The Simpsons (seasons 11-31)

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The Simpsons

Krusty the Clown showcases the decline of "The Simpsons" throughout the years!
Genre: Animated sitcom
Running Time: 21-24 minutes
Country: United States
Release Date: December 17, 1989 - present (Overall)
September 26, 1999 - May 17, 2020 (seasons 11-31)
Network(s): Fox (US broadcast)
FXX (US syndication)
Network Ten (1991-2011; Australia)
Eleven (2011-17; Australia)
7mate (2018-present; Australia)
Sky One (1990-2021; UK broadcast)
Sky Showcase (2021-present; UK broadcast)
BBC One (1996-97; UK syndication)
BBC Two (1997-2004; UK syndication)
Channel 4 (2004-present; UK syndication)
Created by: Matt Groening
Distributed by: 20th Television (1989-2020)
Disney–ABC Domestic Television (2020–present)
Starring: Dan Castellaneta
Julie Kavner
Nancy Cartwright
Yeardley Smith
Hank Azaria
Harry Shearer
Seasons: 20 (bad)
35 (overall)
Episodes: 369


"Dad, how come they're taking The Cosby Show off the air?"

"Because Mr. Bill Cosby wanted to stop before the quality suffered
Quality, schmality! If I had a TV show, I'd run that sucker into the ground!" "Amen, boy. Amen!"

— Bart and Homer Simpson, from an April 30, 1992 rerun of the season 2 episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", four simple lines of dialogue that, unbeknownst to them at the time, will make television history

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by cartoonist Matt Groening. During the first 8 seasons, the show was considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time. However, ever since Season 9's "The Principal and the Pauper", the show has gone downhill but eventually recovered in Season 32-onwards. While Seasons 1-8 (1989-1997) were well received and Seasons 9-10 (1997-1999) and 32 onwards (2020-present) garnered mixed-to-positive reception, Seasons 11-31 (1999-2020) received mixed to negative reviews. Notably, these seasons are known for exemplifying the 'Flanderization' trope, which is named after the character Ned Flanders from the show.

