Did Simpsons make more sense as an 80's/90's era family?

[SuperFerret]

Could be that those seasons that they were at their best made us really care for them enough that we can forgive the bad episodes or over look them hoping for better later on.
Plus they have been on so long there is a history between them and their fans (fans know a lot about their history too).
Plus despite everything, you can tell Homer loves Marge, Marge loves Homer, and they all love each other. Even Bart loves Lisa, and Homer loves Grandpa.

Yep, unlike Family Guy (for example) where really, it would all end with Meg snapping and murdering them all.

 

[kguillou]

The best episodes of the Simpsons were definitely the ones that showed how much the family loved each other. My favorite episode is prolly the one where Bart and Lisa were competing with each other in hockey and in the end it showed how much these two loved each other despite how much they fought. It was such a tender moment that you dont see on any tv show anymore really.

 

[Catman]

I'm curious, is the show even still getting good ratings anymore?

Heh. I was about to ask that same thing.

Surprisingly, yes. It's even the most watched show on Hulu. So, there's still a fanbase out there...just not the original ones.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

One thing that bothers me about the seasons from 2000 onward isn't just the worse writing, its that its just WRONG to see them using 2000 era technology and referencing celebrities and pop culture from the 21st century.

I always saw Simpsons as a late 80's or early 90's family at the most. This is why they had that old beat-up 80's TV, they didn't even have a computer in the older seasons, there were no cell phones....Bart seemed to play on what resembled a Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis, etc.

It also makes sense, because Homer and Marge grew up in the 70's and had Bart in the 80's. Since they always reference their 60's and 70's roots, it only fits.

I see what you're saying, and I kind of agree; I mean, I was born in '89, I started watching the show in the mid-'90s, 'though I couldn't say when because it's been so long that I don't remember, and the show will just always be inextricably linked to the 1990s. That's not just because the best years were in that decade (seasons 3-10, IMO), but because the strongest satirical points/statements were made throughout those 10 years. It is weird to see the Simpsons adopt more technology over time; when the show went HD and introduced the new opening credits sequence, with a flatscreen TV, that did strike a wrong note with me. I miss the rabbit-ears - although the TV with rabbit ears atop it is not an '80s thing, it's a '50s thing, it's a mark of how behind their times the Simpsons were and usually are. But it would just be ridiculous if, in 2010, the Simpsons didn't have a computer, or a DVD player, or a flatscreen TV, or ANY modern accoutrement, so it's not something that bothers me too much.

Now, as for a timeline of Homer & Marge's relationship, and when the kids were each born, etc etc., there's really no chronological arrangement that makes sense by this point. They stopped trying to keep that kind of thing really consistent in like season 4, because...Bart and Lisa are still 10 and 8 like they were three years ago, but Homer and Marge were in high school in '74 and got married in 1980? The events themselves stayed consistent for a long time, but the years not so much. That is, until the episode "That '90s Show," which TOTALLY rewrote the story of Homer & Marge's relationship, and that is an episode I truly despise.

 

[S.A.A.D.]

As long as The Simpsons provide the laughs from time to time at least and contains likable characters and different stories,that is all that should matter imo.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I remember when the day came that I watched a Simpsons episode and didn't laugh once. That was a dark day.

 

[HighFivingMF]

Surprisingly, yes. It's even the most watched show on Hulu. So, there's still a fanbase out there...just not the original ones.

I've been watching Simpsons since I was old enough to sit up and stare at a TV. Still rarely miss an episode on it's original airdate. I was born in March of '91. Guess it's got a special place in my heart, but either way I can never tire of the Simpsons.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

I've been watching Simpsons since I was old enough to sit up and stare at a TV. Still rarely miss an episode on it's original airdate. I was born in March of '91. Guess it's got a special place in my heart, but either way I can never tire of the Simpsons.

I've noticed a recurring theme that people born in the 90's still like Simpsons, while people born in the 70's and 80's think it's utter crap these days. I attribute this to the fact that people born in the 90's grew up with an inferior version of the show and so never really knew what they were missing in the first place. Bad episodes from their youth (say 2000 or 2001) make them nostalgic... while for us, they're just bad episodes.

 

[Mace Dolex]

I still remember the very first Simpsons episode I watched was in 1991 in which Bart after going to a monster truck rally wanted to become a daredevil motorcyclist, ahh good times.

And when it comes to reruns I noticed in my area of Los Angeles where they run the show 3 times a day they usually show the earlier seasons in the earlier timeslots.

 

[The Riddler]

the early to middle seasons are incredible.

i love them so much.

