Post by Quorthon on Nov 28, 2007 13:28:12 GMT -5
Sunday night, I watched what has to be the worst Simpsons episode I've seen yet. Even worse than that horrible one with N*SUCK.
It was the one that aired at 7:30 (central time), after the new one with Sideshow Bob faking his death in order to exact revenge on Bart. That one wasn't too bad.
I'd love to tell you what the 7:30 one was about, but damned if it had any plot at all. They took a brilliant, cleverly written, often heart-warming show and turned it into one of the most gratuitous liberal propaganda tools on television. Oh, I remember, Kent Brockman got fired coupled with about 20 solid minutes of plotless animation. I didn't mind back in the day when they made fun of all politicians and political views, left or right, for their respective quirks. I didn't even mind that they made fun of Republicans more than Democrats. At least they weren't sending messages pro-one, anti-the-other all hardcore like they are now. But lately, it seems like the show is forcing hardcore propaganda down our throats. Rather than taking sides, they're out-right telling us which opinions are right and which are wrong.
Political messages and topical stories are best left to South Park. At least they don't take sides. They show how both sides are missing certain points and point out how, no matter how right one side is, they're either also wrong on several counts, or "right" for the "wrong reason."
It doesn't matter what side of the spectrum you may live on, the Simpsons has been cheapened by having some of these topics shoved down our throats. The show was way better "back in the day" when the episodes were cleverly written, non-topical, stories that focused on characters, theme, and popular culture parody. It's like the soul is just dripping away from the series.
On top of that, even without the harsh political posturing, the show's writing in general is just getting ridiculous. I've noted that whenever Ian Maxtone-Grahm's name appears in the writing credits, the show will likely be a disappointment. I believe he's the one writing Homer as telling someone to do something, then shaking his fist and repeating his order in a lower, more serious tone. They've even ripped off Family Guy on occasion. You know something's amiss when the writers for The Simpsons are stealing ideas from Family Guy!!
Now, I want to be clear, I wasn't just pissed off that the horrible Sunday night episode I watched was just some lame anti-conservative tool. I was pissed off that they were so focused on making the episode an anti-conservative tool that they clearly put no effort into making good television. I looked at the clock an noticed that there was only about 6 minutes left at one point and I began to wonder when the story was going to happen. Two minutes later, it fell apart even worse than the rest of the episode.
And it's not just this, either. This whole season so far has been pretty weak. The last few Treehouse of Horror episodes have been bland or moronic. It's like the only time we get some real thought put into the episodes these days is when there's some social commentary to be made. It's like the writers have seen Family Guy and South Park grow to compete with them better than anyone could have expected and they don't know if they should write horrid ADD-inspired klaptrap like the usual Family Guy affair, or some stark raving socio-political commentary like South Park. The worst part is, the current Simpsons writers fail at doing either one of those well.
Family Guy makes a half-assed show work. We've never had anything resembling an "emotional" connection to the characters, so watching them interact in lurid and ridiculous ways in nonsensical plots is fine for that series. But The Simpsons was once able to instill an emotional connection between characters and viewers, and the stories had real heart to them. Seeing it watered down into something like Family Guy is killing the show.
South Park evolved perfectly into a tool of blatant socio-political-pop culture commentary. But unlike the Simpsons, they never clearly choose sides, but rather, they explain the issues, the pros and cons, in a way that, somehow, makes more sense than any newscaster trying to relay the message. They make fun of everything because everything has faults, and at then end of the day, they don't have any clear allegiance with any one side, group, or party.
Personally, I think the Simpsons is slipping big time. And I think it has been on a steady decline for a few years. The writing is terribly shallow these days, or overly one-sided on socio-political issues. That's fine and all, but they shouldn't be shoving this trite down viewers throats, especially when that's not what made the show great in the first place. Emphasis on characters and story seems to be a thing of the past. And when the writers go out of their way to constantly make references to the Iraq war, or whatever current issue is in the news, it eliminates the timelessness of the episode, and cuts out the heart and soul, and it cheapens the show.
I'm sure not everyone agrees with me. Some, I'm sure, even believe that the Simpsons are at the top of their game these days. But there was an innocence that the series had when it started all those years ago, and it was focused on creative writing, characters and story, and sneaky pop-culture references and parody. I don't see most of this stuff at all any more. They took one of the best TV shows ever and have all but finally killed it.