"D'oh!" Qualities

  1. Quantity over quality: The main problem is that the series has been going on for an extreme runtime (it started back in 1989), as the show now has 35 seasons and 700+ episodes and counting. While keeping the show going for longer can work, the show will often jump the shark because of this. It's unlikely the show will end.
    • Some feel that "Behind the Laughter" from Season 11, The Simpsons Movie or "Holidays of Future Passed" (See Trivia section for more information) from Season 23 could have been fitting finales; instead, it became a cash cow for Fox.
    • There are enough episodes to the point where Wikipedia needed to have two episode lists.
    • While all the seasons are available to watch on Disney+ (excluding Season 36, since it's still airing new episodes and it's currently streaming on Hulu), only the first 20 seasons were ever released on DVD.
      • Not to mention, there was a gap between the releases of the 17th and 18th season sets starting in 2014, as Fox wanted to focus more on digital distribution. It wasn't until July 22, 2017, that the 18th season set was announced due to a fan protest.
    • This is also not helped by the fact that Seasons 23 and 30 sped up the show's decline in quality, with there being way more bad episodes in those seasons than in most of the other seasons, with Season 23 having some of the worst episodes of the entire series like "Lisa Goes Gaga" and Season 30 is when the seasonal rot reached its peak, as it is not only deemed to be worse than Season 23 but is also the worst season of the entire series as it not only has some of the lowest-rated episodes of the entire series like "D'oh Canada" (which has 5.5 rating on IMDb) but also has some controversial and political episodes like "Bart vs. Itchy and Scratchy".
      • To an extent, Season 18, while better than the eleven reasons mentioned above as it has fewer bad episodes compared to these eleven seasons, has some of the worst episodes of the entire series like "The Boys of Bummer".
        • Additionally, to another extent, Seasons 26 and 27, while also better as they also had fewer bad episodes, their premiere episodes were nothing but ratings traps to the point of making the fans of the previous seasons never watch the series again.
  2. While there are still a handful of good episodes in these seasons, these seasons also have a notable number of bad ones too, (see below) it was even to the point where they once cluttered this wiki with their pages before they were subsequently banned and were later relocated to the Horrible TV Show Episodes Wiki before they were allowed back here again after the latter mentioned wiki merged with this one.
  3. Some of the characters have gotten flanderized, to the point of becoming unlikable and lacking the charm they previously had.
    • Homer from seasons 11-30 had gone from being a dimwitted, yet well-meaning father to a moronic idiot who sometimes acts like a selfish, uncaring jerk towards his family and friends, though nowhere near as bad as Peter Griffin. And although he is still likable, he can be unlikable when he is miswritten.
    • Marge during seasons 16-30 has gone from being a strict, yet well-meaning mother to a stereotypical nagging killjoy wife who worries too much about everything and is extremely boring and un-impulsive by nature, getting hyped up by household chores and monotonous hobbies. She's also become more of a jerk by Season 20b, particularly towards Homer. “Friends and Family” is easily the worst offender of the latter, since her jerkiness towards him is cranked up to 11 in that episode, to the point where the episode's infamous scene of her throwing things at Homer thinking he was cheating on her is infuriatingly painful to watch, to which she even says she wasn't wrong for getting mad at him.
    • Bart from seasons 16-30 has gone from a rebellious prankster with a heart of gold to a malicious sociopath who causes trouble for everyone for his amusement. However, just like Homer, he is still likable, but unlikable when miswritten.
    • Lisa had already gone from being a voice-of-reason-type character to a complete know-it-all Mary Sue and a political soapbox since Season 7 (yes, even during the Golden Age). Some of the episodes focusing on her show her at her absolute worst like in "On a Clear Day, I Can't See My Sister" and especially "Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy". Fortunately, she recovered in season 31.
    • Maggie went from being a character who occasionally has plot relevance (such as her shooting Mr. Burns in "Who Shot Mr. Burns?), but she later had some individuality, into simply a background character who only exists for filler. Thankfully, she's still retained her likability.
    • Ned Flanders has gone from a religious man who enjoys other things as well to a bible-thumping fundamentalist who will lash out at anyone who doesn't support it. He's the namesake for the Flanderization trope. He reached new lows in "The Monkey Suit" and especially "Todd, Todd, Why Hast You Forsaken Me? where he literally kicked out his son from the house in the latter.
    • Otto Mann has gone from a cool and laid-back bus driver to a dangerous low-life and drug addict. Even worse is that when season 31 aired, he was one of the few characters who hadn't recovered from Flanderization, making it a character derailment.
    • Patty and Selma Bouvier have gone from just making hilariously mean jokes about Homer to being full-on sociopaths who go out of their way to torture Homer, even going as far as to urge him to jump off a bridge and purposely push him off in "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" and kidnapping him on the day he and Marge were going to renew their wedding vows in "Wedding for Disaster". Later seasons tone this down, though.
    • Moe Szyslak has gone from being a simple bartender who was kind of cheap and surly but was a generally okay person to be around to be a registered sex offender and a Harvey Weinstein wannabe in which he revolts against women and actively encourages alcoholism, even as he knows it's destroying his regulars. However, he is at least decent in seasons 11-15 and 31.
    • It also introduced a new character in Season 31 named Mike Wegman, who is a very unlikable and mean-spirited jerk who gets angry if anyone disrespects Homer and is also a male example of a mean popular girl.
  4. While the writing can still be decent depending on the episodes, the writing most of the time is downgraded from being clever and funny while relatable at the same time to being lame, unfunny, boring, and even nonsensical (in seasons 11 and 12) and political (in season 30). Other times, it can be way too mean-spirited, especially towards Bart. While there are times that he was rightfully punished, there are other times when he was punished to even harsher standards than what he did or unjustified to the point where you side with him instead of the people who punished him. On A Clear Day I Can't See My Sister (where he played a prank on Lisa), The Boys of Bummer (for failing to catch a baseball), and The Father, The Son, and The Holy Guest Star (getting expelled at Springfield Elementary for committing a prank he DID NOT commit,) are perfect examples.
