Simpsons rant (1 Viewer)

BrettV · Jun 30, 2003

Yesterday, I had an 8 hour driving experience. In times of boredom, one often contemplates things that ... well .. really don't matter. sooooooooooooooo ...

I haven't seen a good, new Simpsons episode in quite a while. I understand that it has to change after so many seasons, but it seems like they've gotten away from the good stuff and started throwing in cheap, foolish jokes like ...

Too many drug references. How many times can you see 420 and think it's funny?

Marge trying to be cool. It's not funny like the old days "Now I'm a real hot rod mama, aye kids?" .. now it's like she says things that are "cool" now .. like "foschizzle" and things of that nature. It's just NOT funny at all.

Enough of the Maggie shot Mr. Burns stuff. How many times can they come back and reference it? I'm sure they will in the new movie, too.

Celebrity guests .... why .. oh WHY do they have to have celebrity guests on every episode? It's like they're just trying to fill time now.

Whatever happened to Bart and his prank phone calls to Moe? Come on! How hard is it to work one in every once in a while?

To me, this started about season 11 and has continued on. And I personally blame the new writers. I don't like them. I miss Conan and the originals. I can watch an older episode and laugh outloud through most of it. I watch the new ones and MAYBE get 1 - 2 chuckles through the entire 22 minutes.

Flame away.

-Brett

Jesse Blacklow · Jun 30, 2003

I'd agree with you that The Simpsons has been dishing out less of the laughs the last couple of seasons, but in some ways, it's getting better.

For one thing, it's got the stones to present relevant political commentary in a blatant manner, which is surprising for Fox. On no other highly-rated primetime show have I seen digs on both the right and the left, nor questioning current government policies. I'm surprised they haven't been shut down by the PATRIOT Act (kidding!

).

Second, the characters have all had more than a decade to develop. Letting them deviate from these roles keeps the series fresh, like in comic books. Sure I miss Bart's prank calls, but maybe the writers saw it as a "cheap, foolish" device.

All in all, I'm not laughing as much, but I am laughing harder, or at least admiring their gall to do some of the stuff they do.

CharlesD · Jun 30, 2003

I wish they'd dump the celebrity guests. I never liked that, its a bit too shark jumpy for my tastes.

MatthewA · Jun 30, 2003

Now for a big can of worms:

They should have cancelled the Simpsons and renewed Family Guy.

Nice knowing all of you.

Dan Rudolph · Jun 30, 2003

Constantly referencing the events of previous episodes even though there is little real continuity is a big part of what makes the series funny.

BrettV · Jun 30, 2003

I think the Simpsons should have thrown in the towel three or four seasons ago.

The thought of a full length feature actually kind of scares me.

-Brett

David Williams · Jun 30, 2003

I think the reason for the Simpsons' decline isn't so much lack of good story material, as it is missing that emotional resonance that it used to have back in the 'classic' days. It seems anymore that the writers go right for the zinger, the cheap laugh and forget that they used to have pretty well-fleshed out characters. I was watching a bit of S2 last night (One Fish, Two Fish...) which had everything that the series is currently lacking.

Brenton · Jun 30, 2003

I totally understand what you're saying. It's a crackup when Homer brings up the fact that he was an astronaut and no one believes him, or when there's still an elephant tramping down Hindu-style decorations left over from Apu and Manjulah's wedding. Or when, in an attempt to get Mr. Burns to remember who Bart is, Smithers tells him that he once hit him with his car, and he was his heir, etc, etc. "Hmm, doesn't ring a bell..."

Jeff Jacobson · Jul 1, 2003

What full-length feature?

MarkHastings · Jul 1, 2003

Brenton,

How about when Homer uses Flanders car to save the children (who were snowed in the school). Flanders asks Homer what ever happened to his plow and Homer doesn't know what he's talking about, then Flanders says "You're wearing the jacket!" and Homer still doesn't know, then he starts singing the Mr. Plow theme song.

There was another episode where (I think) Marge is driving really fast and drives by Barney who is driving his snow plow. :laugh:

Or when John (the owner of the retro store) is wearing Homers "Pin Pals" bowling shirt

"Can you believe someone gave this to Good Will?"

