Simpsons: Why won't you just STOP?

[BanthaFodder]

it's gradually getting better. the seasons around 20 were pretty bad (with a few good ones here and there), but it'sbeen pretty funny recently... nothing AMAZING, but it's coming back... the way I see it, so long as Matt and the original cast is still there, let it continue to exist

 

[locoartero]

Simple reason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Owuk3cZGtQ

 

[Snotnarok]

This is Fox we're talking about, the same idiots who canceled Firefly to make room for more shitty reality TV.

 

[retrofish18]

It won't die, because like the DS, it prints money.

 

[Evil Moo]

I haven't watched it for ages. From what I last saw, the characters were just slipping ever deeper into their own stereotypes until they had been twisted beyond all recognition.

 

[Dorian_Winter]

Internet criticism of The Simpsons was much funnier 10 years ago.

 

[The Night Shade]

The quality has declined but the show is still watchable and i prefer it instead of other reality shows or any of those rip-offs cartoons

 

[viranimus]

Bah, leave it alone. Ive been watching the simpsons since the Tracy Ullman skits and you know what? I think the Simpsons is better now than it ever has been. Sure its not the same type of show, but it certainly has evolved and honestly I have been finding myself laughing harder and more often at new simpsons eps than I have at Seth Mcfarlanes hour and a half festival of shit he found on the internet and old movies. And still more if you throw in things like King of the hill, Sit down Shut Up and Bobs Burgers.

I think what people get lost on is that the Simpsons is no longer trying to be the brash and edgy show that it started out as, and has become more of a timeless show of our generation akin to something like Andy Griffin Show. Honestly it is a good move because in the face of Seth Mcfarlane, Southpark and other similar shows, it would be redundant.

The simpsons is fine as it is. An evolving entity. I would like to see it go for at barest min 25 years. Perhaps that would be a good time to retire it. But I honestly could see the show going for 30+ years. Basically long as the original primary voice actors are still able to contribute to the show.

 

[GuitarSlingingManiac]

They've been on for something like 21 years. I don't think they know how to stop.

 

[Kilgengoor]

It'd be nice to see it go on for 100 years with different actors and writers.
But it'll probably end as soon as one of the actors retire.

Funny that you mention that. I live in Spain, where the simpsons were kind of a big deal when one main TV channel started airing its episodes between 14:00 and 15:00 hours (lunchtime, basically), where the show is still frequently leading the TV share for most of the week. However, about the eleventh season the voice actor for Homer Simpson died, and was replaced for a way worse (in my opinion) colleague. Thanks to that sad coincidence, it's really easy for me to pick the good episodes from the bad ones just by listening to Homer. What I want to say is, you probably wouldn't like an actor change, and that's probably why the show would die the moment a voice actor retires.

Anyway, what I think is killing the show is the script. It has gone from brilliant stories written by hard-hitters like Conan O'Brien (yeah, THAT Conan O'Brien) to a formulaic mess that doesn't even try to even introduce the stories (You, Homer, get my sports car to Italy! What? No reason to be honest, we just thought you might have some zany adventures in there) and has long ago sacrificed any character depth and coherence in exchange for making episodes more "funny" (the non-funny kind).

As for why did they do that? Ask Simpsons' show runner since season 9, Mike Sully

When asked in 2007 how the series' longevity is sustained, Scully joked, "Lower your quality standards. Once you've done that you can go on forever."

Also:

The show is dead now and all that remains is a corpse animated by the radioactive power of green papers with the faces of US presidents on them.

Spoiler: indeed

 

[Sprinal]

The show died on Season 19. All it is now is a zombie.
No show has ever lived for 21 years, and it's long enough time for a show to run completely out of ideas. The technological advancements in making the episodes made the show lost its cartoony flexibility and freedom, it's too real now.

Matt Groening, FOX, put the show to rest. It's gone through enough.

What about Doctor Who?

It has being run for a fair bit longer than 21 years.
And it most certainly not run out of ideas.

 

[Brad Shepard]

Hehe, its funny how people like to think that their personal feelings matter.

Too bad its all about the green (or whatever colour a country's money is. The Simpsons are marketable. Either:
1)Shut the hell up about it and get used it to it, cause no one wants to hear you have a pity party.
2)Shut the hell up about it and stop watching it, cause no one wants to hear you have a pity party.

no need to be a jerk about it.

 

[Merkavar]

maybe its just that you are growing up and your tastes are changing. like you said most people under 20 propably grew up watching the simpsons. name another activity or show that you liked when you were 5 or 10 and still like now? nothing comes to my mind. i still find the simpsons funny and ill watch them but if i have anything else to do at the time ill record and watch it later.

they will stop making it as soon as people stop watching it. so clearly people are still watching and enjoying it. just cause you arent any more why should others suffer. your not the center of the universe

 

[Kilgengoor]

maybe its just that you are growing up and your tastes are changing. like you said most people under 20 propably grew up watching the simpsons. name another activity or show that you liked when you were 5 or 10 and still like now?

I suppose you are talking about things that are still being done right now, because otherwise there is a whole lot of things I liked 20 years ago that I still enjoy now. In any case, it's really hard to even find any show that's been running for that long, except maybe for Dr. Who as ivansnick pointed out, which has quite tightly closed episodes and not a lot of continuity along the years.

 

[SilverUchiha]

Season 1-5 were the best. Season 6-10 were not as good, but still not bad enough to be hated completely. Season 11-about 13 were starting to increasingly decline and anything afterward has been shit with brief hit-or-miss episodes from time to time.

You want my opinion? The biggest flaw with Simpsons is that it hasn't grown over the years. They've been physically stuck without aging for 20 years. I know it can be the death of some shows, but I think this should could have been saved (and may be salvageable) if they changed the show by aging the characters. I honestly enjoy any episode (still) that features showing the family at a younger age or in a "future" episode. Why? It shows them in a different light and makes them more interesting for the time being. It's a shame they didn't try it yet and it may be too late to do it now.

Another issue is how Homer has changed. He was the mascot of the series and he, as a character, has changed drastically from what he was in the earlier seasons. He wasn't intelligent, but he wasn't this retarded or violent. Something snapped after a while and his rather empty-headed and lazy parenting went from being humorous to concerning. There are other bad changes over the years, but that has been the worst of all of them.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Hehe, its funny how people like to think that their personal feelings matter.

Too bad its all about the green (or whatever colour a country's money is. The Simpsons are marketable. Either:
1)Shut the hell up about it and get used it to it, cause no one wants to hear you have a pity party.
2)Shut the hell up about it and stop watching it, cause no one wants to hear you have a pity party.

no need to be a jerk about it.

Thats being a realist. Looking at it from the economic value and how tv works.

 

[TheSchizoid]

Personally, between seasons 10 and maybe 18 or 19 it had lagged. After that it picked up quite a bit.

 

[Saelune]

Hehe, its funny how people like to think that their personal feelings matter.

Too bad its all about the green (or whatever colour a country's money is. The Simpsons are marketable. Either:
1)Shut the hell up about it and get used it to it, cause no one wants to hear you have a pity party.
2)Shut the hell up about it and stop watching it, cause no one wants to hear you have a pity party.

Yes, lets never call out bad things and just succumb to it and be its *****. That will show them!