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The Simpsons started as a parody of the (back then) dominant family sitcom that reinforced traditional values, where the family is led by a wise man who maintains the family and everyone else follows along in a traditional patriarchal hierarchy. Once that era got buried and they swallowed the thing they were mocking, The Simpsons slowly became self-referential, which made it a much harder show to write.
Seasons 8-10 were shit. That chart is invalid
Frank Grimes is season 8.
That's a shit episode
Isn't it also just because it's old and people get bored of it? People crave new things, and even if it's just as good as in the beginning, it'll get lower ratings because it's not new anymore.
I remember quite some years ago i was like "i'm finally going to watch southpark". And people were already complaining about how the latest seasons were worse than the first seasons. Watched a ton of seasons in a short period, and honestly can't say the later seasons felt any worse than the first ones when you're not bored of the series yet. Now so many years later when i watch some more southpark, it's not as fun as when i started watching it since the "it's new and exciting" feeling is long gone.
Probably some truth to that. Also, when Simpson first came out they were quite unique. Nowadays there is a lot of edgy comic shows around.
Losing a point or two over decades isnt bad entropy.
If copyright protection legnth wasn't so insane, the Simpsons could be in the public domain soon (if not already) and others could take up the quest for better simpson episodes.
I was about to say the pattern of declination is not significant.
There are other factors to consider as well. Such as the quality of the critics and audience in general.
S09E11:
"All Singing, All Dancing" is the eleventh episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 4, 1998. In the fourth Simpsons clip show, Homer claims he hates singing, so Marge shows family videos of musical numbers from previous seasons. The episode is in the form of a sung-through musical, featuring spoken dialogue only at the start and end of the episode. The original material was directed by Mark Ervin and written by Steve O'Donnell. It was executive produced by David Mirkin. It features guest appearances from George Harrison, Patrick Stewart and Phil Hartman, although these are all clips and none of them recorded original material for the episode.
Ah saved me looking up what those episodes were.
I skip them on rewatches of the earlier seasons
Yeah, if I did the work (a full minute :)) & someone else can benefit from it too it just means less net work was expended.
Also clip shows should only contain clips that never aired before, or completely new ones (like IASIP).
Yeah I agree they should be like behind the scene gags or something.
I understand they're more so the entire cast and animators can have a week off etc.
The last few seasons had a big jump in plot quality imho, with some exceptional episodes. But also yes, 10 years ago entire seasons felt comparatively bland & empty. I also feel like I would rate early seasons a bit lower today than at the time.
I actually stopped watching when I stopped wathing most over the air. the problem is the streaming free options being to convoluted with the gatekeeping. once I miss epsiodes im just sorta out.
Comedy has changed in 31 years. So has humour in general, and so has writing.
The Simpsons is never going to be the same as it was over the seasons because that's not how culture works. Meanwhile, the reviews are mostly coming from long time viewers who lament that it's not like it "used to be".
Shows change. Get over it.
Would love to see this mapped to who the primary writers and producers are on each episode. I wonder if there are patterns.
doesnt this coincide with matt leaving the writing team for futurama?
oh yeah i remember reading about him flying on that plane a couple times, which at the very least raises some flags
What's up with that one bad episode in season 6?
Episode called "Another Simpsons Clip Show"
After reading The Bridges of Madison County, Marge decides that she and Homer need to teach the kids about romance. Each of the Simpsons (using clips from previous episodes) reminisce about past romantic encounters, leaving them all depressed and believing that love does not work. However, Homer saves the day by pointing out that one relationship has succeeded, his and Marge's.
Clip show.
So... anyone who hasn't seen them should just watch the first 8 seasons and call it. I guess.
