http://entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,10978450%255E10431%255E%255Enbv,00.html

20 seasons... How the hell are they going to keep it going to then if they're recycling plot lines already?

[years = seasons, dunno why I did that]

They should have called quits sometime ago, the plot lines are just getting shallower and more lame as time goes on to the point that I don't even watch the new episodes anymore.

People will never tire of brainwashing viewers, and viewers will never tire of being brainwashed.

I've never really been that in to the Simpsons. It's pretty funny, but I'm not a fan and I only watch it occaisionally.
Basically:

Family Guy > Futurama > The Simpsons

... so I'm just waiting for Matt Groening to get back to working on Futurama.

I really early simpsons episodes, the ones where they're drawn all funny... I really hate those. They're like cartoon fables, always with the 'moral message' or emotional backdrop, and not particularly amusing.. And Homer's voice is really irritating.

Once they started with the new style animation, it was loads better, and loads funnier when it didn't stick to some 'moral message'. It continued getting better and better until it reached a peak a few years ago, and then has sort of been going down a bit. But it's still loads better than the old style Simpsons, and there is the occassional fantastic episode. It's not as 'bad' as people make it out to be. It's still funny.


Also, I still think Futurama had tons of untapped potential, and I shall forever curse Fox for axing it >:-(

It's meh.

It's been downgraded since BBC stopped showing it at 6.

Thats because channel 4 bought the rights to it a year ago but aren't allowed to air it until next year...

Anyways, they ran out of plot ideas the day that they thought up the one with the hunger strike and the isotopes thing a few seasons ago.

the simpsons = classic

i love them... and the last couple years have been mainly about homer. That is why the series has gotten so crazy. The earlier episodes were mostly about bart (remember bartman) and him being bad but now its essentially just homer. Lisa episodes are typically boring as well as marge episodes too. There are still so many laughs i get though just remember things from it. Homer will eventually be dethroned but i still love him for everything he stands for.

I thought the early episodes were great, that there was a drop off in the late-middle seasons, and that the last few have been a lot better. The show really depends on current events to poke fun at and if there are a lack of good evetns to work with, the show woulld lack

I, personally, am waiting for the movie

I think they are on a gradual decline in comedic value, but you can never have enough Simpsons.

Once again, I must agree with Avenger.

I feel the last couple of seasons haven't been up to scratch and pale in comparison to some of the older ones. Some of the eps have been pretty good, but I've sat through others and couldn't even raise a smile at some of the jokes. It won't survive for 20 seasons.

It definitely needs to end, or get new writers. It was at it's peak in mid-life. I got a chuckle out of nearly every episode, and almost died laughing at some, "Grandpa, are you sitting on the apple pie?.." But I'm saddened by the recent years. The humour is so bad that it insults my intelligence. It's like they think that throwing in a whole bunch of celeb appearances can replace good material. It was a great show for a while, but I think they milked it for all it was worth ages ago.

They're still great. Like Seinfeld, the only really unbearable ones I can remember are the early episodes.

And the eps that are almost totally random? Those are hilarious.

edit: I should read the posts more often

the early ones had moral messages because fox required ALL animated shows to have at least 30 seconds of educational material. that is why the ending of the episode "the telltale head" was changed on the dvd release, because it was not originaly there.

good as gold

If it were last year, I would leaned more towards the "Should've quit a couple years ago". But this past season (Season 15) was a huggggeeee step forwards. I loved every episode of this season. From episodes about 2-10, each one was pretty much comedic gold.

As far as seasons go, Season 4 and Season 8 are probably the best. Season 8 has two of my favorite episodes, Frank Grimey Grimes and Mr. Scorpio . Season 4, of course, has the best Simpsons episode of all time (or at least, regarded in most publications), the one where the plant goes on strike and Homer is the strike leader.

But yeah, I still think it's great. And from the sounds of this season (Selma has a gay wedding, with Homer as minister as ordained over the internet), it sounds really fresh.