Overview of the seasons by A Perfect Void

Well, before I start posting my seasons reviews I would like to sate my opinion of the state of the show now and back then. I hope none of my opinions offend anyone, keep in mind its just IMO.......

The simpsons was the greatest thing on TV ever. The depth of a cartoon, the amazingly deep rooted characters with feelings, the satire and content, the emotions that were used beat any other sitcom or cartoon, I can go on and on. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't hate the new ones as much as Chris (I would do one of those smilies if I new how.), but nobody can deny the sheer power of the oldies (I'm talking about 2 and 3 specifically, but 4, 6, 7, and 8 too. I'm not crazy about 5, but I'll get to that soon.) and the loss of any amzing characterization. They now seem more like flat cartoon characters like so many other shows. I find the characterization in King of the Hill so much better than the new simpsons. Another thing I dislike about the new simsons is Homer. Bck in the day Homer was a guy with many flaws, he tried to be a good father, and he was rude, but had fellings. Now Homers just plain mean sometimes for no reason, but the biggest problem is, when he tries to help(Children of a lesser Clod) you get even more angry at his character then when hes a jerk. Now, before I get WAY to off topic let me state a couple of opinions about each season.....

Season 1-At first viewing the show is crude, not funny, and many animation flaws, but if you keep watching them and try to like them you have some very good episodes(Moaning Lisa, Bart the General, and Life on the Fast Lane) and some very very bad ones(Homer's Oddysy and Call of the Simpsons). The season wouldn't show many hints about the greatness to come, but a couple of the shows I stated were great do show a promising future. For me this season is still one of the worst, but extremely watchable and decent.

Season 2-Wow! This season was brilliant. Emotion, comedy, and just about everything you could ever want from the show. Although not my favorite season, one of the top 3 best episodes ever was in this season(Lisa's Substitute) and a many other top 20 candidates.

Season 3-This one is a small, small step above season 2 to make it the greatest. It takes the comedy that would eventually be in season 4 and takes some of the emotion from season 2 to make it some kind of "ultraseason" that has everthing. The best examples would have to be Lisa's Pony, Burns Verkaufen Der Kraftwerk, Flaming Moes, Homer Defined, and Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington. The only small lowlight of the season, is that, towards the end, they already tend to stray away from emotion that would turn into the mostly comedy season 4 and the basicall all comedy season 5.

Season 4-Usually considered among simpson fans as ehen the show hit its stride, but I think its a step below the last two. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this season. Theres still not one bad episode. The reason I think its a step down is because they seem to be starting changing into a great comedy instead of a great all around show with emotion. I can't really say much bad about this season though because it spawned some amazing episodes such as Last Exit to Springfield and Duffless. Yet another Very good season IMO.

Season 5-My least fav. from seasons 2-6, yet still a very good show. It had a quite a few classics and I consider Bart Gets Famous and Cape Feare to be two of the funniest episodes ever. The worst of the season may be Homer Goes to College. Although just a B- or maybe a C+ its still not a great episode. Niether emotion nor comedy have much to do with this episode. It seem smany of the jokes fall flat. Overall this season is still way better than 10-12. It is another funny season, but loses the emotion even more than before.

Season 6-A definate classic season as it includes Itchy and Scratchy Land, ToH 5, Lisa on Ice, and Homer:Badman among others. This season brought back a little more feeling then season 5 had and it shows in the classic "Lisa on Ice". This is right up there with seasons 2-4 as one of the best. One downfall is the showing of some of the first actually bad episodes. Another Simsons Clip Show and Fear of Flying.

Season 7-I'm not too crazy about this season. It seems the first step towards mediocrity(well maybe not first-season 5 holds that title). You see it in the episode Radioactive Man the most probably. Many of the episodes lack the amazing depth of some of them in season 6. I'm don't really many to bash this season as its much better than the 10 and 11 specifically. Actually it countains some of the best ever like Marge Be Not Proud, Much Apu About Nothing, and the classic Summer of 4 ft. 2. So this season IMO will go down in simsons history as a decent one. Not amazing or bad at all.

