The show basically defined a generation.

Have at it.

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Fantastic, one of the best of all time during seasons 2-8. As has been mentioned before it started to decline rapidly after Homer was turned into a parody of the caricature he was and taken out as the "main character." He became 100% slapstick with none of the wisdom or humor. It was also a show unto itself, something that could only be done through animation and the yellow skin color. The family was the extension of the modern family unit just a tad unfiltered and a bit of a caricature. It was topical, smart, funny as fuck and was pretty deep. It hasn't been any of those things in 10+ years.

The supporting cast was also one of the best, well voiced and really deep...not just in numbers but of actual character depth. Loved the stereotypes and play on word names as well.

Really, it had 7 seasons of greatness, cover to cover. I still go back and watch them and they still make me laugh and pee.

i want to basically focus on the writers of the show, because ultimately that is why the show is bad now...the writing is terrible. a friend of mine had a perfect line about this. "it started getting written by fans of the show". imagine chaspop writing the next "avengers" movie. Fanboys are what they are...and they're great for what they are...but they aren't great for the source material that they're just too emotionally close to. it's understandable...kids that were growing up on this show are now old enough to have careers writing it. they're just wrong for it though.

when bill oakley and josh weinstein joined the staff, they were ridiculed by the fanboys because they weren't "simpsons fans". and guess what. they wrote some of the best episodes of the show ("$pringfield", "who shot mr. burns?", "bart vs. australia"). they were just great writers, and great satirists.

satire is what drove the show in its prime. it even went so far as to make fun of itself with episodes like "the day the violence died" (written by one of their best writers, john swartzwelder) where they poke fun of the "bart and lisa detective" syndrome the show started to somewhat suffer from. creating the alter egos of "lester and eliza" was a great payoff joke.

also, in "the itchy & scratchy & poochie" show, they parodied the dubious idea sitcoms/cartoon shows get when they're running low on ideas for the regular cast so they arbitrarily introduce an obnoxious sidekick character, i.e. jumping the shark. clearly poochie is poking fun at character creations like scrappy doo; but i like that they create this "new" adopted son in the family named roy just to bring it full circle.

that episode was written by david s. cohen, who also wrote other great episodes like "lisa the vegetarian", "das bus" and "bart the mother". he also invented the word "cromulent" used in "lisa the iconoclast".

most notably are the writers al jean & mike reiss who went on to spin off jay sherman (much to matt groening's chagrin) in "the critic", possibly the most underrated brilliant cartoon show ever made...beating "futurama" by a mile.

other great writers included conan o'brien, jennifer crittenden (who also wrote for "seinfeld"), and jeff martin. greg daniels, who co-created "the office" (US) and "king of the hill" also wrote for the show.

brad bird, who became big with pixar films like "the incredibles", was a creative consultant of the show for its first eight seasons as well.

the quality ran so deep in this show, it could've featured the best writing staff of a TV show of all time.

Great stuff, guys. Zack, you've really nailed it. I'd like to add another criticism of modern Simpsons. Too much emphasis on guess stars. They use big names as a crutch to support lazy, uninspired writing.

Zach hits the nail on the head. Being animated, the characters are what they are, the writing just stopped being good.

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They probably exhausted all possible storylines for the main characters after, what, six to eight seasons? I think it only makes sense that the writing is going to eventually suffer when a show has been on for more than two decades.

I can only somewhat agree here, because as W_Z mentioned, the engine that makes this show go is satire, and insofar as there are things to satirize, the show can conceivably keep everything fresh.

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I also agree the writing was the best early in the series life- the incredibly long, detailed side story to set up the main theme of the show often took all the way to the first commercial break. So much of the commentary from the nuclear industry was subtle beyond belief, but spot on. I guess smart writing was mentioned earlier. Later shows were lazy, being crass just to be crass. Kinda like the whole Jackass movie thing-stupid funny. I always thought Family Guy and American Dad came along and jumped into this section of the Simpson's legacy and took on the character of that time- pure stupid. Can't stand any of those, and the Simpson's has fallen to that level for me, as well. Can't remember the last episode I watched in prime time. But I'll watch Homer lose out on Employee of the Month to Inanimate Carbon Rod any day.

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

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<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

yes, veganfan. and i can point to "south park" as an example of a show still working after storylines are exhausted or regurgitated. it's not always great but sometimes it still executes a great episode, because the writing is still sharp when it's topical.

"the simpsons" got very lazy, and incompetent in writing.

The Simpsons also got hurt by the way television changed from cable television. It's hard to be edgy on Sunday night on network television. Network sitcoms have many of the same issues. The Simpsons pushed boundaries that are laughable now.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Every episode in the past 15 years has seemed to follow the same crappy formula. As mentioned, the show starts with some issue-related gag then goes right down the toilet with a story that I have little interest in with a guest star that I should care about, but don't.

As mentioned in a previous post, the nuclear plant stories between Mr. Burns and Homer as well as the religious-related material were just incredibly written. Let's not forget the contributions of Phil Hartman, God rest that man's soul.

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Used to be the best show on television. Took a noticeable step back when Conan left. Fell off the cliff completely about 10 years ago. Haven't watched in several years. Much better animated shows out there now such as American Dad, Bobs Burgers, Archer.

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Aqua Teens are better than the Simpsons. Yes, Aqua Teens.