The Simpsons: Classic Or Dud?

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I've thought the last six or so seasons have been utter crap, but I almost cried when I read some of the season 14 synopsii. In addition to the Marge breast impant episode, there is one where Marge takes steroids (?!), and one where Homer is kicked out of the house and rents an apartment with two gay guys (and I assume with "hilarious" consequences). See http://www.snpp.com/upcoming.shtml
Its as if they are intentionally trying to smash to bits everything good that came out of the classic seasons 2-6.

fletrejet, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 01:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

i whole-heartedly agree fletrejet...i am now convinced that no show should run for more than ten years unless its a show in which the characters change on a frequent basis (e.g. soap operas - tho they're no better with the same hackneyed stories and plotlines are just re-recycled over and over)...kudos to Chris Carter for bringing the X-Files to an end this year even tho many felt it had outstayed its welcome as it was (shame as the ending still leaves plenty of scope for future movies or specials if nothing else) - i think there should be one big Simpsons MOVIE and then no more episodes, evah - but obv. thats not going to happen

blueski, Wednesday, 23 October 2002 13:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

i hope it goes on until all the voice actors die. i'm perfectly happy for them to make it up on volume. ideally they will make enough shows so it can be shown on a simpsons channel 24/7 and no episode ever repeats in any given month.

big fun, Tuesday, 5 November 2002 06:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

two weeks pass...
Anybody remember when simpsons had actual plots? Remeber when things actually happened? Remember when the jokes were intelligent and witty? Remeber when there were jokes at all? Anyone that likes the simpsons nowadays are just plain and simple morons. I was in love with the simpsons up untill like season eight or so--now it seems like the simpsons have become exactly what earlier seasons were making fun of in our society--stupidity. I miss when the episodes had morals and actually told a story WHILE being funny. I hate to say this, but i wouldnt mind all that much if the simpsons were cancelled right now--at least that breast implant show wouldnt make an appearance. Please fox, destroy the last 4-5 seasons of shows...i'd be happy seeing the old ones a million times over.

FantasticME, Sunday, 24 November 2002 22:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

Speaking as somebody who can only get UK terrestrial TV, and so hasn't seen most of the even slightly new shows, I'm burning with curiosity for this new madness. If the writers on the Simpsons have decided to burn, maim and detroy everything, then good. They're obviously not being allowed by the corporation to end it with dignity, so they're going on a violent rampage as well they should. I don't want MORALS in my episodes! The episodes with morals are the WORST, while the episodes where Homer kills someone are the BEST. That's what humour IS.

That said, I'm really sorry that Futurama's getting cancelled. Dr Zoidberg is funnier than half the Simpsons cast put together.

Al Ewing, Sunday, 24 November 2002 23:59 (twenty-one years ago) link

Sorry, I haven't really noticed any decline in quality. Maybe it's cos the simpsons just gets so many repeats, I can't be bothered to think, "Oh this is from such and such a series" or, "Oh this is a new/old episode". It's just on all the time and I know I can switch the box on and enjoy funny telly at practically any point in the day. Which is nice.

dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 25 November 2002 02:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ahhh, the breast implant show wasn't so bad. I've finally been catching some of the episodes from the last three seasons in repeat, and they're not as bad as I remembered them...though they still certainly don't measure up to the earlier episodes. There was this one where Homer started the Mr. X website and inadvertantly stumbled on the secret of flu-shot mind control...the end of that one, where everyone keeps getting gassed is, well, bent. And I love it.

Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 25 November 2002 03:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

No one can say another bad thing about the show in my presence, since Matt Groening is my cousin. That said, this year's Halloween special was dud.

Leee (Leee), Monday, 25 November 2002 03:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

Wait, Apu cheated on Manjula? When was this and how could he do it to such a Ma-hot-mama?

Leee (Leee), Monday, 25 November 2002 04:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

"You don't feel like you've had eight children!"

Nicole (Nicole), Monday, 25 November 2002 04:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

When did homer kill someone? and geezus the breast implant show was horrible.

FantasticMe, Monday, 25 November 2002 04:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

He as good as killed James Bond... and that steak-eating cowboy. Frank Grimes wasn't exactly helped into a safe zone. He's been responsible for a couple more deaths but I can't place them exactly... also beating up an ex-president remains a high point.

Al Ewing, Tuesday, 26 November 2002 00:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

Well, the death during the steak-eating contest was really self-inflicted. My favourite Homer death was where he "killed" himself by dumping a fake Homer off the waterfalls, which got sucked into the turbine. Also, that episode has one of those moments which offers precisely the reason why Simpsons will always be classic no matter how many crappy episodes they turn out in the future: that moment at the end where his mom rides off into the sunset and he just sits on the hood of his car for hours looking at the stars never fails to make me feel like crying.

Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 00:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

He slew that poor man with a giant steak. That episode is a classic, though. The fake death, the long-haired Homer, the psychedelic juice drunk by everyone in town, and a nice ending...

Al Ewing, Tuesday, 26 November 2002 00:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

Wait, there was another steak-related death? Oh, I'm thinking of the one with the trucker. There are too many death-by-steak episodes on the Simpsons!

Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 00:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

wait-- i thought we were talking about the one with the trucker....and i really hope u realize that in all those things u listed homer never actually kills anyone...

FantasticMe, Tuesday, 26 November 2002 01:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

The one where he goes to see the hippies is totally different from the one where he fakes his death & meets his mom.

Curtis Stephens, Tuesday, 26 November 2002 02:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

Yep, knew that, was on a tangent.

As far as Homer-caused deaths go, do the Halloween episodes count? In the first part of XII (which I'm watching now for the first time) his dunderheadedness manages to kill Lenny, Carl, Moe and Bart.

Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 04:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Fantastic Me is OTM. The Simpsons has been in a major decline for the last few years. For a while it had so many great gags and twists and ideas that you felt the writers couldn't contain all their brilliance in one half hour episode. Now it feels like they're having to force ideas out for the sake out of it. It's gotten increasingly surreal, but more out of a lack of ability to do anything else, rather than to explore greater comic possibilities. It WAS the greatest tv show EVER, but now it's just passable.

weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 26 November 2002 09:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

eleven months pass...

Tony Blair a 'Simpsons' guest star

Monday, November 24, 2003 Posted: 9:37 AM EST (1437 GMT)

(CNN) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair lends his voice to "The Simpsons" in a new episode airing this week.

Fox has been running promotional ads for the episode, in which Homer takes Marge and the kids on a trip to London, at one point ramming a car through the gates of Buckingham Palace and upending the queen's horse-drawn carriage.

Over the years, hundreds of celebrities have visited Homer, Marge, Lisa, Bart and Maggie Simpson in their hometown of Springfield.

"The Simpsons," now in its 15th season, holds the title for "Most Celebrities Featured in an Animation series" in the Guinness Book of World Records. By the time its contract is concluded -- in spring 2005 -- the show will also claim the record for the longest-running sitcom ever, besting "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet."

With his appearance this week, Blair joins such celebrity guest stars as Magic Johnson, David Hyde Pierce, Kelsey Grammer, Paul and his late first wife Linda McCartney, Meryl Streep, Aerosmith, Jack Lemmon, Mel Gibson and Britney Spears.

A spokesman in Blair's press office told CNN the prime minister taped the voiceover in April, at the height of the Iraq war.

He said Blair is a big fan of "The Simpsons" and likes to watch the show with his three teenage children.

In the episode, Blair meets the Simpsons at London's Heathrow Airport and invites them for tea at his official residence, No. 10 Downing Street.

After getting advice from Blair on where to visit in London, Homer causes chaos by tipping tea from his Union Jack cup over the carpet. He ends up locked in the Tower of London.

The episode is entitled "The Regina Monologues" -- a play on the Latin for queen and the theater production "The Vagina Monologues."

The show, which also features the voice of "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, aired Sunday in the United States and will air in Britain in January.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/22/blair.simpsons/index.html

jadrenos (jadrenos), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 07:32 (twenty years ago) link

It's going to suck :(

What the fuck is The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet?

DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 10:47 (twenty years ago) link

eleven months pass...
Last week's episode was very funny to me .. Marge "adopts" Nelson. Is there a transcript of the show (or an MPEG) online somewhere? Some of Nelson's lines while crying were f'ilarious.

dave225 (Dave225), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 03:38 (nineteen years ago) link

You can download it via BitTorrent (like I did).

Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 24 November 2004 03:40 (nineteen years ago) link

one year passes...
So which season should I stop buying the DVDs? It's to the point now (Season 8) where the episodes I enjoy more for one or two gags ('I have powers...! POLITICAL POWERS!') than the whole episode. Plus this season had Frank Grimes and Poochie so we're near the shark jumping point...

Jimmy Mod: THE HANDLESS ORGANIST (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:23 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm stopping at season 8.

Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:34 (seventeen years ago) link

Seriously, Season 8 is the last great season (Bill & Josh ran).

Season 11 (Mike Scully ran) is when it sucks utter shit and represents how bad the series remains today (Al Jean's bloated solo running).

xpost

Sir Dr. Rev. PappaWheelie Jr. II of The Third Kind (PappaWheelie 2), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:37 (seventeen years ago) link

I gotta have season 8 because John Waters and Rodney Dangerfield are two of my favorite people ever - altho there are a couple stinker episodes.

Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:41 (seventeen years ago) link

i think the last good season is the one with the johnny cash episode, where homer hallucinates after eating some hot chili.

gear (gear), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:44 (seventeen years ago) link

it's the rolling stones of shows now, the early stuff is still the best because it's effortlessly great, the mid-period stuff is solid (not hilarious or brilliant, but not painful), and the later period stuff is just empty and slick and by-the-numbers.

gear (gear), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:45 (seventeen years ago) link

"i think the last good season is the one with the johnny cash episode, where homer hallucinates after eating some hot chili." = season 8

Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:45 (seventeen years ago) link

That's in season 8, I've just looked it up (xpost).

Season 9 has some goodies though - The Last Temptation of Krusty, the one where Homer and Marge start having sex in public and a couple of others.

chap who would dare to start Raaatpackin (chap), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:46 (seventeen years ago) link

(although Take My Wife Sleaze is a decent Season 11 episode (specifically, act 2 - act 3 sucked), I won't be buying the box for one episode)

http://www.snpp.com/episodes/BABF05

Announcer: And now, back to your Tuesday morning movie.
[a boy who resembles James Dean in a leather jacket
runs out of a modest house, gets on a motorcycle,
and rides away]
Mother: Oh, I don't know what's the matter with Jimmy. He
won't do his homework, he only salutes the flag with
one finger, and he comes home every night with other
peoples' blood on his shirt.
Father: He's a rebel, I tell you, a rebel without a cause --
just like that boy in that popular movie we saw.
[Jimmy and his gang ride through a store, raising
havoc]
Homer: Yeah, that's the life for me, Marge. Cruising and
hassling shopkeepers.
Cop: [arresting Jimmy] When will you teens learn to be
uncool like everyone else?
Jimmy: Never, pops.
Homer: That's right -- never!
Jimmy: You can arrest me, but you'll never defeat the
Cobras. Nothing can defeat a motorcycle gang!
[close up on Jimmy's face as he's put behind bars.
A gang of bikers riding in a cloud of dust, and the
words "The End," is superimposed on the screen]
Homer: A gang -- that's the answer!
Lisa: Answer to what?
Homer: Hey, don't make me hassle you, Lisa.

Homer gets his gang together, the but the effect is less than
menacing. Moe has a motorcycle from the 20s, which sparks and
breaks down. At least he's better off than Carl and Lenny, who
don't have motorcycles at all. Even so, Ned is interested in
joining up, offering the use of his den (with bumper pool table) as
the gang lair. That's too good to turn down, so Ned's in.

After some beers and a game of pool, the club gets down to business.

Homer: The first meeting of Hell's Satans is called to order.
Ned: I move we reconsider our club name. Make it something a
little less blasphemous. After all, [chuckles] we don't
want to go to Hell.
Lenny: How about the Devil's Pals?
Ned: No.
Moe: The Christ Punchers.
Ned: The Christ ... I, I don't think you understand my
objection.
Homer: I'm the president the decision is mine. We're Hell's
Satans! Besides, I already made our club jackets. [holds
up a light blue windbreaker with "Hell's Satans" crudely
written on it, then passes them out to the gang]
The newly-christened gang rides around town. Homer is on his red
Harley, while Moe has finally resurrected his old motorcycle. (Or
maybe not -- it still trails a cloud of black smoke.) Carl has a
yellow scooter he rented from Hertz. Flanders is on a child's
bicycle. Lenny brings up the rear in a riding mower.

They pull up alongside Chief Wiggum, and taunt him by making oinking
noises. Wiggum vows he will put them in juvenile detention someday.
In retaliation, Homer quotes a line from the movie he saw Tuesday,
but gets the name of his gang wrong. Embarrassed, he make a few
quick "oinks" then makes a hasty exit.

H: you'll never defeat the Cobras pig.
W: hey I thought you guys were the Hell's Satans
H: Uhhh, oink oink oink

The gang loiters around the Kwik-E-Mart (gambling for pennies), until Apu chases them away with his mighty broom (although the broom upsets Manjula)

M: You said no more brooms
A: you knew I had a temper when you married me

Homer is pleasantly surprised to find his picture of Hell's Satans
in "Outlaw Biker" magazine. Marge is also surprised, but by a
different photo -- one of her in a nightgown, sound asleep. She's
been named "Cycle Slut of the Month," but that doesn't impress her.

Marge: You took a picture of me when I was asleep?
Homer: If you'd been awake you would have said, "no." You can
see the bind I was in.
Marge: [reading from the magazine] Her turn-ons include thievery
and liquor. Her turns-offs include underpants,
pedestrians, and justice -- [disgusted] Ohhh.