  5. In recent years, Al Jean (the showrunner until 2021) has made a lot of controversial and stupid decisions:
    1. He was very responsible for removing Apu from The Simpsons, and pretty shunting him into the background of most modern episodes, after watching the infamous documentary involving the controversy from Hari Kondabolu that Apu is a "racist stereotype" on October 27, 2018. But Apu was far from acting like a racist stereotype, especially since the documentary Jean watched was just about how Apu can be offensive to some people. Yes, he is an Indian national, but Apu is a depiction of his own culture in a good way.
      • After that, Azaria went on to apologize for voicing Apu instead of standing up for himself against Al Jean. That can show you what a total wimp Hank Azaria is, and it's no wonder why Azaria was made fun of and ridiculed by John Cleese on Twitter.
      • What is worse is that Al Jean did nothing to respond to the criticism opposing the removal of a popular character, nor did he even apologize for allowing this to happen. This is ironic because, in Season 29, there was one scene from an episode of the twenty-ninth season that made fun of the controversy of Apu.
    2. Another example of his controversial practices is that he accused Michael Jackson of using "Stark Raving Dad" (an episode he ironically wrote, keep in mind) to groom little boys for the sake of sexual abuse on March 6, 2019.[1] Of course, this right here does not only show he is also one of Michael Jackson's stupid accusers so he can guilt-trip the dead guy but also one of his slanderers, too.
      • Even worse, he even made a completely terrible decision to remove the episode from circulation on American television in the rise of Leaving Neverland and the false sexual allegations against Michael Jackson were brought back up once again thanks to the notorious Wade Robson and James Safechuck.
      • Not to mention, he enjoys playing the innocent on people who have done no wrong to deserve anything bad happening to them judging by this action.
      • Also, this episode was never released on Disney+ and has been removed from newer prints of the Season 3 DVD, so the only way to watch this episode is to buy an older print of The Simpsons Season 3 DVD that contains this episode, or through piracy websites like WcoStream.
    3. The worst decision he made was in June 2020, when he forced all the white actors of the show to step down the roles of non-white characters in the wake of the George Floyd protests, including Hank Azaria, let alone pander to political correctness. While most of the newer actors for the non-white characters are decent choices, Alex Desert as Carl is a rather off-putting choice since Carl has a Brooklyn accent. Even Kevin Michael Richardson does a poor job voicing Dr. Hibbert, who sounds like Mr. Gus from Uncle Grandpa making a bad voice impression of Dr. Hibbert.
      • It is rumored though that Kevin Michael Richardson was forced to make a bad impression of Shearer due to the controversies of Bill Cosby, with whom Hibbert's voice is based.
    4. Finally, in 2021, he supported the NFT (non-fungible token) market by retweeting the post about the celebration of Disney+ day which encourages people to buy NFTs.[2] If you want a more simple explanation, NFTs are worthless PNGs that consume plenty of electricity, which is bad for the environment. Not to mention that the nature of NFTs makes it pretty much a scam. There is no point to them when you could just screenshot it onto your device, making it completely useless. This tweet also proves that Jean is a crypto bro.
  6. Some episodes are too similar to episodes from previous seasons. Other episodes tend to copy and paste some ideas/concepts from previous seasons/other programs (unless it's done right); one blatant example of the latter comes from Season 30's "Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy", where the episode feels like a rehash of the Season 2 episode "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge".
  7. Some episodes are extremely preachy and even stray into political territory, especially episodes centering around Lisa.
  8. While there are still a handful of good jokes, there are some stale and repetitive jokes. Some of them are just tasteless (like the 9/11 joke in "Moonshine River"), and some are flat-out disturbing (like Chief Wiggum goading Bart into jumping off a water tower in "The Boys of Bummer"), and some aren't even really jokes at all (like whenever a meme or something out of pop culture is referenced, it is instead just simply shown without it be satirized or done as a joke being made about it).
  9. Seasons 11 and 12, particularly the former, frequently rely on strange and extravagant storylines. These seasons include episodes with sudden plot twists that deviate from the series' usual realistic tone. Episodes like "Saddlesore Galactica," "Kill the Alligator and Run," and "Simpson Safari" are prime examples of this shift.
  10. Some episodes are either flat-out underwhelming, mediocre at best, or hard to watch due to the plot being either very confusing, mean-spirited, or anti-climactic.
  11. These seasons try too hard to stay relevant sometimes (mostly the post-movie era), by constantly doing things in a desperate attempt to try and get attention, like killing off Rabbi Krustofski or having Homer and Marge undergo a fake divorce, or reference Angry Birds during the latter franchise's rise in popularity which is proof that the show is better being what it is than trying to stay relevant like that.
  12. Several of the recurring characters are pretty annoying and unlikable, especially Helen Lovejoy, the Rich Texan, Judge Constance Harm, Patty and Selma Bouvier, Artie Ziff, and Agnes Skinner.
  13. A few of the endings are either rushed or confusing, like the ending to "Lisa Goes Gaga".
  14. Although the show is still great at making songs, there are some of the songs that are cringeworthy or hard to listen to for some people because of how bad they are or are used so poorly, like the song "Making a Food Blog" from "The Food Wife".
  15. The voice acting, while remaining good, can get annoying for some of the characters sometimes, especially Marge and Ned Flanders.
    • Since around Season 24, Julie Kavner (Marge's voice actress) has started sounding tired and worn-out and sounding more like Jacqueline Bouvier (Marge Simpson's Mum), possibly due to Kavner's aging.
