What was the moment where the Simpsons died for you?

[StarsTurnCold]

When Maude died. There was even a moment where Homer casually tells Flanders that he parked at the emergency entrance blocking the ambulance causing them to waste time that could've saved Maude's life. It'sllike the writers were trying to make Homer as dislikable as possible

 

[Steak Ranchero]

Plenty of moments prior to the episode that made me go ehhhhh...but the one that sealed the deal was the one with Mel Gibson goes to Washington.

 

[John Dunbar]

i don't think it was any one moment. i just remember i used to watch it every week, but at some point i stopped caring if i missed an episode, and eventually just forgot it was on. i would still watch random episodes if they happened to be on.

 

[ChrisP8Three]

Turning point was probably Arman Tanzarian. It wasn't a bad episode per se but it marked a shift in the tone of the show and the way they handled characterisation.

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Same for me, it changed then
Not that i hate it or even think it died, by comparisson to many other shows its still very good, its just not quite what it used to be which always leave me sad

 

[rickyson33]

I grew up with it so I kinda stuck with it for a really long time out of habit to be honest

the actual last new episode I ever watched wasn't until all the way in season 21(the treehouse of horror) but I certainly wasn't watching every episode by then either(nor did I watch the ones I did see more than once like I often did in the earlier seasons)

I haven't seen any episodes past season 8 since then at all though so I guess that would be another answer to this question for me(and honestly even season 8 I kinda mostly pretend doesn't exist other than a couple favorites,"you only move twice" in particular being my personal favorite episode in the entire series)

 

[Soap]

I think the last truly fantastic episode I remember is the movemanterians episode

 

[DeltaRed]

There was an episode with Ron Howard, Alec Baldwin, and Kim Basinger that just came across as trying so hard to get celebrities and cameos that I realised the show had moved on and wasn't what I enjoyed anymore.

 

[newmoneytrash]

there a still good episodes of the simpsons, but seeing the sequel to the pin pals episode was painful

 

[Jimnymebob]

I feel like season 11 was when it noticeably dropped in quality, but it was the London episode that killed it for me, which happened to have JK Rowling in and makes it all the more amusing in hindsight considering she's a TERF, where I just switched it off and stopped watching the series new episodes.

 

[Transistor]

Two words:

Armin Tanzarian

 

[IsThatHP]

Principal and the pauper is one of the better season 9 episodes, lol.

The drop of quality between 8 and 9 is rough but as a kid I still watched for a few years.

"What's this fork for?"

"Why, Marge, I believe it's for scratching your ass."

"oooohhhhh"

was probably the moment that even as a kid I realized the show was not firing on all cylinders any longer.

 

[rickyson33]

Limp, tedious gag that was lazily inserted to burn time on a script that they couldn't get to 22 minutes. Clear sign the show had reached rock bottom of the downslide it'd been on the past couple of seasons.

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I love that episode in general but I have a special hatred for that scene,both because of the gag itself and because shows like family guy would later go on to adopt that style of dragging a joke out too long except for every fucking joke in every episode so it's kinda emblematic of that as well to me now

 

[Dwebble]

It's not a terrible episode by any stretch, but the Simpsons had said everything it ever needed to say after Homer's Enemy rolled around. Diminishing returns were absolutely inevitable after that point.

 

[DrForester]

The Principal and the Pauper. I stop any re-watch after season 8.

 

[werezompire]

Rewatching it on Disney+, I noticed that even as early as season 7 or 8, you can start to see the cracks. But the series was amazing for about half a decade or so which is more than you can say for most shows.

 

[Biggersmaller]

The last pretty alright episode was the season 10 finale: Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo. Everything with Chuck Garabedian was hilarious.

Fitting "So very tired" was the chalkboard gag. I was nonetheless somewhat excited for season 11...until I watched the Mel Gibson opener. Ooooff. The rest of the season was Tomacco, Moe's plastic surgery, and a Kid Rock spring break episode. After Behind the Laughter I gave up on the show.

 

[RiZ IV]

When X-Files ended. I used to watch the Fox Sunday night lineup in anticipation of X-Files. Once that was gone I was no longer sitting in front of the tv at that time. Or maybe I was and just playing games instead.

 

[maxxpower]

The Mel Gibson episode.

 

[daninthemix]

For me it was Season 14 - the stories became massively unfunny and none of the jokes were landing. 15 was even worse.

I thoroughly enjoy the Simpsons up to and including season 13.

 

[DrFunk]

The Lady Gaga episode

 

[Rampage]

Homer's Enemy for me marked the major change in Homer's character that I did not like. I still watched a few seasons after that up to Alone Again, Natura-Diddily , and that sealed it.

 

[Herne]

Season nine got silly but still had some good episodes, season ten was where it went off the deep end and I haven't been interested since. I still watch seasons two to eight occasionally.

