When The Simpsons was good

[DrGreggles]

Obviously the writing on those early seasons was amazing, but the actors really stepped up too.

[The Mollusk]

Love the pettiness of the Shelbyville guy's quip in Lemon of Troy, after remarking Springfield has a discipline problem: "Maybe that's why we beat 'em at football nearly half the time."

This also reminds me of the sports pundit with the stupid SHOE IN OF THE WEEK bit: "Well folks, when you're right 52% of the time, you're wrong 48% of the time!"

[FalseRodHull]

This popped up on my recommendations - https://youtu.be/eazXm7WEz50?si=ENJKlgOKE4XQXlSa

The Simpsons is apparently good again. Though I haven't actually watched any of the new ones, it's nice to feel hopeful again.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

It's not. It never is. People say it is but it's not. It hasn't been all of this century. Won't get fooled again.

[Red82]

I love the first 9 or 10 seasons.  Homer Goes To College takes some beating for the best episode.

[Magnum Valentino]

This popped up on my recommendations - https://youtu.be/eazXm7WEz50?si=ENJKlgOKE4XQXlSa

The Simpsons is apparently good again. Though I haven't actually watched any of the new ones, it's nice to feel hopeful again.

I despise the presumption the creators of videos like this make that people would want to listen to someone speaking like that, away and shite YouTube.

[Old Nehamkin]

I watched the most recent halloween episode and it was rubbish. There was a whole segment about bart getting turned into an nft. I'm convinced that this recent trend of people saying it's actually good again is the result of some dark disney psyop. It isn't good.

[Psybro]

Rewatching the series and whilst I remember all the elaborate pull back and reveals and misdirects, it leaves me being floored by the simple comic timing and line deliveries.

For example, in I Married Marge, Dr Hibbert's "Good God!" when Homer announces he's going to be a nuclear technician absolutely did me.

[Petey Pate]

Most recent widely-memed Simpsons bit I'm aware of is Moe looking at his noose and saying "not today, old friend" which was from a season 24 episode broadcast in 2013.

That's more recent that the bit I was thinking of, which is Moe tossing Barney out - apparently from an episode broadcast in 2006.

[dissolute ocelot]

Vulture rated every Treehouse of Horror, the top 12 are all from seasons 2-8 (no Treehouse in season 1 of course); #13 is The Homega Man from season 9. The top 20 includes 2 other post-season-8, the clones one (season 14) which is good (and its later-Simpsons brutality is justified in context), and the one where Homer get a gypsy curse, although apparently they had to change that for reruns coz it's racist (Hex and the City, season 13) which I can't really remember.

For reference (if it's paywalled) the top 5 are The Shinning (s6), Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace (s7), Time and Punishment (s6), Citizen Kang (s8), Clown Without Pity (s4).

Worst ever is apparently "The Diving Bell and the Butterball" (Season 23, 2011). The bottom reaches are all post-season-20. Ugh. I posted elsewhere recently about the Parasite parody which is visually beautifully done but not funny and bears no relationship to The Simpsons.

[Mr Vegetables]

The Peanuts Treehouse episode is pretty as well, but not very funny either. In rare fairness to the writers, there were bits which might have been funny if they'd been played in a less "I'm telling a hilarious joke!" way by the voice actors. It's a collective effort, late Simpsons being bad

[Gulftastic]

I love the first 9 or 10 seasons.  Homer Goes To College takes some beating for the best episode.

My favourite too. I remember watching it laughing myself daft. It's gag after gag and they're all great.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

hello... that sounds like a pig fainting

[kalowski]

[Gulftastic]

That pig had some powerful friends.

[Ferris]

That pig had some powerful friends.

Oh, you'll pay! Don't think you won't pay!

[kalowski]

Lighten up, Bitterman!
That youngster will make a perfect addition of my cabinet. Secretary of partying down.

[Simply_The_Bestest]

My 10 year old has been watching clips of The Simpsons occasionally on youtube so have made a concerted effort to watch a bunch of season 5/6/7/8 this weekend after reading this thread, we've been having a great time!

Lots of moments of him saying, 'is that why you say that all the time?'

"Kippers for breakfast, Helga? Is it St. Swithin's Day already?"

"Up and AT them!"

Obviously "Boo-urns!"

Haha, surprised by how much of my day-to-day ramblings are drenched in mid-nineties Simpsons. It was getting embarrassing, basically showing my son that I've never had an original thought in my life! :)

[Ron Maels Moustache]

It's not. It never is. People say it is but it's not. It hasn't been all of this century. Won't get fooled again.

