I’ve never quite gotten into The Simpsons myself, but never object to an episode when I randomly come across it.
I know there’s a lot of talk that after x season the show is basically over, but I’m curious what everyone here thinks. Do you watch and enjoy every episode and season? Are there seasons you would skip or stop watching entirely?
Just curious how people here feel about such a long-running show.
i’ve watched them all - and i definitely agree with what seems to be the overall feeling: season 10 starts the decline.
that being said, there are plenty of good and fine ones in the middle 20 (lol) to make the watch decent. i also think the newer seasons (maybe the past 3,4?) have more winners than the shows had for a while.
i think the only episodes that i find truly objectionable are the ones built entirely around either a real-life ‘celebrity’ or have a real life ‘celebrity’ play a character that is pivotal…those episodes i just don’t really watch (few exceptions, of course - i like the 24 spoof with kiefer sutherland and a few more)
I definitely agree that the last few seasons have been much better than the previous few.
Nothing will ever touch the golden era early seasons, but the new stuff is still great.
I stopped watching everyone after the movie. It was already going down hill for me by that point but I grew up during the golden years. I’ll still watch it if it comes on TV while I’m at a place with cable TV and it’s still good even the newest episodes. I honestly watch more YouTube videos about the history of the show and its characters
Any recommendations? I adore video essays by people who are passionate about a topic I’m curious about.
I watch TheRealJims. He has a fun series where he dives deep into the stories of smaller Simpsons characters (Cletus, Lindsay Neagle, Mr. Teeny, etc)
Season 12 is my cut-off point, but anything in 10 through 12 is suspect. After that, it’s a different show, really.
Nelson - Hey Simpson, what are you trying to play?
Bart - Polly Wolly Doodle
Nelson - Yeah well, it sounds like Polly Wolly Crappy
There’s just a feeling I get, it starts to feel repetitive, the stories are less interesting, I’m starting to get bored. Same as the others, Season 10 is where I really notice it. There’s some good ones still, but they get less and less frequent.
Bonfire of the Manatees is where I know I’ve gone way too far and I turn it the hell off.
I get about halfway through season 9 when I start it over
So the “golden era” ends around season 13.
Those first 13 seasons are also what I watched the most growing up.
However I still want the show week to week (usually batch up a few and watch a couple of weeks together).
While the show isn’t as great as its golden era, it’s still solid.
A few friends and I made a goal a few years back to watch every episode. It took many years, and we jumped around at random. There are plenty of great episodes in the “bad” era.
Every episode. There are a lot of great episodes in later seasons, and the bad ones are still totally watchable.
The worst episodes are all in seasons 11-18 during the sober Barney era. They start getting way better after switching to HD.
I haven’t watched it on TV in over a decade. I did find a partial box set of seasons 5-9 at a yard sale for $2 and snatched those up. Basically binged them
I wouldn’t dismiss any episode I haven’t seen before if it came up on its own; but I haven’t sought to watch the show since maybe season 10 or 11. Like, a year or two before the movie came out I was already kinda over watching it every week.
