At what point did The Simpsons lose it for you?

[Redway]

There’s no denying that the show peaked at some point in the noughties (at a push) but where would you pinpoint the decline (this thread’s more for Uber-Simpsons fans)?

[Novo]

never really watched it properly, obviously seen the odd episodes but not something i ever watched episode after episode

[Scarlett.]

The modern episodes from the late 2000s is where it really dropped off

[Ramsay]

Bart's ADHD episode is the last good episode I remember. Can't think of a good episode after that. And that was season 12 I think

[Epic.]

For me to be 'lost' against something I'd previously enjoy, it would have to be due to something really major. While the show was beginning to lose momentum around the seasons 11-13 area, I'd still argue everything up to the movie was capable of still being quite good or at the very least watchable. Really it was post-movie in season 19 onwards where I was just growing sick of it.

I remember there was one particularly bad modern episode that made me never want to watch a new one ever again, in which Homer dies within his own home, gets cloned to be revived and then dies over and over, then his self(???) is inputted into being a computer(???) and then it leads to a really drab and uninspired "set in the future" Christmas episode that was coincidentally the sequel to a much better set in the future Christmas episode, stealing a lot of its plot points to make a really unfunny and awful experience for me to sit through. How I describe it sounds like one of those Halloween episodes where you can enjoy the absurdity of it all, but instead it's canonically a future-episode; but none of it makes any sense and is where things permanently "lost it" for me.

[Jake.]

After season 10. It was still good, but the heart had gone.

[Jordan.]

13/14 seems a good shout. Going through the episodes list that becomes the point there's more I dislike / don't care about than ones I do.

[Bollo]

Mid nineties... i don't know what season that is but South Park had just come out and i switched to that

[Smithy]

13/14 seems a good shout. Going through the episodes list that becomes the point there's more I dislike / don't care about than ones I do.

Yeah I’d say this too

ALTHOUGH I will say some of the recent eps are screams

[Elliot]

It was always kinda **** and dry

[hijaxers]

Never watched it sorry ~ never wanted to !

[Alf]

Baby on board, how I've adored
That sign on my car's window pane
The bounce in my step, loaded with pep
'Cause I'm driving in the carpool lane
Call me a square, friend i don't care
That little yellow sign can be ignored
I'm telling you its mighty nice each trip's a trip to paradise
with my baby on board

[Alf]

My favourite Simpsons moment ever


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[Daniel.]

Everything after 9/10

[Daniel.]

How can anyome vote after s6? 7 was iconic

[Redway]

Never watched it sorry ~ never wanted to !

Cool story.

[GoldHeart]

I think after season 13 , but tbh episodes and seasons were still ok but the much older episodes will always be better & funnier. They were the classics.

And it's definitely been milked to death now ,I can't keep up with the seasons . They've gone past season 30 now I think :facepalm: .

[user104658]

Remember in the early days when Homer was an abusive alcoholic rather than a silly bumbling ol' dad?

[Strictly Jake]

I stopped watching after they stopped showing it on bbc2 in the evenings. So no idea what season that would have been

[Epic.]

Remember in the early days when Homer was an abusive alcoholic rather than a silly bumbling ol' dad?

Can't tell if this is purposefully saying things backwards or not

[Stu]

13th of 14th sounds about right. The Tony Hawk episode is a decent cut off point. Remember how much Sky hyped that, for their 300th episode? It seemed to dye cast the new way forward for the Simpsons. Celebrity guests for the sake of it, shallower storytelling, goofy jokes.

Spiderpig is somewhere alongside Pickle Rick and Del falling through the bar in comedy hell.

[Jessica.]

I still love the show, it was a massive part of my childhood. I got Lisa vans from a friend for my birthday in September. I would say it lost its spark for me around 2005, haven't seen any episodes in years though, so I might like it now, who knows?

[GoldHeart]

Remember in the early days when Homer was an abusive alcoholic rather than a silly bumbling ol' dad?

When Simpsons was first created they portrayed Homer as a strict authority figure, Dan Castaleta (I always get his name wrong) used a deep voice. But then writers wanted him to sound more dumb hence the voice change .

[rusticgal]

Never watched it sorry ~ never wanted to !

I watched a bit of one....never again.

[Redway]

Remember in the early days when Homer was an abusive alcoholic rather than a silly bumbling ol' dad?

