Very unpopular opinions.

[Homer Samson]

I actually have always thought O&W's THOHs were better than Mirkin's. Not to say Mirkin's THOHs aren't some of the best things ever to be broadcast on television, I just like the O&W ones better

 

[TheDuffBlimp]

Hans Moleman has become overused and unfunny.

But then that's true of every character on the show now.

I disagree. Every character is still good for at least a few laughs. Hans Moleman seems like he is still used rather sparingly, though.

 

[BlueRibbonCommittee]

When people complain about the quality of the show dropping, in this case its subtlety or handling of LGBT+ stereotypes, they often go to "Flaming Moe" and compare "The League of Extra-Horny Gentlemen" to "The Anvil". While there are things you can compare with that, I think this comparison is completely unfair. They served different purposes. The entire point of "The League" was that it was overly stereotypical and a "normal" gay man like Smithers or Mr. Largo wouldn't be allowed in there. "The Anvil" was supposed to be there for the element of surprise. This is comparing apples and oranges.

 

[Kangdos]

Here is a really unpopular opinion of mine: I prefer both the Mirkin era and the Oakley and Weinstein era over the Jean and Reiss era. The Jean and Reiss era was more grounded and slice of life than the later two eras, which is fine and all, but I just think that the slightly more fantastical later two eras had more memorable storylines.

 

[Snorky]

Here is a really unpopular opinion of mine: I prefer both the Mirkin era and the Oakley and Weinstein era over the Jean and Reiss era. The Jean and Reiss era was more grounded and slice of life than the later two eras, which is fine and all, but I just think that the slightly more fantastical later two eras had more memorable storylines.

That make's two of us

 

[Homer Samson]

That make's two of us

That makes 3 of us

 

[Venomrabbit]

I might have said the opposite before, maybe. But I think my mind's changed and it might be a pretty unpopular opinion.

I don't mind Skinner and Chalmers as a duo.
It's a bit jarring that Chalmers is almost always at the school alongside Skinner when that's not even the only school he inspects but otherwise I actually started to find their moments to be amongst the funniest of them.

I feel like Chalmers' constant presence is a bit of regret amongst the writers, in that they didn't make him the Principal and Skinner the Vice Principal or something. And I do miss Skinner's old characterization but it's not wholly incompatible with how those two are now. Skinner always held authority in high regard and as early as Seasons 3 and 4 was sycophatic towards Gary.
Just sayin', there's a good reason the Steamed Hams bit was such a great moment.

 

[BlueRibbonCommittee]

Hey, I agree. I still laugh at the SKIMMMMER! joke from the crossword episode.

 

[Venomrabbit]

Or in Blazed and Confused (iirc) where he addresses all the principals in the same tone. It is a little odd how often he's around Skinner but at the same time as far as characters in today's era go, he's one of the better ones.

 

[Venomrabbit]

Maybe it's a bit of a hot-take but honestly, for all folks say about shark-jumping, the show can definitely be good again. It wouldn't be exactly like the classic era, there's some things we've lost and can't get back (Phil and Marcia's characters, for one) but in its' own way, it could still be just as good. Hell, it could potentially be even better.

Potentially being the keyword. I really don't think it's going to happen with Al Jean and a lot of the other old blood still where they are, it'd probably take a major shake-up or reshuffling and not because they can't get the show up to that kinda quality, they've occasionallly shown they can, like with Halloween of Horror, which was good enough to be almost universally beloved even by me (and hell, I don't even like half of the Lisa eps that are held in high regard like Lisa's Substitute and Summer of 4ft 2. Guess that's another hot-take right there)

And that right there is probably why so many of us still watch and yet get so frustrated. The unpleasant, mean-spirited tone? The warped characterizations? Wasting secondaries that could do so much more? The over reliance on guest stars? The plots that take half the ep to start up and then go nowhere? All but maybe one or two of them are entirely fixable. Get some really good writers in and it probably wouldn't even be that hard. Good writing continued to exist in places outside the show after all.

 

[Kangdos]

Maybe it's a bit of a hot-take but honestly, for all folks say about shark-jumping, the show can definitely be good again. It wouldn't be exactly like the classic era, there's some things we've lost and can't get back (Phil and Marcia's characters, for one) but in its' own way, it could still be just as good. Hell, it could potentially be even better.

Potentially being the keyword. I really don't think it's going to happen with Al Jean and a lot of the other old blood still where they are, it'd probably take a major shake-up or reshuffling and not because they can't get the show up to that kinda quality, they've occasionallly shown they can, like with Halloween of Horror, which was good enough to be almost universally beloved even by me (and hell, I don't even like half of the Lisa eps that are held in high regard like Lisa's Substitute and Summer of 4ft 2. Guess that's another hot-take right there)

And that right there is probably why so many of us still watch and yet get so frustrated. The unpleasant, mean-spirited tone? The warped characterizations? Wasting secondaries that could do so much more? The over reliance on guest stars? The plots that take half the ep to start up and then go nowhere? All but maybe one or two of them are entirely fixable. Get some really good writers in and it probably wouldn't even be that hard. Good writing continued to exist in places outside the show after all.

I believe that you are right. If we imagine a scenario where the show was given to a completely different creative team, I believe it could be great. After all, there are a ton of clever comedy shows being produced right now. Just imagine the team behind one of those shows being given The Simpsons, and it could be amazing.

 

[Venomrabbit]

Yeah, I kinda look to shows like Gravity Falls as something like that, which is almost like if Treehouse of Horror was a series. The good ones that didn't need to be depressing and miserable and rely on tons of gore and ended up able to be more effective for it... I mean I think it had Oaklet and Weinstein on it too.
Hell, the whole thing about recycled plots I see talked about a ton could probably be easily rectified just by caring more about the side characters... not that I think "immediately give them an episode" is the solution but there's several long-runners that get thrown to the sidelines. Maybe just letting them have more of a say in plots like Mr Largo in "Girl's in the Band" would work, did for that ep.

 

[TheDuffBlimp]

From what I've seen around the web, it seems seasons 9 and 10 are regarded as the downfall.

I don't really think there is a downfall. Certainly not at the magnitude the web would have you believe. The only real problem is the characters that serve no other purpose but being a love interest for every single character (i.e. Shauna).

 

[Bill McCloskey]

I hate Marge.

From what I've seen around the web, it seems seasons 9 and 10 are regarded as the downfall. I don't see that at all. I consider both of those seasons classic, and even most of 11. 12 is also great imo, but that's when I myself started seeing the cracks.

To me, season 8 is the start of the downfall. Season 9, downfall is real. Season 10, it's accomplished.
I don't even own DVD box sets from season 10 onwards.

 

[TheDuffBlimp]

As with most of the post classic era, the gags borrow much too heavily from films,

I don't think that's really possible. Parodying stuff has always been something The Simpsons does.

 

[PilotCat1]

I like that the show goes on ad-infinitum, despite its decline in quality, and would rather have these newer episodes of lesser quality than for the series to have ended after season 9 or so. For me, just seeing the characters I know and love, even if the jokes aren't what they once were, puts a smile on my face.

I'd say that I want the show to continue until a main voice actor dies.

 

[Snorky]

I like that the show goes on ad-infinitum, despite its decline in quality, and would rather have these newer episodes of lesser quality than for the series to have ended after season 9 or so. For me, just seeing the characters I know and love, even if the jokes aren't what they once were, puts a smile on my face.

I'd say that I want the show to continue until a main voice actor dies.

But then the writers could not incorporate their characters properly into a farewell episode/series of episodes/film? Unless they ended the show on a random storyline!

 

[Bill McCloskey]

 

[Venomrabbit]

Well, they probably won't do it right anyway.

