The Simpsons

[Josh]

I have little to no desire to see the show continue on a different network or direct-to-DVD. I'd bet good money that nearly all of the voice talent, producers, and major writers feel the same way.

All I'm asking is that Fox give the show ample notice (at least through the end of Season 24, considering how long each episode spends in production) of its nearing end, so that a) the creative forces behind the show can give it a proper finale and b) the final season can be well-promoted. A 25th season would be nice, but that has no significance outside of being arbitrarily considered the year for a "silver anniversary."

[Daniel Bryan]

Yay!

The show's terrible now. Just unfunny, unwatchable crap. I really hope it gets cancelled so I can stop hearing desperately nostalgic people say that "It's not as good at it used to be, but it's still better than anything else on television!" I mean, I loved it when it was the best show on TV too, but it hasn't been that in a decade. It hasn't even been a good show in a decade. It's now been awful for more than twice as long as it was great. It's time to let it die.

Edited October 7, 2011 by The Dragon

[SeanDMan]

Homer: (angry monotone voice) Kids, could you step outside for a sec?

(Bart and Lisa run out of the room)

(Homer takes a deep breath, then shouts) FU-

(Homer's dirty word is cut off by a pipe organ. Shocked neighbors look in the Simpsons house)

Ned Flanders: Dear Lord, that's the loudest profanity I ever heard!

Haha, so you've watched The Simpsons too huh.

[Skummy]

What I'd like to see is for Matt Groening & Friends taking a page from Futurama's playbook, and make some direct-to-DVD Simpsons movies, or maybe another feature film or two.

Aside from the movie, The Simpsons has barely been "Matt Groening & Friends" for years.

As it weird as it seems that we'll be in a world without The Simpsons, 24 seasons is a hell of a run. Some of the all-time greatest sitcoms barely reached the length of one US season. And, yes, the last couple of seasons have been a surprising improvement, but the show was dreadful for years. If any other show performed half as badly, it would have been axed, and we would have been glad of it, but they kept it because, hey, it's the fucking Simpsons. So you can't really start spouting off nonsense about how FOX need to show loyalty to the show or anything like that.

At the end of the day, it doesn't make any money. I'd rather they'd have ended it on a high point years ago, but with this kind of pressure on them I'm sure they can pull out one hell of a season finale, or even use the entire final season to tie up any loose ends, bring some closure to things. The only problem is that they've made a parody of some of their best long-running stories already, so a final Sideshow Bob/Bart confrontation, for example, wouldn't have half the weight it once did.

I'd actually prefer to see Groening create something new anyway, with a good, loyal team of writers behind him. He's still a great ideas man, and one of the genuinely funniest and most endearing people I've ever had the pleasure to meet, so I'm sure he's got it in him, and he always seems to be at his most creative in the early days of a new project. Besides, after the final series of The Simpsons, what network wouldn't at least be slightly interested in picking up Groening's next show?

[GoGo Yubari]

Yay!

The show's terrible now. Just unfunny, unwatchable crap. I really hope it gets cancelled so I can stop hearing desperately nostalgic people say that "It's not as good at it used to be, but it's still better than anything else on television!" I mean, I loved it when it was the best show on TV too, but it hasn't been that in a decade. It hasn't even been a good show in a decade. It's now been awful for more than twice as long as it was great. It's time to let it die.

You are the AT&T of people.

[Herr Matzat]

At this point this sounds more like public negociation. I wonder if Bart would do more scientology adds if her speaker ends up out of a job...

[lilsting10]

I have to say that s23e01 (Homer and the new security guard at the Power Plant) is a perfect example of why I hate the newer episodes. Completey centered around some new character (probably the guest voice actor of the week), plot turns whacky and at the end of the episode it means absolutely NOTHING.

Even though I hated them back in the old days, and perfered when the episodes were centered around the family dynamic, or at very least actual Simpsons characters - at least in most older episodes it meant something. Like when Lisa met Paul McCartney, she actually became a Vegetarian... or swap those for Richard Gere and Bhuddist.

[Colly]

I have to say that s23e01 (Homer and the new security guard at the Power Plant) is a perfect example of why I hate the newer episodes. Completey centered around some new character (probably the guest voice actor of the week), plot turns whacky and at the end of the episode it means absolutely NOTHING.

