Season 12, the last Mike Scully season, is where I draw the line. That was the one with "Trilogy of Error," the last great episode. There were many poor episodes from 9-12, more bad than good (in fact, it turns out a lot of the best ones from that era like the Scientology one were episodes where David Mirkin, Jean/Reiss, or Oakley/Weinstein pinch-hit as showrunner), but from 13 on, there's
nothing there.
Opinions vary on the defining moment: most people say the fake Principal Skinner episode, a few say Frank Grimes, I've heard "Behind the Laughter" thrown around as the real series finale. I'm not sure the show truly jumped the shark on screen. If I had to pick a point, I guess I would say that the show never recovered from losing Phil Hartman.
HawaiiYou wrote:
I don't think the show is anything special but I guess it has a big following.
yeah a few people like it, think it had a little influence
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Molly Lambert wrote:
The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.