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New(er) Simpsons is so weird
- Thread starter Dynamite Shikoku
- Start date
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Raiden1018
Banned
Bob's Burgers is the shit.
The comedy is so right for me. Lol
The comedy is so right for me. Lol
PeakPointMatrix
Member
Steal This Episode was great and I think this letter (which is seen onscreen for like 3 seconds) shows that at some level they still understand what makes these characters tick.
Barthood and Holidays of Future Passed make me think they should just do a season with the characters aged up to finish off the series.
This letter is so adorably classic Marge, I love it.
Steal This Episode was great and I think this letter (which is seen onscreen for like 3 seconds) shows that at some level they still understand what makes these characters tick.
Barthood and Holidays of Future Passed make me think they should just do a season with the characters aged up to finish off the series.
Marge Simpson talking about Emma Stone is too surreal for me. It's like tuning into a Modern Simpsons episode these days and seeing Bart and Lisa using Twitter.
Wanda/Wander
Member
The day the Simpsons died for this fan. Threw in the towel at this scene.
Edit: I just remembered that this was the 300th episode. I was hyped as fuck to watch this, all the promos made it seem like the biggest thing to happen. Seeing this scene just completely deflated the balloon.
Yep, this is the one.
I do catch random newer Simpson's episodes now and again on FXX and some are just fucking bizarre. There is one episode where every characters eyeballs fall out of their head and are hanging by the nerves. This goes on for a WHILE. It was fucking bizarre, almost nightmare inducing.
That was actually a decent episode that jumped the shark the minute they did the eyeball popping.I do catch random newer Simpson's episodes now and again on FXX and some are just fucking bizarre. There is one episode where every characters eyeballs fall out of their head and are hanging by the nerves. This goes on for a WHILE. It was fucking bizarre, almost nightmare inducing.
Cymbal Head
Banned
Last winter, I fell asleep watching Bob's Burgers on Hulu, and it ran out of episodes to show me so it starting playing an episode of the Simpsons. I was sort of barely conscious, just enough for most of the lines to register.
After a few minutes of lame exposition and terrible non-jokes, I couldn't take it anymore so I got up and turned it off.
That's the story of my first brush with Zombie Simpsons in a good 8 or 9 years.
After a few minutes of lame exposition and terrible non-jokes, I couldn't take it anymore so I got up and turned it off.
That's the story of my first brush with Zombie Simpsons in a good 8 or 9 years.
The day the Simpsons died for this fan. Threw in the towel at this scene.
Edit: I just remembered that this was the 300th episode. I was hyped as fuck to watch this, all the promos made it seem like the biggest thing to happen. Seeing this scene just completely deflated the balloon.
Yes.
YES.
I've said it before in other Simpsons threads, but this is the very episode that made me stop watching The Simpsons overnight.
Episode 300 was the last episode I ever saw from start to finish. I very clearly remember thinking "What he hell happened here?!" as I watched it.
I couldn't believe it. It was as if the show had been replaced completely. Sure, the quality decline started before that, but it was THIS episode that stopped my career of Simpsons watcher dead in its tracks.
I almost feel like that was an allusion to the old Steven Martin movie "The Jerk," where they came up with a miracle product that, it turned out, really screwed with people's vision.
UberTag
Member
Lord Frieza
Member
Well, I mean, you can't just expect the series to stay stuck in a time period vortex or anything like that. It was never really a period piece or anything. The technology and pop culture around them has to evolve to some degree.
UberTag
Member
Don't say that. Fans get cranky when they can't imagine Homer and Marge growing up in the 1970s instead of the 1990s. Because then they remember the Sadgasm episode and they cry.
EatinOlives
Member
I mean back when they were at their prime The Simpsons WAS set in the present day. That's what gave it its appeal! There were tons of modern day references (like playing what was obviously Punch-Out!! being a plot point in season 1) and relevant guest characters.
The difference is entirely in the writing, not how "modern" it is. It's why Stark Raving Dad is a beloved episode while Lisa Goes Gaga is...well...not.
It's not even the 300th episode of the show, it's... an imposter.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
You mean like when Adolf used an Apple Newton in an episode in 1994, a device that was only a year old at the time?