  16. These seasons frequently attempt to be trendy and contemporary, which can come across as forced and awkward.
    1. "How the Test Was Won" features Principal Skinner making a threat that alludes to the well-known "Got any grapes?" line from "The Duck Song". Although this reference was timely for its 2009 airdate, it may come across as dated today, given that the song has lost its relevance since 2012.
    2. "Yolo" from Season 25 was broadcast in November 2013, which was significantly after the phrase "Yolo" had ceased to be widely used in popular culture.
      • In that particular season, Homer actually performs a song about "swag."
    3. They had an entire episode dedicated to Pokémon Go released in the UK on April 30, 2017 after the game had stopped being relevant. Of course, this can lead to one question: Was the Pokémon Go episode produced and written in 2016?
    4. Several episodes feature characters performing the floss dance, including Bart in "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh," as well as Bart and Homer in "The Winter of Our Monetized Content," and the show's in-universe Iron Man in "Bart the Bad Guy."
    5. The Season 29 finale episode "Flanders' Ladder" opened with Bart tricking Lisa into playing the Scary Maze Game (keep in mind, a pop-up of a zombie also parodies Regan MacNeil's possessed look from The Exorcist.) and saying "epic sister fail!" afterward. Keep in mind that the episode aired on May 20, 2018, in the US.
  17. In 2019, they did this video called "West Wing Story", which was an example of making a very bad attempt at mocking Donald Trump and is another attempt to stay relevant.
  18. Some of the episodes have plot holes and continuity errors that retcon previous seasons such as, for example, "That '90s Show", where it's revealed that Homer and Marge were young back in the 1990s, were dating and didn't have kids back then, although they were young and were dating in the 1970s, got married in the '80s, and Bart and Lisa were born in the '80s, as well as the fact that this show came out before the '90s even began. All in an attempt to justify why they didn’t age in the current seasons as an example.
  19. "Treehouse of Horror XXII" is the weakest of the Treehouse of Horror episodes. Though there are some good and bad jokes, it's one of the more mediocre three-segment episodes of the series due to the first segment relying solely on toilet humor (for context, Homer was paralyzed and could only communicate by farting) and the third segment relying on dated pop-culture references to movies like Avatar (the episode was released two years after the movie stopped being relevant).
  20. Some of the international dubs of the series, while still a good effort, have problems.
    • For the longest time, the series is no longer dubbed in Japanese since Season 15 aired in Japan in 2008 with only Japanese subtitles. The movie was lucky to be dubbed, as well as The Simpsons' shorts (the 2012 series, not the 1987-89 Tracy Ullman shorts), but the rest of the series - both pre-movie and post-movie seasons - are left broadcasting with the original English version with Japanese subtitles added whenever the characters are speaking. Even when they aren't, the subtitles are added in any way, which is sad because The Simpsons were broadcast in Japan since the '90s, this could be due to the lack of recognition from the Japanese market or the Japanese public. When The Simpsons Movie came to Japan in 2008, there was enormous outrage among the Japanese public due to the dub replacing the original voices with celebrities in the country, which was near-universally panned upon the people of Japan at that time (particularly Akiko Wad replacing Miyuki Ichijō as Marge), this could be (arguably) the biggest reason for why the Japanese dub was killed off that year, although the exact reason for it remains unknown to this day.
      • Luckily, there is a Japanese dub of the recent shorts, “The Good, the Bart, and the Loki” and "Plusaversary" on Disney+ (both from 2021). Lighting some hope that maybe Disney Japan would like to dub the rest of the series in a way of picking up from where everything left off in 2018. Additionally, the Polish and Korean dubs make a return in these shorts. Most notably, Japanese dubbings of Seasons 15 and 16 were added on Disney+ in mid-2022, although it is unknown when they were originally recorded.
    • For some reason, despite all of the Season 30 episodes being dubbed into Canadian French, they are not available on Disney+.
    • The Polish and Russian dubs are still very bad since they utilize the voice-over technique, where a show gets translated into another language, but the original version can still be heard in the background. (although the Russian dub is the bit better of the two since it has an actual voice cast)
      • What makes this sadder is in 1994–1995, there was a full Polish dub of The Simpsons that only aired the first 3 seasons, After this, it got canceled due to low popularity.
      • Luckily, there is a full Polish dub of the recent shorts, “The Good, the Bart, and the Loki” and "Plusaversary" on Disney+, as well as the movie.
      • There is a Dutch dub of the original series titled De Simpsons, however, it is extremely hard to find. But the movie and Disney+ shorts were all dubbed.
    • Excluding the movie, the European Portuguese version was never given a full dub (instead, it was subtitled), however, the Brazilian Portuguese version did.
    • Most of the Latin-Spanish dubbing cast went on strike after Season 15 and were replaced. Most notably, Marina Huerta reprised her role as Bart after she quit the series in 1999 due to salary disputes; she was also cast as Marge, along with Jorge Ornelas as Moe. The replacement voice actors have not managed to live up to the original cast, mainly due to the local jokes, expressions, and words being eliminated.
      • Beginning in Season 32, many of the classic voice actors returned, including Humberto Velez (Homer), who took over as the show's dubbing director.
      • However, the dubbing takes care of constantly putting meta-references to the dubbing which instead of being fun becomes annoying.
  21. Starting in Season 20b, the series received a new intro due to the switch to HD. While decent, it isn't as good as the intros from Season 1 and Seasons 2-20a because of the animation (for example, rather than Marge looking concerned before sighing relief upon seeing Maggie in the shopping bag, the new intro simply has her turn her head without much emotion) and cramming in too many gags (such as Homer being sent flying through the garage door after being hit by Marge's car rather than him running away from it).
  22. The firing of composer Alf Clausen in 2017 and his replacement with Hans Zimmer and Bleeding Fingers Music robbed the music of its beautiful character.

