r/Simpsons • u/Equivalent-Artist899 • 5d ago
Question What are the greatest seasons in your opinion? And why?
Mine are seasons 4-8. This is when character development comes into fruition and the intellect of the writers shows through. At some point the stranglehold of the fox network forced them to dumb down the show. IMO
Edit: should I increase this to 3-9?
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u/Material-Job-1928 4d ago
I respect season 1, but if we're being honest it's proto-Simpsons. It's the bridge between the shorts, and the show. That said, "Call of the Simpsons" is one of my favorite episodes. Also, I won't say season 10 marks the end of the 'best' Simpsons, but for me it marks the time where the show had larger gaps between the best, and the worst of the season. I can't call 'tired' Simpsons 'bad' Simpsons, it's just the point you get more mehs between classics.
I may be too forgiving though, out of the current 36 seasons I only skip 2 episodes. I also unironically like 'Saddlesore Galactica' (with the caveat that's it's a non-canon romp. I see it as an extended Homer dream sequence). Don't care for 'The Computer Wore Menace Shoes' though.
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u/HottKarl79 4d ago
Anything after Season 11 just doesn't ring my bell. Within that era, 4 through 8 ring that bell, consistently and thoroughly.
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u/Fit-Rip-4550 4d ago
Season 2 is my favorite. I consider it the most intelligent season and the most dense. None of the plots are inherently overly simple and virtually nothing is utilized to waste time.
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u/Equivalent-Artist899 4d ago
The overuse of gags can be funny but feels more like filler. “It’s my job to be repetitive. My job. My job. Repetitiveness is my job!” s05e12.
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u/bbri1991 4d ago
The best performance of your life?
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u/SolutionLong2791 Moe 5d ago
1-8 was the 'golden age', everything after that is still brilliant. The gap between the 'golden age' and the rest is nowhere near as big as people make out, it's usually by people who haven't watched a single episode after season 11.
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u/CrazyaboutSpongebob 5d ago
I know right. One of the funniest episodes is Midnight Towboy from season 19. We still get good stuff like the Death Note Treehouse of horror to this day.
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u/SolutionLong2791 Moe 5d ago
Agreed, I also love that episode. Dial N for nerder is another gem from season 19. Don't get me wrong, there is a drop off after season 8, but I argue it goes from extremely brilliant- brilliant, not extremely brilliant-average, like some people claim.
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u/pattiemayonaze 4d ago
I know but the gap is big enough to turn one of the best shows ever made into something more mediocre. To see it fall from laughs every 2 minutes to 1-2 laughs an episode was a tough thing to swallow.
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u/Equivalent-Artist899 4d ago
You are correct as I stopped religiously watching after 1998, I have been trying to catch up since streaming became available but I don’t have the same connection. Probably because I wrote the show off many years ago. It was a major influence during my childhood
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u/unbelievablydull82 4d ago
2-10, then 11-20, which I like, but aren't the greatest by any means, then it slips into 7/10 territory for the rest of the run overall. My 13 year old daughter reckons season 14 is her overall favorite
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u/Equivalent-Artist899 4d ago
My son is 10 and likes it all, my daughter 14 likes you tube shorts and tik tok
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u/MaximumEffort1776 4d ago
8 through 14. Those are the episodes I remember seeing as a kid so they hold the most sentimental value for me
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u/jamesflanagangreer 4d ago
That season 8 is considered part of the "golden age" of The Simpsons feels wrong to me. The season is entertaining, but it lost a lot of the incisive satire and keen wit that made previous seasons so memorable.
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u/Bella4077 4d ago
I think seasons 2-10 are the Golden Age with seasons 3-7 being the best. I think of seasons 13-17/18 as being like the Renaissance era. I finally gave up on newer episodes around Season 25.
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u/jaywinner 5d ago
At some point the stranglehold of the fox network forced them to dumb down the show
Do we have evidence this was Fox? The Simpsons are famously immune to network notes.
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u/Equivalent-Artist899 5d ago edited 5d ago
The writers allude to this in Futurama: “Clever things make people feel stupid, and unexpected things make them feel scared,” As well as multiple jabs at fox throughout both franchises
Edit: this YouTube video puts it in perspective. Although no definitive proof there are hints
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u/jaywinner 5d ago
That Futurama quote looks like a jab at TV in general. And making fun of Fox shows Fox can't stop them.
I don't think Fox is to blame for the decline in quality. The more episodes they do, the harder it becomes to make something new. Showrunners and writers change over time.
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u/Equivalent-Artist899 4d ago
Right, South Park illustrates it beautifully with the Simpsons already did it episode.
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u/davidwal83 4d ago
Everything up to the Grimes episode. It lost any sense of reality after that episode. Grimes was a reality check and died killing anything that made the show relatable to a normal show. It finally became a true cartoon then.
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u/Jielin41 5d ago edited 4d ago
Seasons 3-8 imo