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kadytheredpanda(originally posted on Tumblr)
The Simpsons have been in my life for as long as I can remember. It was one of the first more “adult” shows I got to see, and the older episodes-the “classics” and even into 2004 or so (maybe even 2007 with the movie)-still range from amusing to hysterical to me. Often my family sans my mother will quote lines or reference episodes to each other for a laugh, one of our only true bonding activities. I have music from the show on my iPod; one of the CDs in particular got a lot of playtime when I only had a CD player. The golden age (4-7 or 9, depending on who you ask), boasts some of the greatest writing I’ve ever watched, and what I wish to be when writing humor and heart.
Historically, in my opinion, The Simpsons had a fairly good balance of the two, I believe. Some heart for us to identify with the characters, but also being funny for the most part. There has always been at least one episode each season that is more serious. Ultimately, however, the episodes still had humor.
Lisa’s move to vegetarianism was a huge change in her character, for example, so it overall felt like a more serious episode. Yet I’ll be damned if I can’t think of Ralph saying “when I grow up, I want to go to Bovine University!” in that same episode without trying to keep myself from laughing my ass off. So despite that the main plotline was Lisa trying to decide whether to stay a vegetarian, some parts of the episode were and still are quite funny. They’re even in the scenes where we see Lisa, a little 8 year old girl wise beyond her years, going more in favor of no longer eating meat and then getting bullcrap for it.
The problem is, watching the newer episodes, I rarely laugh. There’s too much non-hysterical drama to present that heart. The timing and pacing aren’t “right,” the scenes are overly busy, plots so outlandish that I feel secondhand embarrassment or think they’re more appropriate elsewhere (Jeremy Irons as a talking bar cloth that’s centuries old? Whut), couch gags ridiculously long a good bit of the time (which, again, kills the pacing- I wanna watch the damn show!) and what jokes there are either reference past episodes out the wazoo or just feel like they’re being thrown into the air with the hope that at least one will catch the audience’s attention. Given that The Simpsons is first and foremost a comedy, I should be laughing a helluva lot more than I am. And trust me, I can and do laugh very easily at the stupidest shit unless my depression is at its worst.
I have nothing against nostalgia. In fact, I adore nostalgic references- all the ones in Jurassic World for instance made my fangirl heart squeal. I really never thought I’d get excited to see Mister fucking DNA again. And add that ingredient in fanfic? I’ll be all over it like a dog to peanut butter.
Even then, most of the throwbacks make me only merely smile. Not even giggle- just give that pleasant tingle of happiness. That should be the intent for that sort of thing anyway. The newer Simpsons for me feel too unbalanced- there’s too much attempt at heart, and not enough at laughter. Laughter is now riding shotgun instead of driving. What humor there is feels artificial.
I just watched over an hour of Simpsons from 2014 on FXX and didn’t laugh once. In fact, I was so bored that I was tempted to change the channel several times. Meanwhile, the episodes from 2004 that came right after made me chuckle (and for a couple jokes, even made me feel like my sides were a-splitin’). It’s not just from nostalgia, it’s not from any obvious obstinence that “wahh, this is new so it’s bad.” It doesn’t feel like I’m watching the same show anymore.
tl;dr: The older episodes of the Simpsons, from 1989 to sometime between 2004-2007 have a much better and less forced heart and humor balance to me, so I’ll still laugh at them to this day. On the other hand I’m very meh, even bored out of my mind, watching the newer episodes because the core thing that made the older shows good to great for me doesn’t appear to be there anymore
The Simpsons have been in my life for as long as I can remember. It was one of the first more “adult” shows I got to see, and the older episodes-the “classics” and even into 2004 or so (maybe even 2007 with the movie)-still range from amusing to hysterical to me. Often my family sans my mother will quote lines or reference episodes to each other for a laugh, one of our only true bonding activities. I have music from the show on my iPod; one of the CDs in particular got a lot of playtime when I only had a CD player. The golden age (4-7 or 9, depending on who you ask), boasts some of the greatest writing I’ve ever watched, and what I wish to be when writing humor and heart.
Historically, in my opinion, The Simpsons had a fairly good balance of the two, I believe. Some heart for us to identify with the characters, but also being funny for the most part. There has always been at least one episode each season that is more serious. Ultimately, however, the episodes still had humor.
Lisa’s move to vegetarianism was a huge change in her character, for example, so it overall felt like a more serious episode. Yet I’ll be damned if I can’t think of Ralph saying “when I grow up, I want to go to Bovine University!” in that same episode without trying to keep myself from laughing my ass off. So despite that the main plotline was Lisa trying to decide whether to stay a vegetarian, some parts of the episode were and still are quite funny. They’re even in the scenes where we see Lisa, a little 8 year old girl wise beyond her years, going more in favor of no longer eating meat and then getting bullcrap for it.
The problem is, watching the newer episodes, I rarely laugh. There’s too much non-hysterical drama to present that heart. The timing and pacing aren’t “right,” the scenes are overly busy, plots so outlandish that I feel secondhand embarrassment or think they’re more appropriate elsewhere (Jeremy Irons as a talking bar cloth that’s centuries old? Whut), couch gags ridiculously long a good bit of the time (which, again, kills the pacing- I wanna watch the damn show!) and what jokes there are either reference past episodes out the wazoo or just feel like they’re being thrown into the air with the hope that at least one will catch the audience’s attention. Given that The Simpsons is first and foremost a comedy, I should be laughing a helluva lot more than I am. And trust me, I can and do laugh very easily at the stupidest shit unless my depression is at its worst.
I have nothing against nostalgia. In fact, I adore nostalgic references- all the ones in Jurassic World for instance made my fangirl heart squeal. I really never thought I’d get excited to see Mister fucking DNA again. And add that ingredient in fanfic? I’ll be all over it like a dog to peanut butter.
Even then, most of the throwbacks make me only merely smile. Not even giggle- just give that pleasant tingle of happiness. That should be the intent for that sort of thing anyway. The newer Simpsons for me feel too unbalanced- there’s too much attempt at heart, and not enough at laughter. Laughter is now riding shotgun instead of driving. What humor there is feels artificial.
I just watched over an hour of Simpsons from 2014 on FXX and didn’t laugh once. In fact, I was so bored that I was tempted to change the channel several times. Meanwhile, the episodes from 2004 that came right after made me chuckle (and for a couple jokes, even made me feel like my sides were a-splitin’). It’s not just from nostalgia, it’s not from any obvious obstinence that “wahh, this is new so it’s bad.” It doesn’t feel like I’m watching the same show anymore.
Is it because the show has been running for so long? I don’t know. Even with the earliest seasons and later, they feel more or less the same to me after taking account factors like early installment weirdness and age. In fact, episodes I watched at ten make me laugh either more or in different ways that I didn’t know or catch as a child that I now do at 23. These newer episodes, however, don’t give me that same impression. They don’t feel like they’ll age well, even by the standards of a show that bleeds pop cultural references. I wish I wouldn’t say that The Simpsons should retire, but perhaps it’s long overdue after all. That or it needs new direction fast.
tl;dr: The older episodes of the Simpsons, from 1989 to sometime between 2004-2007 have a much better and less forced heart and humor balance to me, so I’ll still laugh at them to this day. On the other hand I’m very meh, even bored out of my mind, watching the newer episodes because the core thing that made the older shows good to great for me doesn’t appear to be there anymore
