Is it me or is The Simpson's now a disgrace to it's former self?

[phanmail]

This is more or less a rant but I have some of the old seasons on DVD. I watch them and laugh out loud constantly. The storylines are good the characters are amazing and the writers clearly live their job.

I've not seen a new episode since Metallica guest stared. Every time I try to watch I can't finish it as the jokes are no longer funny and seem to rely on shock humor or what amounts to hitting you over the head and saying "THIS IS FUNNY!"

It also seems to me that the writers have become arrogant and are filled with contempt for the fans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_B...y#cite_note-19).

Am I the only one who thinks like this or do some of my fellow 90's kids remember the REAL Simpsons?!

If I'm not the only one then why is the show stagnating? Is it merely because it's been on for more than 20 years? Or is it because the writers are now influenced by a bigger cartoon that makes use sophomoric shock humor? (This particular show by the way based itself around shock humor from the beginning and does it slightly better)

Lastly if you agree the show stinks now where did it go wrong? I'm more generous than most people and put it around season 10 or so...

[fromo]

I remember them and miss them, after season 4/5 for me, they started to dive, it was also about then something changed with the writers generally if I remember right.
I wasn't a great fan of season 1(hated the animation), but 2,3,4 definatly had my heart and had some excellent story lines and life lessons, when was the last time something taught a lesson that sometimes your best isn't good enough? (Bart gets an F)

The more recent Simpsons just seem eh, never funny, never cleaver, just washed up.

Other shows have held up over time better, by sticking to their own agenda, such as South Park being a prime example, who don't take crap from other people, but the Simpsons is limited because it's for family and kids unlike that.

The problem with the Simpsons is every things really been explored, its a fairly real life grounded series, so that limits what it can really do, there's only so many times it can repeat the same situation, it's one of the reasons I've always seen Futurama as being the superior show after Simpson's prime, because it's got so much more possibility and general imagination involved in it, with, tbh, more likeable characters.

Just my opinion, but thought I'd drop my 2 cents.

[lvlagic]

I agree with fromo. The quality of the show has definitely declined. It's not as funny as it used to be and there aren't really any lessons anymore. I still find it enjoyable to watch. The show still gets me to laugh occasionally and I do like the references. I think the show's been going on so long that the writers are out of ideas