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When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

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When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

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Old 04-06-09 | 01:18 AM
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When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

For me it started in Season 9. Granted i watched it when i was still in middle school (damn this makes even me feel old ). Rewatching the episodes on dvd, it wasn't as funny as eariler seasons,sure there are still classic episodes. the last season i am buying is season 11, as after reading discriptions of season 12 and 13 episodes on wiki, i remember not liking those episodes too much. One could say the Behind the Laughter episode is/was the nail in the coffin (granted i know alot of people like this episode). I really haven't followed that closely since, occaisionally catching a few semi newer episodes here and there, either via syndication or on fox, and just not feelin it, maybe get a laugh here and there.

To me, season 2-8 was the show in its prime. My fave episodes are either the Frank Grimes episode or the Monorail show. I can usually pop those discs in and laugh my ass off (and even catching jokes/lines that are funnier now that im older that went over my head.
Old 04-06-09 | 01:24 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

My answer from this recent thread...

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/tv-talk/550...-simpsons.html

I thought it started to slow down in quality in season seven, but there were still some great episodes in season eight.

To me, the episode where the show lost it was the fake Skinner/Martin Sheen episode. I hung on for a few years afterwards, but the show lost something for me. Now, the few times I catch it barely rates a few chuckles (though I did like the movie).
Old 04-06-09 | 01:45 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

God i hated that episode too. "the principle and the Pauper"
Old 04-06-09 | 04:03 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

The episode where Homer and Marge have sex all over Springfield.

That is the episode, and that season (which is s10), is where the "classic" (good) Simpsons ended.

Beyond that was a good 2-3 years of "maybe the next episode will be better" and giving up on the show altogether.
Old 04-06-09 | 05:43 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Never has gone downhill for me. I will always be a fan, just have to be "in the mood" for the simpsons when I watch a new episode, or my dvd's. Sometimes a scene or a joke will get in my head and just want to watch that episode. I can't really marathon the simpsons like I can with shows like Venture Bros. or Dr. Katz.
Old 04-06-09 | 06:22 AM
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I can't say the exact point where it went from "great show" to "good show" for me, but unless it takes a huge turn towards Family Guy humor, I'm not giving up on it.
Old 04-06-09 | 06:29 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Oh, man. As a Simpsons-obsessed younger lad, I remember the EXACT episode that they more-or-less lost me on. Things just went weird. That Sunday night, it all felt strange. I remember feeling strange the whole night.

It was the episode where The Simpsons go to Japan. I think that it was the Season 10 finale. I kept watching for another couple years. But it never felt the same.

Did it happen to anyone else on that episode? That always bugged me and I've always been curious if it happened to anyone else. Seriously, I do still think about it from time to time.

I still watch episodes here and there. But when I was a kid, it was like, 'no, we can't be out anywhere, I neeeed to be home by 8PM to watch The Simpsons'. My parents knew it. It was like the big weekly thing for me. Actually, I think that it was my only definate appointment every week (on top of the 'ole paper route and school, I suppose). I always bought The Simpsons books, read them thoroughly, knew the writers, etc.
Old 04-06-09 | 07:29 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

S9. S8 was the last DVD I bought.
Old 04-06-09 | 08:48 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

They started to lose me at the episode entitled "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer", with Johnny Cash as the talking coyote. I think I kept tuning in after that to see if subsequent episodes were any better, but I eventually lost interest.
Old 04-06-09 | 08:50 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

The Tracy Ullman show?
Old 04-06-09 | 09:19 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

The shorts on Tracy Ullman were pretty dull, Simpsons didn't really pick up until Season 2 for me.

I have to agree with Vipper II, I first noticed a decline in quality on "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer", the episode itself wasn't bad but the idiotic ending sort of foreshadowed the future episodes (this is the episode where everybody busts out singing "Who wears short shorts (hot shorts?)". I still enjoy the show in a comfort food sort of way, I never thought the show was flat-out hilarious, but it was always enjoyable.

Last edited by RichC2; 04-06-09 at 09:22 AM.
Old 04-06-09 | 10:26 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Originally Posted by Vipper II
They started to lose me at the episode entitled "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer", with Johnny Cash as the talking coyote. I think I kept tuning in after that to see if subsequent episodes were any better, but I eventually lost interest.
That's actually one of my favorite epidisodes. Well, the first half of it, anyway.
Old 04-06-09 | 10:33 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Originally Posted by FunkDaddy J
That's actually one of my favorite epidisodes. Well, the first half of it, anyway.
The first half of that episode is hilarious.
Old 04-06-09 | 10:50 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Originally Posted by Red Dog
The first half of that episode is hilarious.
When the wife and I are running late for something I sometimes dance around shaking my hands going "We're missing the cookoff! We're missing the cookoff!"
Old 04-06-09 | 10:56 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

I think it was season 9. I still like the show but seasons 3-8 are the best.
Old 04-06-09 | 11:12 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Season 10 started to get inconsistent but Season 11 was the first one where I really thought the episodes were often just plain bad. That said, while the show has never risen to its previous heights, I've enjoyed a good number of later episodes after the horrible run of Seasons 11-12 finished. In fact, this season has been pretty decent overall.
Old 04-06-09 | 11:16 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Originally Posted by FunkDaddy J
That's actually one of my favorite epidisodes.
What the hell is an "epidisode"?
Old 04-06-09 | 11:24 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

I stopped watching after the "who shot Mr. Burns" storyline concluded.
Old 04-06-09 | 11:26 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

For me, there wasn't a specific episode where the show took a turn for the worse. Somewhere around S9, the quality definitely started to slip, and in S10 it felt like there were fewer "great" episodes. I stopped watching regularly during S11 (moved to college and didn't have a TV for a while). I've caught a few newer episodes over the past couple years and I'd have to say it's time for this show to hang it up.
Old 04-06-09 | 11:46 AM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Originally Posted by Chew
I can't say the exact point where it went from "great show" to "good show" for me, but unless it takes a huge turn towards Family Guy humor, I'm not giving up on it.
+1, the show is still solid after all these years, some are good, some are OK, but I don't think I have ever seen a truly "bad" episode of the show. Family Guy on the other hand, has three amazing seasons and maybe a grand total of a seasons worth of episodes after it came back that can be called good.
Old 04-06-09 | 12:07 PM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Probably around season 2, when they stopped making shows with heart and replaced it with crudely drawn physical humour and implausible plots.
Old 04-06-09 | 12:43 PM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

It really hasn't for me. Granted, the show isn't nearly as funny now as it once was, but I still watch it every week. There isn't one episode I can point to and say "this was the beginning of the end", but I think sometime around S10 or 11 is where things started to get way too out there, even for this series. The constant retconning is a bit annoying, also.
Old 04-06-09 | 12:56 PM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

There was an episode where they buy a tennis court in their backyard. At that point, I hadn't watched any new episodes for about a season, so I hadn't realized the dip in quality. I sat in horror at how lame the episode was. Even some of the animation felt different. I just thought the jokes were so unfunny. I realized that I no longer cared if I saw every episode of the show. Looking back, the show's quality starting going down hill around season 8 or 9, with 10 and 11 really taking the plunge.
Old 04-06-09 | 12:57 PM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Never.

It's always been the same for me. I never found that The Simpsons had these great glory days. Maybe cause I'm not as hardcore a fan... but it's been steadily consistently funny.
Old 04-06-09 | 01:09 PM
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Re: When did the Simpsons start going down hill for you?

Probably when Bush became President . Seriously though it was around season 10 or 11.


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