"Woo-Hoo!" Qualities

  1. The soundtrack was still great until composer Alf Clausen was fired in 2017. Even then, the new soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Bleeding Fingers Music is still pretty decent.
  2. There are plenty of good, decent, and even great episodes, such as:
    • "Beyond Blunderdome" (which started these seasons with a sweet impression)
    • "Brother's Little Helper"
    • "Grift of the Magi"
    • "Little Big Mom"
    • "Faith Off"
    • "Missionary: Impossible" (despite the cop-out ending)
    • "Pygmoelian"
    • "Behind the Laughter" (which finished Season 11 sweetly)
    • "Insane Poppy Clown"
    • "Skinner's Sense of Snow"
    • "HOMR"
    • "Worst Episode Ever" (an ironic name for an episode)
    • "New Kids on the Blecch"
    • "Hungry, Hungry Homer"
    • "Trilogy of Error"
    • "I'm Goin' to Praiseland"
    • "Jaws Wired Shut"
    • "I Am Furious (Yellow)"
    • "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" (which ended Season 13 on a kindly tone)
    • "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation"
    • "Large Marge"
    • "Special Edna"
    • "Barting Over"
    • "Old Yeller-Belly"
    • "Moe Baby Blues" (which ended Season 14 with a nice result)
    • "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot"
    • "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore"
    • "Smart & Smarter"
    • "The Wandering Juvie"
    • "Simple Simpson"
    • "The Way We Weren't"
    • "Sleeping With the Enemy"
    • "Pranksta Rap"
    • "Future-Drama"
    • "My Fair Laddy"
    • "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story"
    • "Girls Just Want to Have Sums"
    • "The Haw-Hawed Couple"
    • "Little Big Girl"
    • "Springfield Up"
    • "24 Minutes"
    • "You Kent Always Say What You Want" (which ended Season 18 with satisfaction)
    • "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind"
    • "Any Given Sundance"
    • "Mona Leaves-a"
    • "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes" (which favorably started Season 20)
    • "Dangerous Curves"
    • "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words"
    • "How the Test Was Won"
    • "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe"
    • "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?"
    • "Once Upon a Time in Springfield"
    • "The Squirt and the Whale"
    • "The Bob Next Door"
    • "Judge Me Tender" (which concluded Season 21 with a sweet demeanor)
    • "The Fight Before Christmas"
    • "Angry Dad: The Movie"
    • "Homer Scissorhands"
    • "The Ned-Liest Catch" (which positively marks the conclusion of Season 22)
    • "Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts"
    • "The Food Wife"
    • "The Book Job"
    • "Holidays of Future Passed" (which would've been a great series finale if it didn't continue past that)
    • "The D'oh-cial Network"
    • "Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart"
    • "How I Wet Your Mother"
    • "A Tree Grows in Springfield"
    • "The Day the Earth Stood Cool"
    • "YOLO"
    • "Steal This Episode"
    • "Married to the Blob"
    • "Brick Like Me"
    • "The Yellow Badge of Cowardge" (which positively wrapped up Season 25)
    • "Super Franchise Me"
    • "Simpsorama" (the well-received crossover with Futurama)
    • "Bull-E"
    • "Mathlete's Feat" (which promisingly ended Season 26 with )
    • "Puffless"
    • "Halloween of Horror"
    • "Treehouse of Horror XXVI"
    • "Barthood"
    • "Fland Canyon"
    • "Simprovised"
    • "The Cad and the Hat"
    • "Kamp Krustier"
    • "22 for 30"
    • "Mr. Lisa's Opus"
    • "Gone Boy"
    • "Flanders' Ladder" (which closed off season 29 with a positive result)
    • "Baby You Can't Drive My Car"
    • "Daddicus Finch"
    • "'Tis the 30th Season"
    • "Woo-Hoo Dunnit?"
    • "Thanksgiving of Horror"
    • "Bart the Bad Guy"
    • "Screenless"
    • "The Hateful Eight-Year-Olds"
    • "Warrin' Priests" (Parts 1 & 2)
    • "The Way of the Dog" (which ended these seasons with a sense of satisfaction)
    • The "Treehouse of Horror" episodes (except Treehouse of Horror XXII) and (Treehouse of Horror XVII)
  3. These seasons add a lot of new ideas that haven't been done before, such as Flanders and Homer becoming bounty hunters in "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes".
  4. There are still some funny gags, jokes, and/or lines:
    • Ralph Wiggum's "Ralphisms" in various episodes
    • Homer's line "Stupid sexy Flanders!" in "Little Big Mom"
    • Marge Krumping in "Little Orphan Millie"
    • Willie singing while drunk in "The President Wore Pearls"
    • Moleman's line "No-one's gay for Moleman" in "Future-Drama"
    • Abraham Simpson's line "You come to me for help rememberin'? That's like asking your horse to do your taxes... which I did in 1998" in "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind"
    • Marge's line "What the Hello Kitty?" in "Homer's Paternity Coot", the "Family Guy World" joke in "'Tis the 30th Season" and Bart prank-calling Moe in various episodes.
  5. Several of the characters and one-shot characters are still memorable and likable, such as:
    1. Barney Gumble (even though he appears less and less since the switch to HD)
    2. Moe Szyslak (who is still quite memorable, in seasons 11 and 31)
    3. Krusty the Clown
    4. Lenny Leonard
    5. Carl Carlson
    6. Groundskeeper Willie (who still gets memorable lines of dialogue)
    7. Superintendent Chalmers
    8. Abraham Simpson II
    9. Mr. Burns
    10. Homer Simpson (despite his flanderization)
    11. Bart Simpson (despite his flanderization)
    12. Lisa Simpson (Only in Season 31)
    13. Marge Simpson (except in Seasons 16-30)
    14. Waylon Smithers
    15. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
    16. Professor Frink
    17. Dr. Hibbert
    18. Hans Moleman
    19. Maggie Simpson
    20. Ralph Wiggum
    21. Kent Brockman
    22. Reverend Timothy Lovejoy
    23. Üter Zörker
    24. Lou
    25. Eddie
    26. Cheif Wigguim
    27. Arthur and Gabbo
    28. The Wiccans
    29. Mayor Quimby
    30. Mel
    31. Comic Book Guy
    32. Fat Tony and his henchmans
    33. Gina Vendetti
    34. Loch Ness Monster
    35. Mr Teeny
    36. Disco Stu
    37. Captain McCallister
    38. Itchy and Scarcthy
    39. Alcatraaaz
    40. Crazy Cat Lady
    41. Sideshow Raheem
    42. Chippy
    43. Gary (nerd)
    44. Doug (nerd)
    45. Benjamin
    46. Otto
    47. Dr Nick.
    48. Cletus
    49. Kearney
    50. Nelson Munyz
    51. Dolph Starbeam
    52. Sideshow Bob
    53. Ned Flanders
    54. Jimbo Jones
    55. Princpal Skinner
    56. Millhouse Van Houten
    57. Gary Chalmers
    58. Martin Prince
    59. Bumblebee Man
    • Some characters are not flanderized.
    • Barney Gumble, Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Bob, Abe Simpson, Milhouse, Nelson Muntz, Jimbo Jones, Dolph Starbeam, Kearney, Ralph Wiggum, Martin Prince, Chief Wiggum, Apu, Otto Mann, Seymour Skinner, Groundskeeper Willie, Montgomery Burns, Waylon Smithers, Bumblebee Man, Sideshow Mel, Disco Stu, Captain McCallister, Comic Book Guy, Itchy and Scratchy, Mr. Teeny, Lou and Eddie, Timothy Lovejoy, Dr. Nick Riviera, Jasper, Gary Chalmers, Cletus, Mayor Quimby, Dr. Hibbert and Fat Tony and his henchmen, Professor Frink, and others who was not flanderized.