Even though I hated them back in the old days, and perfered when the episodes were centered around the family dynamic, or at very least actual Simpsons characters - at least in most older episodes it meant something. Like when Lisa met Paul McCartney, she actually became a Vegetarian... or swap those for Richard Gere and Bhuddist.

Ugh, Lisa episodes. Guaranteed to make us change channel in the 90's...

[Sousa]

I just walked into the bedroom to grab my belt, and my wife was watching the episode "Bart's Girlfriend" from season six (which might be the best season of the whole run). I was in the room for all of fifteen seconds, and I heard the line, "Ralph, Jesus did not have wheels." And I can't stop giggling because I forgot that line existed and it's just tremendous.

The rose-tinted glasses argument doesn't hold up when you watch an episode like Citizen Kang (which centers largely around the 1996 election... seriously, a big chunk of the jokes are about Bob Dole for fuck's sake) and it's still hilarious, independent of how dated the references are.

I don't feel strongly one way or the other about the show being canceled just because I don't watch it anymore. I've had a feeling for a while that it was only a matter of time. I'll just say that I'm disappointed that it had to happen like this, when it seems like the show's just going to be shuffled off to oblivion independent of how important, how influential, and just how goddamn good it is.

Oh, and "Lisa the Iconoclast," "Lisa the Vegetarian," "Lisa's Rival," "Lisa's Wedding," "Round Springfield," and most of all "Lisa's Substitute" are some of the best episodes that show has ever put on, so I won't hear a bad word about UGH LISA EPISODES.

[Skummy]

"YOU DON'T WIN FRIENDS WITH SALAD" and "It's just a little airborne, it's still still good!" negate any criticism of Lisa episodes.

[Sousa]

I'm partial to Garfunkel, Messina, Oates, and Lisa myself.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I'd go so far as to call Lisa the Iconoclast the best episode of The Simpsons. Certainly my favourite.

[Noah]

My favourite episode is The Last Temptation of Homer.

Genuinely funny episode but possibly also the most hilariously random cameo ever(out family guy'ing family guy even way back then!)

[Guest twisted_time48]

[Sousa]

My favourite episode is The Last Temptation of Homer.

Genuinely funny episode but possibly also the most hilariously random cameo ever(out family guy'ing family guy even way back then!)

JStarr is in that episode? [/ReallyObscureRingJokesFromLikeFourYearsAgo]

[Katsuya]

Actually, I'd say that the majority of the episodes since they went in to HD have been of a really good quality. There have been some stinkers, sure (hello, Lisa and the Magician episode) but there have been some where I've been laughing almost as much as in the "good old days". I'm still not entirely convinced that they'd cancel it though, the report only says "likely" to be cancelled. I'll wait until Fox actually come out and say "yeah, it's ending". Then I'll cry and watch Lemon of Troy over and over again.

[Skummy]

While some of the more recent episodes have been genuinely funny, I wouldn't say there as good as the old days, as none of them have been as genuinely touching as some of the classics - after years of glorified self-parody and self-consciously zany antics, unfortunately the damage has been done, and I don't think the characters will ever be strong enough, and well-developed enough, to give us something as touching as Maggie's first word, or some of the earlier Marge & Homer stories.

[Matt]

No love for Homer's Enemy and You Only Move Twice?

Also lilsting is just wrong about everything. That episode was good, a lot of the best episodes have been based around one-off characters (see above) and I'm not sure what effect Homer being friends with Kiefer Sutherland's character was supposed to have exactly... besides it's far from the only sitcom where the happenings of one episode are completely ignored in future.

[Noah]

Makes a guy feel old when you see people say the show is older than them, when you yourself were nearly a teenager when it started...

[fr34k]

besides it's far from the only sitcom where the happenings of one episode are completely ignored in future.

Ugh, whenever I read something like that I just wanna scream. I have no idea how people can believe this is a legitimate argument. Just because everyone does the same terrible shit doesn't make it okay to do so.

As for the topic, I haven't watched new episodes in ages, but it is still kinda sad to see it go.