I have never watched an episode of The Simpsons

Did you like the Family Guy + Simpsons crossover episode?

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lombardiparty

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Hello, NHC!

Don't throw tomatoes at me or anything but yes, I have never watched an episode of The Simpsons. You might be asking, what the heck am I doing on this forum site?

Well... I am an avid Family Guy watcher, it's my favorite show ever. Season 21 is airing right now, and I have been looking up reviews for each episode and this site popped up. Even though this is a dedicated Simpsons site, there is a lot of avid Family Guy discussion in the 'Animated Discussion' section of the forums, which was a surprise to me! FG doesn't really have an equivalent site that NHC is for the Simpsons, besides the subreddit, so I found myself hanging out here quite a bit.

It's hard to be on a website dedicated to The Simpson's without actually seeing Simpsons content, so it has piqued my interest. The only bits of the Simpsons I have ever watched before are the Family Guy and Simpsons crossover episode (which I loved, not sure how it's received here) and the Simpson's movie when I was like 12.

So... that brings me to the point of this post! What episodes would you recommend for a first-time watcher?

Thanks in advance!
 
The crossover is awesome. I always like to start in order, so the first episode tends to be my default recommendation. But it depends on your sense of humor as well.
Season 1 and 2 and even the third season to an extent have a more down-to-earth tone, where the comedy usually springs out of the character interactions and their everyday problems. Then it gradually starts wackier, reaching the peak of zaniness in season 5.
Season 6-8 are more grounded by comparison, though with a difference. The stories can become a bit more out there and the quieter episodes aren't quite as calm as season 1 & 2. Season 8 also starts experimenting quite a bit and playing around with the format, which has to do with the showrunners suspecting the show was close to cancellation (We now know how deeply wrong they were).
Season 9-13 return once again to the wackier side, probably the closest resemblance to Family Guy's style of humor.

Just a quick overview with some of the show's history to help you make up your mind. Enjoy your Simpsons journey!
 
Yes, we throw pretzels instead.

simpsons-pretzels.gif
 
The crossover is awesome. I always like to start in order, so the first episode tends to be my default recommendation. But it depends on your sense of humor as well.
Season 1 and 2 and even the third season to an extent have a more down-to-earth tone, where the comedy usually springs out of the character interactions and their everyday problems. Then it gradually starts wackier, reaching the peak of zaniness in season 5.
Season 6-8 are more grounded by comparison, though with a difference. The stories can become a bit more out there and the quieter episodes aren't quite as calm as season 1 & 2. Season 8 also starts experimenting quite a bit and playing around with the format, which has to do with the showrunners suspecting the show was close to cancellation (We now know how deeply wrong they were).
Season 9-13 return once again to the wackier side, probably the closest resemblance to Family Guy's style of humor.

Just a quick overview with some of the show's history to help you make up your mind. Enjoy your Simpsons journey!
Appreciate the amazing insight! I will let the thread fill with recommendations (hopefully) and let you know what I decide to do hehe. I agree with you that the pilot might be a good starting place, but also seasons 9-13 sound tempting for the reason you describe! :P
 
We won't throw tomatoes, we would be interested in seeing the perspective from a non-Simpsons watcher.
What's the general insight for how later seasons compare to the earlier ones?

For a lot of people in the Family Guy community, the earlier seasons are sort of the golden years, with later seasons receiving more criticism. Is it the same for the Simpsons?
 
For The Simpsons season 1-8 is the most common answer as the classic era. Some will include 9 as well. Personally I think the first ten seasons are the absolute best, but the show continues to be enjoyable for quite a bit longer. It's not until season 22 I feel it slipping so badly it's almost unwatchable, though 19-21 are inconsistent as well.
 
I WISH I'd never watched The Simpsons before.

Then I could watch the first 9 seasons for the very first time, and I could make the decision to never ever watch any of the seasons after that.
 
If someone is an avid watcher of Family Guy up to and including the most recent season then I feel trying to give suggestions that involve avoiding chunks of the The Simpsons doesnt really make that much sense.
 
If someone is an avid watcher of Family Guy up to and including the most recent season then I feel trying to give suggestions that involve avoiding chunks of the The Simpsons doesnt really make that much sense.
I can honestly see why someone would find more enjoyment in modern Family Guy than modern Simpsons. Family Guy isn't really good anymore, but most episodes provide a handful o decent jokes, and sometimes it even feels like the writers are writing a story that they actually want to tell or sending a message that they actualy want send. Modern Simpsons meanwhile is, in my opinion and in the opinion of many, basically chonically non-funny, and it feels like the writers have told every story they would ever want to tell with these characters. Also, the show is too bland and too afraid to get truly controversial to be able to even attempt to say anything on modern society. With Family Guy you at least kinda get the "I kinda wanna see how far they go with this" feeling when they tackle an issue that they haven't tackled before. Family Guy is a joke dragged on for too long, but with The Simpsons I can't even call it that. I don't get any sense of interest in the show from the scripts themselves. They just go through the motions. "Bart sure gets in trouble at school", "Marge sure likes to clean", "Nuclear power sure is bad". It's kinda like Garfield. Except with Garfield the completely predictable monotony of the characters lives is a theme that is consciously a part of the narative and theme of the series (Jon is desperate and crazy precisely because nothing of significance ever happens, and Garfield in contrast loves his life for precisely the same reasons that drives Jon into depression). The Simspons doesn't even have that excuse. The Simspons pretends and markets itself as a show that still have new things to offer, but it practically never does.

Although with that said I haven't seen seasons 33 and 34 yet. But I'm not expecting anything at this point, even when other fans are being lenient.
 