  6. The animation has noticeably improved at various times.
    • The digital ink-and-paint animation from Seasons 14b-30 is a step up from the traditional cel animation in Seasons 1-14a as the colors look brighter and the character designs have improved.
    • The lighting and backgrounds improved in Season 20b with the transition to HD.
    • The transition to Toon Boom Harmony in Season 31 is a pretty big upgrade as the animation has gotten smoother.
  7. The new HD intro from Season 20b onwards includes references to earlier seasons and a new billboard gag, along with some recurring gags such as Lisa's instrument (examples include the violin, trumpet, tuba, and even vocalizing in one episode).
  8. The show is still good at making songs of their own.
  9. There is evidence that the show is on time for placing in real-life events:
    1. In 2015, there was a short that predicted Donald Trump's presidency in 2016-2021 with a scene replicating Donald Trump being on an escalator with Homer on the escalator at the Springfield Mall.
    2. In 2008 when "Treehouse of Horror XIX" aired two days before the 2008 United States Presidential Election, the prologue features Homer trying to vote for Barack Obama in a voting machine, only for the voting machine to have his vote for John McCain instead of the president he wanted.
    3. "Brick Like Me" is an episode that may have aired three months after the release of The LEGO Movie on February 7th, 2014 but given the fact this episode was on time with the relevance of The LEGO Movie, it felt like a tribute and a love note to the movie not only did it feel like a way to get the show thinking outside the box with ideas once again.
  10. Even if the pop-culture references and product placements tend to get overused in some cases, at least they are still fun to point out rather than getting jammed down people's throats or being so overly obvious.
  11. Many of the couch gags remain entertaining, inventive, and amusing, including the "Powers of Ten" couch gag, the "La-Z Rider" couch gag, the "Evolution of Homer" couch gag, and the crossover couch gag featuring Rick and Morty. Additionally, some couch gags have been created by guest animators like Banksy, Bill Plympton, Don Hertzfeldt, and the notorious Steve Cutts.
  12. Most of the voice cast has not changed, and the acting is mostly still good.
  13. While downgraded, the writing can still be decent, depending on the episode that you're watching.
  14. It still pays tribute to deceased cast members, crew members, and past guest stars.
  15. There are still good morals to come from the show, even to this very day.
  16. Despite the change of voices in the Latin American dubbing, it could be said that it is an improvement compared to the previous dubbing, which was full of errors and inconsistencies when translating and establishing fixed voices in the characters:
    1. The character of Milhouse's mother was called "Luann Van Houten" during the first season in English, but during Seasons 5-9 she was inexplicably called "Inocencia Donoso". In addition to that, during those specific seasons, they used both names to refer to Milhouse's mother, which shows a serious error in the translation. Since season 10 they stopped using the name "Inocencia Donoso".
    2. Another good example of the serious inconsistency that the old dubbing had would be that characters like Seymour Skinner, Ned Flanders, Professor Frink, Grandpa Simpson, and Superintendent Chalmers, among others, unjustifiably changed their voices in each season, mainly in Seasons 12-15, even though the characters had fixed voices, not to mention that it was over-the-top as various characters (most notably Ned Flanders, Professor Frink, and Grandpa Simpson) had their voices changed up to 6 six times in a single season.
    3. At the same time, different Latino fans of The Simpsons no longer see changing the voice actors as a problem.
    4. Víctor Manuel Espinoza, though often regarded as inferior to Humberto Velez, did a decent job voicing Homer Simpson.
  17. Despite the flanderizations, some of the recurring and main characters can still act like their older selves in some episodes.
  18. Al Jean was still a nice person and was aware of the series' decline (just like Matt Groening) before he stopped caring in 2018 after watching The Problem with Apu documentary.
    • Also, as of Season 33, he will finally be a semi-retired show running The Simpsons, as he will only run 4 episodes of the season, which will help improve the series a lot.[3] Therefore, The Simpsons would hopefully have a slightly better future with a new showrunner.
  19. The series was at its best during the first ten seasons and has notably improved since Season 32.
  20. Seasons 11-20, 25, and 31 are considered to be among the better ones in these seasons.
    • Season 11 is often seen as the beginning of the show's decline, yet its first half is fairly decent, with "Saddlesore Galactica" marking the point where the downturn really started. However the season was still average and not as bad as it seems.
    • Seasons 12-20 mark a modest improvement over Season 11, as they depend less on extravagant storylines. However, it was not until Seasons 21-24 that the series deteriorated further in quality.
    • Seasons 20 and 25 have more good episodes compared to the others, and they don't really have any controversial or insultingly bad episodes like the previous seasons, but it still isn't enough for them to be considered good.
    • Season 31 is arguably the best among these seasons, offering a notable enhancement over Seasons 21-24 and 26-30. Most characters begin to return to their original personas, with a few exceptions like Otto Mann, and there are fewer poor episodes. Additionally, this season is the first to employ Toon Boom Harmony, which, unlike Family Guy, has improved the animation, making it better, more relaxed, and fluid in numerous aspects.
  21. Overall, this show deserves some credit for its ongoing long run. It broke the record of being the longest-running primetime show on American television, got its very own movie in 2007 (as stated earlier), and has tried to keep up to modern-day events (even if it doesn't end up working) such as characters having smartphones and tablets while the episode does not take place in the past, and has some references work due to some of them being shown, around, or relevant the same year (especially for satirical or comedic purposes).
    • Speaking of which, the movie itself would have been a great way to end the series if Fox canceled the series after season 18, as mentioned in BQ #1.
    • The Japanese dub was reinstated for Seasons 15-17; however, this was not the case for Season 18 and beyond.
  22. Most of the dubs of The Simpsons are still amazing.

