But then, to quote Principal Skinner, I’m a small man in some ways. I am aware that it is pretty pathetic to begrudge the writers for reusing some old concepts after 350 episodes. I can feel myself becoming bitter and grumpier. There’s a giant Stampy in the room and none of the characters can see it or address it. That only adds to the sense of unease: there are more logical solutions to the problems The Simpsons get themselves into, but they can’t be used because classic Simpsons already did it. but the man is obsessed with manatees (why? Because season 17, that’s why). What’s more, the show needs to have a twist to these storylines to make them just different enough from the old episodes: like Homer wants to win back Lisa’s love, so he inexplicably dresses up like a salamander and runs for mayor or Marge is tempted into an affair with another man. The recurring storylines give the show a nightmarish quality: the family seem totally oblivious to the fact that they are repeating these storylines, that these setups have happened before and will happen again. Homer’s mother returns and is then immediately chased away again by Mr Burns Selma wants a family after a thoughtless act by her husband, Marge is tempted to have an affair with another man, etc. In season 17, I start to recognise some of the plots from classic Simpsons. Now I am watching on my phone in the spare room.
The simpsons season 30 episode 1 review tv#
I have been banned from watching The Simpsons in the main TV room any more. Nothing has to make sense any more all it has to do is last 22 minutes, have three spaces for adverts, and possibly star some kind of guest who will be problematic by 2020 (step forward JK Rowling).īy the end of The President Wore Pearls, a deeply confusing musical episode where Lisa becomes school president while ripping off several songs from Evita, I have become a paranoid curmudgeon, hissing at the screen: “ My Lisa would never sell out her fellow students for the chance to sing Don’t Cry For Me Argentina from the back of the schoolbus. Why? New Simpsons does not care for “why”. The storylines are familiar yet frantic: one episode starts with Maggie trapped in a bathroom, but then that’s immediately dropped in favour of the revelation that Santa’s Little Helper has sired puppies (again), which is then itself immediately dropped in favour of the revelation that Krusty the Clown isn’t actually Jewish and needs to have a Barmitzvah. The show is immediately weird in a way that I can’t put my finger on: it is like watching home movies but someone has slightly switched around the furniture, or replaced your family with clones who are 25% taller. I start with season 15, and The Simpsons’ trip to London (where special guest star Tony Blair attempted to distract everyone from the war in Iraq by turning up in a jetpack and delivering a half-joke about the white cliffs of Dover). In doing so, I plan to answer the ultimate question: is The Simpsons still cromulent in the 21st century? Monday morning
Well this week, I will eat those shorts, by watching three episodes from each season from season 15 onwards. It will not die, marching onwards relentlessly like a Treehouse of Horror III zombie, softly d’ohing and imploring the audience to eat its shorts. The 32nd season started airing last week there have been 371 new episodes since the beginning of Season 15. Let’s say Season 15 is the moment The Simpsons went stale (although arguably it happened long before) – that was 17 years ago. In general, The Simpsons can be split into four epochs: The Beginning (Seasons 1-3), where the family look like they have been drawn by the elderly Spanish woman who “fixed” the Jesus fresco The Golden Age (Seasons 4-8), where every episode is perfection The Descent (Seasons 9-14) when the show loses its way with shark-jumping plotlines (Principal Skinner is actually a fraud who stole an army colleague’s identity) and finally, the darkest era: The New Simpsons (Season 15 onwards), where most fans reach their limit of mediocrity and turn back to the warm embrace of reruns from season 4.Īll long-running shows will go stale, but most will finish after two or three years once they have hit that point. I say “new”, but really I am talking about everything after Season 15, when I finally gave up on the show. This week, I will be watching … new episodes of The Simpsons. I will confront an ominous shadow that has long hung over me, and in so doing will seek to embiggen my spirit. T his week, as the US plunges itself into further chaos and rancour, I will have my own reckoning.