tv debate Television Debate #2: The Simpsons

[Gloves | 11,790]

It's The Simpsons.

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

Seasons 3-8 = 10/10
Seasons 1,2,9 = 7-9/10, depending on the episode
Seasons 10+ = fuck that shit/10

[Hammerfestus | 3,857]

Yeah I haven’t watched new ones in like 20 years.  Used to be awesome though.  I remember in the early days, I had a buddy who wasn’t allowed to watch it.

[RH | 4,915]

16 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said:

Yeah I haven’t watched new ones in like 20 years.  Used to be awesome though.  I remember in the early days, I had a buddy who wasn’t allowed to watch it.

I wasn’t. Lol.

[mbd39 | 2,024]

43 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Seasons 3-8 = 10/10
Seasons 1,2,9 = 7-9/10, depending on the episode
Seasons 10+ = fuck that shit/10

Trilogy of Error is a great episode from season 12.

I actually find myself watching post season 10 more because I've seen the classic era episodes so many times.

 

[Brickman | 3,993]

42 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Seasons 3-8 = 10/10
Seasons 1,2,9 = 7-9/10, depending on the episode
Seasons 10+ = fuck that shit/10

Pretty much this, debate over  

Season 1-2 are not seasons I watch very often but I recently re watched them and there were way more 8-10/10 episodes than I thought. I think my perspective on these episodes has changed the older I get. 

I always find it funny that every few years I read an article saying that the old Simpsons are back and they describe the episodes and they sound awful. 

Someone must be watching it though because it’s still going after all these years.

[mbd39 | 2,024]

Just now, Brickman said:

Pretty much this, debate over  

Season 1-2 are not seasons I watch very often but I recently re watched them and there were way more 8-10/10 episodes than I thought. I think my perspective on these episodes has changed the older I get. 

I always find it funny that every few years I read an article saying that the old Simpsons are back and they describe the episodes and they sound awful. 

Someone must be watching it though because it’s still going after all these years.

It must be getting harder for the actors to do the voices. Especially Julie Kavner, she sounds awful now. When one of the main actors dies or can't do it anymore they should just call it quits.

 

[PII | 1,886]

I've heard a lot of people say s1-6 or s1-10 is the limit of this show being good but I remember still enjoying the heck out of it in the early 2000's.

Every few years, I notice that Simpsons is still making new episodes and think: "Hey, why not watch a new episode of the Simpsons?  Maybe it's gotten good again.."  I watch one episode.... and swear I'll never watch a new episode ever again, it's that bad.  This has happened like three times in the last decade, I'm not even joking.

I'm sure everyone's heard it at some point or other but Matt Groening has stated that as long as there is stuff to make fun of The Simpsons will be around.  The clown show is bigger than ever and it's still here, so basically this shit will not go away until society falls, so like maybe a few more months if it doesn't happen this Spring...

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

Dear God...

[Tulpa | 3,510]

It was at its peak when Conan was writing for them. I could usually tell when he wrote a bit.

I don't think I have seen a new episode all the way through since 2005 at the latest, and maybe even before that. If they do have a funny gag (like Bart and Lisa defending their cardboard fort from the UPS men), it'll end up on YouTube anyway and I'll see it there. Even that is like once every four or five years at best.

[Ankos | 442]

 

[Link | 2,714]

Funny this was posted an hour after I was thinking about the show on my way home from work for no reason.

I adore the early seasons. Even (especially?) the first two - as raw as they were and as crude the animation. But it was more relatable, and it told stories, and it was dramatic. As the success machine wore on, it became more about jokes and less about that stuff. I can't fault it for the beginning of that progression. The writing was groundbreaking at the time, stuffing everything full of jokes and quotable lines such that it permeated our society to a degree few shows have since cable TV came around. That approach is still influential today. 

But slowly it became only the jokes, shedding the framework of characterization that's almost a requirement for any fictional series to be good.

First five seasons, love. Recent ones, for as much as I've seen, dislike or hate - and Zombie Simpsons episodes far outnumber the great ones. So I'm kinda having a hard time deciding what to vote. Do I hate it, based on what it is today? Do I go neutral, assessing the balance of the show as a whole? Or do I simply love what it was from the beginning up until... let's just say until Maude died. Today I would put it earlier, but that's commonly cited as a turning point. I was definitely still tuning in every week at the time, and for several years after.