Notable Bad Episodes From These Seasons

Season 11 (1999-2000)

  1. "Eight Misbehavin'"
  2. "Saddlesore Galactica" (Which accelerated the downfall of the show and one of the worst episodes of the show)
  3. "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily"
  4. "Bart to the Future"
  5. "Kill the Alligator and Run" (Another episode considered one of the worst of all time)
  6. "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge"

Season 12 (2000-01)

  1. "Homer Vs. Dignity"
  2. "Bye Bye Nerdie"
  3. "Simpson Safari"

Season 13 (2001-02)

  1. "The Parent Rap"
  2. "The Frying Game"

Season 14 (2002-03)

  1. "Helter Shelter"

Season 15 (2003-04)

  1. "Co-Dependents' Day"
  2. "My Big Fat Geek Wedding"
  3. "Bart-Mangled Banner"

Season 16 (2004-05)

  1. "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass"
  2. "On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister" (considered the second jump-the-shark moment for the show)
  3. "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star" (Which unsatisfactorily ended season 16)

Season 17 (2005-06)

  1. "The Bonfire of the Manatees" (A mediocre way to start season 17)
  2. "We're on the Road to D'oh-where"
  3. "Million Dollar Abie"
  4. "Regarding Margie"
  5. "The Monkey Suit"
  6. "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play" (A bad way to end season 17)

Season 18 (2006-07)

  1. "Treehouse of Horror XVII"
  2. "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)"
  3. "Kill Gil" (Volumes I and II; Not the worst, but a bad Christmas special)
  4. "Rome-Old and Julie-Eh"
  5. "The Boys of Bummer" (The worst episode of the entire series)

Season 19 (2007-08)

  1. "Funeral for a Fiend"
  2. "Husbands and Knives"
  3. "E. Pluribus Wiggum"
  4. "That '90s Show" (considered the third jump the shark moment for the show)
  5. "Smoke on the Daughter"
  6. "Papa Don't Leech"

Season 20 (2008-09)

  1. "MyPods and Boomsticks"
  2. "Lisa The Drama Queen" (A bad way to end the SD era)
  3. "No Loan Again, Naturally
  4. "In the Name of the Grandfather"
  5. "Wedding for Disaster"

Season 21 (2009-10)

  1. "Stealing First Base"
  2. "The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed"

Season 22 (2010-11)

  1. "Elementary School Musical" (Which started Season 22 with disappointment)
  2. "The Fool Monty"
  3. "Donnie Fatso"
  4. "The Scorpion's Tale"
  5. "A Midsummer's Nice Dream"
  6. "Love Is a Many Strangled Thing" (One of the worst episodes of the entire series)

Season 23 (2011-12)

