MovieChat Forums > The Simpsons (1989) Discussion > The fans who complain about the show dec...

The fans who complain about the show declining in quality are all full of bs

posted 10 months ago by Catsaregods (136)
13 replies | jump to latest

They will keep parroting about the 'Golden Age' of The Simpsons, even though there's no golden age at all. The whole show is hilarious. Those fans just got tired of The Simpsons and will dismiss anything after the seasons they stopped watching.

A good indication of this is how there's no consensus at all about the 'Golden Age'. Have you guys ever noticed how a lot of the complaints the fans give about the decline are all full of bs?

Some people claim the show started to decline around season 10, they will say the show went downhill after Phil Hartman's death. While I do love me some Troy Mclure and Lionel Hutz, his characters were never that important in order to impact the quality of the show that greatly(imo).

Some will claim the show started to decline after The Principal and the Pauper episode. While that episode is not that great, the rest of the season is way too good for people to dismiss it entirely just because of one bad episode. Some fans will swear they gave up on the show after that single episode. Too bad for them, because the next episodes of season 9 are absolutely hilarious!

And then some even more absurdist "fans" will claim the show started to decline after Conan O'brian left the show. These ones are even more full of bs. Conan wrote like what? 3-4 episodes of the show, how was he that impactful? The Conan O'brian fans are the worst, some of them will claim the show started to decline after season 5 or so, lol.

How can you claim being a fan of the show, if you haven't watched the most iconic episodes, such as Homer's Enemy, Who Shot Mr. Burns, or The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson. Those episodes all happen way past season 5.

There are also some fans who will complain about the characters flanderizing, even though a lot of the traits of these characters were present since the very start of the show. They will complain about how Ned Flanders became a religious nut, even though he was always like this. Have you guys forgotten about "Homer the Heretic" episode? Ned almost kills Homer trying to convert him in that one lol.

Anyway, I think a lot those so called fans complaining about the show declining are all full of bs. The show is still funny, but was absolutely hilarious up untill the HD era episodes, at least. The fact some of them will dismiss anything past season 10 just annoys the hell out of me.

[–] DMT (3893) 10 months ago

I enjoy a lot of the past season 10 episodes, my favorite was the one where there are flashbacks of Homers childhood exploring the Nuclear Plant area and finding the dead body of Mr Skinners Assistants Dad. I watched one of the new episodes and was disappointed tho, I feel like the show started going downhill as I grew up. The Simpsons Movie for me is a good point where the show started to go downhill. Stopped watching it shortly after that came out

[–] Catsaregods (136) 10 months ago

Yup. I think the movie, or when the episodes entered the HD era is a good starting point of the real decline. I just dislike how so many fans will dismiss the show after season 9, or some of them even after 5, lol.

[–] DMT (3893) 10 months ago

yeah I grew up watching the show in the late 90s - 2000s so for me all the pre-hd stuff is nostalgic. I can see how someone who watched the show from the start appreciate the older seasons but to dismiss everything past season 10 or 5 is a bit much. The show kicked ass back in the day.

Remember being at my cousins house as a child running outside or goofing around in the basement then one of them would run in yelling "Simpsons is on!". We would all take a break and watch the show then usually Futurama after at 6:30pm only to go back to playing after the toons were gone.

I miss the old days. Now u can watch tv when u want as long as u want without commercials but there is something really nostalgic about the preset times and limited access to the programs of the old days

[–] Luffy (837) 10 months ago

I do happen to think that Seasons 1-4 were unmatched by anything on TV, ever. But I loved most of the seasons up till the 7th. Seasons 8 and 9 were showing signs of fatigue. For me the worst episode of the first 10 seasons is Two Bad Neighbours, where I think the showrunners were the trusted Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein.

I suppose some of the episodes from the last 5 years were pretty decent, but they were no longer Simpsons episodes by that time. It is Groening's and Brooks' fault that they didn't age their characters. That was the biggest reason for their downfall.