It's a common character trope across sitcoms (taking the slightly goofy/ditzy character and turning them into a moron). Similar story for Eric (Boy Meets World).

[Redway]

It's a little ironic because Homer's instance coupled with the way they exaggerated Ned's piety as the show wore on is where that term Flanderisation comes from.

[Oliver_W]

I still find it fine. I don't have particularly High standards in my televised comedy animations, so as long as it's not absolutely dreadful and doesn't piss me off, I'm Good.

[Niamh.]

I never really followed it in order, just watched an episode here and there if there was nothing else on TV really

[Vicky.]

This is something I never really watched, but would watch if it was on. Still do. Probably watched it more like..18 years or so back, but that would be more as I watched more tv in general then :S

So many friends watched it religiously though when I was a teen. Who now find it rubbish. So by that, I would say it lst its spark about..15 years back?! Whatever season that would make that.

This whole post makes me feel so damn old :bored:

[Redway]

This is something I never really watched, but would watch if it was on. Still do. Probably watched it more like..18 years or so back, but that would be more as I watched more tv in general then :S

So many friends watched it religiously though when I was a teen. Who now find it rubbish. So by that, I would say it lst its spark about..15 years back?! Whatever season that would make that.

This whole post makes me feel so damn old :bored:

Probably about season 16-ish.

[Redway]

I feel like The Simpsons peaked between seasons 3 and 12. The first 2 seasons were very strange, almost like a whole pilot show where they were still trying to figure out characters’ identities and what they were about. Lisa wasn’t intelligent in the very beginning (IIRC) and Homer, like Oliver said, was more of an abusive alcoholic (the long-running “why, you little!” strangling gap was obviously there to stay) than the bumbling loveable toad we know him as today. It’s so weird.

Season 3 is old, classic, vintage but the characters actually have recognisable form.

Bart was always Bart, still. But so was Lisa in the very beginning. Or maybe that was just on the Tracey Ulman Show (a very bizarre prelude). The whole vibe from 1987-1990 was just so different to what we grew accustomed to later.

[Redway]

I feel like The Simpsons peaked between seasons 3 and 12. The first 2 seasons were very strange, almost like a whole pilot show where they were still trying to figure out characters’ identities and what they were about. Lisa wasn’t intelligent in the very beginning (IIRC) and Homer, like Oliver said, was more of an abusive alcoholic (the long-running “why, you little!” strangling gap was obviously there to stay) than the bumbling loveable toad we know him as today. It’s so weird.

Season 3 is old, classic, vintage but the characters actually have recognisable form.

Bart was always Bart, still. But so was Lisa in the very beginning. Or maybe that was just on the Tracey Ullman Show (a very bizarre prelude). The whole vibe from 1987-1990 was just so different to what we grew accustomed to later.

Actually, minor point of correction, sha. I was remembering the Tracey Ullman show exclusively (their 1987/88 skits there), where she was almost just a female version of Bart. She was actually smart and otherwise like herself in seasons 1 and 2 of the main show.

[Swan]

Early 00's. Favourite episodes will always be Call Of The Simpsons and You Only Move Twice mainly because i had them on VHS when i was a kid, and have fond memories of watching them when i was off sick. But i have no interest in modern Simpsons, not for any particular reason, it just doesn't appeal to me anymore. But i could easily watch any 90's episodes if they happened to be on TV or Twitch

[Redway]

I still think anything from even season 20 onwards (its modern-modern era) is a million times better than the Tracey Ullman prelude. That stuff was hideous. That or it just didn’t age well.

It’s still a good show, really. Seasons 3 - 12 is arguably its peak and season 20 onwards its definitively poorer-quality modern version (not that it didn’t have problems from at least season 13 onwards) but it had an eerie-in-a-disconcerting-way feel to it in the past and the Tracey Ullman stuff was very strange so to me I’d just rather watch even the latest season (I think it’s 35, tbh) than anything before like season 3. Only the episode where Bleedin. Gumz tries to cure Lisa’s jazz blues is something I can easily watch and really vibe with in its apt melancholy. The rest just feel kinda spooky and rough in a bad way. It was definitely from season 3 where the whole show became more The Simpsons in the way we know it today. Not putting the first two seasons on the same level as Tracey Ullman (who always did better in our Slough) on anything like the same level by any means but to me they weren’t the best seasons either and still a bit too crude ’round the Springfield edges.

