Simpsons

I read a review recently that said that Simpsons season 9 is the first season since the first season where the shows weren't consistently hitting home runs. That season 9 is the beginning of the downfall. This review singles out some episodes as bad that I disagree with, like and The Joy of Sect and The Trouble With Trillions, both of which I thought were pretty good. Similarly, I thought the 200th episode (Trash of the Titans) was terrible, starting off the trend of guest stars that serve no purpose. I can, however, appreciate the author's point, that these episodes started the trend of outlandish plots that now plague the series, but these were done while the series was still good.


One of the episodes in this season was the one where Marge becomes a realtor (Realty Bites). That's the episode with Milhouse's dad holding up the sandwitch while driving, complaining that they didn't slice it. It reminds me of an article I read a while back about George Meyer, one of their best writers.

I think the downfall of the Simpsons was when Homer went from being a completely braindead, though loveable and well-intentioned, oaf, to being a constantly angry and schemeing idiot. The best times where when someone would ask him a question he didn't understand and he would just stare blankly and blink (such as when an alarm is going off and Frank Grimes tells him "You've got a 513!" and Homer stares blankly and checks his watch). Earlier episodes would find Homer trying to connect to a disillusioned Lisa by taking her to a new-age store: "My little girl's tummy hurts- do you have anything to stop her complaining?" In later episodes he would just be off on some crazy scheme for no reason.

I'm hopeful for the upcoming movie, but it's hard to imagine it being any good after some ten seasons of downhill sliding.