Has this ever happened to your favorite show?
- What used to make you laugh now makes you groan and sigh heavily.
- What was to ensure half hour on non stop hilarity now has a 50/50 shot of eliciting a forced chuckle.
- What once brought tears of laughter to your eyes now brings tears of pain and frustration.
- What used to be a clever use of a guest star is now a blatant call for attention.
- What was the worst episode ever last week is surpassed on a weekly basis.
If so, you’re probably a loyal Simpsons fan who still watches out of a sense of duty and the off chance it’ll be funny this time. These feelings are normal. After 16 years a TV show can’t possibly be the same. TV shows have to evolve and develop to get better after their initial success or people will stop watching. But to make the show fresh usually comes at the cost of what people loved about it in the first place. The same characters can’t be developed forever, so new ones are added, old ones killed off, and the remaining ones seem to get dumber and dumber until they appeal to the lowest common denominator.
Episodes in the later seasons of any show can seem “half-assed” or like they were “phoned in” but it becomes particularly apparent around the sixteenth. Jokes seem to have nothing to do with the plot, if one is present, and are usually self referential or cheap shots. Characters may resort to screaming and yelling more than actually speaking. The creators may try to buoy the show with guest stars, as well. Guest stars can even completely cease to lend their talents to new characters and simply appear as themselves hawking a new movie. This is a very dangerous sign.
The best solution is to move on. Make plans for Sunday evenings. Eat dinner late, start watching an engrossing movie at 7 o’clock, join a religion that doesn’t condone electricity use on the weekends, anything. It’s tough to kick a 16 year habit, but for my Pete’s sake, read the writing on the wall, it’s telling you to let go! Empires crumble. D’oh Dough gets stale. You must accept the fact that nothing is forever. Except for Law and Order that is.
I can remember a few seasons back when like 5 episodes in a row ended somehow with a crazed animal; I think there was a dolphin, a racoon, and a woodchuck at least.
I should have known it was over when my housemate wrote an honors thesis on it.