Season 8-To me this ones a basic reflection of season 7 for the most part. Has its fair share of greats, but a step down from season 6. It seems like season 7 and 8 stand alone in their style. They don't seem joke after joke in your face like seasons 4 or 5 and they definately don't have the deep seeded character emotions like seasons 2 and 3. These two seasons seem more like they are just.....there. they are good and considered classic to some people, but they're the type of seasons everybody has many different opinions on them. I do think it doesn't include as many classic episodes as season season 7 does tho; therefore, its a step down.

Season 9-Many, many people consider this the biggest season stepdown. I don't. In fact I would call the first half of the season great. Just as good as season 8, maybe better. Yet, if you watch every episode in the season, you will notice some signals of a future downfall. Some of the little unrealistic things that happen and even a couple of the episodes show major season 10 style. Yet, open your minds and try to like this season. You may find classics like I did(Bart Carny, Bart Star:Warning, does contain jerk Homer, and The Cartridge Family.

Season 10-Now heres the first major downfall. Contains some horrible episodes like Viva Ned Flanders, Sunday Cruddy Sunday, and When You Dish Upon a Star. The worst is probably the Homer Simpson in: "Kidny Trouble". Homer is the biggest jerk too in this one. It had a chance to be emotional, but blew that away very fast. There are so many bad episodes in this one I don't have time to name them. Worst season ever for sure.

Season 11-Although it has some of the worst episodes in the history of the show such as Missionary: Impossible(Wheres the ending and any sense of realism. And I hate the person who thought it was a good idea to have Tellitubbies chasing Homer), Kill the Alligator and Run, and Bart to the Future, the season also coantained episodes miles above IMO the crap we saw in season 10. Pygmoelian, Brothers Little Helper, and even Eight Misbehavin. Still you can't take a season 3 episode and compare it to one of theses without laughing at latter. O ya, and who could forget about the glorious jockey elves.

Season 12-A little better than season 11 just for the fact it countains Trilogy of Error(Except for the Ending a definate classic IMO). They keep most of the unrealism.Believe me, I wanted to shoot the screen when half of the episodes ended just for the HORRIBLE ending. Its too bad, it could have been a good season. Most of the episodes in some way resemble season 11 in some way. Not the worst you'll ever see, but still no where near a great direction for the show to be heading.

So whats ahead for season 13? Well, we have Marge getting an accidental boob job and the family getting shackled to each other. I know that sounds horrible, but there is room for hope. Lisa becomes a Buddhist, Apu cheats on Manjula, Another past episode comes, and Artie Ziff returns. Well, if you don't like those ideas(I do) then you can count on Homer having another addiction and the simpsons going on another vacation. YAY!!!!!!!!!

PS. I will have my 1st season reviews up pretty soon. Please respond so I can no what to improve and so I can see what YOU think about the show.

Very good season reviews and very well written. I pretty much agree with some of your statements but not with all, personally I consider season 2 as a little (just a little) better than season 3 and season 7 better than 5 and 6. I absolutely agree with what you said about seasons 4 and 5 and about the start of too obvious "in-your-face" comedy instead of classic depth and emotionality in balance with fun and satire but I�d say it was mostly season 7 which made the show more classic again. We seem to have pretty much the same opinion about really good episodes ("Lisa�s Substitute", "Summer of 4 Ft 2") and also about weaker episodes ("Homer Goes to College") or even really bad episodes ("Kill the Alligator" and many other BABF).

I don�t hate all of the new ones but many of them. However, if you have a look on my short season 12 reviews you�ll notice that grade C is the most frequent grade so I always try to see the better things in an episode. I just can�t accept the seasons past 10 as real part of the show so I simply consider them as new show which sometimes comes close to the real Simpsons. Even the better episodes from seasons 11 and 12 (e.g. "Faith Off" or "Hungry Homer" or "Trilogy of Error") are rather weak in comparison to the great classics of the very first years.

If I have to watch a piece of crap like "Two Springfields" which distorts all characters and reality, which makes Homer a bizarre evil creature and wastes all of its potential (it could have been an intelligent parable about the Berlin wall) for disgusting visual gags and jokes about golden showers I just get angry.

In the following just a few short comments to your very good review.

