MovieChat Forums > The Simpsons (1989) Discussion > Restoring The Simpsons to its past glory

Restoring The Simpsons to its past glory

posted 7 months ago by ReelReviews14 (1220)
17 replies | jump to latest

If they ever put me in charge of the franchise, I would declare EVERYTHING that happened post-season 10, and ESPECIALLY during the Disney years, to be null and void. I'd keep the events of season 1-10 as "canon", and age all the characters up a year, as they're pretty much played out everything they can at this point with Bart in the 4th grade.

That means The Simpsons revival would start with Bart in FIFTH grade (I'd give him a new classroom and teacher, but reference him having Mrs. Krabapple the previous year and ignore the recent seasons giving Bart a different teacher in 4th grade). Likewise, Lisa would now be in THIRD grade.

Since the awful later seasons "never happened", this means that Lisa would still attend the first church of Springfield with her family and is NOT some insufferable liberal know-it-all, Ned Flanders is still happily married to Maude, Marge's older cynical chain-smoking sisters BOTH have the hots for "MacGuyver", Abu is the regular cashier Homer talks to every day at the Quik-E-Mart, Harry Shearer would be back voicing Dr. Hibbert, and I'd ever bring back the long retired characters Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz, though you'd need a Phil Hartman sound-alike to voice them since Phil's no longer with us.

It would honestly be the ONLY way to make The Simpsons watchable again!

[–] hyperjet (727) 7 months ago

Good idea but I'd cut it off before season 9 and the Armin Tamzarian BS.

[–] strntz (12344) 7 months ago

That was a weird one - I think most Simpson fans pretty much ignore that like a bad dream.

[–] ReelReviews14 (1220) 7 months ago

Even the modern seasons ignore the "Principal Tamzarian" stuff and pretend it "never happened", so there's no need to worry about that since its already been declared defacto non-canon.

There's still plenty of good plot developments and storylines that happened in season 9 and 10, like Abu getting married in a Hindu wedding ceremony, Lionel Hultz becoming a real estate agent, Homer's middle name turning out to be "Jay", and a lot of iconic guest stars like Stephen Hawking voicing himself.

IMO, the real "point of no return" was when they killed off Maude Flanders in season 11. The "Behind the Music" episode should really be considered as the series finale.

[–] DoctorThirteen (14090) 7 months ago

I always hated that episode!

[–] Burk48917 (11372) 7 months ago

They nullify that themselves, at the end of the episode.

[–] strntz (12344) 7 months ago

The big problem is that there's very little from the early years that would pass in today's more enlightened world - stuff that made The Simpsons so great. In other words, the golden age is gone forever except of course for those early episodes.

But if you somehow get your wish, see if you can also add Blood and Guts Murphy back as well even though he died in Season 6..

[–] liscarkat (18460) 7 months ago

"more enlightened"

Okay. I know you're being facetious.

I quit watching when I couldn't stand Lisa as an "insufferable liberal know-it-all" anymore. If the show could be restored to its early-seasons quality, I'd watch it again. Unfortunately, it ain't ever gonna happen.

[–] strntz (12344) 7 months ago

I didn't have any problem with Lisa being liberal in the early years, but when they stopped being even-handed is when it stops being satire and reaches the insufferable level.

Like Mad Magazine. In the golden years, they'd spoof everyone - libs, cons, every ethnic group, every religious group, rich, poor, young, old, etc. and it was fun because everyone got skewered. Later, they not only targeted only the right exclusively but made also it *mean*.

Getting back to Lisa, I love the episode where she told the young handsome "activist" that she was a vegetarian. He replied with disdain that he was a "level 5 vegan" (he wouldn't eat anything that cast a shadow).. Although I haven't seen any episodes past season 16, I doubt they would pick on vegans or any liberals today.

[–] ReelReviews14 (1220) 7 months ago

Lisa wasn't portrayed as an enlightened liberal voice of reason in the early seasons, she was more of the "good kid" and model student, very polite and well-mannered and brainy... in contrast to the "underachieving and proud of it" and smart aleck troublemaker Bart. Except in the VERY EARLY (season 1) stuff, where Lisa was more of a younger female clone of Bart.

Same thing with a lot of the characters like Ned Flanders. Flanders WAS a devout Christian in the early seasons, but he got on Homer's nerves much more for being a "perfect neighbor" with an idealistic picturesque perfect wife and kids, than in the later seasons when Ned was a judgmental, arrogant, bigoted ULTRA fundamentalist protestant blowhard (which didn't even make sense, since the First Church of Springfield isn't some kind of hotbed of fervent evangelical "Hillsong style" protestants)

Hence I'd make sure any writers for a Simpsons revival try to focus on the way the characters are written around season 2-8, and outright ignore ANYTHING post-season 10. In fact, I'd even make sure they outright contradicted the "events" of the later seasons, to convey to the audience that those seasons are now non-canon.

[–] Sapphirelight (392) 7 months ago

You mean Bleeding Gums Murphy.

[–] strntz (12344) 2 months ago

Yeah, Bleeding Gums Murphy, but I'm not the only one to make that mistake..

[–] spurtle467 (1549) 7 months ago

The Simpsons doesn't need reviving it just needs to be ended. With each new inferior additional series the legacy dies that little bit more. Enough damage has already been done, nothing can change that now. The only thing that can change is how much more damage.

[–] ewd76 (1204) 2 months ago

I didn't know there was a Simpsons canon.

[–] strntz (12344) 2 months ago

Here's the problem - once something goes bad, it's very difficult to ever go back.

Like a favorite restaurant that suddenly puts out school cafeteria level cuisine - you never want to go back. The only option is for the restaurant close and reopen with a different name and different interior.

Honestly, as uneven as Family Guy is, it went from a weak copy of The Simpsons to a much superior successor.

And the other question is whether those who watch it today (someone must be) would appreciate the golden year level of writing? The original fans will never revisit anything past the first ten years or so.

[–] Aylmer (465) a month ago

The Simpsons took a few years to get going, but once Season 3 came along, it was a great show for the next 4 years or so. It then started slipping and got really uneven over the next 5 years, but then became a bad show, which it has been for at least 20 years. I'd say at this point, since the bad episodes far eclipse the good ones, that the show can no longer be considered a "good" show, by quite a large margin.

Sort of like how Battlestar Galactica "became" Buck Rogers in 1979 (while the 2nd season of BSG became unwatchable earth-bound garbage), or how Doctor Who "became" Blake's 7 in 1978 (when Philip Hinchcliffe got fired as producer and all the best writers left), The Simpsons essentially "became" Futurama in 1999 when all the good writers left. In order for The Simpsons to be any good again, all those writers would have to magically be coaxed to come back and the show would have to ignore everything after they left. So in a roundabout way, I guess I totally agree with the original post. I don't think aging everyone up a year would solve any problems, but I would like to arrest the show as being set in the 1990's in order to avoid the annoying pop culture references that it has been mired down in for decades. Seeing Homer mess with modern technology like an iphone is just not very funny at all and reminds us of what a dystopia we have fallen into.

[–] Chickenfeet69 (103) a month ago

They should’ve cancelled the show and with the episode “Behind the Laughter”, it would’ve made a great ending.

[–] ewd76 (1204) a month ago

Sitcoms don't have "canon", especially not cartoon sitcoms. Episodes conflict all the time. If a sitcom has been on too long they sometimes develop some sort of ongoing story like a soap opera to keep it going, but you know the end is coming once that starts happening. If not before.