cool, how the FUCK can they afford what they have in Oregon now?! Even assuming the base salary of a Nuclear Safety Technician for today, roughly $85,000 in the US, homes like that in the PNW are going for millions. My problem with the show isn’t just that the timeline keeps jumping, it’s because it has no meaning other than lazy jokes of modernity. Futurama worked better in that regard, as Sci-fi often does, because they can not only mock whatever is popular but also do it in a context that makes sense to our POV character Fry. Simpsons now is just a walking corpse, waiting to hit a final goal post of legendary television status/the cast dying off before finally calling it quits, only to remain forever on tv via syndication.

[@ivorydungeon909]

As someone who has watched the show since its inception and has continued to do so (some decades after it has moved on from a genuine thrill, to a fannish obligation, and now to a quasi-study of the postmodern), I feel your pain. Still, no amount of terrible episodes can destroy the outstanding ones. Disney has the plant but we have the power.

[@williamlanger9229]

this show should've ended literally 20 years ago. so weird to think about

[@CorazonMexica]

25 years ago.

[@ToxicTurquoise454]

@@CorazonMexica no.

[@CorazonMexica]

@@ToxicTurquoise454 yes

[@luckylol]

Id say it should have ended with behind the laughter on season 11

[@luckylol]

Or season 8 homer's enemy

[@markcharron]

The show went from mocking cultural tropes to enforcing them for all of time. The "dumb dad" thing doesnt say anything anymore to current American society. The "Marge is a suffering housewife" doesn't say anything about most modern women. ..etc. Yet the show is perpetually stuck having to reinforce cultural norms as though they were merely mocking them. If Homer is a millennial now, how come he drinks cheap beer and hangs out at dive bars to pass his time? Most millennials don't do such things. ..etc. As the result, even the shallowest Bob's Burgers episode is 10 times more progressive than the Simpsons can ever be.

[@quangamershyguyyz7166]

It’s just a cartoon show dude. Don’t take it too seriously.

[@mmjahink]

@@quangamershyguyyz7166 Dude, this shit actually matters. How dare you.

[@garyschollmeier616]

@@quangamershyguyyz7166 the real "non thinking man" of our generation.

[@MrHendrix17]

@@quangamershyguyyz7166 it's just a KZbin comment don't take it too seriously

[@antoinedesgagnes9969]

Randy Marsh is a more timeless dumb dad who drinks cheap beer. South Park is built on something different that is more flexible and more time-resistant. One thing among others that save South Park's parents, and a lot of other characters, is their visual appearance inherited from the primitive drawing and animation style of the first season. The visual gap make them out-of-time. It does help to suspension of disbelief.

[@cujoedaman]

The phrase "you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain" really hits hard when talking about The Simpsons. They've literally become the very thing the show satirized back in the 80's-90's.

[@ShinRyojin]

The lack of continuity is one of the biggest problems with the current writers as it shows that they have no respect for the history of the show and the character development. Two examples come mind: 1) Moonshine River when Bart visits his ex-girlfriends, Gina and Darcy tell him off even though their relationships ended amicably. It was another “let’s shit on Bart” moment that Modern Simpsons loves to do. 2) Kamp Krustier shows Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearny rioting along with the campers even though they escaped with Mr Black and their bullying is one of the reasons the campers revolted.

[@conedx]

i'm very confused. what do "current writers" have to do with the kamp krusty episode?

[@ShinRyojin]

@@conedx Recently they did a sequel episode to Kamp Krusty called Kamp Krustier.

[@SanzerMations]

the original writer from kamp krusty also did kamp krustier, thats not the "current writers" fault the crapping on bart stuff has been around since i think boys of bummer and that was s18 i think

[@ShinRyojin]

⁠​⁠@@SanzerMationsThe fact the the original writer was involved makes it worse. Shows that he couldn’t even provide continuity to the the sequel of his own episode. Bart’s mistreatment happening since season 18. Ok, that still doesn’t make it better. 17 seasons later and they still treat him like shit, especially since he’s an iconic character and in the golden era he’s established as a brilliant but misguided kid.

[@Attmay]

Bart understands people. Lisa understands concepts. That’s why the episodes where they work together to uncover mysteries were so great.

[@blupunk01]

This reminds me of the excellent video The Fall of the Simpsons: How it Happened about how the show transformed from a hilariously biting satire that was carefully written and deeply character driven into the bafflingly unfunny simulacrum it is today. Hard to believe that video will turn 5 years old in 2022 while zombie Simpsons keeps shambling on.

[@Bingo_the_Pug]

“I haven’t watched an episode since season 29” Sheeesh, I haven’t watched since like, season 10. I want to love The Simpsons as I used to when I was a kid. Imagine not having a slice of pepperoni pizza since you were 12 & you’re in your mid 30’s now.

[@WiggaMachiavelli]

If you watch New Simpsons after watching Old Simpsons, you can see that New Simpsons is a pastiche derived from Old Simpsons. If you watch Old Simpsons after watching New Simpsons, you can see that Old Simpsons is a satire aimed squarely at New Simpsons.

[@MPOMusic88]

It is also weird how they now portray all the non-senior adult characters as being the same age and went to school together at the same time whereas in the past Dr. Hibbert and Smithers were both portrayed as being at least 10 years older than Homer and Marge. Pretty sure the Lovejoy's moved to Springfield once the reverend began preaching at the First Church of Springfield. Wiggum was also portrayed as a teenager in the flashback when Homer's mom breaks into Burns' germ factory and Homer is a child at the time.

[@Tabi-Kun]

9:35 this is why I liked the older animation better, they were able to make exaggerated and funny faces like this back then, you don’t see this anymore

[@123adamhewitt]

Marge's voice is like nails on a chalkboard. I find it cruel that she still has to perform the role even thou it sounds like really hurts to talk.

[@kristoffer8609]

"has to". Does she really though? Like is someone holding her at gunpoint and forcing her to perform as Marge?

[@kristoffer8609]

​@@justanormalguy563 Why does that matter? Someone like her isn't hurting for money and could retire easily. Or get another job if she really needs one. If you have "Marge from The Simpsons" on your CV, I'm sure there would be acting jobs available. There is nothing cruel about this. She's obviously choosing it herself.

[@kristoffer8609]

​@@justanormalguy563 Don't sound so defeated. It's alright. You were wrong and that's okay.

[@Stribog1337]

I felt bad too, like for every Simpsons episode for you to enjoy, someone had to physically suffer. Bizarre

[@WarpChaos]

@@justanormalguy563 She could probably retire and live off the residuals.

[@boglurker2043]

I feel really bad for Marge’s voice actor. That woman’s vocal cords are holding on for dear life.

[@JustLoro]

Dont feel bad. They get paid like 300 thousand dollars per episode