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Season by Season
Here are my opinions on how The Simpsons has changed over the years. I give
my views on each of the 15 Seasons so far, commenting on the style, humor and
animation, then round up with my "top 15" list.
Season 1
Our very first glimpse of The Simpsons (not including the shorts). The
drawing and animation was very crude, but there were some funny moments.
One thing I don't like about this Season is the moral high it has. For
example, in the episode "Homer's Night Out," Marge kicks Homer out
of the house for dancing with an exotic dancer at a stag night. In my opinion,
this is a little extreme.
Homer is an incompetent boob in this Season, but has some intelligence. His
voice in this Season is very low - this is because Dan Castellaneta did a
Walter Mathau-type voice, basically a deep-sounding vocal.
Season 2
Very similar to Season 1 in the style of humor and morals, but the animation
is much better. Homer's voice resembles what it is now - the pitch is slightly
higher than it was in Season 1.
The stories in this Season were decent, and introduced many of the characters
people love these days, such as Professor Frink, Comic Book Guy and the
Sarcastic Clerk. I don't like this Season as much as some of the middle
Seasons, I can't say why exactly, there were just not enough jokes - it was
still a kids show.
Seasons 3 to 5
The Simpsons gets remarkably better in these Seasons. The storylines are
funny, there are so many hilarious lines! This is where The Simpsons becomes
less of a show for kids, and more of a show for teenagers and adults - there
are more references and jokes which kids wouldn't get.
The animation is again better, but what I like most is the way the characters
are drawn, especially Homer. He has this kind of childlike innocence look
about him, even though he does stupid things. It's hard to explain. He is more
stupid than before, but he is still great. Several episodes deal with emotion
terrifically.
Seasons 6 to 8
Truly these are the Golden Years! I love these episodes, I can still
watch them today and laugh most of the way through.
Homer is very weird in these Seasons, especially 6. Take for example the
episode "Bart's Girlfriend". There is a scene in the kitchen where
Marge worries about a change in Bart. Homer makes several comments in a
distance kinda voice, as if he's on another planet, like "Probably misses
his old glasses."
Homer also plays a less important part in many episodes from these Seasons.
Other characters are given a chance to shine, while Homer is almost the comic
relief. The animation is about the same as Seasons 3-5.
Seasons 9 to 10
Here's where many people believe the show started to go downhill. Mike Scully
took over on Season 9 as Executive Producer, and a lot of people, including
me, blame him for the quality decline. These two Seasons weren't too bad,
though. In fact, I really like Season 9.
Season 10 had lots of great moments, but this is where we started to see
episodes which were not up to the usual standards, such as "When You Dish
Upon A Star" and "Homer Simpson In: Kidney Trouble". There is
quite a contrast throughout the Season of quality: one episode is really good,
and the next is really poor, and so on.
There have also been many more guest stars playing themselves since Season 9,
which I don't like - guest stars are funnier when they play other characters.
Season 11
This is where it all started to go horribly wrong. This is my least favorite
Season of all. Homer is a fat stupid jerk, Bart becomes a criminal instead of
being just a little mischievous, and some strange plot twists: jockey elves,
Barney becoming sober (permanently!) and Homer wanting to commit suicide are
three such examples.
On the other hand, there are some good episodes. I actually love "Days
of Wine and D'ohses" besides the permanently-sober-Barney. I wish they
would change him back. And the complete parody of The Simpsons that is
"Behind The Laughter" is hilarious! But overall, this Season sucks.
Season 12
I have never seen such a contrast between episodes than I have in this
Season. Season 12 has one of my all-time favorite episodes, "Worst
Episode Ever" (how ironic...), and my least favorite ever, "The
Great Money Caper". To this day, I do not know how the same team that
created one can have made the other. There are at least 5 great episodes in
this Season, and 5 horror-stories (not including THOH ;-) ).
Also, I would like to use this space to say that I think the episode
"Simpson Safari" is good - yes it's a little weird, but it's very
funny and more people should give it a chance.
This Season was also the Season of "wacky endings" - most of the
episodes have a very strange last minute, which I choose to ignore these days.
Seriously, try it, you might find you like this Season more!
Season 13
This Season marks an upturn for The Simpsons - there were many more episodes
which were of a high standard. But on the other hand, the couple of bad
episodes were REALLY bad... you know which ones I mean... episodes like
"The Lastest Gun In The West" and "The Old Man And The
Key" really make my blood boil. I can't believe these got further than
the script, they are not funny at all!! There were some good episodes here
though: "Half-Decent Proposal" is one of my faves.
Another thing I noticed in this Season is the increase in swearing and
general filth. There were two episodes with the word 'penis', one with Homer
calling the wiener the strongest muscle in the body, and one with Homer
talking about feeling boobs. This is not Simpsons humor, it is South Park
humor... it doesn't belong here!
Season 14
I find it really hard to judge this Season. To be honest, there are very few
stand-out episodes - the Season is not that memorable. There were good
episodes, and there were not very many bad ones, but even the good ones were
flawed with stupid, flat jokes, the same things which ruined the previous few
Seasons. Some of the storylines were dire (eg Large Marge), but these were
probably the ones executed the best... it was the episodes with good plots
which were stupidly let down.
This Season marked the start of digital animation - and it was excellent. In
a lot of episodes it is not noticeable, but in some episodes you can really
see the benefit. Overall, a decent Season I guess.
Season 15
I want to say "wow" to this Season, but that would be exaggerating
a bit. Nonetheless, this Season was definitely the best since Season 10. Plot
lines are better, episodes are much funnier, and the characterization is
pretty much dead-on is most episodes. The only things that brought the Season
down were a few episodes which seemed quite rushed and/or underdeveloped
(Marge Vs. SSCCATAG and Today I Am A Klown spring to mind).
And who could forget the atrocity that was Bart-Mangled Banner? However, the
animation is superb and it was very noticeable (in a good way) in many
episodes - this topped off a return to good form for The Simpsons. Who knows
what'll happen next year?
Roundup
Well, that's all my objective comments for now. I'll continue to add to this
page after each Season, so you can see my views on how the show is going
downhill or having a slight boost... stay tuned. In the meantime here are the
Seasons in the order I like them best, with best at the top:
* Season 7 *
Season 6
Season 5
Season 8
Season 4
Season 3
Season 9
Season 2
Season 15
Season 10
Season 12
Season 14
Season 13
Season 1
Season 11
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