Some people just grow up

I have read a lot of discussion about how the Simpsons do today compared to the way they used to be. That's interesting to talk about assuming that we stop discussing what is better.

Overall, the Simpsons have been a good show, but it's not that the newer episodes are bad, I think the show needed to change. If you haven't noticed, the show being a cartoon will ALWAYS be attracted to by young people. Of course, most of us had to have been young when we first saw the show, but as time has gone by, we grew older and if the show creators kept pointing the show at older fans, younger audiences would start finding it becomming too intelligent, and the more intelligent you are, the less funny you are (it's a fact, Homer and Bart are bigger than Marge and Lisa). Besides, older fans may eventually stop watching with how long the show has been on and then the program will grow useless for prime time.

I am afraid that even if the program ran it's course, if I were the executive producer, I would still keep it going because, if you had not noticed yet, the Simpsons being in the prime time lineup isn't just there because people have always liked the show, it's there for it's reputition. People don't want it to go away, and if it does, I'll bet they will start hating the show, it doesn't matter how funny or how great it was, it went off the air and just for that, they don't like it anymore. That would just put the Simpsons into the situation disco was in after the 70's ended. I mean, how would you like to see some wear a black T-shirt with a crossed out Bart Simpson and the back of shirt says "Simpsons Suck"?

If you think the Simpsons are not good enough anymore, that's you but not everyone who doesn't. Perhaps if you still like the show, look to the reruns, not the new stuff. It's time to let the newer audiences like the show as it is. After all, nothing is really different assuming that Homer is loveable dope, Bart is cool, Lisa is smart, and Marge is there to keep things straight.

In other words, the Simpsons have to change and so do we.

[email] (Jack Of Spades) wrote in message news:...

So has to be ALWAYS marked at kids?

The show used to be able to appeal to the intelligent and less educated at the same time. Today, all it wants to do is lean towards the stupid, while having one, or two little obscure things as front to an intelligent program.

Class never goes out of style. Moronic jokes, and sight gags do.

When it started, it had a rep, but now you could put the new material, especially S10 and 11 next to Pokeymon and the 'younger fanbase' wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

For maybe a little while, but we'd get over it.

I don't think a scraggley T-shirt is going to influence my opinions and I'd rather see a crappy fan shirt than see a shitty episode.

What if a large chunk of the newer audience likes the reruns more than the new stuff? I have NEVER met anyone over 20 say they liked the stuff made in the past five years was better than what came before.

ASS-U-ME.

Appealing to dumber audiences makes more money and prolongs the mediocrity. The days of the show being an intelliget program are dead.

Jake Lennington wrote in message news:[email]...

news:...

I've been watching the Simpsons since it was first aired in England, and like my friends I agree that it was best in seasons 7-9, but the newest episodes are funnier than the first few seasons, so I think they should keep running the show even if it becomes Homer for 20 minutes taking drugs and other crazy shit. If they really run out of ideas, they should use fan's scripts.

Homer Simpson wrote:

The Simpsons is/was a fantastic TV show, but it still is a TV show, so stop treating it like a drug. As for using fan ideas, I think they might be looking at the scripts...

What I was trying to say was that since a lot of kids shows are cartoons, kids will think something animated like the Simpsons is for them (even though it's not). Look at South Park, that show is put on late-night because it's too offensive for kids, yet when I was a teacher aid for a summer reading program, I saw a couple boys with South Park hats on.

I see what you mean with that, this can be blamed on the recent look at TV today, hardly anything is intelligent to look at. The show I do think has declined in it's intelligent side, and it seems like the producers think that intelligent plots should be saved for Lisa episodes only. Hardly ever do we get to see Homer or Bart face difficult sitations anymore, that sparks intelligence sometimes.

Of course, you also realize that much of the writing staff we enjoyed don't work for the show anymore, and probably never will. Sometimes we are a little too hard on the new writers when they just try to do their best. Not many new sitcoms exist anymore.

Perhaps you should think about the fact that when newer episodes go into syndication, they couldn't tell the difference between that and a season 5 episode. All they see are the same characters.

It took over a decade for us to accept disco music again.

You'll drag behind on style.

People on this newsgroup have stated that they like the new stuff. Also, a good majority of people in the U.S. still like the show. In fact, Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, an old man, thinks that prime time will never be complete without new episodes of the Simpsons.

Well, it's true.

Did I finally light your lightbulb?

Jack Of Spades wrote:

No, I wouldn't doubt it.

No arguements here...

Al Jean, David Mirkin, Mike Reiss (in limited fashion), George Meyer, John Swartzwelder, and the leaving Mike Scully have been around for a while.

Wrong. I used to go to the Fox Discussion board and just about everyone there was in their teens and they hated the first three or four seasons becasue Homer wasn't 'funny' enough. They all love this new stuff and it looks like market research wins again.

First of all, the Simpsons are bigger then disco, and second, the Beatles, while not in the best of circumstances, ended at the right time. Being around for only a limited time made them popular beyond belief and they left leaving the fans wanting more.

My existance isn't that shallow.

The simple answer: people watch it because it's out of routine. Not because it's really funny, moving, or satirical. They watch it out of routine.

Homer's a jerkass, Bart's some wallflower of a character, Maggie is rarely seen, Marge looks the other way, but thankfully Lisa is still mostly the same...

Sadly, the show used to be a cornerstone of Television, but now it's an old screen door that flaps in the slightest breeze.

In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "Some people just grow up" thread, Jack Of Spades wrote:

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who says that if you want to be funny, you can't be smart, or that to attract youngsters you must repel adults? "The Simpsons" first three seasons were very intelligent, yet they were funny. (In my opinion, they were funny because they were intelligent.) Audiences, both young and old, responded favorably. "The Simpsons" was a bit hit in the ratings for all demographic groups, except for the elderly, who preferred then-current "Murder She Wrote."

I think you have it backwards. Shows go off the air because people start hating them, not the other way around [*]. When "The Andy Griffith Show," "M*A*S*H," and "Star Trek" left the air, their fans didn't abandon them. If anything, they were galvanized into keeping the shows alive (through syndication), and passing them on to the next generation of fans.

[*] Of course, shows leave also the air because the production staff get tired of making them, but I'll ignore that for the sake of argument.

When a show begins, an implicit contract is formed with its audience: This is the kind of show we will be, and this is generally what you can expect. There is some latitude for evolution and growth, but a show can't turn 180 degrees and betray its original premise.

Of course, this doesn't explain why Marge or Lisa episodes hardly have anything to laugh at.

The Simpsons are bigger than all three of the shows you have mentioned, and many don't want it to go off the air. Read my discussion with Jake Lennington, however, forget the disco part and how about comparing it to John Lennon comparing the Beatles popularity to that of Jesus Christ.

With the newer staff running the show, probably not.

I am not saying it did that, I think that maybe we expect a certain continuinity that NEVER EXISTED. If you haven't noticed, the characters don't age, the mansion across the street from one episode is gone, Bart told Jessica at the end of that episode that he grew wiser, except later next season he tried to shoplift a video game. See what I mean?