  1. "Treehouse of Horror XXII"
  2. "Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson"
  3. "Moe Goes from Rags to Riches"
  4. "Lisa Goes Gaga" (Not only also counts as one of the worst episodes of the entire series, but ended season 23 with frustration)

Season 24 (2012-13)

  1. "Moonshine River" (Which is a negative start to Season 24)
  2. "Homer Goes to Prep School"
  3. "Love is a Many-Splintered Thing"
  4. "Black-Eyed, Please"
  5. "What Animated Women Want"
  6. "Whiskey Business"
  7. "The Fabulous Faker Boy

Season 25 (2013-14)

  1. "Yellow Subterfuge"
  2. "The Winter of His Content"
  3. "What to Expect When Bart's Expecting"
  4. "Pay Pal"

Season 26 (2014-15)

  1. "Clown in the Dumps" (Which is not a good way to kick off the 26th season)
  2. "Opposites A-Frack"
  3. "Blazed and Confused"
  4. "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner"
  5. "The Musk Who Fell to Earth"
  6. "The Princess Guide"
  7. "Let's Go Fly a Coot"

Season 27 (2015-16)

  1. "Every Man's Dream" (Which is a downturn for Season 27)
  2. "Paths of Glory"
  3. "Teenage Mutant Milk-caused Hurdles"
  4. "Much Apu About Something"
  5. "Lisa The Veterinarian"

Season 28 (2016-17)

  1. "Friends and Family"
  2. "Havana Wild Weekend"
  3. "Dad Behavior"
  4. "The Last Traction Hero"
  5. "The Nightmare After Krustmas"
  6. "The Caper Chase"
  7. "Moho House"

Season 29 (2017-18)

  1. "The Serfsons" (Which initiated Season 29 with setbacks)
  2. "Whistler's Father"
  3. "Singin' in the Lane"
  4. "3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage"
  5. "Fears of a Clown"
  6. "No Good Read Goes Unpunished"

Season 30 (2018-19)

  1. "Bart's Not Dead" (Which gave off Season 30 with initial negative impressions)
  2. "Heartbreak Hotel"
  3. "My Way or the Highway to Heaven"
  4. "From Russia Without Love"
  5. "Werking Mom"
  6. "Mad About the Toy"
  7. "E My Sports"
  8. "Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy" (Another episode considered to be one of the worst episodes of the entire series)
  9. "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh"
  10. "D'oh Canada"
  11. "Crystal Blue-Haired Persuasion" (Which is a sour way to wrap up ended Season 30)

Season 31 (2019-20)

  1. "The Winter of Our Monetized Content" (Which poorly started season 31)
  2. "Go Big or Go Homer"
  3. "Marge the Lumberjill"
  4. "Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?"
  5. "Bobby, It's Cold Outside"
  6. "Hail to the Teeth"
  7. "The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson"
  8. "Frinkcoin"

Reception

While the first eight seasons were well received with Seasons 9, 10, and 32 onwards having mixed-to-positive reception, Seasons 11-31 received a divisive reception from critics and fans alike. Whilst it's speculated by fans that the show went downhill since Season 9 because of the infamous episode "The Principal and the Pauper", most fans agree that Seasons 9 and 10 are still a part of the "Golden Age" and that series went downhill during Season 11 before improving itself in Season 32. Nevertheless, these seasons have a handful of fan-favorite episodes, like "Behind the Laughter", "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind", "Holidays of Future Passed", "Brick Like Me", "Simpsorama", "Halloween of Horror", "Barthood", etc.

Videos

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Trivia

  • Voice actor Harry Shearer stated in interviews that he was well aware of the show's decline and admitted that he only stayed because of the paycheck.
  • Russi Taylor, voice actress of Martin, Terri, and Sherri, died from colorectal cancer on July 26, 2019. Grey DeLisle Griffin stated that she will be the new voice actress of Martin, Terri, and Sherri starting in Season 31.
  • Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Indian character in the show, was criticized by some for being a racist caricature of Indians and South Asians in general and was criticized for the bias along racial/ethnic lines, "Brownvoice", similar to "Blackface" by several Indian-American communities, including the comedian Hari Kondabolu, whose comedy covers subjects such as race, inequity, and Indian stereotypes. He wrote and starred in the 2017 documentary film The Problem with Apu, explaining how Apu is a racist stereotype of Indian people. The Documentary received positive reviews from critics but was met with negative reviews from the audiences and fans. The Simpsons episode "No Good Read Goes Unpunished", which first aired on April 8, 2018, was widely received as a response to Kondabolu's film.
  • Seasons 1-14a use traditional cel animation, Seasons 14b-20a use digital ink-and-paint, Seasons 20b-30 use flash, and Seasons 31 onwards use Toon Boom Harmony.
  • Despite being aware of the decline, Matt Groening and Al Jean have defended the show themselves.
  • "Holidays of Future Passed" from Season 23 was originally intended to be the series finale as the show was at risk of getting canceled at the time due to budget reasons.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.indiewire.com/2019/03/simpsons-al-jean-michael-jackson-cameo-groom-boys-1202050917/
  2. ↑ https://twitter.com/AlJean/status/1456822148702433280
  3. ↑ https://www.twitter.com/aljean/status/1374084663711436801

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