Acrylamid said:
I guess many old school fans can't watch new episodes without nitpicking about inconstancy, characters being out of place, cheap jokes, mundane references etc.
Just sit back and try to enjoy the show and even if the story lines might not stand up against classic episodes (what isn't a surprise - after 335 episodes, all classic sitcom situations have been realised somehow), at least you get as much good jokes as in the show's heyday (imo).
I don't give a rat's ass about "consistency," and I never have, even in the earlier seasons, there were probably some continuity errors but no one gave a shit because the episode provided you with so much laughter you didn't care. But... when newer episodes, e.g. establish that Skinner is a fraud in the process of making a half hour of pure shit, then it's like Shit+, not only is there no humor, but they fucked with the show's characters in a dumb way, so it's doubly pathetic.
I've been reading Groening since before Ullman when I was in the third grade and when Ullman came on, my entire family would get together and watch it every single week for the Simpsons shorts. What I've noticed is that people who hopped in a little bit later tend to be much more forgiving (even praising) of the newer crap, saying "oh it's all funny!," as if the fact that it's still Homer, Marge, Bart & Lisa makes it funny. I have watched a few newer episodes, and some of them have been slightly better (and probably on par with the other decent sitcoms on, a thought which in Seasons 1-7 would have been unfathomable as the Simpsons simply blew everything away), but then every other time there's some joke like:
Professor: Look at that pond. Why doesn't water sparkle so?
I'm dying, Moe.
Moe: Is, is there anything I can do?
Professor: No, unless you have a cure for cancer. [turns to
Moe, hopefully] Do you have a cure for cancer?
'Cause that would be great!
Moe: I'm sorry, Professor.
Professor: Goodbye, Moe.
Moe: Bye, Professor.
[the professor walks calmly into the lake and
disappears beneath the surface]
Hey, don't you want to take your shoes off before
you go swimming? Professor? [realizes] Oh. Oh.
Um, hmmm.
[slowly walks away from the lake]
... or an episode with Tony Hawk.
The old Simpsons were so great because, at the time, there was nothing even remotely like them. They single-handedly changed humor in America, and many of their jokes have become so ingrained in our society that many don't even know they originate from the Simpsons; even the (I'm told) best recent episodes literally don't have a tenth of the humor of the classics. That's not to say that they're bad (the best ones, that is, on the whole the new Simpsons is), because it's a high standard to love up to... but to me they're not The Simpsons.