 

[Catman]

I've noticed a recurring theme that people born in the 90's still like Simpsons, while people born in the 70's and 80's think it's utter crap these days. I attribute this to the fact that people born in the 90's grew up with an inferior version of the show and so never really knew what they were missing in the first place. Bad episodes from their youth (say 2000 or 2001) make them nostalgic... while for us, they're just bad episodes.

Interesting theory, but I think people born in the `90s and `00s simply take the show for granted. They were born in a world where The Simpsons already existed. They don't realize how ground-breaking the show is and how much it's fallen. It's like us with The Flintstones. That was the first ever primetime cartoon. The first ever animated TV series made for a family audience instead of JUST kids. And, yet, for people born after the `60s it's just another Hanna-Barbera show. We take it for granted.

 

[SuperFerret]

I've noticed a recurring theme that people born in the 90's still like Simpsons, while people born in the 70's and 80's think it's utter crap these days. I attribute this to the fact that people born in the 90's grew up with an inferior version of the show and so never really knew what they were missing in the first place. Bad episodes from their youth (say 2000 or 2001) make them nostalgic... while for us, they're just bad episodes.

Hello, I was born in '84 and I haven't seen a bad episode of the Simpsons yet. I've seen episodes that aren't as good as their best, but not bad episodes.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

Hello, I was born in '84 and I haven't seen a bad episode of the Simpsons yet. I've seen episodes that aren't as good as their best, but not bad episodes.

Have you seen "Co-Dependent's Day" and/or "That '90s Show?" (Those are the only bad episodes I can think of right now.)

 

[SuperFerret]

Haven't seen Co-Dependent's Day, but That 90's Show wasn't that bad.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

i remember back in the day, 1990/'91 to be exact, that the Simpsons aired on Thursday nites

used to watch it with my dad in those days

good ol' memories

and yeah, the show was groundbreaking. Bart Simpson was all over the place

 

[SuperFerret]

I actually wasn't allowed to watch the Simpsons at first, but I too recall watching it on Thursdays. The move to Sunday actually gave that waste of a day a purpose to exist.

 

[LOBO3315a]

Speaking as someone who knows what television without the Simpsons was like, I can honestly say it is quite possibly one of the best shows, ever. I put it on the same level as MASH, Mary Tyler Moore or any other non-animated comedy show out there. The Simpsons has a timeless quality to it. You can sit down to any episode and know that Bart is an underachiever, Homer is sharp as a bowling ball, Lisa will never be appriceated, Marge loves them all, and Maggie will always suck on her pacifier. That's the mark of a good show, familarity with the main characters. The best episode was the one where Bart and Michael Jackson wrote the song for Lisa's birthday. And I never laughed so hard in all my life as when Homer was tripping on the Guatamalian insanity chili peppers.
If it is ever canceled, I will know the End of Times is nigh.
And Spider-Pig was the bomb!

 

[John Locke]

Did anyone see the premiere? I think some of the characrters were actually white not yellow.

 

[Mace Dolex]

i remember back in the day, 1990/'91 to be exact, that the Simpsons aired on Thursday nites

used to watch it with my dad in those days

good ol' memories

and yeah, the show was groundbreaking. Bart Simpson was all over the place

I remember the Thursday night line up too of The Simpsons, In Living Color, Beverly Hills 9010 which was not good since on CBS at 8:30 The Flash was also airing.

Around this time I remember the "Do The Bartman" song which was cool as a kid but kind of wretched listening it now as an adult.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

Did anyone see the premiere?

I did, and it was pretty good, but Jermaine Clement & Bret McKenzie were definitely the highlight; every single thing they said/sang was hilarious.

 

[Artistsean]

I know Glee is more famous, but it was more like guest starring Flight of the Concord.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

I remember the Thursday night line up too of The Simpsons, In Living Color, Beverly Hills 9010 which was not good since on CBS at 8:30 The Flash was also airing.

Around this time I remember the "Do The Bartman" song which was cool as a kid but kind of wretched listening it now as an adult.

oh man i remember In Living Color!!!

was Martin also on Thursdays?? because i remember Martin and In Living Color being on the same nite, but i don't think it was Thursdays though

 

[Artistsean]

I don't think I started watching till around 94. Maybe. Seasons 4-9 or something like that. Timing might be off.

 

[Travesty]

I stopped watching The Simpsons in '02-'03, and even those last few years I watched it was getting pretty stale.

 

[Mace Dolex]

oh man i remember In Living Color!!!

was Martin also on Thursdays?? because i remember Martin and In Living Color being on the same nite, but i don't think it was Thursdays though

Simpsons had moved to Sundays while Martin was on Thursdays followed by In Living Color but by then Jim Carrey and the Wayans family left the show.

Mostly I think NBC's Must See Thursday comedy block killed the FOX comedies.