Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I have the exact same opinion. I imagine that the beginning of season nine was strong because there were still leftover ideas from the earlier season. The writing staff during that stretch had clearly not watched much of the show during the classic years and moved the focus in a new direction. Of course who knew it would get worse in seasons 11 and 12. Those seasons really killed any connection to the prime of the show.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

:shrug:

I don't watch crap like Family Guy... so it was funny to me. :)

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

True, but I can't even count how many Family Guy episodes have stolen storylines and jokes from the Simpsons. It happens in almost every episode.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Simpsons did it! Simpsons did it!

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I mirror those sentiments.

Also, when Homer kept on meeting celebrities in each episode and they played themselves, the show lost something...a BIG something. It used to be celebs would do guest voices and play fictional characters and add to the characters of Springfield. It's like they ran out of ideas, and were scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I do think the show recovered after that three year period, but for a while there it was pretty abysmal. Now the show is still not at the top of it's game, but it's still good. A weak episode of the Simpsons these days is better than most shows. At it's worst, a weak episode of the Simpsons during that bleak period was better than nothing.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I agree, that was Tennis the Menace from Season 12- and I remember watching it first run and realizing the downslide in quality. Actually, it was ep 5 of season 12, Homer vs. Diginity, with the panda rape that really started the decline for me.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

They never have. I watch The Simpsons weekly and enjoy it. Though not as much as South Park and Family Guy.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Never did, never will. I'm that guy.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

When South Park started.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I just can't see how stealing jokes from a show generally considered a "Simpsons rip-off" is "good comedy".

Because if it is supposed to be one of those "this is for stealing all our jokes" then it is a lame way to go about it.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Yes. This missing element of the show gets sorely overlooked!

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I think "Who Shot Mr. Burns" was clearly their apex, and the show started trending downward after that. I don't necessarily think those were the funniest episodes ever and there are plenty of funnier ones after that, but they were ambitious and in some ways the culmination of the initial creative era of the show.

That said, I love season 7 and to a lesser degree season 8, but season 9 is definitely where things start to go off the rails. There's a lot of good in 9 and I like some of the episodes in 10, but until that point I honestly loved every single episode of the show.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

And yet, its been on for 22 years. I really hope the 22nd year will be the last followed by a movie sequel or something. The DVDs can't even catch up lol

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I still like and enjoy the Simpsons. Every episode may not be a home run, but for 1/2 hour once a week for 16 weeks - I find that time enjoyable.

Let's look at it from a different perspective - maybe "we" are the ones that are changing. I know that my interests now are a lot different than they were 20 YEARS ago. Therefore, our perspective, sense of humor, and tolerance for satire changes over 2 decades .

So yes - the show has changed a bit - but I think we as an audience have changed more.

Overall, since the show has had such a long run - I think that the show will have gone "down hill" for different people at different times. I assume the timing of such, would coincide to the various stages of that person's maturity / stage of their life.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Around season 11. The laughs come further and further apart.

Still...10 years of top notch comedy? You can't beat that.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Maybe if you were really young, like a toddler. But, I think most people develop their taste in comedy during their teens and preteens. Yeah, you go through subtle changes, grow tired of some things, develop a taste for others, but I still pretty much like the same surreal and absurd stuff I did when I was a teen as I do now.

I honestly believe it is simply a matter of the show being tired. I just dont think that creatively you can mine comedy for as long, with the volume, that the Simpsons has without it becoming bland and going through the motions to some extent.

Actually, I think the first ep that made me go "Uh oh" was the season 8? season 9? ep where Milhouse parents get a divorce. In an effort to change things up they played a bit serious, something the Simpsons simply doesnt need and to me it was that first sign of reaching and a big misstep on the staffs behalf. They had some great eps after that, but it was sort of the last volley before it became mundane and they fell back on what guest star they could nab and what buzz topic they could latch onto and build an ep around.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Episode 1. Never liked this show ever really.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I saw a rerun of the Godfather episode today where Lisa is friends with Fat Tony's son. Hadn't seen it before, but it's now one of my all-time favs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moo..._and_Her_Homer

From season 18. I say they still can pump out some good episodes.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Ditto.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I just saw it last night (I'm in the process of re-watching Season 9), and thought it was fantastic! They have the real Seymour Skinner tied to a caboose, and he declares, "But I'm a hero!" And Homer replies, "And we salute you for it!" And the train takes him away. LOL

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

While not as well written as earlier seasons, I still get roughly the same entertainment value out of the Simpsons as I did from the get go.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XNdNLNFZBmk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I would like to reiterate what I said earlier. I am still a huge fan. I am 30 now...so my humor has changed. And the show has grown up as I have. I like political jokes and sight gags the show still nails better then anyone. But I still love the classics...

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I was watching a commentary for an episode on the most recent season released on DVD, and there was a reference in episode to Armin Tanzarian. It led to a big tangent about The Principal and the Pauper, discussing how Matt Groening called it the worst idea ever, and they did a little poll asking if anyone liked the episode. No one did.

Looking back, I'd say that episode was probably the first one where I wondered "WTF was up with that?"

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Wow - that's very surprising. I thought it was cute, and very funny! It was twisted, but funny nonetheless.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

The episode itself was okay, but the core idea that Skinner was a fraud went against the entire character's history. It's an episode that works fine for a what-if scenario but should have never been made part of continuity. Thankfully the writers have mostly disowned that backstory since its airing.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I believe Principal and the Pauper is the last holdover episode from Season 8, the last "golden era" season. I've always enjoyed it, though. I think it's absurd but gets an unfair rap.

The rest of Season 9 was a crapshoot, though.It was never retconned, but it's been mentioned in jest (Lisa calling him out on it when she essentially did the same thing when Snowball II died). The joke over the absurdity at the end of the episode with Judge Snyder decreeing nobody mention it ever again under penalty of torture shows how the writers thought it was bizarre anyway.

It was a huge "WTF?" episode, but nothing as bad as to what was going to come in Seasons 10 or 11.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

I watched the first three episodes so far on Season 9 last night, and thought they were all great: NY vs Homer, Principal and the pauper, and Lisa's Sax (showing how Bart became the hellraiser he is today).

I find it hard to believe I will stop enjoying the rest of the season, but we'll see. We'll see.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Season 11 for me. That season had more misses than hits and I realized I wasn't laughing as much. I watched for another couple years but the show just wasn't the same anymore. I've maybe seen a handful of newer episodes since then.

I did enjoy the movie. Best Simpsons in a long time.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

Lisa's Sax was penned by Al Jean before he came back to full-time duties later down the road. It has the heart from when he and Mike Reiss were showrunners (who also executive produced this episode). Beginning with the forgettable Treehouse of Horror VIII, this season is mostly a letdown.

There were 5 episodes (three from Season 8 and two from Season 7) that ended up airing during Season 9, and you can tell them apart from the rest. Most people blame Scully for the series downfall which is sad consideirng a lot of the classics he penned during the golden years, but the fact is just that he was an awful showrunner.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

It started around season 9, but even then it was more like the shows had pretty funny content, but it just didn't gel like the older episodes. The last five years or so even individually funny jokes have become more and more rare.

Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?
 

There is a clear difference in tone from the holdover episodes aired in Season 9. I think the voice cast's salaries started going up and Fox figured any batch of writers could handle the show, which is why so many of the golden era writers left for other jobs. They were so horribly wrong.

I've been watching season 10 on DVD and it's still quite good - much better than today. Sunday Cruddy Sunday being a standout.