INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Simpsons' true 4:3 aspect ratio has been restored on Disney Plus, and while other animated series like Goof Troop and Chip 'N' Dale:
Rescue Rangers are seemingly doomed to a stretched 16:9 picture forever, it's a major win for hardcore fans of the service's only adult
When this occurs is arguably a matter of opinion based on your generation: for Millennial audiences like me, the consensus is that seasons
3-9 represent The Simpsons' golden age (with a season or two of leeway on either side)
I have a younger brother who contests it lasts longer, until about season 13.Either way, the rich world of Simpsons meme culture has
crystallized around seasons 1-10, and the popular Simpsons quote of the day Twitter account strictly shares scenes from seasons 1-11 only
People are still watching new episodes of The Simpsons now, of course, with season 32 on the way later this year
won't comment on those, simply because I don't know the newer seasons nearly as well
But I do want to discuss the episodes that represent the series' obvious decline, based on my own experience of watching these earlier
credit: Disney/Frinkiac)The signs of trouble start in season 9
A lot of people point towards The Simpsons episode 'The Principal and the Pauper' as a 'jump the shark' moment
This episode features the revelation that Principal Seymour Skinner is, in fact, an impostor, when the real Skinner returns from a POW camp
long after the Vietnam War
fans for the way it retcons the Skinner character
episode is a commentary on The Simpsons' audience at the time and its inability to accept change, but the episode 'The Itchy and Scratchy
and Poochie Show' did the same thing more successfully
That's because the latter episode used the in-universe cartoon Itchy and Scratchy as a proxy to explore fans' relationship with the show as
In 'The Principal and the Pauper', The Simpsons actually changed its canon in a way that some fans didn't like (credit to the podcast
Talking Simpsons for this observation)
Besides, an implausible storyline is just one of the negative elements that recur in later Simpsons episodes
The show had been doing ridiculous plots for years: Homer went into space in season 5
In season 7, he had cannonballs shot at his chest just so he could hang out with some '90s bands and impress Bart.A more damaging factor in
these later seasons is the unnecessary inclusion of guest stars playing themselves
Homer accidentally lands through the skylight of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger's holiday home, leading to him befriending the stars (and
He betrays their trust, ultimately, when he steals their underpants and other possessions, and the celebrities get a restraining order
This episode again has a number of great jokes, but I think it's a far worse effort than 'The Principal and the Pauper'
The difference is that 'The Principal and the Pauper' is still an emotional story about the Skinner character with an intended theme,
3-8, and I think this illustrated the show's ongoing decline at the time, even if worse episodes followed in subsequent seasons.Season 10
has plenty of great episodes otherwise, but a lower hit rate than season 9
The episode 'Monty Can't Buy Me Love', which ends with Mr Burns draining Loch Ness and capturing the mythical monster, is another weaker
is a bad year of the show, and I always like it on a rewatch
is the first bad season of the show, in my opinion
The episode 'Saddlesore Galactica', like 'The Principal and the Pauper', is often called out as an instance of 'jumping the shark'
the horse-racing plot of the episode takes a left turn when it turns out all of Homer and Bart's rival jockeys are actually supernatural
creatures who live underground.This is pretty bad, but even this episode has jokes I like
This one, for example:But I think by this point, the damage was already done to The Simpsons
The Mel Gibson episode 'Beyond Blunderdome' at the start of season 11 is another one built around a guest star and little more, even if the
publicity stunt, and suggested the writers lacked the same care for the characters that the audience had
episode, though: 'Behind the Laughter', a sharp parody of the VH1 behind-the-scenes documentary series
And even season 12 has two of my all-time favorites: 'Skinner's Sense of Snow', where Skinner and the kids are trapped in the school by a
snow storm, and 'Trilogy of Error', which tells three interlocking stories about the family members during the same day, Run Lola Run-style
again from the good episodes
Simpsons dropped off in quality after the '90s
good seasons then two terrible ones
Community lasted for six years, and I only really love 4.5 of those
Curb Your Enthusiasm is still great after ten seasons, but creator Larry David takes entire years off between series, which The Simpsons
You can only do so many fresh-feeling episodes where Homer gets a new job, or Bart misbehaves in a way that goes too far, or an episode
has had 21 love interests
It's a fundamental truth to me, though, that The Simpsons had a golden age and then it lost some kind of magic
The Simpsons might benefit from a shift in format over the coming years
Perhaps 13 episodes on Disney Plus per year instead of 22 on Fox would be a better way to release the show (though Fox is still airing the