Or when Lisa was using a Playstation in 1998?
There's also that cutaway with Marge fantasizing about being whisked away by Lee Majors. She has knowledge of celebrities. Not seeing how keeping up with tech or celebs is anything out of place for the show.
Now how they actually write it in is a different story.
Septimus Prime
Member
HyperCroutons
Member
Agree 100% with this, its about the time I switched to watching Futurama instead, you can tell Matt Groening had more original ideas and passion for Futurama than the Simpsons by that point. Also helped that David Cohen was involved with Futurama too.
UberTag
Member
That was the Season 16 season finale. So over 11 years ago.
Lord Frieza
Member
Sure, but my point was that I don't think it was necessarily ever meant to be a period piece exclusively set in its time. It's obviously going to evolve with the times as far as technology and pop culture is concerned, it's pretty silly to expect it not to. Of course, like everything, how it's done is the most important thing.
I think how simpson handles celebrities now and why they do it wrong can be understood when thinking back to one of the mid 90s eps, the one with Bart joining a football team that homer takes over.
Im sorry if i don't remember the player's name (Troy Aikman? i don't know anything about sports, really), but as bart is struggling to be a good player out of nowhere this NFL pro stops by for no reason with an improbable explanation and goes "hi, im [celebrity name]", bart asks him for advice but he has to go before he can say anything.
This scene was funny back then because it was nonsensical, superfluous and had a celebrity do absolutely nothing for the plot other than show up, which is not how the simpsons did things back then, it was funny because it was intentionally stupid.
The thing is, 90% of modern celebrity cameos in the simpsons pretty much are like that scene but played straight, it's just "hi, im celebrity" says something and then goes away for the rest of the episode, one of the worst offenders being Ronaldo (Brazillian soccer star) showing up out of nowhere to declare Lisa a cheater and then go away (only to comeback later for another superfluous scene).
Yes, you do need to get it together. I have to wonder how many other good shows you are missing
Enter the Dragon Punch
Banned
hot take: the show got shit well before episode 300 truly jumped the shark
Septimus Prime
Member
Yeah. I mean, 300 was just the straw the broke the camel's back. If the show were still good, one bad episode wouldn't have had so many people drop it. At that point, it'd been years, though.
T
thepotatoman
Unconfirmed Member
300 was where I gave up too. It's such a perfect example of a jump the shark moment.
more like jump the hawk amirite
There's an episode where Bart and Lisa freak out over seeing CRT TVs despite one featuring prominently in half the eps.
Really the whole HD opening is like a secret nod to everything wrong with the Simpsons. It's just too on the nose. The number of ludicrous OTT characters stuffed in the skateboard scene
Homer leaving a perfect outline of himself representing how most Simpsons episodes are detached from reality enough to be early season Halloween episodes.
Even the cutting the head off the statue to show how far character personalities have deviated from their original incarnations. They had a whole episode dedicated to how shocked everyone was by that action.
I binge-watched The Simpsuns abridged series a month back and I was pretty mortified to learn there's an episode where Millhouse is revealed to be inbred, have a lizard-tongue and lieks to engage in incestual activties with his cousins
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
Lizard tongue aside, er, well, look at his parents. His mom was even from Shelbyville, the cousin loving counterpoint to Springfield, lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5UcIuxhxs4
UberTag
Member
Kirk and Luann have always looked alike... even back during the Classic era heyday. What better explanation would you have come up with to explain that?
This was even before the Spucklers showed up to run the incest jokes into the ground.
when does the quality decline really start? i've been binge watching the whole series on simpsons world for the first time and loving almost every second of it, and i'm currently on season 8. i'm probably just gonna stop watching whole seasons once it gets bad and just look for good individual episodes going forward; i've heard some newer episodes are still good, like holidays of future pased and halloween of horror
Septimus Prime
Member
It's debatable, but generally it starts between 8 and 10. I say 8, but in those seasons, the decline is gradual. After that, though, you will notice an abrupt, sharp drop off in quality.
Box of Kittens
Banned
Ask ten different Simpsons fans and you'll get ten different answers.
