Is The Simpsons past it?

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I've been thinking about this for awhile. And I will apologise to anyone in the US if this comes across as blatant attack by another Englishman over this show but I think given the amount of time it has been on Sky and Fox is it about time they put this show out to pasture. The more I have watched of it the more I realise the stories seem to run along the lines Homer hurts Marge gets chastised and then spends say a day away from her then makes up with her and that kind of thing. That and the awful Halloween specials I mean come on what on earth is that all about I know you lot over the other side of the pond imported Halloween to the UK now I am not saying that bothers me but a cartoon show that uses popular films etc as flimsy plots for horror stories please be a bit more realistic!

Alright I'll shut up and hope I've not offended anyone that is not the intention what caused me to write this was seeing the show's more recent season and it seems to me like Fox is flogging a dead horse now?

Anyone else feel that way?

Simpsons is definately not what it used to be. Not really that the show got worse, but it's just been done so long people's excitement about it has worn off. The creaters have been really careful to keep a "jump the shark" moment from happening, which really makes it a timeless classic that's still fun to watch.

About being unrealistic, I kinda like that. It's the advantage cartoons have over live action. The halloween specials have gotten a bit weird though. They should go back to making them full episodes with plots.

I loved the first 6 or so seasons, then family guy came out. Sin ce then the Simpsons have been emulating family guy more and more to prevent the loss of viewers.

I still love the characters, but as they were in the past, not as what they are becoming.

also yeah, the newer halloween episodes have gotten stupid. I used to love the old treehouse of horror episodes.

I don't watch the show regularly.

I know there was a time I thought Simpsons was "past it" but then I'd see an episode with some gritty, current day topical humor that would have me rolling on the floor laughing.

I think it's a question of what the writers can come up with. Maybe every now and then they get some new blood?

I wouldn't say it's "past it". It's just that after being around for so long, the writers need to experiment and change around a lot. The Simpsons in 1990 was way different from the Simpsons of 1995, and of 2000, and of 2005, and so on. It's quality is bound to go up and down a lot.

Nowadays, I'd say it's a decent watch, nowhere near as good as the Golden age but not exactly bad television (apart from some episodes, but that's bound to happen for a show with nearly 500 episodes)

I think that The Simpsons jumped the shark years ago. I personally haven't watched it since season 10, and what I have seen of subsequent episodes didn't give me any great desire to watch more of it.

I also think if they are trying to play catch up with the likes of Family Guy that's a bit dodgy because F.G is more adult humour and it borders on being offensive and is able to get away with it. I think The Simpson's is on shaky ground if they are as some of you say trying to play catch up with it. I like F.G and also American Dad because they go completely against the grain and at times have had me in hysterics because they do actually have some genuine laughs. I think it would be very bad if The Simpson's tried to to take that kind of humour on because be realistic it is not safe for younger kids with the nigh on racist and sexist jokes and comments that and the characters on F.G are not at all aimed at kids. I am English and fairly jaded but to say it's trying to play catch up with these two is a little bit ill thought out!

I had read that elsewhere on-line not just here just keeping the thread fresh!

I personally thinnk it is losing it's appeal, however I am in UK so maybe the later series are better (don't have Sky 1). I did notice that before Virgin took our local service over and replaced Sky 1 with HALLMARK (erk...) the episodes were becoming more and more weird and disjointed. There was a definite attempt being made to turn it into family guy. I think they need to scrap the Simpsons before it is ruined completely and focus on new shows like Futurama.

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I prefer the older seasons personally. The recent episodes I've seen just haven't grabbed my attention as much.

Well, seeing the season primere last night, simpsons has still got it. Funny and clever as it always was. However, it played along side family guy and the cleveland show which are also great shows that share the same spotlight.

Simpsons will never regain the popularity it had being the first and only adult-oriented cartoon show, but it's doing quite well with all the competition.

Simpsons should probably retire.

Otherwise, they'll never stop the Simpson. Really! I just can't see an end to all those timeless characters.

BTW, Simpsons is leagues and leagues more intelligent than FG or American Dad. Some of those jokes go way over your head while Family Guy, a show that has lost it's appeal, goes for crude bathroom humor. It was funny and I loved it for the first 3 years, during it's prime, but now, it's just annoying to me. And since The Simpsons are trying to be more like FG, it's not getting any better.

Yeah, you're spot on there... Simpsons is definitely past its "sell by" date. It has nothing to do with what country you're from and everything to do with understanding that a show can only have so much time on the air before this happens. There are a few exceptions (What's My Line had a premise that kept it going for years with a fresh show every time, saw some clips on Youtube and it was great) but yeah, I haven't watched The Simpsons regularly in years. Of course, I had kids and it's not really for kids, so that was part of it. I just lost interest, though.