The Simpsons: Turning over a new leaf?

I saw tonights episode and was shocked...my jaw was nearly at the floor and I was just short of jumping up and down for joy...was this new episode the real beginning of a new era? Some background on me; I've been watching the show since its Tracey Ullman days, and have loved it dearly until season 8, when it very noticeably went downhill. There have been very few or memorable episodes since (Trash of the Titans is the last 100% great episode, imo). The first Al Jean episode that aired was very good, and I thought The Simpsons were on a new track...the few episodes after that have been subpar, but this one got me very excited. Is it me, or are they being drawn and animated like they used to (circa seasons 4-7)? They really looked like the old-style Simpsons. I heard that the old animation team is back; is this true? Having the school characters in there was a new twist which we have not seen in a long time. No Lenny, Carl, or Moe this time around! And Homer...oh my! He was funny, and not brain-dead retarded this time! Chief Wiggum was once again funny...the whole mood of the episode was completely different than those of the past few years. It was like I was watching a classic, unaired episode. I can't believe it...I'm actually excited to see next week's episode. What do you guys think? I think they finally have it...they finally have a chance at being funny again.

I'm not going to be that dude who just says "no, you're wrong" about your opinion just because mine is opposite...but in response to one thing, I don't like this animation. The animation stopped looking right around season 10 (to me, anyway), but every so often it looks more right (someone mentioned that in Half-Decent Proposal david silverman was back on it or something)... oh well

Jim wrote: