tv debate Television Debate #2: The Simpsons

[spacepup | 2,405]

13 hours ago, Gloves said:

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. 

This is exactly how I voted and thought about this.  I'm not rating the ENTIRE series from beginning to end.  But what I experienced, mostly when it was in its prime, was just freaking fantastic and I absolutely loved the show.  It was funny and ridiculous, but also at times very thought provoking and even poignant (at times).  

I haven't watched most of the newer stuff, but what I personally experienced of the show, was just gold.

[SilverspoonGaming | 332]

3 hours ago, docile tapeworm said:

Why are they yellow?! 

I have an opinion on this, even though Ive never heard the question come up before as I just thought it was normal to have them be yellow.

I can remember back to about 1st grade art class, when we would have to draw our family on a white piece of paper.  I couldnt make my skin white because the white crayon didnt show up on the white background, and some people would use the peach crayon, if they were caucasian of course, and that always left me with yellow as the best option. 

On another note, my drawn people would always have 3 fingers as it was way to hard to draw a good hand small enough to look legit with a crayon.

[PII | 1,886]

4 hours ago, docile tapeworm said:

Why are they yellow?! 

Sometimes I like to wonder how things would have gone if all of the Simpson's "black" characters had been colored Red.

[Gloves | 11,790]

1 hour ago, SilverspoonGaming said:

I have an opinion on this, even though Ive never heard the question come up before as I just thought it was normal to have them be yellow.

I can remember back to about 1st grade art class, when we would have to draw our family on a white piece of paper.  I couldnt make my skin white because the white crayon didnt show up on the white background, and some people would use the peach crayon, if they were caucasian of course, and that always left me with yellow as the best option. 

On another note, my drawn people would always have 3 fingers as it was way to hard to draw a good hand small enough to look legit with a crayon.

I drew people like this as a kid, cuz stick people were so blasé:

[docile tapeworm | 4,203]

I still draw stick people 

[Tulpa | 3,510]

9 hours ago, RH said:

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

Plot twist: Skinny's only seen episodes made after 2010.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,089]

My best friend (at the time) was forbidden to watch the premiere episode in 1989, along with several other kids I knew, because the ads made the show seem very disprespectful to parents/adults (my how times have changed...) so a bunch of kids came over to my house and we secretly watched the first episode in my basement.

I think the last season I watched was maybe 2000 or 2001, but man, that first decade was a hell of a ride.  It's also kind of an anachronism in the modern TV landscape to have a show centered around an all-white (yellow!) nuclear family; kind of like staring through the bars at the last surviving passenger pigeon in the Cincinnati Zoo...

Edited April 2 by Dr. Morbis

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 541]

Simpsons is a fun show.

 

[TDIRunner | 2,742]

On 4/1/2024 at 1:38 AM, Gloves said:

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. 

This is how I tried to vote as well.

The Simpsons have been around long enough that you could almost split the debates into separate threads for groups of seasons or even decades.  I wouldn't want to do that with any other shows, but The Simpsons are a little different to the point that you could justify it.  

[Estil | 1,265]

You know, there is near unanimous consensus that the Simpsons is not as good as it used to be...but then try to ask exactly when the show jumped the shark!  Interesting thing about that...the show wasn't even half done when Fonzie jumped that shark in S05E3 (the show lasted 11 seasons)!

[TDIRunner | 2,742]

2 hours ago, Estil said:

You know, there is near unanimous consensus that the Simpsons is not as good as it used to be...but then try to ask exactly when the show jumped the shark!  Interesting thing about that...the show wasn't even half done when Fonzie jumped that shark in S05E3 (the show lasted 11 seasons)!

That's a good question.  It's difficult to say because the quality probably started dropping very slowly, and I loved The Simpsons so much, that I might have overlooked some of the bad episodes early on and just brushed them off as "less funny" episodes.  However, I somewhat remember the episode "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes" as one of the first episode that made me think the show just wasn't the same anymore.  

Edit.  As I think of it more, I want to say that the episode that revealed that Principal Skinner was a fake is probably a really good candidate for jumping the shark.  I just looked it up and was super surprised when I realized that was all the way back in season 9.  

Edited April 2 by TDIRunner

[Tulpa | 3,510]

Yeah, different people will have different answers, but the consensus seems to be around 1998-2002 or so.

 

[Sumez | 2,966]

Can't really argue with this show's peak era.

Looking back at some of the most memorable episodes (which is nearly every episode from that era), it's actually unbelievable just how much wit and creativity worked its way into The Simpsons - it's truly like nothing else, despite seemingly not really doing anything to visibly distinguish itself from its peers. It's not trying to be weird or edgy, it's not over-the-top joke-heavy, or based on strange ideas and gimmicks. It's just really well written!

It's remarkable, honestly.

[docile tapeworm | 4,203]

@Murray lol I love what you guys do with the memes

[T-Pac | 7,560]

1 hour ago, docile tapeworm said:

@Murray lol I love what you guys do with the memes

I've never even seen a full episode of the Simpsons (I dunno - the show always just rubbed me the wrong way...), but I feel like I know a ton of the jokes just from VGS's obsession with Simpsons memes haha.

[T-Pac]

[glazball | 169]

On 4/1/2024 at 10:48 AM, Reed Rothchild said:

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.

Maybe I need a refresher (I kinda remember that episode - does it have the basket from the Gersh Agency?) but what was it about this one that irked you so badly?  Sorry to derail the thread a bit but I'm dying to know.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,545]

27 minutes ago, glazball said:

Maybe I need a refresher (I kinda remember that episode - does it have the basket from the Gersh Agency?) but what was it about this one that irked you so badly?  Sorry to derail the thread a bit but I'm dying to know.

I haven't seen it in over 20 years, but in my mind:

• Jerkass Homer
• Newfound reliance on celeb guest spots playing themselves
• Reliance on dumb gags instead of clever writing (Homer's waterskiing underwater, how wacky!)
• Did I mention Jerkass Homer?

[Tulpa | 3,510]

3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

• Jerkass Homer

I think you hit on a lot of why the show went downhill (though that wasn't the only thing.) The original Homer was more a somewhat dim father, but still loved his family and tried to be a good dad. They made him progressively dumber, but you could still laugh at the antics. 

 

But jerkass Homer was a lot less likeable.  

Edited April 3 by Tulpa

[JamesRobot | 5,805]

Absolute favorite TV show of all time.  First 9 seasons are all killer.  Got started day one with the Tracy Ulman shorts and was super excited when the show was announced. 

My crew of friends were watching religiously by the mid 90s.  Remember when Fox ran back to back reruns every fucking day at 6 pm?  And on Sundays you'd get at minimum three episodes.  The golden age...

But I generally have the same take as Reed; Season 10 jumped the shark and it's never been the same.  And while that era isn't great, I'd say the show really tanked when it went to HD in Season 20.  That was the last season I really paid any attention to. 

The animation became too slick and stiff.  The early seasons had some of my favorite animation in any cartoon.  It had a great fluid action and slightly surreal quality.  Twister mouths rule.  This is how you should pronounce Robot btw.

 

Still an occasional good good episode though.  The Treehouse usually hits one of the three stories and I'm a sucker for Kang and Kodos.  And the Lego episode is pretty amazing.  But I don't go out of my way to watch new episodes.

Do the Bartman reference before I dip.