Renewed! Zombie Simpsons lives on to 2012

[dave9199]

I always figured seasons 17 & 18 weren't that good because they were working on the movie which was good.

[Charlie]

Actually, apparently the main chunk of writing on the movie was done during Seasons 14/15/16 (production started around 2003), with Seasons 17 and 18 mainly being when rewrites and post production was occurring, meaning not as much of the writing staff would have been involved with the movie at that point - remember that several of the writers on the movie (Scully, Mirkin, Vitti and Swartzwelder, at the very least) weren't even writers on the show for at least a few years before the movie even came out. Additionally, many of the show's writers weren't even given a producer credit on the movie, meaning they would have had next to no input on it and would have been focusing their attention on the series instead. As it stands, generally the majority of people consider the period between Seasons 13 and 16 to be the highest point of the series after the first 8 seasons, and seeing as that's when the main chunk of production on the movie was occurring, it doesn't really add up.

[HRH Sir Prince Charles]

the "the movie ruined the show" theory is pretty much the same the "futurama ruined the simpsons" theory... both look interesting on the surface, but once you actually know how these things work you realize they're utter crap.

[dave9199]

I've been watching seasons 1-10 on dvd and I'm sure this has been discussed before, but there is a definite change in season 9 which starts at the end of season 8. I'd say the first appearance of jerkass Homer is the Frank Grimes episode. Milhouse gets his turn being a jerkass in Das Bus. They went darker and also bigger. Watching Bart swim with Milhouse's inhaler to get a cooler of food isn't as relatable than watching Bart about to jump over Springfield Gorge on his skateboard. While I still find the show funny, I feel I still have a hard time describing what it is that changed. There were less emotional stories. I like it when they have a Lisa story because it helps to balance out the more sillier stories. I've always liked the show because it had both: serious and silly. The balance was tipped in season 9 I think.

[dave9199]

Another thought about the show; I think the more reality invades the Simpsons universe, the worse the stories get.

[The Governor]

Another thought about the show; I think the more reality invades the Simpsons universe, the worse the stories get.

I am not sure if you mean the stupid real life guest stars invading the show, or if you mean when the Simpsons tries to be a bit more emotionally real, as in the first three seasons.

[Real Melvin]

I for one think The Simpsons works better as a faux-fairytale middle-America town with middle-America doofuses attempting to live out American dreams than as a 2000s digital age playground for housewives picking up dozens of free samples of Vitamin Water (lol it's not really that healthy) and renting an apartment in a hipster-y apt. complex maintained by Anton Chigurh so your kids can text with the preps of Waverly Hills.

though oddly the episode that was the least like The Simpsons/the least Springfieldian was one of the better episodes of the last few years. actually, well sorry for going tangential, but is Waverly Hills the Only Move Twice of the Jean era?