It's The Simpsons 30th Anniversary
 

Simpsons debuted 30 years ago on Tracy Ullman today



To twist a Futurama quote just a tad:

30 years.
About 10 good ones.

It's a real shame Al Jean and Matt Groeing didn't know when to quit when they were ahead. Simpsons should have ended around Season 10....maybe Season 15 at the latest.

Instead because they wanted to have the longest lasting American show and surpass Gunsmoke's 630 episodes, they had it go on forever. What's weird as hell is they think Simpsons has broke some kind of record for the longest running scripted cartoon. There are tons of anime out there like Pokemon and Dragonball or even Naruto with far more episodes than Simpsons. It's almost like they have no idea what goes on outside of America.

I've liked a lot of recent Simpsons episodes, so I'm not against it continuing for years and years.

It's a shame seasons 18 and 19 haven't been released on disc or even on instant video services. I'd buy those in either form of media since I got the first 17, then had to skip ahead. Of course I could pirate them, but knowing me, I'd be caught.

It seems to me that the people who do the most complaining about The Simpsons having fallen off haven't even watched it in years, and so have no idea how the current episodes' quality compares to earlier seasons.

I hope The Simpsons outlives us all.

Here's to another 30 more

I watched regularly to Season 25 or so, most of it was pretty bland or bad. There is still the occasional good episode, sure, but it's really not worth it when more than half the season is bad.

It may not be what it once was, but it's still entertaining. I always find it so amusing seeing the newer episodes where everyone has an iphone when this series started way before any of that ever existed.

I love the Simpsons, haven't really watched in 15+ years but even though I know they "suck" now I'm still fond of the characters even if I don't watch.

I watched them when I was a kid and stopped around the time I was 13 or so, not because I wanted to but I no longer had local channels at home so I could never watch new episodes. Oddly enough this was during seasons 11+ so the "bad years".

I've always meant to re-catch up on them but with so many episodes I haven't. I re-watched up to s9 last time I did, that's where I stopped buying the DVDs.

A lot of my favorite episodes come from Seasons after 11. Any show that runs this long is obviously going to have its ups and downs, but it just irks my nerves when people say "oh it's so bad now it should've stopped years ago" when they haven't even been paying enough attention to make that call.

I use Showbox and have binged a lot of the new stuff. There's some episodes I've liked (the last one with Sideshow Bob, "Barthood" being probably their best "future ep" since the Christmas one, and "Simpsorama" was fine too), but overall I still feel it has problems

Totally agree. I still watch every season. Every show has bad episodes.

If it no longer interest you fine...but don't claim it sucks just because it's been a long time. Obviously enough people still like the newer stuff or it would have been cancelled years ago.

Just because something continues to air doesn't mean it's any good though. After so many years the characters have indeed become parodies of themselves and they have done pretty much everything that it has become kind of a joke. There're actual threads on simpsons communities that pick out the good episodes out of the season.

Most of us love them but to see so many generic episodes and episodes that ruin great ones does make you feel a bit bitter and want them to end. We want to remember the Simpsons we loved, not what they became.

I hope season 30 is the final season, I mean it's a nice round number to go out on and knowing that it's the final season they could do some fun stuff. If we wait until a main character's voice dies or worse yet if voice actors start getting replaced, that would be depressing. They can always continue the show through another movie or two which I remember on interviews they only put off because the show itself was already so demanding to work on other projects.


You know what else I miss? Simpsons video games, even during the bad years, they were awesome. Take any genre and make a generic simpsons version and it was now a great game. Beat em ups/crazy taxi/gta etc. Sadly now that the mobile game is a success no one even cares to actually do one, especially since the voice work is so expensive.

Just because something continues to air doesn't mean its bad either. Whether it's 10 seasons or 30. Some shows are shorter/longer than others.

If you don't like the newer seasons that's perfectly fine. I stop watching anything I've lost interest in.

The idea that continuing somehow diminishes the older seasons is dumb. Those will never be ruined. It's the remake argument. Remakes don't hurt the originals.

I just don't like when people claim it needs to end based on when they lost interest in it. Some people lose interest in shows after 1 season.

I haven't really watched the newer seasons but I catch an episode or two from time to time and I want to love them but I can see just how inferior they are. I mean I'm a guy who likes The Next Mutation so you can see that I try to look at the glass half full of things.

And I disagree, sequels, seasons and whatnot can indeed hurt the original I realized this when I was re-watching the Matrix a while ago. After watching the original movie I remembered why it was so amazing which I had forgotten after the horrible sequels. It can be difficult to differentiate the two but it's really on a franchise to franchise basis.

I also hate when people want a show to end just because they don't like it or when people joke "There was never a sequel" as a reference that it sucked but I think even you can agree that the simpsons aren't what they used to be. Wouldn't you rather the show end on a high note before the main cast die?

It has reused ideas and storylines but I think the humor is pretty much the same. I've been watching a lot of reruns on TV. It's not any more or less silly than in it was in the 90s. Some episodes are kinda boring and not very interesting but I think that goes for every show ever.

As for cast dying or getting replaced. I don't think it would feel that out of place when some live action sitcoms change real people to play the same characters. Unless a voice is dramatically different it shouldn't be an issue or they shouldn't be hired.

Again with the remakes/sequels thing. I still don't agree. The originals will never be ruined. If you let a sequel ruin your feelings towards a favorite movie that's on the individual.

How can a bad remake/sequel force me to like the original less or diminish its value? If anything you'd like it more. I've seen sequels I don't care for but still love the original ones or sequels there after.