 

[lunarworks]

Season 11 boasted such nonsense as...

- renegade jockey elves that kidnapped and attempted to kill Homer

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Looking back, yes, that was the one that did it for me. The Simpsons always walked a tight line between grounded and absurd, but that was the tipping point where it fell off the edge.

I still watched the show for a couple of seasons, but only casually and eventually lost all interest.

 

[J-Spot]

I began getting disappointed with the show around season 10. I've kind of come around on season 10-12 over the years. For all their faults they're far more clever and lively than what Al Jean has pumped out for the last two decades. An episode like Saddlesore Galactica that I once hated feels like a breath of fresh air after watching some season 30 episodes.

 

[Bishop89]

Limp, tedious gag that was lazily inserted to burn time on a script that they couldn't get to 22 minutes. Clear sign the show had reached rock bottom of the downslide it'd been on the past couple of seasons.

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I honestly can't tell if this is a joke or not.

 

[Draxyle]

I don't know what season, but from what little I remember it was some episode where the family won a chance to be on a reality show.. in an old-timey house.. and it got washed down a river.. and at the end of it they ran into a celebrity I didn't even know. It was just so aggressively far from anything I had ever loved about the show. I remember it so specifically as the moment I gave up and never looked back.

It must have been just after Season 11, as I remember that list of episodes. Looking back, I'm surprised I made it passed those at all.

 

[Zombegoast]

I want to say around 2005-2008. Like I try to keep watching but couldn't keep up with anymore after That's 90s Show

 

[Deleted member 60295]

I honestly can't tell if this is a joke or not.

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Given that another person in this thread agrees... I'm gonna guess it's serious. Do I understand it? Not in the least. Boggles my mind. But that's the internet for you.

 

[Reversed]

Probably after 'behind the scenes' (or however it's called) episode, because after that the writers weren't trying as usual.

 

[Space Acorn]

Large Marge, where she gets implants. It's early on in season 14, which is actually later than I thought I quit. There were still good episodes here and there in the past few seasons, but there started to be some really bad ones as well. With Large Marge, I had enough between the ones in the previous season and this and just stopped watching.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I remember thinking the tomacco episode (season 11) was pretty bad. That was the last episode I watched regularly. Since then I've caught a handful of episodes and I just do not like them.

I assume there have been some keepers in the last twenty years!

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This is the last one I remember watching when it was airing. So I guess this is my answer, too.

Turning point was probably Arman Tanzarian. It wasn't a bad episode per se but it marked a shift in the tone of the show and the way they handled characterisation.

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But after rewatching the Golden Age Simpsons, I realize that this was really it.

 

[PyroPaperPlanes]

Cracks started to show season 8, season 10 is the furthest I can go.

 

[Duck Sauce]

The Frank's Grime episode. As a kid I fucking hated that episode and pretty much everything after.

 

[tolkir]

When Carlos Revilla (Spanish voice actor of Homer) died. His voice was the 50% of the show.

Casually, Behind the Laughter was the last episode dubbed by him.

 

[Pluto]

Season 11 boasted such nonsense as...

- Maude getting killed by a T-shirt cannon
- Barney deciding he didn't want to be a drunk anymore
- renegade jockey elves that kidnapped and attempted to kill Homer
- renegade bikers that kidnapped Marge so she could take care of them
- renegade Springfield restauranteurs attempting to kill Homer via a giant eclair
- Homer fleeing from PBS after welching on a donation and escaping to a remote island so he could bring religion to the natives and lick toads
- Manjula giving birth to octuplets upon which were then made into a zoo exhibit
- Homer goes temporarily insane until the family takes him to visit Kid Rock in Florida, they then kill an alligator and flee the authorities
- Bart goes temporarily insane and thinks Major League Baseball is spying on him via satellites
- Marge goes temporarily insane and thinks Otto's ex-fiancee is trying to steal her family
- Maggie saving Homer from drowning
- the Tomacco episode
- the Funzo episode with Gary Coleman
- President Trump

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I stopped buying the DVDs after season 10, looks like I made the right choice, I remember those episodes and they were all pretty stupid.

 

[NeverWas]

I think "Lost Our Lisa" (Season 9 Episode 24) was the last time I bothered to watch it on television. I've caught a few Treehouses of Horror on streaming since then, but that's about it.

 

[jonjonaug]

Season 11 boasted such nonsense as...

