The Simpsons

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Amaris, Nov 14, 2009.

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When Did The Simpsons Lose It's Spark/Soul?

  1. Season One

    1.3%
  2. Season Two

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  3. Season Three

    1.3%
  4. Season Four

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Season Five

    1.3%
  6. Season Six

    1.3%
  7. Season Seven

    3.9%
  8. Season Eight

    6.5%
  9. Season Nine

    14.3%
  10. Season Ten

    9.1%
  11. Season Eleven

    6.5%
  12. Season Twelve

    5.2%
  13. Season Thirteen

    6.5%
  14. Season Fourteen

    6.5%
  15. Season Fifteen

    2.6%
  16. Season Sixteen

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  17. Season Seventeen

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  18. Season Eighteen

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  19. Season Nineteen

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  20. Season Twenty

    1.3%
  21. Season Twenty-One

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  22. The Simpsons Is Still Good

    32.5%
  1. Tyre

    Tyre Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2003
    Location:
    Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell
    I always thought "A Star is Burns" was underrrated, but then again I saw it years after it aired and was unaware of the existence of The Critic.

    The show seemed to start losing its luster in Season 8, but it was still a strong season for the most part. Season 9 is where things began to fall apart; about half the season was really good (Lisa's Sax, Bart Star, The Joy of Sect, Das Bus, Girly Edition in particular) and the rest of it was... not (The Cartridge Family, All Singing All Dancing, and Bart Carny were really terrible, and Treehouse of Horror VIII was a huge drop-off in quality compared to the ones that preceeded it). Seasons 10-12 was awful except for a few episodes, but 13-14 took steps towards watchability before falling off again. I stopped watching completely after Season 16.
     
  2. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2002
    Location:
    United States
    Personally, one of my favorite episodes is "Homer the Vigilante", which comes out of the Fifth Season (one of my beloved and favorite seasons). :D

    J.
     
  3. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2009
    Location:
    Ireland.
    See, I thought that episode was fantastically funny and one of S6's many highlights.

    "On closer inspection, these appear to be loafers."

    "Just connect it to my veins!"

    However, I am something of a Critic diehard as well, and I hunted down that series basically on the basis of my love of this episode. I enjoyed that series an unreasonably great deal.

    Besides, Matt Groening, with Bender's cameo on the Simpsons and a teenager committing suicide because Futurama cancelled, is he really one to talk? ;)

    ...yes, yes he is as that wasn't a whole episode. But shush.
     
  4. tharpdevenport

    tharpdevenport Admiral Admiral

    Season 7, for me, is when I started not enjoying some episodes. I basically tuned out shortly after that, only contuining with the Halloween specials, because even they were good despite the rest of the bad season, then one day,I forget which season, the Halloween specials started sucking really badly. I don't might a slight decline, one episode good, then the next season terrible. And it was terrible again the next season, so I dropped the series all together. At this point, it's a fucking joke well beyond it's prime. It is quite sad, really.

    I've said this stuff here multiple times, and I have also said this before here:

    Anybody who's never seen the series and decides to judge it by tuning into it now, or any of the re-runs from the last ten years, makes me feel fucking embaressed to even be a fan.
     
  5. Jono

    Jono Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2001
    Location:
    Australia
    I agree.

    I'd add Burn's entire movie and the Boo-urns moment were also very funny and were my highlights for the episode. Also in my house we got a lot of run out of the Mexican equivalent joke.
     
  6. Broccoli

    Broccoli Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 3, 2001
    Location:
    Broccoli
    I've always enjoyed The Simpsons on one level or another. My problems with it started when they had a string of episodes where celebrities would randomly pop-up in episodes for no reason whatsoever, play themselves (and basically say "Hi, I'm so-and-so"), and then depart. The example that springs to mind is when Marge got Weird Al to sing to Homer for some reason.

    It's the Internet...that's allowed. :p

    In fairness, there is a difference between a throwaway cameo and a blatant crossover.
     
  7. crouteru

    crouteru Captain Captain

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2008
    For me, it would have to be season 13. I've only seen a few episodes from subsequent seasons, but haven't found any of them laugh-out-loud funny as previous seasons. It's still been a great series and I'll no doubt be rewatching seasons 1-13 for the rest of my life.
     
  8. Deranged Nasat

    Deranged Nasat Vice Admiral Admiral

    Seasons 2-13 are great, but then the show lost its way. I have seasons 2-12 on DVD, but I'll stop after 13. :)
     
  9. Broccoli

    Broccoli Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 3, 2001
    Location:
    Broccoli
    Assuming they'll release 13 in any short order. The next season due for release is Season 20.
     
  10. MeanJoePhaser

    MeanJoePhaser Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2003
    Location:
    Missile Command
    I think the show has improved a tad recently (I'm surprised since I thought the movie was mostly worthless). There's been less reliance and b plots that don't interact (though to be fair, there were such episodes that were good), and somewhat less Homer retardation. (Like tonight's episode, Homer was actually competent as Carl's assistant.)

    I think Conan O'Brien's involvement was when the show peaked and that was soooo long ago. IT'll never return to that level, but...
     
  11. Garm Bel Iblis

    Garm Bel Iblis Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2009
    Location:
    Des Moines, IA
    I voted season 5, it was just the last great season with the "Simpsons Feeling" to it. its also the season i stopped buying the dvds
     
  12. Garm Bel Iblis

    Garm Bel Iblis Commodore

    Joined:
    Oct 22, 2009
    Location:
    Des Moines, IA
    Some of the greatest lines ever in that ep:

    "Can you swing a sack of doorknobs?"

    "Can I !"

    "Here's the sack, but you gotta supply your own knobs."

    or

    "Lisa, dont EVER stop in the middle of a ho-down!"
     
  13. cultcross

    cultcross Postponed for the snooker Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2001
    Location:
    UK
    ^ "Something about the way he walked. much more vertical than usual"
     
  14. Zulu Romeo

    Zulu Romeo World Famous Starship Captain Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2004
    It als has one of my favourite kitchen scenes:

    [​IMG]
     
  15. ITL

    ITL Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2004
    Location:
    Palace Of The Brine
    Does anyone remember which season is this from?

    [​IMG]

    In any case, I liked the Godfather reference even though I can't remember much about the episode.

    :D
     
  16. tharpdevenport

    tharpdevenport Admiral Admiral

    Was that from Apu getting married to his pre-arranged bride?
     
  17. HappyDayRiot

    HappyDayRiot Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2008
    Location:
    Cardiff, Wales
    I love the anti-cat burglar security systems, the house with legs and the lasers! Homer the Vigilante is one of my all time favourites as well, along with You Only Move Twice. In fact they were the first two I ever saw, on a video with Marge in Chains and Bart the Fink.

    I can't believe A Star is Burns is underrated - I adore that episode. The Burns film alone is worth seeing over and over again.

    As for my drop-off point, season 12 is the last one I remember really enjoying. I kept watching up to 15 and just petered away gradually. It really did lose a lot of its inventiveness and charm. And the supporting cast seemed to shrink too. All of a sudden, it was just Burns, Smithers, Apu, Skinner etc with so, so many other good characters shafted.

    I have seen a few episodes from seasons 19 and 20 which were much better than anything from 13-18 though.
     
  18. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2009
    Location:
    Ireland.
    On the subject of "Homer the Vigilante", the moment with Skinner and Homer nodding at each other to the theme of Dragnet is one of my favourite bits ever.
     
  19. Kelthaz

    Kelthaz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2005
    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    I suppose it would be season 9. I remember my hatred for the Simpsons started with "The Principal and the Pauper" and reached it's peaked with "Trash of the Titans". A quick Wiki search showed me that both of these episodes were in season 9.
     
  20. cultcross

    cultcross Postponed for the snooker Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2001
    Location:
    UK
    See, that's how good the Simpsons used to be, I'm actually laughing out loud at a 1 second animated gif.