Ok, thanks for giving this post a chance after the subject heading... I just have a few thoughts to share. (Long-ish post).
Do you think that the writers of the show are sick of people obsessing about the show? Being pedantic about continuity etc., and are making the show like it is on purpose, just to piss us off, mock us, and try to tell us to "lighten up -it's just a cartoon"? Or aren't the newer writers intelligent enough? Or isn't there as much social commentary/satire to be made these days (hah!)? Or are ideas for shows drying up? The last three options are just possible excuses for a show to turn crappy, but surely aren't the real reasons for the Simpsons to go down the road it has. I think it very likely the first two reasons, and the first reason is my new theory. Or are they just doing it so we won't be so dissappointed when the shows ends?
If season 12 was season 1, i.e. if the show started with these same episodes of s12, surely the show would not have attracted such a following. It would have lasted 4 years tops, I reckon. Do not the producers care what we think ---we are not in the minority. They are losing viewers! Don't they care about the true fans, without whom the show wouldn't be where it is today? Have they no integrity? Yes, they must know that they're upsetting (once) loyal fans...
Disclaimer: Yes, I know not _all_ people think the new eps are crap, and it is just my opinion. In fact, I think the words I used were a bit too harsh, but I can't be bothered phrasing everything carefully. Anyway, the crapiness of the show is not the point: the point is the show has unarguably changed and upset viewers, and I've hypothesised why. What do you think?