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Off The Telly

I agree - the show has suffered a severe decline in quality the past seven years or so, but that's still like euthanising a beloved family pet. And like my (ex)girlfriend says: "It's too late for them to go out on top - so they might as well go on forever."

But the most surprising thing I learned from these is: some people actually prefer these new episodes. Young people (okay not that young - college age now) but too young to remember a time when there were only three channels of tv and cartoons only happened on Saturday mornings. These people see the early years as too slow, too mushy and badly drawn.

While no one's calling for a return to the Tracey Ullman days (and why aren't those historic/prehistoric shorts out on DVD yet?) and even the hardest old-schooler will admit that the first season or two were a little rough, and that it took a while to hit its stride.

But to say that it's only gotten better over the years?

I don't get it personally, but I think these uproar over the proposed box for the Sixth Season DVDs sums it up. On one hand it's kind of disappointing that it doesn't match the first five, eliminating the possibility of building a 17+ year monolith of DVD box sets. On the other hand, the new box (which is shaped like Homer's Head) is pretty cool.

The new-schoolers maintain that complaining about the current show is similar to disliking "Space Ghost: Coast To Coast" just because it doesn't match your Hanna Barberra memories. Because that's what the new Simpsons have become, a post-modern deconstruction of supposed classic.

And that's what the Simpsons is supposed to be, a satire. And since (through no change on its own part) The Simpsons - or rather culture's perception of it - has shifted from outsider art pushing the envelop to a beloved cultural instution. And since it has reached icon status one of the things most ripe for parody is The Simpsons itself. It now takes great pleasure in debunking its own mythology.

Where is Springfield? (Northern Kentucky) What is the Comic Book Guy's real name? (Jeff Albertson) Is Smithers gay? (yes).

Another complaint with the newer episodes has to do with continuity. The ending of "Trash Of The Titans" being sited as a good example. At the end of the episode, all of Springfield has to move 50 miles down the road to escape all the trash piled up. For some reason that bothers old-schoolers, while the ending of "You Only Move Twice" (where Hank Scorpio captures the East Coast and Homer, disappointingly, ends up owning the Denver Broncos).

Sure - the whole "Principal Skinner is really Arminad Tanzarian" switcheroo was annoying, but it's just a cartoon. It doesn't have to be 100% realistic.

Another complaint is that lately they've run out of ideas for stories - and sometimes when the writers paint themselves into a corner and can't think of a way out (see: "Das Bus", "Missionary Impossible", and "Pranksta Rap"). New shcool defendants claim that its at least better than the old habit of sticking on an inappropriate "senitmental capper" that could've poured from the powerbook of the laziest hack TV writer.

It's an ending, that's enough.

Another complaint is about the unnecessary celebrity cameos in the last few years. But Krusty the Clown can only stand-in for so many different aspect of show-business. In order to lampoon a wider range of pop culture, they need more targets.

People have also complained that Homer has become too self-centered and too stupid over the years. Others counter that this "Jerka$$ Homer" of the recent years is at least an interesting and different creation while the well-meaning but doofus-ish dad has been done to death on sitcoms.

I'm trying to learn to apprieciate the new episodes of the Simpsons - but I still don't get it. Their points are valid. The problem is: It's just not funny. Or at least as funny as it was (which is still funnier than everything else on tv except "Arrested Development").