Growing up, I was obsessed with The Simpsons. For years, I would get home from school and be able to watch 4 episodes in a row every afternoon. 2 hours in Springfield, 5 days a week. And that was during the glory years of that show, too. To this day, I think I know as much as I do about the first 10 or 11 seasons of The Simpsons because of that 4-6pm window of greatness that I stepped through everyday.
Mr. Plow, The Stonecutters, Homer going to college and kidnapping that pig; so many memories. I've said many times that Jerry Seinfeld is the reason I'm a comedian today, but before him, The Simpsons planted the seeds of my sense of humour. I truly believe that seasons 3 through 10 of The Simpsons may be as close to perfection as there has ever been on television. As a kid, I thought it was silly. As an adult, I can watch the same episodes and laugh at completely different jokes than I did 20 years ago.
If you grew up with this show, go back and watch episodes like 'Last Exit to Springfield' (the one with the dental plan). It's hilarious in an entirely different way than it was when you were a kid. Plus, watching Carl and Charlie drop a pencil into Homer's ass crack never gets old.
I don't remember when I started thinking the show wasn't as funny as it used to be, but it almost felt like overnight The Simpsons "jumped the shark". Some people say it was a reliance on celebrity cameos, but I don't know if that's entirely true, because some of the best episodes in the show's catalogue featured those special appearances. Krusty gets Kancelled comes to mind, and it was FULL of them.
But the show's quality started to suffer. And once it started, it went into a free fall. I'm not going to sit here and say they should have stopped making new episodes 20 years ago (although, they should have. So I guess I am saying that). The show is coming up on it's thirtieth(!) season soon, and obviously is still making money. People are still watching. But The Simpsons additional seasons and extra money have come at the expense of it's legacy.
Seinfeld is another one of my favourite shows of all time, as I know it is for a lot of people. And it's legacy is unparalleled in the world of television sitcoms. A huge reason for that is because it ended before it drove off the cliff. I'd argue there isn't a bad episode in the entire Seinfeld catalogue (don't come at me with your "Series finale" takes), and that's certainly not a claim anyone can make about The Simpsons. Sadly, at this point it's fair to say there is more bad than good when it comes to Springfield's first family. They didn't just drive off the cliff, they went over it on a skateboard, got pulled out, and then fell over it again. (If you've read this far into this blog, you get it).
I could sit here and rant about The Simpsons forever. I'd say I have a love/hate relationship with it, but that's not true. It's a love/ignore relationship. Love might not even be a strong enough word for my feelings about the glory days of this show. I adore them. I still watch those episodes to this day, even though I can sit there and recite almost every word while I do. And the later episodes? I just choose to ignore them. I know they exist, but I just don't let them into my little bubble of happiness. As far as I'm concerned, The Simpsons of today is a spinoff series of the one I grew up with.
I can't think of a good way to end this blog. So, here:
No comments:
Post a Comment