Possitive aspects of the new Simpsons episodes

[Red Eagle]

Most Simpsons fans would agree that the show peaked at about season 3 to 7, and then went in to a severe decline (of course, many would also argue that the show in its present state is actually a bit better than it was during the dreaded "Scully era", but thats beside the point). And personally, i agree. Very much agree.

Nevertheless, i must admit that there are in fact a few aspects about the post-"golden age" episodes that wasn't there during the golden age, that i actually like. And that's what this topic is about.

First of all, although perhapes not to many people think about it, it wasn't untill around season 8 that it became common place to have episodes where a non-Simpson family members is the main character. Sure, the show always had episodes where one of a few select prominent springfieldians (Burns, Flanders, Krusty, Apu and Sideshow Bob comes to mind) play a very major role, but that nevertheless usually centered just as much on a member of the Simpson family (although there are exceptions of course). But as i said, it was first around season 8 that episodes regularly started featuring side characters as the main character, and this really gave the show a touch of continuity that it didn't previously have. And why is that? Well, it's because of one simple reason; unlike the Simpsons family members, the various other main Springfieldians are actually aloud to experience major, permanent changes. And so from this point on, the series developed several ongoing side-sagas (yeah yeah, "saga" might seem like a strange word to use when talking about a show like The Simpsons, but in lack of better words...), like Skinner and Krabapels romance, the Vanhounten-family's troubles, Apu's marriage, Flanders life after the death of his wife, ect. The only similar ongoing storyline that existed during the "golden age" was the "Bart Vs Sideshow Bob" story.


*sigh* Man, i have so much more i wanted to write in this post, but i just dont feel i have the focus right now (writing in a language that's not your native tounge can be really hard when youre tired...). I guess i'll continue where i left of later...


But nevertheless, lets start a discussion right now, shall we? Do you have anything to say regarding any positive aspects of the "bad" Simpsons episodes? And by the way, which one of the series continuing storylines do you like best? For me, it's Bart VS Sideshow Bob all the way! (and i have a feeling that's not a very unusuall opinion)

 

[destinbury]

First before i give my opinion on positive aspects of the newer seasons let me tell you that imo the best seasons were one and four, and thatmy favorite seasons are the shorts-season eight. Having said that i enjoy many episodes without that range and hate quite a few within. I do notice the 'decline' during the Scully era but as my favorite era is the first few seasons and the decline appears more a matter of fans opinions rather than actual quality of entertainment etc etc

IMO the more positive aspects you mentioned i can understand. IMO one of the more positive aspects is the new theme sequence and cleaner animation. Now yes i prefer cel animation and 2d to 3d etc but it works and it brings the show up to date, and seeing as it's essentially a satirical based comedy, that's what works. (South Park of course takes this up to dateness to the extreme)

Aside from updating the show and looking cleaner i don't see many aspects i would consider positive (although i'm probably ignoring many my memory isn't allowing me to be reminded of)... And i prefer the earlier seasons. However i think the show has remained fresh and had i started watching the show with episodes from later seasons i wouldn't have complained. (i first started watching in 2002 and most episodes were reruns of seasons 2-9)

 

[Trip D]

Personally, i actually think the show looked the best at about season 5-8. The occasional "rubberyness" of the characters from the earlier seasons was gone, but the characters hadn't yet started to look as stiff and flat as they would in later seasons. And i think it was around season 11 that they started using that really "shrieky" color pallet that they are still using, which im not that fond of. Just compare the characters shade of yellow in a season 7 episode with the one in an episode from the latest season, and you'll see how much softer and easier one the eye the color was back in the day.

 

[raq09]

I do agree that the recent episodes are much better than the ones of the Skully era by a longshot. In any case, when I compared some of the old episodes to the new ones, the older ones are infact alot better than the recent ones. I believe that the recent Simpsons episodes are not as good as the used to be, nor is it possible that they may ever, but they're still watchable and I still get some laughs.

Another subject that may have contributed to the show's "decline" is the animation. Of course, the first 3 seasons were animated by Klasky Csupo (yeah, the guys who animated Rugrats), and they've always had a crude, fluid style.) When the show changed to Film Roman, it was pretty obvious the animation was different, but it was still smooth in most cases. Nowadays, people consider the animation as stiff and lifeless, but I think it's just fine. I mean think about it, back when the show debuted, some people may have believed the animation was very amateurish and unprofessional-like, so that may be a factor.
In any case, The Simpsons Movie had the best animation I had ever seen. Since they (obviously) had more time to work on a feature film, it was nice to see the characters animated smoothly along with the 3D cel-shaded objects, which just went to show that the animation doesn't totally suck.

In short: the writing gradually improved after the movie, leading to some very hilarious season 20 episodes and the animation looks (a little) better.

 

[phatlip]

They don't cheap out on the animation as much anymore. I mean, I don't like the stiffness of it these days, but at least they actually animate everything now and don't seem to take as many shortcuts like re-using old animation or doing weird cycles. From a technical standpoint, it's basically flawless, if a bit more lifeless.

That's probably all I can say.

 

[firekid96]

To be fair, they pretty much stopped that recycling of old footage after about season 6. In fact, I think the last episode to do that was the second clip show (and yes, I know in that one, the recycled footage was intentional).

 

[Tretre]

Hmm well yes i've certainly noticed the change in animation style over the years. IMO the best was the first seasons by Klasky Csupo. I just like the style of the animation and i think it later got too frozen and stiff... Which removes a lot of it's character. I actually like that rubbery-ness.

Hmm personally i think that since the show has got a new opening sequence it fits together, and certainly the animation is of good quality. But then again a vase can be of good quality and you probably wouldn't sit watching a vase for thirty minutes. I think the earlier seasons had a style which was good... And... well i'm not very creative with expressing opinions but i guess it was like a steam train to a modern one... It has more character even if it isn't as eco-friendly and what not.

Back to general positive aspects and i have to say sound and music definitely isn't going to be one i'll list, as i think that peaked during the earlier seasons when it was orchestraic. Hmm... well i guess the quality of animation has improved, like in far away objects being drawn better. I was watching Lemon of Troy last night and there was a scene where the buildings had no windows drawn even though they could've, which these days wouldn't have been done i doubt. These days theres a lot more detail in backgrounds, which actually in someway detracts from it as it makes the foreground less emphasized... but certainly makes Springfield appear... more complex and er... realistic.

I can't really think of anything i actually prefer in the new seasons to the early ones, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Laina:}]

Another thing that i think many people might not think about is that a few characters that had been on the show virtually since the beginning didnt actually develop a lot personality until around Scully-era. The best example of this is Lenny and Carl. Although they were almost always togehter and Lenny often came of as slightly less intelligent than his very normal friend Carl even during the "golden age", it wasn't untill season 8 that the current deciption of the duo came about; that the two of them are absolutely unseperable, and that Lenny is basically an imbecil with an extreme obsession towards Carl, while Carl on the other hand is a lot more intelligent and a lot less obsessed with his freind, sometimes completely indifferent towards him.

And it is without a doubt this current incarnation of the characters which makes them so well liked. If you would have asked a Simpsons fan in 1996 who their favorite character was, i think the chance that he would have said Lenny and/or Carl would have been very very small, while today, the two are quite a lot of fans favorite characters.

So yeah, Lenny and Carl the way we know and love them today are more or less post-golden age characters. And since i like them a whole lot, i would argue that they can also count as a positive aspect of the newer episodes.