And who can forget the hallway closet full of old stuff like the robotic heads from the Itchy and Scratchy theme park, Homers Astronaut helmet, etc.

Back on topic:
Even though I agree that the Simpsons have been losing momentum for the past 3 or 4 years:
NEW Simpsons is better than NO Simpsons

Brenton · Jul 1, 2003

Yeah, that was classic. There was an episode from this last season (I think it was the one where Homer moved in with those two homosexual roommates), where Homer was looking through the closet, and he pushes aside a "Mr. Plow" jacket and a "Pin Pals" shirt.

And you can't forget that ever-present Olmec head in the basement.

Brenton · Jul 1, 2003

None in the works yet, but it's pretty well-known that the voice actors have a clause in their contracts that require them to do a few Simpsons feature films (I forget how many exactly).

MarkHastings · Jul 1, 2003

And you can't forget that ever-present Olmec head in the basement.

Or when they built the wall to separate Springfield in half and they used that head and the angel.

Or the Ringo Starr paintings in the attic...man, we should start a new thread.

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Nate Anderson · Jul 1, 2003

Enough of the Maggie shot Mr. Burns stuff. How many times can they come back and reference it?

I only remeber one reference.

Marge: "...since Maggie shot Mr. Burns..."
Bart: "I thought Smithers did it?"
Lisa: "That would have made more sense.

Of course I loved the joke on the 300th episode:

Marge:"How many crazy schemes has your father been caught up in?"

*Lisa clicks a clicker* Lisa: "It's 300, Mom."

And of course, "Homer's 305th annual "Everything is back to normal" Barbeque.

Click to expand...

Morgan Jolley · Jul 1, 2003

I also like the references to other things, but I think that the show has SERIOUSLY deviated from "funny, family-oriented situations that go haywire" to "Homer does something crazy, drug reference, out-of-place-but-funny pop-culture reference, silly ending."

I want to see them do more episodes that are spread amongst the whole cast instead of being about mainly Homer and his stupidity. They've made him so stupid that he's the only one that creates conflict.

Maybe they should cancel the series before it gets worse. Maybe they should just make a movie and leave it at that.

Rob Gardiner · Jul 1, 2003

Brett,

I agree with you 100%!!! Actually 99%. The one point I disagree on is the cutoff point. They lost it after MISTER SPARKLE, what was that, 7th or 8th season?

Jeff Jacobson · Jul 2, 2003

I only remeber one reference.

Marge: "...since Maggie shot Mr. Burns..."
Bart: "I thought Smithers did it?"
Lisa: "That would have made more sense.

There's been a few others.

After Maggie shoots some mafia guys (who were going to kill Homer) with a shotgun, she quickly puts the gun under her bed and pretends to be asleep before her parents enter the room. Then either Homer or Marge says that "She's probably dreaming about the time she shot Mr. Burns."

And there was another one where Mr. Burns says (referring to Maggie), "Oh yes, The baby who shot me."

Click to expand...

MarkHastings · Jul 2, 2003

Was it in the "Who shot Mr. Burns" episode, where Homer sends the box of chocolates with the family photo underneath so Mr. Burns can remember his name?

As each family member is revealed, Mr. Burns remembers them by referencing a past episode.

Chris Hopper · Jul 2, 2003

It all happened about the time Gil showed up. When he joined the cast it really started to go downhill. I don't blame him, but that is when I notice the desperation in the writing. There have been a few laughs here and there since, but I went from an avid fan to being unable to stomach a full episode about 3 seasons ago. It breaks my heart considering The Simpsons was my favorite TV show of all time. I think it should end now before it embarrasses itself any further. If indeed it is replaced by a horrible reality show (like I am sure it would be) at least we wouldn't have to tune into it with high expectations and be let down with stomach turning disappointment.

Eric_E · Jul 2, 2003

After Maggie shoots some mafia guys (who were going to kill Homer) with a shotgun, she quickly puts the gun under her bed and pretends to be asleep before her parents enter the room.

Please tell me this was in a Halloween episode or something. This is exactly why I gave up on the show several years ago - it's just so stupid. And I'm sorry, but Homer being raped by a Panda was the final nail in the coffin for me. That was the day I stopped caring. I will have to watch the previous seasons to try and figure out where it all started to go horribly wrong.

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