Brent L

I have been slacking off on watching The Simpsons this season, I'm about ten episodes behind or so now, but I just started catching up. Am I crazy, or is the quality this season a bit improved from the past number of seasons? It's certainly not what it once was, but it seems more focused in on plot and truer to what the show used to be than it has lately. I just got to the episode from December about Homer's dog and I thought that was one of the best episodes of the last decade. It actually had a great deal of heart, unlike most any Simpsons episodes lately. I even really enjoyed the one right after it, the one about the preppers and all of that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the show is at all how it used to be - just, better than it has been in a long, long time in my opinion. It actually shocked me a great deal.

bunkaroo

I may have seen one or two from this season. I think I have some on the DVR. If they were available to stream somewhere I'd probably let them run while I was working or something.

Brent L

Yeah, it's a big load that they aren't available on Hulu or anywhere else, if nothing more than just all episodes from the current season.

RichC2

I've seen a lot of the episodes on Demand, I've liked this season for the most part.

I also still want an animated gif of Ms. Krabappel putting her cigarette out in Bart's ear (who then eats the cigarette butt.)

Mordred

This season is the best I can remember in a long time. I'd put it up there around seasons 9 and 10.

Somehow after 15 years of wandering the writing desert, they've remembered that having a cohesive A/B plotline throughout an episode is actually important instead of having Homer do a bunch of random crap.

bunkaroo

Maybe they just figured that formula works for Family Guy. But IMO that's why Family Guy will never be as good as the Simpsons at its best.

RichC2

Family Guy's best episodes usually only have 1 storyline, and usually follow Brian and Stewie.

Shannon Nutt

Honestly, I haven't made THE SIMPSONS "appointment TV" since about 1997. I'm actually shocked at this point that FOX continues to shell out the money to produce new episodes, regardless of the quality this season.

cleaver

Me too, some surprisingly edgy stuff this year

RichC2

It still pulls ratings.

Jason

I haven't been catching too many of them. I'm burned out on Lisa Simpson stories.

My Other Self

I haven't seen any this season yet but I pointed in another thread that Season 21 is the best season since Season 9. If this one is as good, I'll be happy.

bunkaroo

Interesting. I'm watching season 10 again right now on DVD, and I'm enjoying these more than what I've see of season 21. Maybe I haven't seen the right episodes. I can tell though season 10 is where things start to downtrend.

story

I have and it's great, definitely.

When people talk about how the show isn't as good as it used to be, they certainly have their points and some of them are pretty solid. One thing, however, that I think a lot of those people forget is that it's not just the show that has changed. It's the people themselves. If people like seasons 6-8 the best? That's at least 15 years ago. Is anyone the exact same person they were 15 years ago? With the same tastes, the same sensibilities, the same priorities and passions? Those things change and shift, shrink or grow. Yeah, the show changes, but so do we.

madcougar

I watched the show faithfully for 20 years and consider myself to be a huge fan. But when it was time to start buying the DVDs, I realized that after the first 10 seasons, the show lost most of its charm for me. Oh there is an occasional really good episode or two every season, but the show pales in comparison to it's first decade. I was in the same boat as the OP a few seasons ago where I had a boad load of episodes I hadn't watched on my DVR. I finally gave up and erased them and stopped zapping them.

bunkaroo

I do consider this a lot. Nostalgia can be a very strong influence. But, I am still able to enjoy many new shows and movies these days, provided the story keeps me engaged and it doesn't seem like a retread. That's what turns me off about a lot of the new Simpsons stuff. I can't name them all off the top of my head, but there have been several occasions when it's apparent they're doing the same story they did 10 years ago. Like how many times can Moe change his bar? That's what turns me off to the new stuff.

Those scripts in season 4-9 are really tight and well-paced. The jokes are smart.

Oh and just to clarify, the current season is 24. So when season 21 is mentioned as the best since 9, is the season from 2009-2010 being referenced?

Mordred

I seem to recall enjoying season 21 (they all run together but that time sounds about right) but 24 is definitely better in my opinion. As cleaver said above, they've rediscovered a little edge at times.

madcougar

The show started rehashing ideas after about 10 years if not sooner. Hell, Comic Book Guy calls the show out himself for rehashing storylines in Saddlesore Galactica in the middle of Season 11.

PhantomStranger

The show has simply become more consistent in the past two or three years, right around the time it switched to being produced in HD. They abandoned that random joke approach of Family Guy and went back to mostly linear stories. Once in a while it almost feels like the golden years, though it seems like some of the minor supporting characters have been abandoned. Lisa stories are still preachy and boring as ever.