Simpsons sucks again

So I'm watching last night's two new Simpsons "350th episode anniversary" and it struck me that I'll be taking a sabbatical from the show again. Homer having shock treatment and Bart has a heart attack??? What the Fuck? Why not just gove them AIDS and cancer? What is this trend to constantly hummiliate and torture our beloved Homer? It's back to the days of Homer getting raped by a Panda. It's not worth watching the show for the 2 brilliant moments just to watch it crumble into a creepy cringe-inducing travesty.


On the other hand, Family Guy is back and hasn't lost it!! It may be crude and vulgar, but its not mean spirited. Seems to keep a lighter tone.

Anyone else feel this way?

I still like South Park although it seems to be getting trendy to hate it. I haven't watched the Simpsons regularly in years, but every time I check it out, I feel like it's almost becoming a parody of itself. But in a very "yeah I know I'm becoming a parody of myself" way.

pmonkey, don't you know the simpsons started to suck back in 1997?

That will show them, they must owe you something for having watched the show for, eh, how long?

No, I think it's fine... I mean, they have been writing for 10 years, they are covering topics like the proliferation of junk food and obesity... they are covering mental illness... adoption, gay marriage...

If you don't like it, don't watch it... but you sort of have the tone (that they even satire), that how dare they not write exactly to cater to the fans needs...

I admit most epsidoes that involve Marge or Lisa suck (true), and I personally find that season 9 is my favourite, and we're up to 16 now... but, it's on television, it's free to me, they don't owe me anything...

I still think the show is better than Family Guy, (or any other animated show on televison right now) a show that combines boring lowbrow humor with the humor they ripped off from other shows.*

* do you think they would feel safe to rip of FOX had The Simpsons not had already done it say 10 times at least....

[Edited on May 02, 2005 by sadisticmika]

Oh c'mon the Simpsons has it's ups and downs, but at the end of the day, Homer is STILL a Superstar.


and anyways.


Simpsons has kicked ass since forever, it might be getting a bit long in the tooth now, but we've had our fun.

getting kinda like watching your grandparents trying to be cool ain't it?

^^ but my grandma says i'm cool.

No. They owe me. Just like Lucas owes it to the fans to re-release Star Wars where Han shoots Greedo first! Everybody knows that.

I've seen all the different angles of that shot from all the different Lucas releases... You're not allowed to go back and just REMAKE your movie! WTF! It's like if Stanley Kubric went back and substituted Erkel for R. Lee Emry in Full Metal Jacket.

(I did like the Star Wars "Galaxy Wars" rip on the SImpsons though)

"Did I do that, Private Pyle? Did I? You maggots!! Did I do that?"

I think this season of the Simpsons has sucked more than the last few. It's beyond a parody of itself--it's as if they let some half-assed Simpsons fans start writing the scripts, so there are jokes that should work, but don't because they're not really funny.

Case in point is the episode in which Lisa gets a restraining order against Bart. There's a bit where the kids have to pull the school bus up the mountain and Uter says something like "Oh, this is like that movie Fitzcaraldo" then Nelson says "That film was flawed" and punches him.

Making an allusion to a Herzog movie sounds like a very Simpsons thing to do, but the execution is so weak and not funny. I think writers from the Golden Age (Seasons 4-8) might have made something of that, but this current group of writers can't follow through on their own ideas.

The other thing I've noticed is that throwaway gags go on a little too long--that "California Prunes" Christmas special for instance. First of all, it's a joke that's way out of date, then it goes on for a full minute of not at all funniness.

Not that they owe ME anything, but they are paid to carry on a great tradition.

Wow. I must be having a shitty Monday if I'm moved to rant like that.

Time for a walk around the block and another cup of coffee.

The new writers are disgustingly bad, and are raping the ancillary characters (not to mention twisting the characterization of the main characters) just to try and cram a "fresh" idea into the Simpsons universe. Fox should just let it die. It had its day, it paved the way for shows like 'Family Guy,' and now it's just an embarrassment.

I find that kind of hilarious, seeing as 'the Simpsons' are actually guilty of ganking the tone of new prime time cartoons. They're attempting to pull off jokes in a 'Family Guy' vein, as well as trying to interject overt references to politics and current events in a 'South Park' vein. The difference is, 'the Simpsons' is not the 'Family Guy' or 'South Park.' Those shows are well written.

Uh ... yes? I understand you're a fan of the Simpsons. We probably all were at some point. But other shows ripped on Fox long before the Simpsons aired.

The hard fact of it is that it had a good run. It's nowhere near as funny as it used to be, and Fox is keeping it alive like the cartoon equivalent of Terri Schiavo while they let good, innovative shows like 'Arrested Development' die before they even have a chance.

Yeah, I agree: at this point, the Simpsons is ripping off Family Guy far more than the other way.

I've never understood why shows have to be set against each other like this. You might like the Simpsons, you might like Family Guy, you can like both, you can like neither. It's not a contest.

You're all nuts.

Not as crazy as you are!

The new simpsons eps while not great are a lot better than those in series 15 though

I made the mistake of buying Family Guy on DVD and watching the first couple of seasons straight through. It really makes you realize exactly how weak the show is. It just bugs me that the writers' thought process is so transparent--here they're obviously trying to be edgy and politically incorrect, there they're obviously trying to play on some weird notion of trendy 80s nostalgia, etc. etc. It's just annoying. Yeah, there's like 2 or 3 really funny parts of each show, but otherwise it just tries way, way too hard.

Not that the Simpsons is any better. Instead of trying too hard it seems like the writers have just given up.

But they could both be worse: They could be American Dad.

Peronally I think Requiem for a Dream remade with Simpsons characters would be better than Trainspotting.

This is the oldest, stupidest complaint ever. And it's wrong. Simpsons is better than it has been in years. The argument of ''Oh, Simpsons sucks but family guy...oooh! family guuuuuyyy!" while seemingly jerking off all over the place is getting stale. Family Guy is one of the funniest and formulaic shows around. It's just a new formula so people are still shitting themselves over it. The Simpsons has had to change their way of making a hit show several times over. Yes, they had some truly awful years, but it's silly I'm even arguing with a troll.

I think I agree with you. I can't wait to see Lurlene Lumpkin and Marge go "ass to ass, baby!"

I think the argument was more that 'the Simpsons' just plain sucks. 'Family Guy' and 'South Park' came up as examples of shows that aren't stale. And nobody seems to be trolling but you.

did you read the first post? No? Alright, see ya later.

Your point being?
pmonkey said exactly what I just did. 'the Simpsons' is stale, 'Family Guy' is an example of a show that isn't.
I love that you think other people's opinions are flat-out wrong.

[Edited on May 02, 2005 by fentopal]

futurama > simpsons

They've been writing for 16 years.

Really? So do I. I guess we'd get along great.