- Maude getting killed by a T-shirt cannon
- Barney deciding he didn't want to be a drunk anymore
- renegade jockey elves that kidnapped and attempted to kill Homer
- renegade bikers that kidnapped Marge so she could take care of them
- renegade Springfield restauranteurs attempting to kill Homer via a giant eclair
- Homer fleeing from PBS after welching on a donation and escaping to a remote island so he could bring religion to the natives and lick toads
- Manjula giving birth to octuplets upon which were then made into a zoo exhibit
- Homer goes temporarily insane until the family takes him to visit Kid Rock in Florida, they then kill an alligator and flee the authorities
- Bart goes temporarily insane and thinks Major League Baseball is spying on him via satellites
- Marge goes temporarily insane and thinks Otto's ex-fiancee is trying to steal her family
- Maggie saving Homer from drowning
- the Tomacco episode
- the Funzo episode with Gary Coleman
- President Trump

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Hey, the Major League Baseball episode was funny and topical (cause of how it poked fun at the overmedication of schoolchildren).

Rest is bad though.

 

[painey]

I remember there being an episode with a bike gang (voiced by John Goodman) and they have a swordfight but with motorcycles. They actually pick up motorcycles like they weight 10lbs. It was so dumb and the first time I thought that the show had lost it.

 

[GuessMyUserName]

Recently cleared through the full series on Disney+, but boy my watchthrough hit a stall at The Kid is All Right, where the whole concept is Lisa makes a Republican friend and she can't handle it.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

Recently cleared through the full series on Disney+, but boy my watchthrough hit a stall at The Kid is All Right, where the whole concept is Lisa makes a Republican friend and she can't handle it.

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What season was that?

 

[Deleted member 24079]

I totally get the people saying cracks start to show around 8. I mean 8 seasons is gargantuan for any show to pull off. The shows tone has changed a little in seasons 7 and 8. There were a few episodes in 8 that I really found boring. I really could see myself dropping out once we get to the early 2000s episodes. Anything early 2000s is awful pop culture-wise to me. Well besides Apple products from then.

 

[GuessMyUserName]

What season was that?

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25 lol (episode 6)

There's been a lot of issues before then but boy my eyes rolled to the back of my head I needed a break there.

 

[Won]

Mel Gibson. Not just because the season is bad.

Back then as non-american and still young I wasn't all that aware how TV shows were released. Season 11 was the first time I remember a new season of Simpsons was actually advertised and it was probably the first time it was aired during prime time in the evening too.....and then I get Mel Gibson, followed by that Bart Focusin epsiode.

Actually crazy that it has been 20 years and I still remember the disappointment. It hit that hard. :(

 

[Ravensmash]

I actually don't mind a fair few episodes from recent seasons - you just need to go into them knowing that they're not going to feel like a random episode from season 7.

They certainly seem to have a lot more heart than Season 11 and that general period.

Those were just "here's the Simpsons in a zany, wacky, crazy situation!"

 

[Deleted member 17643]

Honestly a lot of season 8 sucks, but the first real episode that I truly didn't like was "My Sister, My Sitter", where Lisa babysits Bart.

 

[joe1138]

Season 14 was the last season I recall watching all the way through as it aired but it was a long, protracted death for me.

I tried to get back into the series after the film came out but I just didn't care anymore.

I've got the first 8 seasons on DVD plus the film... those are all the Simpsons memories I need. The first 8 still mean the world to me, partly because they aired as I went through my childhood, just before my teens really started but they still hold up amazingly well. Based on those episodes alone, The Simpson is still the best sitcom ever on TV as far as I'm concerned.

 

[DinosaurusRex]

When they aired the series finale, Behind the Laughter, at the end of season 11. Season 11 was the weakest in a few years (there are a few gems though) so it's good they wrapped it up while they were still relevant and didn't languish for decades.

 

[Tiny Chihuahueño]

For us Spaniards it was easy. The very dearly loved Spanish voice actor for Homer died before the 12th season aired. Episodes had been sucking for a while, but once he died it marked a before and after in the show. If you heard the new voice actor, you already knew it was a bad season and you could skip watching it.

For me, season 8 was already pushing it with episodes like the Lisa Factory one or the one with Bart's new dog.

 

[Replicant]

No single moment for me. Post season 8 the jokes just lacked the magical wit of those first seasons, wit that still holds up today. Instead, it is replaced with cringe... a lot of the time. I still pop a newer episode on and will laugh here and there, but the classics are dropping 5 layer deep jokes every 10 seconds.

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The show went from having heart and very smart written comedy, to be dumbed down to almost compete with Family Guy and South Park.

 

[Aaron]

Hey, the Major League Baseball episode was funny and topical (cause of how it poked fun at the overmedication of schoolchildren).

Rest is bad though.

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"Not the sky! That's where clouds are born!"

My experience is a little weird here because by the time I was 8 or 9 and started watching the show regularly, the Scully era was already in full swing, so the wackiness and mean-spiritedness associated with those seasons just kind of was the show to me. In hindsight there's a very obvious dip in quality where Scully took over (I'd argue seasons 9 and 10 still have plenty of classics, but even then there's an edge), but I can't honestly say my taste at that age was refined enough to make the distinction.

So for me there's a clear winner:

Frank Grimes, Jr.

Stupid.