Hello, NHC!

Don't throw tomatoes at me or anything but yes, I have never watched an episode of The Simpsons. You might be asking, what the heck am I doing on this forum site?

Well... I am an avid Family Guy watcher, it's my favorite show ever. Season 21 is airing right now, and I have been looking up reviews for each episode and this site popped up. Even though this is a dedicated Simpsons site, there is a lot of avid Family Guy discussion in the 'Animated Discussion' section of the forums, which was a surprise to me! FG doesn't really have an equivalent site that NHC is for the Simpsons, besides the subreddit, so I found myself hanging out here quite a bit.

It's hard to be on a website dedicated to The Simpson's without actually seeing Simpsons content, so it has piqued my interest. The only bits of the Simpsons I have ever watched before are the Family Guy and Simpsons crossover episode (which I loved, not sure how it's received here) and the Simpson's movie when I was like 12.

So... that brings me to the point of this post! What episodes would you recommend for a first-time watcher?

Thanks in advance!
If youre a Family guy watcher, youd like the mike scully episodes (seasons 9-13).
 
Yeah, I dug the crossover. My favorite joke in it was the one I wrote, the one about Stewie taking Apu. I'm grateful I had the opportunity to contribute.

I Recommend watching Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy.
 
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I can honestly see why someone would find more enjoyment in modern Family Guy than modern Simpsons. Family Guy isn't really good anymore, but most episodes provide a handful o decent jokes, and sometimes it even feels like the writers are writing a story that they actually want to tell or sending a message that they actualy want send. Modern Simpsons meanwhile is, in my opinion and in the opinion of many, basically chonically non-funny, and it feels like the writers have told every story they would ever want to tell with these characters. Also, the show is too bland and too afraid to get truly controversial to be able to even attempt to say anything on modern society. With Family Guy you at least kinda get the "I kinda wanna see how far they go with this" feeling when they tackle an issue that they haven't tackled before.
Totally respect your opinion but it's funny in that I feel the exact opposite. I dont want to rag on it too hard in the thread where someone is coming about their love of the show and broadening their horizons but I'd call Family Guy right now extremely chronically unfunny. The show isnt even daring or edgy anymore, and I just find it extremely boring, and most of the time the actual plot takes up less than half of the episode and the rest of it are non jokes. Right now despite being 30+ years old The Simpsons is currently running circles around the rest of the Fox lineup that all supposedly sapped it's energy when they came out. It's like they all gave that energy back and now Bob's Burgers and Family Guy are on autopilot, and The Great North and Duncanville never tried to be more in the first place.
 
Totally respect your opinion but it's funny in that I feel the exact opposite. I dont want to rag on it too hard in the thread where someone is coming about their love of the show and broadening their horizons but I'd call Family Guy right now extremely chronically unfunny. The show isnt even daring or edgy anymore, and I just find it extremely boring, and most of the time the actual plot takes up less than half of the episode and the rest of it are non jokes. Right now despite being 30+ years old The Simpsons is currently running circles around the rest of the Fox lineup that all supposedly sapped it's energy when they came out. It's like they all gave that energy back and now Bob's Burgers and Family Guy are on autopilot, and The Great North and Duncanville never tried to be more in the first place.
I don't know if you have watched any of season 21, but it's definitely lightyears ahead the recent seasons. Not daring or edgy? Three episodes ago Peter gave oral sex to Lois' Mom and two episodes ago Cleveland cut a testicle off.
 
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I don't know if you have watched any of season 21, but it's definitely lightyears ahead the recent seasons. Not daring or edgy? Three episodes ago Peter gave oral sex to Lois' Mom and two episodes ago Cleveland cut a testicle off.
I wouldnt call either of those daring or edgy personally (at least not for FG), though I can see what you mean. So far I only saw the Blockbuster episode which I didnt like and the one where Joe sees Lois naked, which I did like.
 
the actual plot takes up less than half of the episode and the rest of it are non jokes.
This isn't really the case anymore, it used to be that way sure, most notably in Season 18, where most episodes were complete nonsense for better or worse, but right now i've noticed the show utilizing it's runtime more effectively, setting up the plot within the first minute/scene instead of halfway through like in Middle Family Guy. If you don't like the show anymore still I can respect that though, I know how much the internet hates Family Guy with a passion so i'm basically used to being in the minority of those that actually doesn't hate that much of it.
 
This isn't really the case anymore, it used to be that way sure, most notably in Season 18, where most episodes were complete nonsense for better or worse, but right now i've noticed the show utilizing it's runtime more effectively, setting up the plot within the first minute/scene instead of halfway through like in Middle Family Guy. If you don't like the show anymore still I can respect that though, I know how much the internet hates Family Guy with a passion so i'm basically used to being in the minority of those that actually doesn't hate that much of it.
There are definitely a lot of episodes that do have a lot of plot and cut down the cutaways considerably, and I will give the show credit for that. The ones that come to mind are the Meg shoplifting episode, the one where Lois was replaced, the other Lois episode with the coffee shop and the Terminator ones, all of which I enjoyed, but I feel like just as many waste a tonne of time.

Basically any time a live action cutaway starts I know its going to be some garbage minute long time filler without a punchline. These just stick out to me a lot more. I wont even say the lack of plot is inerently bad, a lot of people like shows that are an excuse for gags and lean into that more than say, Lower Decks that tries to couch those gags in a story. But when the story isnt for me and the gags arent for me its just makes me annoyed. What really made me feel this way was the lost in cutaway-land episode, that I felt completely wasted its gimmick by stretching gags as long as possible because they didnt really have anything more than that.
 
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