It was the one that aired at 7:30 (central time), after the new one with Sideshow Bob faking his death in order to exact revenge on Bart. That one wasn't too bad.
I'd love to tell you what the 7:30 one was about, but damned if it had any plot at all. They took a brilliant, cleverly written, often heart-warming show and turned it into one of the most gratuitous liberal propaganda tools on television. Oh, I remember, Kent Brockman got fired coupled with about 20 solid minutes of plotless animation. I didn't mind back in the day when they made fun of all politicians and political views, left or right, for their respective quirks. I didn't even mind that they made fun of Republicans more than Democrats. At least they weren't sending messages pro-one, anti-the-other all hardcore like they are now. But lately, it seems like the show is forcing hardcore propaganda down our throats. Rather than taking sides, they're out-right telling us which opinions are right and which are wrong.
Political messages and topical stories are best left to South Park. At least they don't take sides. They show how both sides are missing certain points and point out how, no matter how right one side is, they're either also wrong on several counts, or "right" for the "wrong reason."
It doesn't matter what side of the spectrum you may live on, the Simpsons has been cheapened by having some of these topics shoved down our throats. The show was way better "back in the day" when the episodes were cleverly written, non-topical, stories that focused on characters, theme, and popular culture parody. It's like the soul is just dripping away from the series.
On top of that, even without the harsh political posturing, the show's writing in general is just getting ridiculous. I've noted that whenever Ian Maxtone-Grahm's name appears in the writing credits, the show will likely be a disappointment. I believe he's the one writing Homer as telling someone to do something, then shaking his fist and repeating his order in a lower, more serious tone. They've even ripped off Family Guy on occasion. You know something's amiss when the writers for The Simpsons are stealing ideas from Family Guy!!
Now, I want to be clear, I wasn't just pissed off that the horrible Sunday night episode I watched was just some lame anti-conservative tool. I was pissed off that they were so focused on making the episode an anti-conservative tool that they clearly put no effort into making good television. I looked at the clock an noticed that there was only about 6 minutes left at one point and I began to wonder when the story was going to happen. Two minutes later, it fell apart even worse than the rest of the episode.
And it's not just this, either. This whole season so far has been pretty weak. The last few Treehouse of Horror episodes have been bland or moronic. It's like the only time we get some real thought put into the episodes these days is when there's some social commentary to be made. It's like the writers have seen Family Guy and South Park grow to compete with them better than anyone could have expected and they don't know if they should write horrid ADD-inspired klaptrap like the usual Family Guy affair, or some stark raving socio-political commentary like South Park. The worst part is, the current Simpsons writers fail at doing either one of those well.
Family Guy makes a half-assed show work. We've never had anything resembling an "emotional" connection to the characters, so watching them interact in lurid and ridiculous ways in nonsensical plots is fine for that series. But The Simpsons was once able to instill an emotional connection between characters and viewers, and the stories had real heart to them. Seeing it watered down into something like Family Guy is killing the show.
South Park evolved perfectly into a tool of blatant socio-political-pop culture commentary. But unlike the Simpsons, they never clearly choose sides, but rather, they explain the issues, the pros and cons, in a way that, somehow, makes more sense than any newscaster trying to relay the message. They make fun of everything because everything has faults, and at then end of the day, they don't have any clear allegiance with any one side, group, or party.
Personally, I think the Simpsons is slipping big time. And I think it has been on a steady decline for a few years. The writing is terribly shallow these days, or overly one-sided on socio-political issues. That's fine and all, but they shouldn't be shoving this trite down viewers throats, especially when that's not what made the show great in the first place. Emphasis on characters and story seems to be a thing of the past. And when the writers go out of their way to constantly make references to the Iraq war, or whatever current issue is in the news, it eliminates the timelessness of the episode, and cuts out the heart and soul, and it cheapens the show.
I'm sure not everyone agrees with me. Some, I'm sure, even believe that the Simpsons are at the top of their game these days. But there was an innocence that the series had when it started all those years ago, and it was focused on creative writing, characters and story, and sneaky pop-culture references and parody. I don't see most of this stuff at all any more. They took one of the best TV shows ever and have all but finally killed it.