 

[PilotCat1]

But then the writers could not incorporate their characters properly into a farewell episode/series of episodes/film? Unless they ended the show on a random storyline!

This is why I'd love for them to write and record a series finale now, while the voice actors are still living, and save it for later on when needed.

 

[Snorky]

This is why I'd love for them to write and record a series finale now, while the voice actors are still living, and save it for later on when needed.

If they were going to do that, they should have done it before the oldest cast/crew member turned 70, as evidenced by Marcia Wallace dying at the exact age of 70. But tbh, they only really need the five main actors to be involved in the episode, as important as, but not vital, the likes of Macneille, Hayden and Roswell are

 

[PilotCat1]

If they were going to do that, they should have done it before the oldest cast/crew member turned 70, as evidenced by Marcia Wallace dying at the exact age of 70. But tbh, they only really need the five main actors to be involved in the episode, as important as, but not vital, the likes of Macneille, Hayden and Roswell are

Right. Is it bad that I'm starting to worry over how much longer we will have Harry Shearer?

 

[simpsonsbart]

I don't have any problem with Mona leaves-a's sabotage plot. Because... Was it ever said in-universe that Mona killed herself just for this mission? Homer just assumed it. And if it were the case, we would have known she was contacted. Later, in How I wet your mother, this would be the last time I would have seen sweet Mona, even if her backstory seemed to start to change (Homer thought she went away because he and Abraham fished nothing and he overturned the boat, even though he should have known it wasn't the case). Counting from To cur, with love, Mona became an "angry liberal stereotype" (while she was probably seen angry before this episode, I don't think it was ever near the modern "angry liberal stereotype"). I hate such characters. She never reverted back to her sweet self. I liked her for her character. They remade her character from "She left Abraham and Homer because she was a wanted criminal" to "She left Abraham and Homer because Abraham was a jerk to her". In that case, why did she go away without Homer if she's not a wanted criminal anymore? It looks like the writers now want me to like her just because she's a liberal woman. How she talked to Abraham in the Let's go fly a coot's flashback, I'm not sure sweet Mona would have been like this if this episode has been written before Season 24 (or even before Season 23 since her backstory seemed to start to change, for the reason I already expressed a little above).

 

[simpsonsbart]

Some old episodes look like more burlesque movies from the same period than what looks Simpson-like to me. If I remember well, there is an episode where a pet is shown to a chain smoker veterinarian woman (I think), and the veterinarian takes a puff in the middle of the phrase she pronounces. To me, it doesn't sound Simpson-like to me. Plus, I don't find it funny at all. The same can also be said for Homer's hammy line about Maude actually being alive in Bart of darkness. Also, among the 4 Jean-Reiss 1995-produced (but aired between 1997 and 1998) episodes, only Lisa's sax looks the most Simpson-like to me. The other 3 have scenes that don't make me think I am watching The Simpsons:

The Simpsons Files looked already weird before the X-Files crossover began, like for example Leonard Nimoy's monologue that makes him look like some TV horror movie host, the characters saying the same thing at the beginning, or Homer's whole weird adventure in the forest (the Psycho music he is hearing being actually an orchestra, the talking frogs, Abraham bursting out of the bushes and Homer writing his scream), unless this scene is itself an X-Files reference (given that I didn't watch this serial, maybe it's a reference, but if it isn't, then I don't understand why is Homer's whole adventure in the forest so weird). Actually, when the crossover began, the episode started to look more Simpson-like to me.

I already said why I consider the Shary Bobbins episode the worst Simpsons episode ever: Shary's presence causing the characters to act out-of-character and the fact that it looked like the episode was too busy on parodying Mary Poppins that the show forgot to be itself, along with the characters.

