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Post by Threadkiller [Classic] on Sept 2, 2011 17:26:46 GMT -5
We talk a lot about how different "The Simpsons" has become since its Golden Age, but I don't think I've ever really scene analysis about what it was that changed about the show other than that it simply became less funny/clever, with no real elaboration as to how. Is there anyway to pinpoint exactly what it is about the show, even if ultimately it is a number of different things, that leads to "The Simpsons" currently not being anywhere near as loved by many as it once was? Speaking for myself, I hate how modern Simpsons explains its jokes. I just watched the episode in syndication where Moe becomes famous for his harsh judging skills, and when he goes to clear the bar of Homer and the rest of the gang, he flickers the lightswitch on and off to get them to scatter, like cockroaches. It was a funny visual gag. Except Moe had to THEN punctuate it by shouting (to an empty room, mind you), "Yeah, that's right! Scatter, ya cockroaches!" For me, it seems that the show is less intelligent with its jokes, as if playing for the Family Guy demographic (not that people who watch FG aren't intelligent. It's just that FG aims for an easier, "explain it to the audience" kind of humor, which The Simpsons used to be above). Nevermind the needless pandering with the endless parade of guest star voices. It seemed that a week couldn't go by without shoehorning a celebrity into the show somewhere. When you need to throw Will Shortz into an episode to reach your celeb quota, you're pretty much reaching (with all due respect to said NYTimes crossword puzzle editor). I know there are other things that bother me about newer Simpsons episodes, but I just can't quite pinpoint it right now without subjecting myself to more recent episodes, which I simply don't feel like doing right now. So what went wrong with "The Simpsons"? NOTE: It's okay if you don't think anything went wrong with "The Simpsons," and you believe it to be as good as it ever was. That's your prerogative. This thread is more for the disenfranchised, like myself, who are trying to analyze what happened to a show they once loved dearly, and also contribute their reasons for why their love of the show has waned over the years. Current "Simpsons" fans are welcome, I'm just putting this here so a flame war doesn't get started between those who feel "The Simpsons" isn't as good as it once was, and those who feels it's just fine as it is now. Here's to, hopefully, a good discussion. Thanks.
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Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Sept 2, 2011 17:32:26 GMT -5
It's a good question really. I think it's a whole lot of different things that contributed to The Simpsons' decline. Like running out of new jokes, writers being unable to think up new plots for episodes, the shift towards more pop-culture references, pop-culture themed episodes and pop-culture jokes that just sucked, pointless celebrity cameos from people I don't give a crap about and who don't ccontribute much to the show and annoying characters such as Gil appearing more often.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Sept 2, 2011 17:36:44 GMT -5
Groening began to care more about Futurama and Simpsons has done pretty much everything it can do without changing the status quo, which they will not do.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2011 17:36:53 GMT -5
IMO, the sort of strange blend of irreverent observational humor and surreal mindf***ery that they had is something that you can only do successfully for so long before you become a parody of yourself. What got me was how unexpected a lot of the show used to be and, unless you change up how you are unexpected in your humor, you're just going to come off as trying too hard.
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Post by forgottensinpwf on Sept 2, 2011 17:37:10 GMT -5
I like to speculate that the change really began when Phil Hartman died.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Sept 2, 2011 17:42:49 GMT -5
I like to speculate that the change really began when Phil Hartman died. Very solid point, actually. God, what a loss that was.
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Bo Rida
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Post by Bo Rida on Sept 2, 2011 17:45:12 GMT -5
Semi-realistic stories (usually with a moral) and characters that took humour from a recognisable world were replaced with a series of random events that would sometimes make you laugh.
Although some of the newer episodes that’s I watched seem to be heading in the right direction.
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Sept 2, 2011 17:46:31 GMT -5
One thing I noticed about the newer episodes is that the writers are trying to push in more jokes per line and more gags than they did before in previous seasons.
It's a bit overwhelming, and for me at least it makes it tougher to get a good emotional investment in the characters and their stories. I'm not saying "be less funny", but rather "add more heart".
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erisi236
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Post by erisi236 on Sept 2, 2011 17:53:12 GMT -5
Somewhere along the line it went from "animated sitcom" to "cartoon".
There was a time when things like dragons or the Incredible Hulk would be confined to Halloween specials, now they can show up in random episodes as legit characters.
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Post by willywonka666 on Sept 2, 2011 18:40:12 GMT -5
I don't watch it, but one thing I notice from reading threads here, is most people think it went downhill around after 2002 when rumors got out that Groening was considering ending the series.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2011 18:49:57 GMT -5
I think it was when there was too many episodes that had special guest stars make 15 second cameos. Those were awful.
