I just wondered - why do people still insist that The Simpsons is the best show on TV?
I can�t say much about other shows on US TV but let me compare the Simpsons to Futurama (from which I have almost every episode.) The following text is as usual just my personal opinion and written in bad English.
When Futurama aired for the first time, I wasn�t very impressed. Sure, it had improved animation and some well-done design but it was...how should I say...a little too unpersonal and too sterile for my taste. It seemed too artificial to me and it was difficult to relate to the characters. But after watching the show for a little while, I realized that it�s nevertheless by far (by far) better than the conformized and sitcomish emptyness of the new Simpsons.
Futurama isn�t as good as the Simpsons was in its first 7 or 8 seasons but it�s IMO much better than the modern mass-market Simpsons. Even a mediocre Futurama episode has better balance, writing, character handling, plot structure etc etc. than a typical new OFF episode.
Let me try to make some points.
Matt Groening said in certain interviews (for older viewers) that the Simpsons are his way to make a serious political statement beside the fun, to say something against (too) strong right-wing-beliefs in society and politics, to show that certain governmental institutions aren�t always the friend of the common man, to make a point against the rehabilitation of Richard Nixon, to show different points of view and hidden subversion etc etc etc.
I still can see such ideas in many Futurama episodes but I can�t see them any longer in The Simpsons. To be honest, that "spirit" is IMO lost since many seasons and replaced by cheap mainstream adaptation, yet even Matt himself keeps insisting in recent interviews that The Simpsons is still as good as ever (seems like a kind of contradiction to me.)
One of my favorite Futurama episodes is the IMO brilliant "A Head in The Polls". We have a great title, an outstanding political satire, a smart and inspired plot with great references, dialogues, and visual gags - and to me that�s clearly an episode in the tradition of classic political OFF stuff like timeless "Sideshow Bob Roberts". When did we have a Simpson episode in that style for the last time? 5 seasons ago? Or even 6 seasons ago?
Let�s consider the writing of many modern OFF episodes - jokes and slapstick in a row, weird visual stuff and obvious gags in the background (not to support satire but to fill the airtime), no unified plotline but very often three almost independent acts and so on. Innovation? Where? The Simpsons are going to [insert place] and have a wacky adventure there or Homer has a new job and fails because of his idiocy. The once subtle and thought-provoking satire is now loud, pseudo-satirical and in-your-face. OFF episodes like "Brawl in the Family" have almost no real direction, episodes like "Weekend at Burnsie�s" have some true potential but simply waste most of it for some cheap ("funny") parody.
Does that really sound like the best show on TV with the best writing (which would mean the same writing as some seasons ago.)
I�m not saying that to bad-mouth professional writers, I just say it to state my own opinion. If the OFF writers compare their recent work to their classic work and to the work of their Futurama colleagues they should be able to see the objective point.
All the special and unique qualities I expect from a good Simpson episode can be found now (of course in different form) in a good Futurama episode but I can�t see them any longer in most Simpson episodes.
So why did Futurama fail? There are certainly many reasons, FOX treated it rather badly. How many people here have seen every Futurama episode? A lot of people also had wrong expectations and too many prejudices when the show started and complained "It�s not like The Simpsons. Why is there no wacky Homer? I hate Billy West. I hate Katey Sagal. I hate that Lobster guy. I want Homer..." (read the JTS website to see how people bad-mouthed Futurama right after the very first episodes.) That�s a very unfair treatment and FOX adapted to it.
To come to an end - great F3K stuff like "A Head in The Polls", "Godfellas", "Parasites Lost", "Luck of The Fryish", "Bending in The Wind", "War is The H-Word", "Where No Fan has Gone Before" (<= best Trek parody ever) and so many more are IMO clear proof that the Simpsons are no longer the best show. Alas, the best show on TV is cancelled now and the Simpsons still survive. But do they survive because of their quality?
I think it�s a good advice to try to get every Futurama episode and to watch it without prejudice or wrong expectations. It�s not The Simpsons but it has IMO many unique qualities the Simpsons had already lost when Futurama aired for the first time. Just my humble opinion of course.
Any comments?
Chris