I�m no real friend of the very first season 1 episodes (7G01 - 7G04) and I admit that most of the season 1 episodes had certain problems like strange voices and animation. I don�t think that animation is really important but the animation of the very first episodes was IMO too weak for prime time. I�d say the show hit its first stride with 7G05 "Bart The General" which was a brilliant parable about war and with 7G06 "Moaning Lisa" which was the first truly great and deep character episode. Well, I have said all that and way more in my own season 1 - 3 reviews so I won�t repeat it now. Just enjoy your DVD and you�ll notice the development.

BTW, I have heard that some of the audio comments on the DVD are rather strange, saying bad stuff like "more pain, more fun" (something I don�t want to hear in season 1) or praising the jokes more than the deeper content of the episodes. If that�s really true it�s IMO rather bad. Well, I won�t buy the DVD as I have season 1 already on the British video box.

I absolutely agree. IMO Best Season Ever. Season 3 comes close. Season 2 and 3 should probably be seen as one unity of episodes in the true classic style.

A very good season with many excellent episodes (outstanding for example "Homer The Heretic") but I agree with you that it was a first step toward good comedy instead of true depth and meaning. There still was lots of fun and great stuff. One episode I always consider as start of outlandish stuff is "Marge Vs the Monorail" where we see trees with tentacles or a radioactive squirrel with laser eyes and some other stuff. The show started to go more in the direction of visual gags instead of dialogue humour and witty lines. Not bad back then and an enjoyable episode but a start for things to come.

You know my opinion about season 5: too fast, too bizarre, too much jerkass, first noticeable character distortions just for the sake of fun. Good episodes but also many weak episodes in the style of "Homer Goes To College". Worst episode probably "Burns Heir". The Simpsons became more of a fast comedy show instead of a intelligent satire.

It�s IMO better than 5 and on the right way.

That�s at least for me the best of the middle seasons with lots of outstanding stuff. "Mother Simpson" makes Homer a real character with feelings and most of the classic depth returns to the show. Good solid charakterization and lots of great dark stuff like "Homediddly" or the outstanding "Bart Sells His Soul" and so on. The season contains with "Summer of 4 Ft 2" one of the best episodes ever. Personally I�d call it absolutely amazing.

"Radioactive Man" (which you critizised) is indeed a rather weak episode but it�s no 3F code as all great season 7 episodes but a 2F code and thus more season 6 related.

Season 8 still had parts of the intelligence and depth of season 7 (noticeable in great episodes like "The Day the Violence Died") but also had parts of a too light sitcom humour and it was too parodistic in certain parts. There were nice but too often pointless parodies about stuff like James Bond or Rocky or X-Files and others. There was also a growing sarcasm and a first trace of too bad taste in season 8. I could mention now a certain episode about mean laugther and electrocution but who wants to hear that? ;-)

Well, I do. Season 9 had better parts and some good episodes ("Cartridge Family", "Lost Our Lisa" or the last truly good season finale "Natural Born Kissers") but was on the whole too sitcomish and too fun oriented for my taste. Too much outlandish stuff, too many visual gags, way too much jerkass in too many episodes. I�d even call "Bart Carny" one of the weakest episodes as it was rather pointless and you could replace the Simpsons with almost every other sitcom family. The last true classic was IMO "Lisa�s Sax". When it was over the classic years of the show were also over.

I mostly agree but I�d say there were worse episodes than "Viva Ned Flanders". We have daily season 10 on German TV now (and then daily season 11 and prime time season 12. That sucks. I hope they�ll start with daily season 1 when they�re through) and we�ll have the rather awful "Kidney" episode tomorrow. There are however some better AABF episodes like "Lisa Gets an A" or "Bart The Mother" (good parable about damaged eco systems) or nice "Make Room for Lisa" so season 10 is the last season I call somehow acceptable as Simpson season. Last traces of the old times but lots of modern bad stuff (e.g. bathroom humour and more.)

That�s my personal "Worst Season Ever" and it truly contains lots of very very bad episodes. It�s not worth to say more. Just a few better episodes like "Pygmoelian" or "Faith Off".

As I said in my reviews - I�ve seen worse than season 12 but not much. All the major problems of season 11 (bad self-irony, tasteless jokes, sex jokes, aprupt bizarre endings etc.) are still there but stuff like "Trilogy" or "Hungry Homer" gives me a little hope. The intelligence and satire of the first years is still almost completely missing, only thin traces remain.