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Post by CuJ0 Will Keep Dancing on Sept 2, 2011 19:11:12 GMT -5
Given up on the more recent episode but the last I saw the writing was just horrible. I see people quote older Simpsons episodes all the time, but not so much with the newer episodes because they lack that great quotability and charm. The writers force jokes that are not very funny, and overuse minor characters till they become annoying(what Ralph Wiggum became). I simply stopped watching, and only tune in when an old episode is on.
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Post by FUNK_US/BRODUS on Sept 2, 2011 19:12:47 GMT -5
They dumbed it down when Family Guy got good, and after season 10, the Homer Simpson character just changed from oafish dimwit to insensitive dick.
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Post by Citizen Snips Has Left on Sept 2, 2011 19:18:30 GMT -5
At the closing of the local Border's, I picked up John Ortved's "The Simpsons: An Unauthorized Unceonsored History" on a lark. It was meh but a quick read. It places the main blame for the decline on who the head writer is. First Mike Scully, then Al Jean, especially considering Jean's lengthy stay as head writer after 2001.
Also of note was the fact that Matt Groening has had a vastly smaller on the impact on The Simpsons than the public believes. He created them and maintains a hand in them, but in terms of actually writing episodes, his involvement was pretty superficial.
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Dean-o
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Post by Dean-o on Sept 2, 2011 20:02:57 GMT -5
At the closing of the local Border's, I picked up John Ortved's "The Simpsons: An Unauthorized Unceonsored History" on a lark. It was meh but a quick read. It places the main blame for the decline on who the head writer is. First Mike Scully, then Al Jean, especially considering Jean's lengthy stay as head writer after 2001. Also of note was the fact that Matt Groening has had a vastly smaller on the impact on The Simpsons than the public believes. He created them and maintains a hand in them, but in terms of actually writing episodes, his involvement was pretty superficial. I just came to post this very thing. I also picked up that book during a Boarders closing. It makes sense that it was the change of writers that did the Simpsons in. Around season 8-9 you can start to notice the decline, and by season 11 it's just a whole bunch of meh with a few gems here and there. Too many guest stars, the characters don't feel like themselves anymore, and the jokes are simply not funny. I can pop in any episode from 1-8 and laugh my ass off, despite watching them countless times over the years. Look, there really is only so much you can do with a show, especially one where the characters return to status quo at the end. We had about 8 seasons of greatness, what else can you ask for?
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Post by Hit Girl on Sept 2, 2011 20:09:41 GMT -5
Guest stars that don't really contribute significantly to the plot, and are just there for the sake of being on the show.
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Cranjis McBasketball
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Sept 2, 2011 20:30:49 GMT -5
Mostly, for me, it all comes down to characterization. The characters, beginning with "the Principal and the Pauper" become parodies of themselves and lost huge parts of their personalities.
Lenny and Carl were two guys who worked together and basically now are totally two homosexual characters, but only for each other. It's like Burns and Smithers all over, but not as clever.
Ralph had a great line like twice a season, now he shows up to do something totally stupid all the time and it's not funny.
Grandpa is basically totally insane and if it were an actual person, would require serious help.
The writer's focused on one nugget of each character and made it the character.
Moe was always a hateful character, but now is filled with hate and always suicidal.
Also, they've lost almost 3 minutes a show from earlier seasons and plot gets hacked out, not jokes.. Considering even by the end of the Golden Era, the plot didn't kick in until the end of the first act, now it's a huge problem.
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bob
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Post by bob on Sept 2, 2011 20:34:29 GMT -5
it's simple: the characters have been on tv so long that I personally have lost interest in them for the most part
I saw these same characters when I was in grade school
somewhere in there they started ripping off Family Guys cut away gags
another main reason I stopped watching was the newer episodes were so incredibly stupid ex: Arman Tenarian and Lisa's cats kept dying only to be called Snow Ball 2 at thend
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legendkiller1985
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Post by legendkiller1985 on Sept 2, 2011 20:36:36 GMT -5
When a show is as different as The Simpsons, its hard to remain on the cutting edge consistantly. When the show first came out, it was groundbreaking and fresh compared to Cosby Show, and whatever other sitcoms were on the air at the time. Now with South Park, Beavis and Butthead, Family Guy, etc. you eventually get to the point where "you've done it all." I personally thought the movie should have been the finale.
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Cranjis McBasketball
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Sept 2, 2011 20:36:55 GMT -5
it's simple: the characters have been on tv so long that I personally have lost interest in them for the most part I saw these same characters when I was in grade school somewhere in there they started ripping off Family Guys cut away gags another main reason I stopped watching was the newer episodes were so incredibly stupid ex: Arman Tenarian and Lisa's cats kept dying only to be called Snow Ball 2 at thend They stopped doing cut aways about 4 years before Family Guy was even on TV.
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