Groening hailed from the comic strip era where nothing usually evolved and the gags kept appearing week after week for years. That the talent brought to subsequent seasons were subpar was irrelevant. Like for the downfall of most art, or systems, The Simpsons just had to implode. It is as immutable as the laws of physics.

[–] Cac1981 (331) 10 months ago

Do any cartoons age their characters?

[–] Luffy (837) 10 months ago

Many later cartoonists whose work appear on newspapers age their characters. Matt G. does not belong to that generation.

[–] Luffy (837) 10 months ago

Unfortunately no.

[–] animal0mother (33) 9 months ago

The golden era of the Simpsons was S01E01-S09E01.
If one consults ratingraph.com to peruse people's ratings of individual episodes, there is a clear dropoff.
A youtuber, Nerdstalgic, has a video, "The Moment The Simpsons Ruined Homer Simpson", watch?v=iKhQYYSqhgc which notes:
Season 5 and after: much of the humor came from one-upping Homer's stupidity.
Season 6: much of the original team was no longer working on the Simpsons.
Season 8: the writer's staff got significantly larger.
Seasons 9-12 were executive produced by Mike Scully, with Ian Maxtone Graham as one of the writers. Nerdstalgic notes a quick decline here, with Homer being self-obsessed, idiotic and completely inept, lacking no self-awareness, never experiences consequences, and is mean. The Homer, especially before season 5 may have been inept in many cases, but he wasn't emotionally brainless and he cared. That made people forgive him for his self-appointed hero status.
S12E05, where Homer maybe gets raped by a panda, is when many people turned it off.
I was a kid who grew up watching the Simpsons every weekday at 18:00, perfectly before dinner being served at 18:30. Immediately before it, at 17:30, was King of the Hill. Around the time of me being a preteen to becoming a teen, I grew to enjoy King of the Hill far more than the Simpsons. The last time I watched the Simpsons, I turned it off at the Ke$ha Tik Tok couch gag.

[–] TMC-4 (19458) 8 months ago

10 Fatal Mistakes The Simpsons Season 35 Must Avoid

https://screenrant.com/simpsons-season-35-mistakes-avoid/

The Simpsons season 35 could continue the show's recent hot critical streak, but only if the series avoids a few major pitfalls from recent outings.

[–] BKB (6379) 6 months ago

Believe it or not I haven't watched this show in probably 30 Years and surprised it's still on?? Also, how come Family Guy never received the big screen treatment or Major Dad??

[–] strntz (10934) 6 months ago

How can someone be full of shit if they don't like something?

I simply don't find the show funny anymore. I watch from season 1 through 15 inclusive, but that's it. I don't claim to know why the show isn't funny anymore (behind the scenes anyway), I just don't find it worth my time.

I asked someone on another thread to point out a recent episode they think is funny. They didn't, but maybe it was because they were afraid I'd summarily dismiss it as bad without even watching.

I would love if there were some undiscovered gem (for me) episodes for me to watch and enjoy. It would be like finding an old Twilight Zone, Honeymooners, Star Trek TOS, etc. episode that was filmed but somehow lost. I'm just not willing to sit through hours of unfunny episodes if there are none or just a couple to be found. If anyone knows of any more recent episodes that a "vintage" Simpsons fan would like, I'd appreciate knowing.

[–] liscarkat (16669) 6 months ago

If someone doesn't like the same thing the OP likes, they are full of shit! That's how it works around here.

I never used to miss an episode of "The Simpsons", but somewhere around ten to fifteen years ago I lost interest. I would only watch a current episode if somebody paid me $100.00 in cash. I don't think it has been funny for a long, long time. I am, therefore, full of shit.

[–] strntz (10934) 6 months ago

I am, therefore, full of shit.

I share your constipation..

But while I also haven't found the Simpsons funny in decades, I wonder if the vintage Simpsons fan and a current Simpsons fan is a kind of binary paradigm mostly, or if there are any original fans who find some new shows funny. If so, I would appreciate to know which ones so I can try. I'm not willing to go hunting through the dumpster for them, but if an original fan can point out some recent shows that do the vintage shows justice, I'm willing to give them a try.