Based on the ratings I have given to each season, I like 5-8 slightly more. They're pretty evenly split, though; my favourite seasons are 6, 7, 2, and 3 (in that order), followed by 4, 5, 8, and 1. In terms of style, I tend to prefer the more down-to-earth stuff of the earlier classic era to the wackier stuff of the later classic era, but there are a lot of other variables here that affect my opinion of a season. Season 1 was the most down-to-earth season, but neither the writing nor the characterizations were very consistent yet. Season 2 is incredibly consistent. I would call Season 3 and Season 4 a transition state between the Brooks/Groening/Simon era and the Mirkin era, since it has elements of both. However, Season 3 has a stronger group of episodes, perhaps because it is less far removed from Season 2. Given my preference for stuff that's not wacky, the relatively wacky Mirkin era should be my least favourite part of the classic era. However, Season 6 uses its wackiness impeccably, both in terms of humour and story. Some of the wackier stories are just more interesting, such as Bart discovering a comet that threatens to destroy Springfield or Homer joining a secret society and discovering he is the chosen one. As much as I like the more relatable stuff of Season 2, being more adventurous with the story has its value as well. Season 5 is where the wackiness hurts it more than it helps it. The humour is a lot more inconsistent, and the stories tend to be less interesting. Not that every single episode is like that, though. Season 7 is possibly the season that balances emotion, humour, and story the best. First of all, I think its humour is second only to Season 6's. Then it has some great emotional episodes, and it continues with the often less realistic-yet very interesting-stories of Season 6. Season 8 is very inconsistent, which makes sense considering the writers were taking more risks. There is a very noticeable drop in quality from Season 7, though, which becomes even starker to me when I consider that my favourite episodes of Season 8 are Season 7 holdovers. My point is that dividing the classic era in this way is pretty meaningless to me; I wouldn't even be able to decide which is my favourite showrunner(s), since I have one season from each in my top 4 seasons and one season from each in my bottom 4 classic era seasons.