It's not as good as the old days (Simpsons,The)

Member Name: hipchikcvic

Product:	Simpsons,The
Date:	08/01/01 (26 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It has been the greatest TV show of its day

Disadvantages: But it isn't any more

The Simpsons has been Americas greatest export - more successful than anyother television product they have invented, and infintely more appreciated on the British screen.

It has achieved this stautus by being consistenyl funny, always well observed and often dark and subversive in its humour. It crosses all age ranges, all cultures and all classes. The most well-read, elderly middle England businessman will find something here to amuse, as will a 10 year old child. It is intelligent in its humour, and it conforms to all the unwritten laws of comedy that make it such an entertaining romp.

Or at least, it used to.

Nowadays, The Simpsons is a pale imiation of its former self. Dont get me wrong, it's still quite funny, but the wonderful in-jokes, the alterative take on family life has all dissapeared and have been replaced by Homer Simpson banging his head, and Bart saying lots of words which the American public deem 'bad' (these can range from anything from bum to heck, such is the outrage of the Daily Mail-equivalent moral minority in the States).

The scripts have detiorated and have become less believable (yes, I know it's a cartoon, but they used to have some basis in reality). The storys are no longer even interesting, and the jokes are just plain bad. In the newest episodes I can even sit through them without rasiing a smile - such a dissapointment from a show that used to have me rolling in the aisles.

For example, episodes dealing with issues such as Bart shoplifting, Homer going bald, Homer losing weight, Marge getting stressed etc all have a basis in every household the world over. Episodes about your school principle being an imposter and imitating his old Army chief he met in 'Nam do not. it is the similarities with our own lives that make The Simpsons so relevant and as soon as it stops being relevant, it stops being funny.

Don't despair - it's not a complete washout and ther
e are still some moments thatwould be worthy of the earlier series, but I think The Simpsons is starting to look tired. It needs resting for a few seasons - let them rediscover the characters again and stop churning out the same old tired episodes.

The problem with it is that The Simpsons was so far ahead of its peers that now, even since it has started to decline in wit, it is still as good as most of the output from the States.

<br>Which is why they'll keep recommissioning it, and why it will, ultimately, dissapear up its own backside.

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