The golden age of The Simpsons flickers and dies with season nine.
It begins with a false dawn with The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson, probably my favourite travel episode of the series. The show looked like it might be in good hands at first when Mike Scully formally took the reins with Treehouse of Horror VIII (which is fairly solid) and The Cartridge Family (an exemplary episode brimming with comedic gold and easily one of the best he ran). Sadly, Bart Star crushes this short-lived optimism. The traits we now associate with Scully – Jerkass Homer, mean-spiritedness, and flanderization – are all here and ramped up to new heights.
Subsequent episodes fare slightly better, but are nonetheless held back by mounting issues. The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons is decent enough, but relies heavily on stock sitcom tropes with little of the mockery that previously defined the show. Lisa the Skeptic reduces Lisa to a militant and self-righteous mouthpiece without any of her empathy or open-mindedness. Realty Bites features more obnoxious Homer alongside cartoonish antics and wacky third act shenanigans.
Miracle on Evergreen Terrace offers some fleeting reassurance, brilliantly subverting Christmas story tropes in a way that echoes the themes and sentiments expressed in Roasting on an Open Fire. The Simpsons could have walked gracefully into the sunset with its head held high after this episode, but instead we get All Singing, All Dancing – a disposable clip show in which the once reliably funny and thematic wraparound material fails to save the episode from mediocrity. The Scully-isms return in force with Bart Carny, the first of many duds from John Swartzwelder that will tarnish the veteran writer’s previously impeccable record.
The second half of the season is a veritable see-saw of quality. The Last Temptation of Krust and The Joy of Sect are the biggest standouts. The former is a definitive summation of the talentless comedian with an abundance of celebrity guests that feel natural, echoing the likes of Krusty Gets Kancelled (the Canyonero end credits sequence is brilliant). The latter, run by Mirkin, delivers a scathing critique of cults with excellent comedic set-pieces that would slot seamlessly into seasons 5 or 6. Girly Edition, King of the Hill, Lost Our Lisa, and Natural Born Kissers are pretty good for the most part, but they definitely feel different from classic Simpsons. The tone of the stories has shifted, the animation looks less expressive, the storyboarding is less meticulous, and the jokes have less punch. These still rank among the best episodes that Scully ran, but it’s clear that this isn’t quite the same show anymore.
This Little Wiggy is a decent yet problematic outing. While it does a pretty good job of pairing Bart with Ralph and makes good use of the bullies, things start to unravel during the final act. Quimby getting electrocuted represents more life-or-death drama played straight and the solution that Lisa conceives exemplifies the cartoony wackiness endemic to the Scully era. The ending with the leprechaun is also one of the first notable examples of ‘flanderization’ in the series, representing the death of the Ralph that graced our screens in episodes like I Love Lisa. This Little Wiggy exaggerates his most recognisable comedic trait – dimwittedness – and makes the shockingly mean-spirited suggestion that he’s psychotic and has violent impulses, which was completely unnecessary, deeply offensive, and irrevocably harmful.
Simpson Tide has some great moments, but the episode feels dated with its heavy contemporary references and suffers from some erratic plotting. Dumbbell Indemnity entrenches the role of Moe as a sympathetic lovelorn outcast grappling with loneliness and low self-esteem that began with The Love-Matic Grampa. This is fine, but the episode itself never rises above middling due to a stock sitcom story, an unmemorable guest character, and an excess of 'sidekick Homer' shenanigans. Das Bus and The Trouble with Trillions are equally unremarkable and forgettable. The former draws from a collection of easy references from Lord of the Flies and feels more like a Saturday morning cartoon while the latter has the same heavy-handed satire and wacky third act in many other episodes during the Scully era.
These issues are indicative of the deteriorating conditions affecting production of the show. Reportedly, Scully wanted to make life easier on the writers and staff by cutting down on long hours. However, easing those standards made it easier for them to compromise. Each scene was once fine-tuned to perfection, but now they're content with saying “that's good enough”. Everything comes to a head with Trash of the Titans – by far the worst episode of the first nine seasons and the point of no return for The Simpsons as a series. The show had sustained some damage, yes, but nothing quite severe enough that it would preclude a course-correction. There was still an opportunity at this stage to dismiss the missteps as a temporary blip of an ageing show with an otherwise enviable record of excellence. Yet Trash of the Titans doubles down on the worst transgressions that flourished under Scully. This is an episode in which a psychopathic Homer deliberately attempts to murder someone and callously destroys the entire town with his antics, necessitating its relocation in one of the most ludicrous 'reset button' endings of the entire series.
Homer was always obnoxious, insensitive and slow-witted. Yet this was always tempered by his fundamental decency, his chronic laziness, his desire to be left alone and his general disinterest in, well, just about everything. Trash of the Titans depicts the antithesis of that beloved character – he's manic, narcissistic, Machiavellian, and villainous on a scale hitherto unseen. It’s tantamount to character assassination and we’ll be seeing much more of it henceforth.