I don�t really like what I�ve heard about season 13 but I�d be glad if I�m wrong. Stuff like the story about Lisa as buddhist or the return of Artie Ziff (I love "The Way We Was") sound pretty good but other stories sound like the usual modern "crazy Homer in crazy situation" stuff. My hopes in Al Jean were a little shattered by his awful "Lesser Clod" but I liked some of the stuff he said in a recent interview e.g. making the show more real again. Let�s hope and see.

Well, you know what I think. I�m looking forward to read your own 1st season reviews and to compare them with my own. Very good reviews. It�s good to have someone who writes stuff like that, I think there�s too little reviewing here in a.t.s. and I don�t want to do all the stuff by myself ;-). Alas, The Abman has left a.t.s - he was also a pretty good reviewer. Keep up the good work.

Chris

I have to correct myself: "The Day the Violence Died" is of course no season 8 episode but a true season 7 episode.

To give you the names of real season 8 episodes in good style: "Lisa�s Date with Density" which deals with the problem of bullying in a serious and deep way or "A Milhouse Divorce" that deals with feelings in a honest and good way.

Chris

Hey, thanks! I appreciate the compliment. Now that you mention it, I'll occasionally post on a.t.s. to review certain episodes, like you're doing. I kind of miss that traditiont. I'll try to get one out next week.

I'm not a regular here anymore but I still keep up with all your reviews and TheRack's commentaries (which is how I ended up posting here today, when reading this thread). I really enjoyed your critique of Bart Sells His Soul; you caught a lot of cool stuff in that episode that I never even thought about. I love the episode even more now. Thanks!

-TheAbman

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

work.

I

Hey, everybody. Look who doesn't need A.T.S. to enjoy life. We hate 'im, right fellas?

and

Soul;

about.

Hey everybody. TheAbman's back!

You'll be back (points to Ondre), and so will you (points to ChaitheDog), and you (points to en-mog), and you (points to Matt Rose), AND YOU (points to TheRack).

Sorry, had to mention that quote. I'll stick to my word and leave now.

***********************
TheAbman,
HOM++ LIS+++ BAR++++ BOB++++ 7G12, 7F10,
8F15, 9F22, 1F04, 2F10, 3F13, 4F14, 5F02, AABF03,
BABF05, CABF14
"Is there no place for the man with the 105 IQ?!?!"
***********************

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

and

Oh, no. It's too late. You have to stay. :)

Of course I will! If you didn't close, I'd never leave! :)

DJ MaNiAk

Put on ya leather pants/and do the isolation dance/like some stupid-ass Goth kid that didn't stand a chance against me

The Four Horsemen: Kicking the shit out of people with baseball bats and tire irons in parking lots since 1985.

[mumbles]

[mumbles]

/ Kristian

+-------------------------------------------------------+
|Kristian Ronge                                         |
|[email]    [email]             |
|(civil)                (skola)                         |

|d99, datateknik, KTH (Kungliga Tekniska H�gskolan)     |
|d99, Computer Science, Royal Institute of Technology   |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

You�re welcome :-)

It�s good to see that you are still around here. I thought you had completely left a.t.s to do more important things and to get a life ;-).

Chris

"Defko13" wrote in message news:[email]...

No one does =)

Hee hee.

Know the secret of their power? Scrubbing bubbles.

I like 5.

The reasons are usually jokes.

Like when he takes Bart & Lisa's photograph out of the frame and replaces it with the license? It was funny, because it wasn't what we expected. (I laughed, anyway). But it was also turned against Homer's humanity; the joke reversed Homer's innate goodness. It seems many jokes in the later seasons are at odds with a character's humanity. They used to beautifully coexist.

very

and

I think Call of the Simpsons is a very underrated episode. It gets brickbats from many a fan. Strangely enough, that may have been the episode that hooked me on The Simpsons in the first season. The Bigfoot sequence split my sides. Ever since, I've had these scars...