[Redway]

^

I’m talking about the cut The Simpsons had on the Tracey Ullman show before the main show, btw, if anyone remembers. Effectively season 0.

[Swan]

^

I’m talking about the cut The Simpsons had on the Tracey Ullman show before the main show, btw, if anyone remembers. Effectively season 0.

Yeah ive seen some on youtube, completely different vibe to what it become in the 90's. The Tracey Ullman stuff is not remembered fondly. I can't quite put my finger on it, but yeah, it's just got such an off feel looking back.

[Redway]

I know there were huge legal issues and people like Matt Groening wanting the Tracey Ullman skits to be locked into the recesses of history and not seen again by anyone. That’s how bad they come across as.

[Dogeatdog]

Probably around the time when the movie was released. If I be honest I’m surprised that The Simpsons didn’t finish after the film and has still carried on going for so long.

It’s still played on Channel 4 and one of the Sky Channels (I think Atlantic?) and I normally have it on in the background and don’t really pay attention to it. The earlier episodes kinda hit more as I have memories of them. I remember The Simpsons Hit & Run PS2 game when that came out. Spent so many hours playing the game and I remember you could unlock costumes and cars that were featured in certain episodes of the show and I would remember which episodes they were from (Homer’s Mumu costume, Marge and the Canyonero, Homer and The Car Built for Homer).

[Redway]

https://youtu.be/7jZvI11QyIk?si=ETW0lkv6AB4uZY0A

Ugh. This is the stuff of nightmares.

[Dogeatdog]

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This was probably one of my favourite episodes.

[Redway]

It’s not a competition either way and that’s the ironic point of Family Guy in a way, I suppose, but Peter Griffin is just such a horrific father compared to Homer Simpson (who at least cares about his children) it’s unbelievable. The fact that Peter and Lois consistently put down Meg and neither of them truly know who Stewie is doesn’t help, either. Even though I love Family Guy in a funny kind of way (and Brian’s obviously my guy), it’s actually a terrible show compared to The Simpsons.

[Ray.]

8G8WoE17hC4

This was probably one of my favourite episodes.

Great episode. Conan O'Brien didn't write many episodes, but the ones he did are all certified classics, with Marge vs the Monorail and Homer Goes to College being top ten worthy imo.

My personal favourite episode is either Homer at the Bat

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Or Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner

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[Ray.]

Great episode. Conan O'Brien didn't write many episodes, but the ones he did are all certified classics, with Marge vs the Monorail and Homer Goes to College being top ten worthy imo.

My personal favourite episode is either Homer at the Bat

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Or Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner

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And how could I forget Simpson and Delilah. :facepalm: Definitely a three-way tie between these episodes for my favourite.

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[Redway]

https://youtu.be/nmsnJ78-EbQ?si=l0l21r1JKy5wP0eP

Seriously, this stuff was hideous. I know The Simpsons isn’t what it used to be but anyone who prefers the Tracey Ullman show over even the Scully era or season 35 is blatantly just talking plonky beggars. At least the new stuff is the Simpsons, however supposedly post-vintage, for better or worse. At the time of the TU shorts it hadn’t become the Simpsons yet.

[Ray.]

I was watching a few of the early Treehouse of Horror specials recently, what with Halloween just being round the corner. They're such great fun. I think my favourite is the one where Homer gets his head turned into a donut by the Devil.

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[Redway]

https://youtu.be/LNvvClxEjZw?si=hQy7HamZ5N6LQ7nW

This has got to be a Treehouse of Horror special, right?

[Redway]

I was watching a few of the early Treehouse of Horror specials recently, what with Halloween just being round the corner. They're such great fun. I think my favourite is the one where Homer gets his head turned into a donut by the Devil.

q4py84dw0Ro

Season 1 was so eerie it didn’t need a Treehouse of Horror sequel.

[Adamw92]

I don’t mind it still as like a background show where you don’t really pay attention but if I wad to say when I stopped finding it funny… maybe around Season 14/15.

[Redway]

I don’t mind it still as like a background show where you don’t really pay attention but if I wad to say when I stopped finding it funny… maybe around Season 14/15.

What do you make of season 1?