Worst. Blog Post. Ever.
Man, I love The Simpsons. It’s always been one of my favorite shows, and until recently I had kinda fallen out of watching it for whatever reason. Lately though, Christina and I have been going back through my old DVDs and I’ve fallen back in love.
The Simpsons is such a great show because it’s STILL funny. The episodes we’re watching are 15 years old at LEAST, and even though I’ve seen them dozens of times I still crack up. Listening to the DVD commentary, they set out to make a show that would age well and they’ve succeeded by leaps and bounds.
On the flip side, we have Family Guy, which is really only funny the first time you watch an episode. Go back and watch season 3 of Family Guy and season 3 of The Simpsons and tell me which one has aged better. If you said Family Guy, you’re a liar and/or have poor taste. Either way, we can’t be friends.
I mean, I like Family Guy okay. I’m just kinda tired of the random cutaways every episode. It was funny at first but it’s just rather stale now. Every episode just feels the same to me. We get it, everyone hates Meg. Every episode of The Simpsons feels unique because, well, it is. It has an actual plot! How about that?
I think part of the appeal of Family Guy was that it wasn’t around long and then got cancelled. It was an underground thing, kind of like when kids these days only like a band because no one else knows about them. Then it came back and proclaimed “WE ARE EDGY. ISN’T THAT GREAT?” and proceeded to do the same episode 20 times a season.
The Simpsons has been going for 20 years now, and I think they’re under contract to go all the way through season 25. That’s amazing. How many other TV shows have lasted that long? Not many. I was thinking, though, even though I don’t catch every new episode when it airs, it’s going to be really depressing when (or if, I guess) The Simpsons ever goes off the air. It’s just… a staple of American television. It’s always been there.
I’m going to go back and start collecting the DVD sets I skipped, even though I hate the stupid boxes they come in shaped like the character’s faces. The Simpsons is the television equivalent of a security blanket; it’s familiar, it’s comfortable, and it’s always there when you need it. I’ll be rewatching these episodes for many, many years. It’ll be a lot of fun to see how funny they’ll still be in another 15 years.
4 Comments
The movie was AWESOME
I’m not as big of a fan of The Simpsons as I probably should be, but I do indeed like Family Guy. I don’t really care about what it’s going to be like in the future and how well it ages, but I just enjoy it for the now. Same deal with South Park. Most of the episodes you can’t look back on without rolling your eyes, just enjoy the new ones while they’re relevant.
The Simpsons and Family Guy are completely different. The Simpsons quality has decreased through the years, there’s no denying that, but they are still trying hard to be the best show they can. Family Guy, on the other hand, isn’t even close. The first 3 seasons of Family Guy had heart and plot even through the cut aways. However, after it came back after it’s long renewal to insane popularity, no one had to try anymore to make it popular and it is just a cruel mocking of what it used to be, salting my wounds with the fact anyone can even compare it to it’s original incarnation. Bottom line, if you think any Family Guy after the first 3 seasons is good, son, I am dissapoint.
Back to the topic at hand, I LOVE The Simpsons. It came out (in it’s TV show version) the year I was born. I have literally been watching the show since I was 1. Anyone who mocks The Simpsons for not being as funny as it once was needs to take a long hard look at the facts. They cranked out nothing but phenomenal episodes for at least the first 9 seasons. Even into maybe season 15 they where very very good. I have fallen out of the habit of making it a ritual to watch every Sunday, but when I do catch the new episodes, I enjoy them.
Bottom line: The Simpsons is the last remaining spark of creative hope in a Seth McFarlane show populated Fox… they even snuffed out King of the Hill. I hope The Simpsons is around forever.
he Simpsons is amazing! The movie is awesome too.