Should the Simpson's be axed?

[The Curmudgeon]

First of all, I thought you might like this couch gag..

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pdVDeEvSqZo

And so to the topic at hand. There seems to be an endless number of people who think the Simpson's has had its day, that the product on screen now is far removed, in terms of character and quality, from the show they once knew. Homer is no longer a loveable oaf who works for a power plant, he's a loud mouth maniac that seems to do everything BUT work in a power plant with more out-there jobs, situations and locations than ever before. It's not the show they want it to be anymore. In short - they want it to end.

While I do feel some episodes are lacking, after 20 YEARS its amazing the show is still going at all, and after all this time has only suffered two cast changes (one minor - the voice of Maude Flanders quit over cash and, of course, one tragic - Phil Hartman was murdered). And its still arguably the most inventive, original (and let's not forget funny) show on TV.

I think after all these years its easy to take a show like the Simpson's for granted, that you really can't remember a time without it and so don't care if its on or not. Personally, I dread the day it ends, and in no way shape or form do I want it to.

How 'bout you?

[Benjamin Haines]

I don't get the bandwagon hate for The Simpsons at all. I don't watch it regularly like I did when I was younger, but whenever I do happen to catch a new episode, I find it just as funny, clever and entertaining as the episodes of years past. Just a couple weeks ago, in fact, it was playing on a big TV in one of the cafeterias. It was a rather ingenious episode presenting three different stories in nonlinear fashion, one depicting Homer and Marge on a family drive in the present, one showing them when they were just dating 20 years prior, and one showing them married five years prior. The really creative angle was that it weaved in and out of these different stories frequently, as the setting of one story cut to a scene in the same setting taking place at a different time in the other story, with all of the stories coming together in relevance by the end of it. Really great stuff.

The Simpsons is as old as I am, with the first season of the show having begun airing just a few months before I was born. My generation have literally known it since birth and grown up with it in a very real way. I really found it cool when I and my generation of late'88-early'89 babies graduated from high school in May of 2007, and three months later The Simpsons Movie hit theaters. It was as if the series was reaching a significant milestone at the same time as the generation of people who were born with it.

The Simpsons is great, and no matter how trendy or in vogue it gets for people to bash it and say that it needs to just end already, the show's cast and crew are proving every week for the 20th year now that they're still as talented and worthwhile as they ever were. I hope it continues to go strong for years to come.

Check out Homer trying to vote for Obama as seen in the most recent "Treehouse of Horror" special:

[trashcanman]

I need to change my vote to 'Hell No". In a moment of weakness, I thought that the show had lost a lot of steam. then I realized I was only thinking that because the last episode was boring. As Haines just displayed, the world needs The Simpsons. There is no other show like it. I've watched it since it was only a Butterfinger commercial and awaited the very first episode with baited breath. And loved it. I've never stopped watching it either. It's in my fucking DNA. I got in trouble in grade school for wearing a Bart T-shirt, I learned to quietly defy authority snickering at my teachers as they forbid us form watching it at home (good luck with that, bitch), and it's likely I owe my very sense of humor to watching that show and finding joy in it even during the darkest years of my life. And it still makes me laugh. In fact, the Sid and Nancy parody in the Valentines episode (the only Youtube video up for it is shit) may be the best parody I've seen all year. There have been a few clunkers the past few years, but considering the amount of time it's been on the air, that's nothing. I do feel it should end before they run out of ideas and become a sad farce, but now is not that time. So I say "Hell no, but it should end before it gets tired." The final episode will be the saddest day in television history.

[The Curmudgeon]

Let's hope this is true, then..

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BlZ_2QMKaq8