The content of that video is a lot more nuanced than the clickbaity title suggests. It mainly talks about how there have been some episodes in recent seasons that actually break the format of the show in interesting and unusual was (like having a two-part gritty crime thriller starring Flanders, played almost completely straight) but also points out a lot of episodes are still just kind of mediocre. It's still very critical and goes to some lengths to break down why a lot of the gags in modern Simpsons aren't as funny as the classic era, but the point was the series needs to change and try different things rather than just trying to badly recreate the glory days of the past, as it basically has done for decades under Al Jean's control.

I reckon John Supereyepatchwolf is a GBOL anyway, I loved his video about going insane trying to engage with Dell's customer's services when he bought a shit laptop.

[Video Game Fan 2000]

Lighten up, Bitterman!
That youngster will make a perfect addition of my cabinet. Secretary of partying down.

contrasting delivery between these two lines:

"i used to be the bass player in the Pretenders"
"Boy, I can't wait to take some of the starch out of that stuffed shirt"

which are both funny in completely different ways yet go together perfectly

bassplayer in the pretenders then homer scowling would be funny enough on its own

[kalowski]

"Up and AT them!"

My eyes, the goggles do nothing!

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

"Your father can be very sensitive. Remember when I laughed at his Sherlock Holmes hat? He sulked for a week, then closed his detective agency."

Also, I am obliged to post this.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Attention, Marge Simpson. We've also arrested your older, balder, fatter son.

[frajer]

Mr Simpson, I don't think he likes that.

[TommyTurnips]

It's not. It never is. People say it is but it's not. It hasn't been all of this century. Won't get fooled again.

See also: Sonic the Hedgehog (although I admit that Sonic Mania was a nice nostalgia trip).

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Now let's all get drunk and play ping pong!

[Video Game Fan 2000]

senor plow no es macho, solamente un borracho

[Pink Gregory]

The content of that video is a lot more nuanced than the clickbaity title suggests. It mainly talks about how there have been some episodes in recent seasons that actually break the format of the show in interesting and unusual was (like having a two-part gritty crime thriller starring Flanders, played almost completely straight) but also points out a lot of episodes are still just kind of mediocre. It's still very critical and goes to some lengths to break down why a lot of the gags in modern Simpsons aren't as funny as the classic era, but the point was the series needs to change and try different things rather than just trying to badly recreate the glory days of the past, as it basically has done for decades under Al Jean's control.

I reckon John Supereyepatchwolf is a GBOL anyway, I loved his video about going insane trying to engage with Dell's customer's services when he bought a shit laptop.

Watched it, his points are fair enough but it also seems to me that it's strange that a fan of 1-10 should also owe the show some sort of loyalty when it gets into season 30?

Fair enough that the writers are doing creative things with the format, but it's too late.  That's not what I want out of the Simpsons, even the cast existing in a world that's clearly no longer the early 90s feels wrong somehow.  They seem to have mistaken the entire show as a cultural phenomenon for the first 10 seasons being a cultural phenomenon, at a particular time that what is probably now a demographic majority took in when the attention economy was simpler.

Seeing the comments on that talking about getting emotional about that video, I'm just thinking...christ, come on, it's just the Simpsons, get off the internet for a bit, it's good for you.

[dissolute ocelot]

Fair enough that the writers are doing creative things with the format, but it's too late.  That's not what I want out of the Simpsons, even the cast existing in a world that's clearly no longer the early 90s feels wrong somehow.  They seem to have mistaken the entire show as a cultural phenomenon for the first 10 seasons being a cultural phenomenon, at a particular time that what is probably now a demographic majority took in when the attention economy was simpler.

I think it's actually worse when they do creative things with the format, because it's clear they have talented artists and animators, they're just incapable of writing a show that's funny (or with consistent characters). Let the talented people go off and do something else, even if it's not a comedy or a TV show. Just leave the show to decline naturally like the 70s Hanna-Barbera cartoons, nothing but crude animation of Homer repeatedly sticking his head in a trouser press, over and over forever, made for $100 an episode and worth less.

[Blumf]

This popped up on my recommendations - https://youtu.be/eazXm7WEz50?si=ENJKlgOKE4XQXlSa

The Simpsons is apparently good again. Though I haven't actually watched any of the new ones, it's nice to feel hopeful again.