this 'new' chestnut

i've loved the simpsons as much as its possible for one man to love something that can't love him back, or something...

problem is i really don't like the new episodes and find them deeply unfunny and insulting to my intelligence. and i stopped watching it a few months back after i stopped enjoying it a year to eighteen months ago. in the interests of research i'd like to hear from other people who have also experienced this terrible pain of no longer finding what you loved about something to be evident in it anymore. i know we are in the minority thats for sure. but i'd really like to see the simpsons finish now. there are more than enough episodes to enjoy from the past over and over again, but i don't think it's done anything remotely new or interesting in the last two or three years and has been surviving purely on repeating jokes and storylines only not as well.

mike scully himself seems irritatingly nonchalant and carefree about the fact that the show could be stagnating. he believes what they are doing now is still fresh (citing things like killing off maude flanders as evidence of this, hah!). i think the only reason people still love it is because they are always seeing older episodes that they think are more recent. for me the decline is quite noticeable (it occurred around the same time Futurama began, curiously enough) although you could go further back to when the likes of Conan O'Brian stopped writing episodes for the show.

Anyway, just interested in people's thoughts - although there's no point replying and having a go at me and saying 'how can you say that? did you SEE the mel gibson one?' etc. cos my mind is made up and i am as stubborn as gladys the groovy mule!

cheers

steve m

This is a very well-written post. Obviously, a lot of people in this NG (myself included) feel the same way, although I have not seen it phrased so well or rationally before.

The new Simpsons are better than a lot of what is on TV, but it is no longer "The" show to watch. (I guess "The" show is now Futurama, Sopranos, or some sitcom that I never watch).

I can remember the Simpsons used to be the big TV event of the week for me, now I barely notice if I miss it. It's still good, but irrelevant.

On Wed, 8 Aug 2001 16:11:31 +0100, "Steve Mannion" wrote:

ooh, compliments....i like...

its true though. i remember the show when it first came out (i was 12) and it seemed great then. then you see those early ones again when you are older and it seems a bit dodgy. thats the way it was for me. and it also took a while to be able to recognise which episodes were from which periods but its all par for the course. i'm sure there has always been someone slagging the show off over the last 5 or 6 years (some people think it lost it with the Mr Burns shooting!) but i dont think this is just a case of a fan getting older and naturally tiring of something they immersed themselves in (not just that anyway) and certainly not a case of Android Dungeon Owner or 'Genius At Work' sundrome, although i guess the show's writers would rather see it that way. oh well

for me South Park is now vastly superior actually, i rate the new series a lot (i'm in England so it only just started here a month or so ago). King Of The Hill is great cos it sticks with normality and exploits that fully. Family Guy matched the Simpsons in many ways and is just naturally fresher (talking dog, nuff said). I guess the real Tv events now are shows like Jackass and Banzai - what do you think?

Homer: Hey, wait a minute! There's no such thing as a talking dog!! Dog: [barks] Homer: Damn straight!

- mirilidium "So anyway, I says to Mabel, I says..."

You are compleately right. I see the simpsons now as a much weaker show than it used to be, but it still is one of the best on tv (other than Family Guy, and Futurama ) In my mind it was always like, Simpsons used to be a 9 and now it's a 5, but most of what is on tv is a 2 or 3 anyway. So instead of watching tv, I'll do something else, but when I feel like watching the old dumb box, simpsons is still one of the first shows I turn to.

David "Best Slumber Party" Moore

"Kelly" wrote in message news:[email]...

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funny that, i DON'T think the simpsons is still one of the better things on TV, and i won't just watch it if its a newer one and there's nothing better on. as i say, every other major animated american show on is, for me, better than the simpsons right now - although i didnt see God, The Devil And Bob so dunno bout that one...i forgot to mention Dilbert tho - its great

"iidaveph" wrote in message news:nYdc7.42260$[email]...

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I would suggest watching 'The Family Guy;' JOhn

Watched Family Guy. Hated it. I dunno, maybe I'll try again.

Has anyone seen "TV Funhouse" on Comedy Central. I have never laughed so hard at anything. Unfortunately they seem to have made only 8 episodes... which get played over... and over... and over...

On Wed, 8 Aug 2001 13:23:05 -0500, "John Misrahi" wrote:

[email] (Kelly) wrote in message news:...

I'm beginning to get the level of the room.

<stands up to applaud>

My thoughts exactly. "The Simpsons" are still a show I watch regularly, and is about the only show I watch regularly. However, there is a *lot* missing from this show, and something fell off around the 1998-99 season (s.10). There is plenty of room for improvement, and although I once thought that this previous season was one of the best in years, looking at repeats, this season was only slightly better than s.11. It's still childish, potty humor. Homer is still a jerk; Marge is no longer the typical housewife; Bart is not a mischevious troublemaker...it goes on and on. The only person who stays true to form is Maggie.

I just want the regular Simpsons back. I don't want a plot that starts off at the County Fair, and ends up with ocean volleyball playing dolphins that Homer trained himself in his latest get rich quick scheme (just an example off the top of my head).

This show has become a joke of itself, and needs to stop. It is an insult to longtime viewers who remember the way the Simpsons were, when they were all the rage.

The ONE and ONLY, Brandon Foster-Gray

CAPT. TENNILLE: Simpson, you're like the son I never had. HOMER: And you're like the father I never visit. ---"Simpson Tide" episode, "The Simpsons," 1998

if i had a hat, i'd take it off to you sir....we may be spoiling everyone else's fun but at least we enjoy doing it :)

steve m

"One of the GOOD AOL users" wrote in message news:[email]...

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That is, when she's actually on, which is not often enough.