The Simpsons gets a new opening sequence

Skarjo wrote:Carl explored what it was like being the only black person in Springfield

Did Dr Hibbert die?

SEP wrote:

Skarjo wrote:Carl explored what it was like being the only black person in Springfield

Did Dr Hibbert die?

Oh aye yea, you're gonna make me have to go and look it up now.

Johnny Ryall wrote:

LewisD wrote:

Jenuall wrote:They legit sound strawberry floating awful now.

The whole thing should have been put to bed decades ago after series 7

Ftfy

No no no no no, season 8 is the peak. Season 9 is ok, everything after that episode with Kid Rock in it is poor.

Though I genuinely think over the past couple of years specifically the writing has improved quite a lot, but yes you can't account for aging actors unwilling to retire. It was bad enough when Marcia Wallace died and they retired the Edna Krabappel character, I don't want to ever tempt fate but Harry Shearer is 80! If The Simpsons goes another 10 years is he going to be doing all those voices aged 90. If he dies are they going to retire Burns/Smithers/Skinner/Brockman/etc/etc/etc

But I suppose it's a Disney property now and how many actors have voiced Mickey Mouse at this point

Traditionally The Principal and the Pauper (S9 E2) is seen as the decline though there's a a reasonable amount of very good episodes in that season,

Lisa's Sax
The Joy of the Sect
Das Bus
Simpson's Tide
Trash Titans
King of the Hill

Kill the Alligator & Run I find really jarring though I don't mind the episode after it Last Tap Dance in Springfield (the one with Little Vicky).

The Golden Age is absolutely up to the end of S7 for me. There are too many episodes in S8 that show the shift in tone that would define the series over the next several years.

Cuttooth wrote:The Golden Age is absolutely up to the end of S7 for me. There are too many episodes in S8 that show the shift in tone that would define the series over the next several years.

How would you describe the shift in tone?

Ecno wrote:Kill the Alligator & Run

That was one of the worst Simpsons episodes i ever saw.

Not sure which thread to actually ask this in but has anyone who used to watch Simpsons given it another try recently the last five or so seasons have been much better than 15 to 10 years ago.

Return_of_the_STAR wrote:Not sure which thread to actually ask this in but has anyone who used to watch Simpsons given it another try recently the last five or so seasons have been much better than 15 to 10 years ago.

No, but I'd be interested in hearing thoughts of anyone who has. You'd think for a forum this size, we'd have a few more fans!

Ecno wrote:

Cuttooth wrote:The Golden Age is absolutely up to the end of S7 for me. There are too many episodes in S8 that show the shift in tone that would define the series over the next several years.

How would you describe the shift in tone?

The way I've heard it described, and what I agree with, is that the tonal shift happens with the Frank Grimes episode, Homer's Enemy, early in season 8. Until this point the Simpsons is generally grounded, as much a family drama at times as it is a cartoonish comedy. It's centred largely on Bart, with Homer as an unintelligent and buffoonish but well-meaning and loving dad to his kids. He changes jobs a lot, has get-rich-quick schemes, bumbles around plenty, but you can see through episodes like "And Maggie Makes Three" that there's genuine love and connection between him and his kids.

Homer's Enemy changes this dynamic, and alters it irrevocably as well. More attention is paid to Homer's exploits than his well-meaning attempts at connection. He is buffoonish to the point of parody, and by the end of the episode the humour is outright nasty towards Grimes, who is used as a punching bag throughout the episode. Homer falls asleep at his funeral and rather than criticism, it's played off with "Oh you," style laughter from his friends and peers. The show loses its dramatic element and leans entirely into the cartoon element.

And that begins a slow slide into "zombie Simpsons" wherein by season 11 or 12, there are more episodes where Homer is hurting himself or taking on an outlandish new job, than there are things like "And Maggie Makes Three," or "A Streetcar Named Marge," and the show loses that emotional element, if you like. I haven't explained this too well because I'm in a rush to get ready for the football, but happy to elaborate if I can later on.

I still like seasons 8-11, they're still very good, but that core of s4-s7 is honestly perfect television.

This is a good rundown of the shift in tone, particularly the lurch into what a lot of people call 'Jerkass Homer' which is what Cora was talking about.

I personally like 1-10. Everyone rags on S1 and S2 and I don't think it's warranted, episodes like Bart Gets an F and Bart the General are outstanding, and they are literally the reason 3-8 exists.

Watched the video Skarjo posted. When the scene-setting music changed and the typeface on all the signs got unified into that weird all-caps font is when you can tell something had changed behind the scenes. There are still good episodes with that music/font, but you can kind of tell it's changing. Agree about the celebrity cameos being so lazy.

There was one "gag" at the end of a S13/14 ep where they were retelling stories. Someone says that was a great book, and Homer says it also became a great film... CALLED GHOSTBUSTERS! Then they all started dancing. I mean what on earth is that?

Skarjo wrote:

This is a good rundown of the shift in tone, particularly the lurch into what a lot of people call 'Jerkass Homer' which is what Cora was talking about.

This was a very interesting watch. Thanks for sharing!

I must say, I used to be a huge fan of The Simpsons and lost interest at around the 10th season. It's interesting to see such a detailed breakdown of how the program declined. The amount of effort which went in to early jokes is insane.

Skarjo wrote:

This is a good rundown of the shift in tone, particularly the lurch into what a lot of people call 'Jerkass Homer' which is what Cora was talking about.

Only watched about 10 minutes of this so far but it appears to be a complete rip-off of the content of the Zombie Simpsons essay: https://deadhomersociety.wordpress.com/zombiesimpsons/

Jenuall wrote:

Skarjo wrote:

This is a good rundown of the shift in tone, particularly the lurch into what a lot of people call 'Jerkass Homer' which is what Cora was talking about.

Only watched about 10 minutes of this so far but it appears to be a complete rip-off of the content of the Zombie Simpsons essay: https://deadhomersociety.wordpress.com/zombiesimpsons/

He cites it twice and does say the essay goes into more detail.

Knoyleo wrote:

more heat than light wrote:

Knoyleo wrote:

more heat than light wrote:

RetroCora wrote:Is there not a thread called Canyonero that is for Simpsons related stuff?

And we wonder why people can't find these threads?

It's a perfectly cromulent thread title.

It's cliquey as strawberry float.

Proper laugh out loud at this one

site23 wrote:

Preezy wrote:

(I spent five whole minutes making the above before I saw that version from back in the day had been reposted, so I'm still posting it. )

Oh and this!

Cuttooth wrote:The Golden Age is absolutely up to the end of S7 for me. There are too many episodes in S8 that show the shift in tone that would define the series over the next several years.

Agreed, though season 8 does have some of the show's best episodes like with Frank Grimes