Oakley and Weinstein must have had some inkling of this future as they passed the torch to Scully. Why else would they spend the very last episode produced under their stewardship allegorically reflecting on the legacy of the show and anticipating its imminent downfall? Lisa worries that her best years are behind her and that her future looks bleak. How could this story be viewed as anything other than The Simpsons reflecting on its own mortality?
“I've hit my mental and creative peak at the tender age of eight. What will my life be like after I descend into mediocrity?”
Over 500 post-classic episodes have aired since Lisa the Simpson, retroactively validating its prophetic warnings. Oakley and Weinstein could never have known then that The Simpsons would still be on the air churning out new episodes today, but they must have had some concern that the show would “go through a process of dumbening…for reasons beyond [their] control” and that it would “soon become vapid, sluggish and slow witted”. Yet they refused to give up and “settle into a mindless, happy stupor” even as they prepared to say goodbye to and depart from the show. The story ends with quintessential Simpsons optimism, declaring that the show can do anything so long as it remembers to keep things simple, stay true to its characters, and never forget that its brain is just as important as its heart.
Such a shame this impassioned affirmation ultimately fell on deaf ears.
Lisa the Simpson is a lovely meditation on the fear of getting older and the inevitability of decline. It celebrates what makes someone or something special and unique, reminding us that all things are finite and to value them in the brief moment of time they exist. Its message, which is both specific to The Simpsons as a television show and universal to us all as human beings, can only be fully understood and appreciated with the passage of time. It's the last breath of the classic era firing on all cylinders.
How might The Simpsons look today if the show had ended here? We can never know, but it was good while it lasted and nothing can ever change that. Right?
“Sure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live a long and pointless life”.
Quite so, Grampa. Quite so.
It begins with a false dawn with The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson, probably my favourite travel episode of the series. The show looked like it might be in good hands at first when Mike Scully formally took the reins with Treehouse of Horror VIII (which is fairly solid) and The Cartridge Family (an exemplary episode brimming with comedic gold and easily one of the best he ran). Sadly, Bart Star crushes this short-lived optimism. The traits we now associate with Scully – Jerkass Homer, mean-spiritedness, and flanderization – are all here and ramped up to new heights.
Subsequent episodes fare slightly better, but are nonetheless held back by mounting issues. The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons is decent enough, but relies heavily on stock sitcom tropes with little of the mockery that previously defined the show. Lisa the Skeptic reduces Lisa to a militant and self-righteous mouthpiece without any of her empathy or open-mindedness. Realty Bites features more obnoxious Homer alongside cartoonish antics and wacky third act shenanigans.
Miracle on Evergreen Terrace offers some fleeting reassurance, brilliantly subverting Christmas story tropes in a way that echoes the themes and sentiments expressed in Roasting on an Open Fire. The Simpsons could have walked gracefully into the sunset with its head held high after this episode, but instead we get All Singing, All Dancing – a disposable clip show in which the once reliably funny and thematic wraparound material fails to save the episode from mediocrity. The Scully-isms return in force with Bart Carny, the first of many duds from John Swartzwelder that will tarnish the veteran writer’s previously impeccable record.
The second half of the season is a veritable see-saw of quality. The Last Temptation of Krust and The Joy of Sect are the biggest standouts. The former is a definitive summation of the talentless comedian with an abundance of celebrity guests that feel natural, echoing the likes of Krusty Gets Kancelled (the Canyonero end credits sequence is brilliant). The latter, run by Mirkin, delivers a scathing critique of cults with excellent comedic set-pieces that would slot seamlessly into seasons 5 or 6. Girly Edition, King of the Hill, Lost Our Lisa, and Natural Born Kissers are pretty good for the most part, but they definitely feel different from classic Simpsons. The tone of the stories has shifted, the animation looks less expressive, the storyboarding is less meticulous, and the jokes have less punch. These still rank among the best episodes that Scully ran, but it’s clear that this isn’t quite the same show anymore.
This Little Wiggy is a decent yet problematic outing. While it does a pretty good job of pairing Bart with Ralph and makes good use of the bullies, things start to unravel during the final act. Quimby getting electrocuted represents more life-or-death drama played straight and the solution that Lisa conceives exemplifies the cartoony wackiness endemic to the Scully era. The ending with the leprechaun is also one of the first notable examples of ‘flanderization’ in the series, representing the death of the Ralph that graced our screens in episodes like I Love Lisa. This Little Wiggy exaggerates his most recognisable comedic trait – dimwittedness – and makes the shockingly mean-spirited suggestion that he’s psychotic and has violent impulses, which was completely unnecessary, deeply offensive, and irrevocably harmful.