Homer's plot from Simpson tide: to me, it looked far more like a burlesque movie from the period the episode was produced than a Simpsons plot. I don't understand why his plot is like that (the instructor, the graduation scene, Barney's mother talking about her son sleeping, or the whole submarine part; listing all the non-Simpson-like scenes from this same part would take a long time). While I can understand why G.I. (annoyed grunt) can be hated, Homer's plot looks far more Simpson-like to me (the Looney Tunes reference scene is really short, and outside of this scene, it's just a normal Simpsons episode to me).

 

[ManuelMaiden95]

I don't know if it's unpopular or not, but the Simpsons movie has grown weaker and weaker over time in My personal experience.
I really liked it when it came out. After some time I thought it wasn't like the best episodes of the show's history but still pretty strong.
But by now, I only consider it good compared to the seasons that were airing when it came out, which is not impressive.
It doesn't stand a serious chance against almost anything in the classic era neither do I consider it very important for the show's legacy.
It's just a good episode from the post classic era.

 

[TheDuffBlimp]

...it's from what most people would designate as the "post-classic" era.

Plenty of shows from that "era" are of that quality.

 

[Kangdos]

Im just gonna say it: I think season 3 might be my least favorite from the classic era. Most storylines from that season neither has the emotional core of season 2 nor the more outlandish (in a good way) and therefore more memorable stories of the later golden age seasons.

 

[ManuelMaiden95]

Im just gonna say it: I think season 3 might be my least favorite from the classic era. Most storylines from that season neither has the emotional core of season 2 nor the more outlandish (in a good way) and therefore more memorable stories of the later golden age seasons.

I agree with you, though I think it's better than season 1 and about equal with season 8.
There are episodes that I like a lot for example Flaming Moe's, Homer at the Bat or Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk.
But there are others that I don't like that much and are pretty weak for classic era standards like The Otto Show, Like Father like Clown, Brother can You Spare Two Dimes which I think is much weaker than Herbert's first appearance.
On the other hand I think season 2 has only one weak episode which is Dancin Homer. For that reason I don't understand when people exclude season 2 from the classic era since I think it's more consistent than season 3.
I think that the best of season 3 is slightly better than season 2 but the season as a whole it's not as consistent.
They would really hit perfection with season 4 which has the perfect mix of emotion and also more outlandish (but in a good way) stories.
Season 3 seems like stuck between the more emotional stories of season 2 and the more outlandish plots of season 4 but without being better than any of those seasons in these respective items.
Season 2 is better in emotion and heart and season 4 is better in plots and outlandish aspects, leaving season 3 kinda in the middle.

Season 3 is fantastic though, it has some of my favourite episodes and it's miles better than anything after season 8.

 

[Dr. Nihilistic]

I don't know if it's unpopular or not, but the Simpsons movie has grown weaker and weaker over time in My personal experience.
I really liked it when it came out. After some time I thought it wasn't like the best episodes of the show's history but still pretty strong.
But by now, I only consider it good compared to the seasons that were airing when it came out, which is not impressive.
It doesn't stand a serious chance against almost anything in the classic era neither do I consider it very important for the show's legacy.
It's just a good episode from the post classic era.

I think there are parts of the movie that feel like old-school Simpsons (Marge's goodbye video and Homer realizing that the family's never coming back), and the first half is really good. But it starts to slip right around the time the family gets to Alaska, and then there's a period of nothing happening up until Homer having his epiphany and deciding to go back to Springfield.

They definitely put way too much thought into the movie and relying on focus groups was a bad idea. It's like they were trying to make it for people who didn't know what The Simpsons was.

 

[simpsonsbart]

While I don't hate At long last leave at all, there is a scene that doesn't look Simpson-like to me: the whole town hall scene. The Springfieldians are way too brutal in their behavior towards the family, even calling them "monsters". Yes, the Springfieldians are very thick-headed and hard to reason, but their change of behavior toward the family is way too brutal for me. Had the family not being curious about seeing the town being (falsely) contained, the plot wouldn't have changed at all, as Marge failed to reason the Springfieldians.