For me, the cracks start appearing in Season 8, which is still excellent overall. The decline becomes more noticeable in Season 9, which is probably the last season which I'd say is more good than bad. After that the show is really hit or miss. By Season 13 I find the show has changed so much that it no longer feels like The Simpsons to me. That's not to say there aren't any good episodes at all after that point, but it's just a different show.
UberTag
Member
The Classic era ended when Scully took over as showrunner in Season 9. Thing is, there are a bunch of holdover episodes in Season 9 from prior showrunner regimes that hold up well enough that I consider them to be Classic era as they were not made under Scully's regime.
Those episodes being...
- The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson (Oakley & Weinstein | Seasons 7-8)
- The Principal and the Pauper (Oakley & Weinstein | Seasons 7-8)
- Lisa's Sax (Jean & Reiss | Seasons 3-4)
- All Singing, All Dancing (Mirkin | Seasons 5-6)
- The Joy of Sect (Mirkin | Seasons 5-6)
- Lisa the Simpson (Oakley & Weinstein | Seasons 7-8)
- Simpson Tide (Jean & Reiss | Seasons 3-4)
It would be silly not to consider those episodes as part of the Classic era because they had Classic era showrunner(s).
That said there are decent episodes from Scully to be found in Season 9... most notably The Cartridge Family and Das Bus. You should not be watching episodes under Scully or Jean (without Reiss) with any expectation of consistency or quality. In fact, the only showrunner since that you CAN watch episodes with some expectation of quality is Matt Selman who started running 4-5 episodes per year starting in Season 23.
Box of Kittens
Banned
That episode, Season 12's "Homer vs. Dignity," is such an incredible low point for the show. The whole thing is just painful to watch and not even remotely funny. Supposedly it's based on a film, but if you're going to go down that road you either need to base it off of a film that is universally known or have the whole thing be funny regardless of whether you're familiar with the source material (preferably both). This abomination fails on both counts.
The only reason I'm willing to forgive Season 12 is that it contained the legitimately brilliant "Trilogy of Error" and a handful of other good episodes.
UberTag
Member
Every season has a handful of good episodes... some more than others. No season should be forgiven because of them, either. Just cherry pick the good ones and dispose of the rest. And Trilogy of Error is downright excellent... it is often cited as the best episode NOT found in the Classic era and deservedly so.
superNESjoe
Member
I think Season 9 is the last good one, Season 10 still being enjoyable, and its just a mess beyond that.
I actually religiously watched the show every Sunday through Season 18, which is when I finally realized I wasn't enjoying it, and hadn't for years.
I actually religiously watched the show every Sunday through Season 18, which is when I finally realized I wasn't enjoying it, and hadn't for years.
XANDER CAGE
Member
Homer's Enemy is the series finale.
direct_quote
Member
It's kind of why I wish Futurama was still around, that really was meant to carry the Simpsons torch on with an endless supply of content and ideas for episodes (it's the future after all). Just feels weird trying to reinvent the wheel in Springfield all the time so everything becomes the samey...
I think Futurama would eventually get to the same point if it had stuck around though.
interesting. i'll definitely keep this in mind once i finish season 8, thanks for the detailed post. any other standout episodes from the more recent seasons i should give a watch?
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
A fitting end
Simply Sami
Member
In this era of Family guy and American Dad, I struggle to watch new Simpsons episodes.
I just feel nowadays it's just more about guest celeb appearances. I'd still be a bit sad when it ends.
I just feel nowadays it's just more about guest celeb appearances. I'd still be a bit sad when it ends.
BoosterDuck
Banned
CHANGE THE CHANNEL MARGE
Bakkus
Member
I may get roasted for saying this, but I think Futurama was on average really meh with unlikable & mostly unfunny characters. Though it did have some clever ideas in regards to the futuristic setting, but that's about it. Doesn't hold a candle to seasons 3-9 of The Simpsons.
whitemex88
Member
If you're talking post cancellation then sure, but pre-cancellation was pure gold.
milanbaros
Member?
Wasnt Sadgasm 2008 episode? Which means if they did it now it would be around the turn of the millennium?
NinjaCoachZ
Member
I only found this out when I saw City of New York VS Homer the other day and looked it up on wiki.
That explains so much about why that episode is so damn good.
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