Then the guest stars come in (ugh) and the writers use the 'but we're scum only because we don't know any better' joke for the remainder of the show...that is, until they fence with the motorcycles themselves...and I'm quickly reminded that this is season 11

My guess is this script was a holdover from season 10 that got finished and aired in 11

x-post yet again

Sir Dr. Rev. PappaWheelie Jr. II of The Third Kind (PappaWheelie 2), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:49 (seventeen years ago) link

actually, this is funny too, right before the episode falls off:

Meathook: Take off that jacket, man.
Homer: Okay. [takes off his club jacket]
Meathook: [pulls out a switchblade knife, then a switchblade
fork]
Now, eat it.
Homer: [meekly] All right. [cut to some time later, as
Homer finishes the jacket]
Ramrod: Hey, hey! Chew with your mouth closed, please.
Homer: [sucks down a sleeve] Done.
Marge: Okay, Meathook, I think he learned his lesson.
[maybe not, since Homer is putting on a sweater with
"Hell's Satans" embroidered on it]
Meathook: Aw, man, now you gotta eat that, too!
Homer: Ohhh.
Ramrod: You got anything else with our logo on it?
Homer: Caps and Frisbees, sir.
Meathook: You gotta eat them, too!
Homer: ... and some pogs.

Sir Dr. Rev. PappaWheelie Jr. II of The Third Kind (PappaWheelie 2), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 16:51 (seventeen years ago) link

i dunno about that episode

gear (gear), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 17:02 (seventeen years ago) link

The only half decent eps in seasons 11 are the Mel Gibson one, the one where Bart has ADD and the one where Moe gets plastic surgery. And none of them are THAT good.

chap who would dare to start Raaatpackin (chap), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 17:10 (seventeen years ago) link

Mel Gibson has to apologize for that episode of the simpsons looong before he has to apologize for someting something stupid while he was drunk

Sir Dr. Rev. PappaWheelie Jr. II of The Third Kind (PappaWheelie 2), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 17:10 (seventeen years ago) link

Funny:

gambling for pennies
grown men thinking they're invincible against going to juvie
motorcycle gang with only 1 1/2 motorcycles
printing up frisbess and pogs for your gang

Not Funny:
Fencing with motorcycles
running "resume" joke
any other "we don't know better" joke
john goodman's overall reading

Sir Dr. Rev. PappaWheelie Jr. II of The Third Kind (PappaWheelie 2), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 17:14 (seventeen years ago) link

has anyone linked the SimpsonsMaker page?

http://www.abcarcade.com/the-simpsons-maker.html

Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 17:24 (seventeen years ago) link

The fencing with motorbikes scene is a good symbol for all that's been wrong with The Simpsons in the noughties. It doesn't work either as satire or surrealism.

chap who would dare to start Raaatpackin (chap), Wednesday, 16 August 2006 17:43 (seventeen years ago) link

three months pass...
Slightly duddish trailer for the movie:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/thesimpsonsmovie/

chap who would dare to welcome our new stingray masters (chap), Sunday, 19 November 2006 16:21 (seventeen years ago) link

:( they emphasize that it's 2D, then show a bit that uses polygons

and it's the same joke as the south park movie teaser

a.b. (alanbanana), Sunday, 19 November 2006 16:48 (seventeen years ago) link

A rock and a hard place?!?!!? CLASSIC!

scotstvo (scotstvo), Sunday, 19 November 2006 18:23 (seventeen years ago) link

xpost, actually I think you reversed the order there, didn't you?

Bobby Ganush (Uri Frendimein), Sunday, 19 November 2006 18:29 (seventeen years ago) link

What's the schedule for these new Simpsons episodes (s18)? A couple of months back there were 4 or so then nothing, then last week we got episode 5. Is there one on today? And why the huge gap between episodes?

Affectian (Affectian), Sunday, 19 November 2006 21:47 (seventeen years ago) link

i am dreading this movie

latebloomer (latebloomer), Sunday, 19 November 2006 22:00 (seventeen years ago) link

A rock and a hard place?!?!!? CLASSIC!

But who doesn't want to eat at The Zesty Fork?

I do not understand why we need a film of this.

accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Sunday, 19 November 2006 22:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Ten years ago it would've made more sense.

chap who would dare to welcome our new stingray masters (chap), Sunday, 19 November 2006 22:07 (seventeen years ago) link

I can't imagine this movie being any better than the Jetsons movie, unless the Simpsons movie is based on an even better episode of Star Trek.

Abbott (Abbott), Sunday, 19 November 2006 22:15 (seventeen years ago) link

Jesus, 18 seasons? I think I must've been ignoring the show almost 5 years now, then.

It's the lazy and immoral way to become super hip. (Austin, Still), Sunday, 19 November 2006 22:16 (seventeen years ago) link

The series started when I entered kindergarten, and I want it to end when I'm finished with all my collegedegrees. At my current rate, this should be 8-10 years from now. So expect it to make it to season 25 at least!

Abbott (Abbott), Sunday, 19 November 2006 22:19 (seventeen years ago) link


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