I think it did. The sheer creativity an offbeat sense that even 7G04 showed us was enough to set it way above the TV shows of the time. The electro-shock therapy scene was brilliant at the time. (No pun about "brilliance" intended)

That indicates having only seen Season 1 after seeing newer seasons. If all the episodes to date hadn't been aired, and we were to watch all 269 in some glorious marathon, I think I may agree. But the greatness of Season 1 stems more from the fact that it actually happened. Season 1 was the start of something great; it was where the writers, directors, and producers experimented and came up with a winning formula. To exclude it would be akin to saying "The Model T is one of the worst cars ever built. It should never have been made". With hindsight after many gloriously superior cars, it's easy to confound the Model T compared to a Lexus.

At the beginning of the Simpsons, if they were able to write something as good as Season 4, then I would term Season 1 lackluster. But, they were still trying to figure out how to make a great show. They nearly pulled it off completely.

season,

and a

I'd be interested in some in-depth analysis. Several of your comments on the seasons seem parallel to those of Chris Pfeiler, and I'd like to see your unique reasoning. All that is there are the basic opinions.

Well, I didn't like that one as much. It seemed pretty flat plot-wise (there wasn't a lot of movement, or twists, or turns in the events). Once Bart and Lisa were set up on opposing teams, the rest was pretty predictable story-wise. There were some good jokes, and the montage at the end showing Bart & Lisa together was cute.

Fear of Flying.

Why don't people like Fear of Flying? I find the jokes very funny, and it involves Marge in a story more than per usual. It gave us some back-story on Marge's family, especially her father. The plot was a bit sterile (nothing exceptionally exciting), but the back story and jokes made it quite good.

don't.

I, too, think the first half of the season was better than the second half, surely.

that

There's some insight.

show

Whoa. That may be my favorite from Season 11. The jokes were outstanding, the references were plentiful, and Homer actually does something helpful (in his own way).

thought it was a good

The ending parodied PBS pledge drives, and I thought it was a good parody. The sense of realism is suspended, because TV characters (whom we know not much about) just may have magical powers. Not really, of course, but that's the joke. We see these innocent little puppets running around, but who knows what they do in the real world? Maybe they actually ARE aliens who shoot lasers from their heads. The suggestion and attempt to fool people into thinking something like that is possible is a tongue-in-cheek liberty the writers take now and again to keep viewers honest. And, it's unexpected. Little do we know the REAL Big Bird can actually swoop down out of the sky on unsuspecting people!

Kill the Alligator and Run was a bit of a mess, without the structure of even Missionary: Impossible. Homer starts going nuts, so they go to spring break, piss everyone off, hijack a boat, run over an alligator, escape in a ridiculous way by having the car pushed by a train, live like hillbillies, then everything comes together in the end. I guess the absurdity of the plot is funny, but in the end the plot was just a vehicle for some decent jokes, some bad jokes, and some celebrity appearances.

season 10. Pygmoelian,

I thought Brothers Little Helper wasn't so bad. It was good to have Bart misbehaving again. He'd almost become like a doorstop, just dropping in now and again to reaffirm how cool he was. The original Bart wasn't really that cool. He was a troublemaker, but he was also picked on at school. He was more of an outcast than even Milhouse.

Have a taco; I'll give you another when you win the race. [munch munch]

Realize most were done that way on purpose. The writers apparently liked the idea of being self-ironic a few times last season.

...

Now that you've given basic opinions, let's see the real analysis. Let's see some cogs turning in that brain there, as you give your explanation of your opinions.

Who says I do? This Monday we had the first official German airing of "Insane Clown Poppy" and I gave it a grade C+ as I thought it�s not really that bad in comparison to some other BABF. Homer is once again ruined as character but the plot about Krusty and his daugther has some better elements and thin traces of classic emotionatily. So I gave a C+ but now it seems to me I was almost the only one who was so kind. Lots of people said how awful it was, they gave D and F and now I look like a BABF fan. Bad reputation ;-)

Heh Heh. Looks like I�ve set a new standard. Everybody has to write a real analysis, simple opinions won�t be accepted ;-).

Chris

"Chris Pfeiler" wrote in message news:[email]...

A joke, Chris. :-)

see

your

:D

Yea, I know, now I'm expected to have GOOD season 1 reviews coming soon ;-). Its taking me awhile. I hope I get them done soon though.

Damn, I forgot to put my sig. so here it is....

A Perfect Void