The Simpsons -- Should Ned date Edna? You can vote online.

[Amaris]

There are many more options for animated entertainment, and The Simpsons is now a drop in the pond. I think they hold on mostly for nostalgia reasons, as they just aren't really relevant anymore.

TV is a business. They don't do things for nostalgia, they do it for profit. The Simpsons is still on because enough people are still watching it to make it profitable. Ratings have never had much to do with quality. A lot of people like familiar, comfortable formulas that let them turn off their brains.

Hell, if there are enough people with no taste to justify giving a hack like Seth McFarlane three shows, it doesn't surprise me that The Simpsons is still hanging on. Even at its worst, it's more watchable than McFarlane's stuff -- and I'm saying this as someone who recently gave up on watching The Simpsons altogether.

I'm referring to the idea that the audience is holding on for nostalgia reasons. There are kids going off to college and they've never been alive when the Simpsons weren't on the air.

 

[Canadave]

No one is talking about conforming to popular opinion here. All I did was ask WHY you thought Seth McFarlane was a hack. I happen to disagree with that opinion and said so in my post. No need to get defensive about things.

If you ask me, I'd say he's a hack because he tends to reuse and recycle the same basic set-ups and jokes.

 

[Broccoli]

^ I hear ya. My younger cousin who is going to be a senior in high school next year loves The Simpsons. Loves the old stuff, loves the new stuff. He can't get enough of it.

I think that the continual popularity of the Simpsons has a lot to do when someone was first turned on to it. I'm guessing a bunch of us here were there during the first couple of years (1-6), but then dropped out when we saw a quality decline. While others might have caught on to the show during a later era (say, for example, 8-11) and saw that as greatness.

I have little doubts that, in time, people like my cousin will drop out of the show claiming a quality decline and can't understand how people younger than him are still into the show.

 

[Amaris]

^ I hear ya. My younger cousin who is going to be a senior in high school next year loves The Simpsons. Loves the old stuff, loves the new stuff. He can't get enough of it.

I think that the continual popularity of the Simpsons has a lot to do when someone was first turned on to it. I'm guessing a bunch of us here were there during the first couple of years (1-6), but then dropped out when we saw a quality decline. While others might have caught on to the show during a later era (say, for example, 8-11) and saw that as greatness.

I have little doubts that, in time, people like my cousin will drop out of the show claiming a quality decline and can't understand how people younger than him are still into the show.

I was a huge fan from Season 1 to late Season 9, and then for me the quality started to drop off. By Season 11, it was warmed over, but still had a few gems (Behind the Laughter comes to mind). By Season 13, I was no longer interested.

 

[Jetfire]

I was a huge fan from Season 1 to late Season 9, and then for me the quality started to drop off. By Season 11, it was warmed over, but still had a few gems (Behind the Laughter comes to mind). By Season 13, I was no longer interested.

Yeah, so was I and I pretty much had the same experience...at this point I have zero interest in the show.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I hear ya about the repeated jokes and stuff from McFarlane. Like I said in my first post, I haven't watched "Family Guy" in a few years now since it returned. I've started watching "American Dad" from the start again and quite enjoy it.

As for the "The Simpsons". Yep. I haven't watched it season around season fourteen or so..maybe earlier than that. The first seven seasons are must watch, and I have several times! LOL.

 

[Trekker4747]

Seth McFarlane is a hack? This is amusing. How is Seth a hack Christopher? I ask as a fan of his. I haven't watched "Family Guy" in years due to disinterest and a dip in quality but I would hardly call him a hack. "American Dad" is a funny show. I couldn't be bothered with "The Cleveland Show".

You lack interest in his most known property, "The Family Guy", and "can't be bothered with" "The Cleveland Show" so you're obviously think little of 2/3rds of his major works.

So I think the broad sense that a "hack" is someone whose work isn't quality, derivative, or otherwise not quality I think calling Seth a "hack" fits. I can't really say I've ever found anything of his funny.

 

[Admiral_Young]

That doesn't mean that I'm not a fan. I took Christopher's original statement to indicate that he isn't a fan of any of Seth's shows. Just because I don't like quality of "Family Guy" RIGHT NOW doesn't mean that I'm not a "Family Guy" fan.