Simpson Tide has some great moments, but the episode feels dated with its heavy contemporary references and suffers from some erratic plotting. Dumbbell Indemnity entrenches the role of Moe as a sympathetic lovelorn outcast grappling with loneliness and low self-esteem that began with The Love-Matic Grampa. This is fine, but the episode itself never rises above middling due to a stock sitcom story, an unmemorable guest character, and an excess of 'sidekick Homer' shenanigans. Das Bus and The Trouble with Trillions are equally unremarkable and forgettable. The former draws from a collection of easy references from Lord of the Flies and feels more like a Saturday morning cartoon while the latter has the same heavy-handed satire and wacky third act in many other episodes during the Scully era.
These issues are indicative of the deteriorating conditions affecting production of the show. Reportedly, Scully wanted to make life easier on the writers and staff by cutting down on long hours. However, easing those standards made it easier for them to compromise. Each scene was once fine-tuned to perfection, but now they're content with saying “that's good enough”. Everything comes to a head with Trash of the Titans – by far the worst episode of the first nine seasons and the point of no return for The Simpsons as a series. The show had sustained some damage, yes, but nothing quite severe enough that it would preclude a course-correction. There was still an opportunity at this stage to dismiss the missteps as a temporary blip of an ageing show with an otherwise enviable record of excellence. Yet Trash of the Titans doubles down on the worst transgressions that flourished under Scully. This is an episode in which a psychopathic Homer deliberately attempts to murder someone and callously destroys the entire town with his antics, necessitating its relocation in one of the most ludicrous 'reset button' endings of the entire series.
Homer was always obnoxious, insensitive and slow-witted. Yet this was always tempered by his fundamental decency, his chronic laziness, his desire to be left alone and his general disinterest in, well, just about everything. Trash of the Titans depicts the antithesis of that beloved character – he's manic, narcissistic, Machiavellian, and villainous on a scale hitherto unseen. It’s tantamount to character assassination and we’ll be seeing much more of it henceforth.
Oakley and Weinstein must have had some inkling of this future as they passed the torch to Scully. Why else would they spend the very last episode produced under their stewardship allegorically reflecting on the legacy of the show and anticipating its imminent downfall? Lisa worries that her best years are behind her and that her future looks bleak. How could this story be viewed as anything other than The Simpsons reflecting on its own mortality?
“I've hit my mental and creative peak at the tender age of eight. What will my life be like after I descend into mediocrity?”
Over 500 post-classic episodes have aired since Lisa the Simpson, retroactively validating its prophetic warnings. Oakley and Weinstein could never have known then that The Simpsons would still be on the air churning out new episodes today, but they must have had some concern that the show would “go through a process of dumbening…for reasons beyond [their] control” and that it would “soon become vapid, sluggish and slow witted”. Yet they refused to give up and “settle into a mindless, happy stupor” even as they prepared to say goodbye to and depart from the show. The story ends with quintessential Simpsons optimism, declaring that the show can do anything so long as it remembers to keep things simple, stay true to its characters, and never forget that its brain is just as important as its heart.
Such a shame this impassioned affirmation ultimately fell on deaf ears.
Lisa the Simpson is a lovely meditation on the fear of getting older and the inevitability of decline. It celebrates what makes someone or something special and unique, reminding us that all things are finite and to value them in the brief moment of time they exist. Its message, which is both specific to The Simpsons as a television show and universal to us all as human beings, can only be fully understood and appreciated with the passage of time. It's the last breath of the classic era firing on all cylinders.
How might The Simpsons look today if the show had ended here? We can never know, but it was good while it lasted and nothing can ever change that. Right?
“Sure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t live a long and pointless life”.
Quite so, Grampa. Quite so.
- The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson - 5/5
- The Principal and the Pauper - 3/5
- Lisa's Sax - 3/5
- Treehouse of Horror VIII - 3.5/5
- The HΩmega Man - 3.5/5
- Fly Vs. Fly - 4.5/5
- Easy Bake Coven - 3/5
- The Cartridge Family - 5/5
- Bart Star - 2/5
- The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons - 4/5
- Lisa the Skeptic - 4/5
- Realty Bites - 3/5
- Miracle on Evergreen Terrace - 5/5
- All Singing, All Dancing - 2/5
- Bart Carny - 3/5
- The Joy of Sect - 5/5
- Das Bus - 3/5
- The Last Temptation of Krust - 5/5
- Dumbbell Indemnity - 3/5
- Lisa the Simpson - 5/5
- This Little Wiggy - 4/5
- Simpson Tide - 4/5
- The Trouble with Trillions - 3/5
- Girly Edition - 5/5
- Trash of the Titans - 1/5
- King of the Hill - 5/5
- Lost Our Lisa - 4/5
- Natural Born Kissers - 5/5
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