Ultimately, I'll go with the latter. After all, nobody's forcing me to watch Zombie Celebrity Simpsons. I do love at least the first five seasons. Although, I need the internet in general to focus on something other than Marge vs. the Monorail.

[fox | 1,667]

better known for the memes at this point

[DarkTone | 986]

Liked it. Havent watched a new episode in over 15 years 

[SilverspoonGaming | 332]

I watched the Simpsons pretty religiously until about 1998, and since then I have seen like 3 or 4 episodes, even tho when the Simpsons Movie came out, I was super stoked to see it, and thought it was really good, but I lost my way, and probably dont have the time to sit and watch all of the episodes I missed because there are so many!

The Simpsons was known for being edgy, and not for children when I was young, but I never saw it that way.  As usual, people were way to bitchy.

[TDIRunner | 2,742]

I voted "love it" even though I haven't watched a new episode in over a decade.  The good years were too good to not give it that vote.   I don't really care what they are doing today.  It doesn't change out good the early years were.  

[Gloves | 11,790]

I didn't want to steer the discussion so I let others do the talking for a bit, and now I feel like it's been enough time to put this out there - IMO vote how you FEEL about the thing, as YOU experienced it. Seems people are doing that. 

I don't know The Simpsons of today, it's something else entirely in my mind. When I say The Simpsons, like many others here I'm envisioning the first let's say 10 seasons. Which let's be real, is a hell of a run for anything. It was an absolute phenomenon, and it'll stick with me for my whole life as something cherished which I could easily revisit any time (thanks, dvd collection!). 

Love it. 

[RH | 4,915]

I literally do not know anyone who watches new episodes of The Simpson’s nor have I met someone who’s said they watch it when the show comes up in discussion.  Time periods may very from person to person but people seem to be interested in their version of “classic” episodes.

It’s made me wonder, what demographic is keeping this show going? I mean, so can’t even make the complaints you guys are making about anything less than 20 years old because I think the last episode I watched as it aired might have been around 2003-05. 
 

I guess people in other countries keep paying the bills? It’s just one of those shows that won’t go away and I sure don’t know who’s keeping it alive?

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

I remember being alarmed by some of the trends that were becoming more and more apparent in season 9.  The Murderhorn episode in particular left me feeling cold after I watched it air, brand new.

But the final straw was the Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger episode in season 10.  The show had become unrecognizable that fast.  That was the last time I actively looked forward to Sunday night and keeping up with the show.  I never did again, aside from a handful of the Treehouse episodes.  I have seen all of season 10 and some of 11, but it gets real sparse after that.

I like Behind the Laughter and the movie though.  To a degree.  Like a 6/10 degree.

[docile tapeworm | 4,203]

I don’t k ow why….I’ve never cared for this show. And it’s like nails on a chalkboard when I hear people talk about how much they love it. I’m just thinking “I fucking hate that show”….

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

7 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

I don’t k ow why….I’ve never cared for this show. And it’s like nails on a chalkboard when I hear people talk about how much they love it. I’m just thinking “I fucking hate that show”….

 

Skinny watching Simpsons:

[RH | 4,915]

12 minutes ago, docile tapeworm said:

I don’t k ow why….I’ve never cared for this show. And it’s like nails on a chalkboard when I hear people talk about how much they love it. I’m just thinking “I fucking hate that show”….

Wow! This might even be a more spicier, hotter take around here than "Mario 2 is NOT a REAL Mario game!"

[AstralSoul | 502]

I have not watched a new episode in probably 20 years. I watched it some growing up and liked it, and I've been rewatching some old episodes here and there over the last year or so, and I like the show when it's good but I never loved it. Today respect how relevant it's stayed throughout 35 seasons and just the overall cultural impact of it but I've met a bunch of hardcore Simpsons fans and I could never get on that level of fandom.

[G-type | 2,482]

The problem with the Simpsons is that its hard to tell stories with any stakes when there is no continuity. 99% of the episodes end with some contrived return to the status quo. “And I further decree that everything will be just like it was before all this happened! And no one will ever mention it again… under penalty of torture.”

[docile tapeworm | 4,203]

Why are they yellow?! 
it’s funny and I can watch it if forced but I would never turn it on myself and if it does come on I change the channel.

it’s a good show and I can relate to homer and marge.

Idk maybe it’s the whole cultural icon thing that I didn’t get so I hate it instead.